Its a trust issue. Its getting to the point where we don't think, "I have to do this even though I don't want to... because I'm 'supposed to' obey." Look at 2 Corinthians 10:5, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exaleth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Bringing our THOUGHTS into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Your thought life is so important. Setting your affection on things above and not on the earth. So important. Let me say it this way: You don't have to believe everything you think. I have random thoughts sometimes and I have to like literally check myself--where did that come from? And then lay it aside. Because bringing your thoughts into captivity isn't about thought chasing. Its about casting down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God--the knowledge of love. Anything that doesn't serve love... has got to go. Anything that isn't helping... is hurting. And our goal can never be to hurt. One of my all-time favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." If its not a God thought... a peaceful thought... a thought about love... why are you entertaining it? Why are you letting anything that doesn't serve (or obey) love into your life? I've said this before and I'll say it again: Turning the other cheek means not retaliating. It doesn't mean subjecting yourself to abuse. It doesn't mean putting, or keeping, yourself in a bad situation. Sometimes you need to shrug your shoulders. Move on. And here's my litmus test: Give it everything you've got. That's what love is--giving everything you are and everything you have. And once you've given something everything you've got its either enough... or its not. And either way you've done what you can do. So don't chase your thoughts around. If you have a weird one... just let it go. Mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter. Focus on what is good. What is God. What is love. Obedience is loving others as Jesus loves you. And we obey Him because we love Him. And we love Him because He first loved us. Obedience is receiving and releasing His love. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. Letting the love that HE put inside come out by knowing and believing that its in there. That's HE'S in there. Obedience isn't doing what we want against our will. Obedience is understanding what our will really is. Understanding that we were created to be loved and to love one another with that love. True obedience is just being who we are. Not who the world says you are. Not all of your mistakes piled up. But who your heavenly Father says you are. The righteousness of God in Christ. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. Obedience is just being who you are and doing what you were made to do. Not going against your nature, but knowing and embracing your new (TRUE) nature of love! Trust that you are who God says you are. Trust that He loves you. And be who you are by letting that love that's inside come out!

Unless you trust the One giving the commandment--the New Commandment for the New Man, which is to love one another as Jesus loves us--you'll always feel like you have to obey against your will. And I'm telling you, its hard to go against the grain. Its hard to go against your nature. But when you understand your new (true) nature... the love nature that IS the God who is love living in you... that's when you can understand that God's will and your will line up perfectly. Because its the same thing. God's will is for you to love. And when you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with--the love of God--you won't be able to do anything BUT love. What's inside DOES come out--or rather, what you believe is inside comes out. So knowing and believing that you are loved is what equips and empowers you to love. Obedience isn't begrudingly doing what you're told even though you don't want to. Its trusting that what you're being told is the best thing going... and doing it because its in your heart to do it. Doing it heartily unto the Lord, and not as unto men. We do it TO men (and women), but we do it unto the Lord. We love God by loving people. How you treat people is how you feel about God. If you treat people badly, its because you feel bad on the inside. Because you feel like you're not loved. Hurting people hurt people. But loved people love people. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." And He said His commandment was for us to love one another as He loves us. We can trust Him and obey--we can love each other--because He first loved us. We are only commanded to love to the same extent that He loves us. So if God wants us to love each other in a big way, He has to first love us in a big way. And, realistically, on the cross He loved us in the biggest way possible. Jesus said the greatest expression of love that a man can have is to lay His life down for His friends. And then He went to the cross and laid His life down for us. He gave His life for us, yes, but He also gave His life TO us. Because He wanted us to have it. And look at how wonderful this is: He didn't just give us His life and say, "Good luck, don't screw it up or I'll take you down." He gave us His life by living His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love in us, and through us, and as us. So really, if love lives in us, and we are commanded to love... obedience is simply letting what's (really) inside come out. By knowing and believing that its inside. By filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. By receiving and releasing the love of God. The love that IS God. Our new (true) nature is love. Our true identity is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And it all comes down to trust. If you trust that God is love and He loves you... if you trust that love is the more excellent way--the straight and narrow way that leads to life--you will happily obey the New Commandment. And you will be able to obey it because you are a New Man. A new creature. A new creation in life. Created to be loved and to love others with that love. That's why we're here. That's what its all about. Obedience isn't doing what you don't want. Its trusting that being loved and loving others is what you really want!

We think obedience is doing something we don't want to do because its "good for us." But that's the wrong mindset to have. Because I've found that the two hardest things to do are 1. Doing something you don't want to do or 2. Not doing something you do want to do. Going against your nature, if I can say it that way. Its pretty much impossible. And even if you do force yourself to go against your nature, you're not going to do it 100%. Colossians 3:23 says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Whatever we do we are to do it heartily. Do it because its in our heart to do it. So "obedience" CAN'T mean, "do what you don't want to do just because its good for you." Especially in light of the truth we saw yesterday that keeping Jesus' commandments means loving each other as He loves us. If you think obedience is loving people even when you don't want to... I'm sorry to say you may not fully understand what love is. Love is giving. Giving everything you have and everything you are without worrying about what comes next. It doesn't matter if it seems like the more you love people the less they love you. It doesn't matter if people pick up what you put down. All that matters is that you do what's in your heart to do. That you let God love you and love Him back by loving people. Do it as unto the Lord. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. Receive and release the love of God by letting Him love the hell out of you and loving the people you come into contact with, with that same love. And, look, as always, I'm not saying you should ever put, or keep, yourself in a bad situation. If someone is abusing you, you can turn the other cheek. You don't have to retaliate. But you don't have to stand there forever and let them keep slapping you. Sometimes you have to love people from a distance. Some people don't belong in your life. But if your heart is pricked for someone, whether they do you right, wrong, or indifferent, that's where you need to listen to your heart. Jesus said "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6:38). The God who is love placed His love in our hearts. So its not us doing something that we don't want to do because we're afraid we'll get in trouble if we don't. Its us understanding that His will IS our will. Sometimes it doesn't feel that way. Sometimes that still, small voice is hard to hear. But when we embrace the truth that our heavenly Father's will is to love us and take care of us and protect us... that there is a more excellent way and His name is Jesus (His name is love)... when we stop fighting against what truly IS best for us... that's when we can begin to experience all of the good things that God has for us. That God has already given to us. We don't obey in order to be rewarded. We obey because we trust the one who is giving us His commandments. You don't have to know what tomorrow holds... when you know the One who holds tomorrow. We don't have to fight against His will, when we know that its love, love, love. When you ARE loved, you can obey the command TO love.

I think obedience is all about trust. If you don't trust the person telling you to do something... chances are you're not going to want to do it. You'll be a lot less likely to do it, at the very least. But let me string two memory verses together. And I just did a Guerrilla Gospel message on this because its heavy on my heart right now. Ok. First is John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." And that seems pretty simple. Pretty straightforward. Its practically an "if then" statement. And I'm telling you, religious folk LOVE "if then" statements. Because it gives them something to do in order to get something. Its a way to earn what they want. But I don't see Jesus giving us ways to earn things. Because labor and works don't work. Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly. That's the GIFT of God. Not earning, but receiving and releasing. I think Jesus was telling us HOW to keep His commandments. "Trust me. I have your best interests at heart." Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. We love Him, because He first loved us. And that, actually, is my other memory verse. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). So basically, if we put these two verses together, Jesus is saying, "If you love me... love one another." And the best part is, He said, "...as I have loved you..." Because that puts the emphasis right where it belongs. Not on us and what WE do, but on HIM and what HE has done. We are only commanded to love as Jesus has loved us. So if God wants us to love big... He has to first love US big. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. We love, because He first loved us. Did I already mention that? Its important. So our obedience doesn't come from fear of punishment. It comes from trusting in the One who is telling us what to do. And telling us HOW to do it. "My commandment is to love one another. If you love me... you WILL keep my commandment. Because you love me BY loving one another! And you are only expected to love as much as you are loved. So first things first I have to love the hell out of you!" To me that's awesome. That's good news. That's the gospel. God is love and He loves you. Love Him back by loving people. Receive and release the gift you've been given. Give it away. Share it. And in that way, experience it. If love is giving--and it is--you can't experience love unless you give it. And you won't give it unless you trust the One who is telling you to. You won't give it if you think you'll give it away and be left with nothing. That's why we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. That's why we know and believe that we are connected to the unlimited source of love. The God who IS love. He lives in us. We live in Him. And what's inside... comes out. Naturally. Its not forced obedience. Its doing what we're "commanded" because we know its the best thing we could possibly do. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. Because He first loved us. That's true obedience.

God has builded us together as a habitation for Him to live in. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross He drew all men into Himself, and planted Himself in all men. That's where we are. That's WHO we are. We are the house of the Lord. We don't just GO to church... we ARE the church. We don't need God to "come." He's already here. Inside us. Look at Revelation 21:3, "I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with me and women! They're his people, he's their God." God built a habitation for Himself... and then He took up abode in it. That's important. Because if we're trying to get God to move in... we're missing out on the truth that He has already moved in. He lives in us. Right now. Today. And when God moved in He SETTLED in. He doesn't have any plans on moving out. This idea we have where we pick flower petals, "He loves me, He loves me not," is totally false. God's love for us isn't predicated on what we do. It is predicated on who we are. And really, it is predicated on who HE is. The God who IS love, loves us. Period. No matter what. Now watch this, "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them" (Isaiah 65:21). We are meant to enjoy what God has given us. And there IS work involved--not works and labor, because works don't work--but the maximum effort of love. Rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Love is the most you can do for someone. Even when it seems small, even when it seems like its the least you can do. So what I'm saying is, some plant... some water... but it is God that gets the harvest. If your portion is to plant... plant. If you don't love the people that you come into contact with, its possible that no one will. But if you DO love those that you come into contact with... you will enjoy the fruit of that labor of love. God is love. And love means "love feast." So while He's ringing the dinner bell, we all get to eat. The people you invite into your life, the people you build relationships with, get to enjoy that feast with you. Even as you enjoy it with them. To live is to love. To love is to live. God living in us means love is living in us. We get to live in the house we (HE) built. We get to enjoy the fruit in the vineyard that we (HE) planted. Because it is the power of God in us that is capable of more than we could even ask or think. It is God living HIS life of love in us, and through us, and as us. He inhabits us even as we inhabit Him. Again, Jesus drew us all into Himself and planted Himself in us. We live in Him--in love--because He lives in us. Because LOVE lives in us. And what's inside WILL come out. It has to. Its too big to stay hidden. Especially when you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with by letting God love the hell out of you. By knowing and believing that God's love--that God Himself--is in us. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Letting God live in the habitation HE built--us--is how we live, or abide, or dwell, in His love. Living in love means giving what you've got. Letting what's inside come out!

Let me drop my memory verse and then try to build off of it. "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8). In other way, no matter what, it's all about love. Because God is love. We live unto the Lord. We die unto the Lord. Everything that happens... we have to experience it through the framework of God living in us. We can only live unto Him, because He lives in us. We can only be His habitation because HE made us His habitation. And I always use the example of Jesus being a carpenter (even though I'm pretty sure carpenters pretty much just make smaller things like furniture and not houses) because He's a builder. So let's talk about being builded. Or, in a sense, moving into that new (true) house that God built for us (that God built US into). It can be a transition. And, like I always say, sometimes when you move... the stuff you accumulated over time doesn't fit into your new place. A lot of stuff you've become "comfortable" with needs to be just left behind. Lay aside the sin and the weight that so easily besets you. What's that thing about picking up an object, and if it doesn't give you joy getting rid of it? I think that might be a little extreme. I don't think everything in your life should necessarily bring you joy. Some things you need because you need them. But if something makes you miserable... it got to go. This life is what we have. And its not supposed to be suffered through. Its supposed to be enjoyed. Life is a gift. And, listen, I know being unconditionally loved is a pretty radical concept for most people. I know its kind of a rare thing, to be honest. To find someone who loves you no matter what. But that's what this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is built on. It is built on Jesus. The Rock. Love. And here's the thing about it, we don't have to take God's love for us on "blind faith." I don't think there's such a thing as "blind" faith. Because faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is believing what God says about you is true... because He shows you that its true. Unconditionally. Every second of every day. Over and over again. Especially when you need it most. And in the face of that kind of long suffering, unrelenting, unconditional love... I believe anybody--everybody--will come to believe it. We believe a lie like its no big deal. Because usually that's what we already think about ourselves. But it can take a little longer for us to trust that still, small voice deep inside. To believe that we are worthy of being loved. To believe that no matter what we do... God still loves us. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. His love is where we live. Whether we live OR die, we are the Lord's. He loves us. He IS love. What else could He do? That's not just what God does, that's who He IS. And WHERE He is (aside from being everywhere all the time) is in us. We are the house that He built. And there's not room for everything we've let drag us down. So just let it go. When Jesus--when love--is holding us up, nothing can drag us down. Give your new (true) home a chance. Let God's love fill you up so that there is not room for anything else!

Some people come home and just crash. I get that. Its our safe place. Its where we feel comfortable. Where we can let our guard down. But its also where we can be productive. Because there are--or CAN BE, anyway--less distractions. We don't have to deal with the outside world so much when we're at home. So it can--and should--be a place of rest. A place of recharging. Filling ourselves back up, in a sense, after we've emptied ourselves out. And it can also be a base of operations. When you invite someone into your home, that's an intimate thing. Kind of a big deal. Because that's where you live. That's where you sleep. Now let's apply all of this to what we've been speaking of the last couple of days. God is our habitation. We are His habitation. We are where God lives. He is where we live. We live in Him. He lives in us. We live in LOVE. Love lives in us. And I'm telling you--I read somewhere that one of the best things you can do when you have a baby is to sleep with their blanket before you give it to them... so that it smells like you. Smells like home. Smells like love. I'm telling you, you can't have a better night sleep than when you know you're loved. There have been times in my life when I couldn't sleep. When I couldn't shut my brain off. And normally it was about relationships. Either ones I wanted, and didn't have... or ones that weren't what I thought they should be... or things of that nature. Because I think I realized pretty young that the important thing in life is people. Relationship. The connections we make with each other. And, really, the only connection we can make with each other--the only connection WORTH making with each other--is love. Its so important that we understand that you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. You can't love someone unless you know and believe that you are loved. You can't give love unless you have love, right? Makes sense? So you have to come from that base of operations. You have to come from your home. Your habitation. Your dwelling place. When you dwell in love its because you know (and believe) that you are loved. Because love--Jesus, God--dwells in you. He builded us together as His habitation. And, again, the only connection that lasts--the only connection that matters--is love. He builded us together. He connected us together. Different parts of the same body. The body of Christ. The love in us flows out of us. When (one more time) we know and believe that its in there. When we dwell in it. When we let it fill us up to overflowing and flow out. Naturally. Our home is love. That's what I think I'm trying to say. We feel comfortable when we're loved--when we receive God's love. I think maybe tomorrow I'm going to talk about the transition we make when we move into our new (true) home. Our new (true) nature. Our new (true) identity. Which, of course, is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in our flesh. Love in our body. They say charity starts at home, right? Well, charity is love in action. And it starts inside. In our dwelling place. Our heart. Home is where the heart is. HIS heart beating with love in our chests!

The first time the word Habitation is used in the King James Bible is Exodus 15:2, "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him." It is number 5115 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance and it means, "A primitive root; to rest (as at home); causatively (through the implied idea of beauty), to celebrate (with praises): - keep at home, prepare an habitation." Basically... home sweet home. And I'm telling you, without being too crass, home is where you can use the bathroom with comfort and ease. Home is where you know how the shower works. Home is where you can sleep soundly and safely in your own bed. Where you can rest. Recharge. Refill yourself. Because even though we are connected to the unlimited source of love... giving and giving and giving (loving and loving and loving) CAN make it feel like you're emptying yourself. And while, well, let me quote a memory verse to say what I'm trying to say. "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4:34). See, Jesus was hungry, and sent His disciples off to get some grub. But in the meantime, He found someone to minister to. To love. To give Himself to. And in the giving, He was restored. In the giving, His appetite was fulfilled. So while I DO see a lot of value in resting at home... Jesus would go away from the crowds to pray... you can't give everything you have to the point where you have nothing left. Because we ARE connected to that unlimited source. But I'm also saying, the love is in the giving. When you give, you experience love. Because love IS giving. Giving what you've got is HOW you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Sharing the gift you've been given is how you experience it. So I guess what I'm saying is... give what you've got. Let what's inside come out. But don't be afraid to head home and rest. And I know rest is not inactivity. I say that all the time. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit only ever directs us to love. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth--the truth that God is love and He loves you. And I'm not saying you shouldn't go out of your comfort zone either. Sometimes you should. Sometimes you have to go out on a limb because that's where the fruit is. I'm saying God has prepared us as His habitation. His home. He has prepared Himself as our habitation. Our home. He--LOVE--is where we can be confortable. Where we know how the shower works (how to get clean). Love is our home base, if I can say it that way. Love is where we get filled up so that we can go empty ourselves out. Love is our strength to lay our lives down for our friends. Love is natural (I kept saying "atmosphere" yesterday, but I could have said) habitat. Love is where we live. Love is HOW we live. God is love. He lives in us as we live in Him. He is our dwelling place even as He dwells in us. And that's beautiful. That's something to celebrate. Not something we need, but something we have. Something--someONE, Jesus, love--that we are!

I try to only Rant about things that I think are important, right? Things that will help us experience this life we've been given. Things that help when the rubber meets the road. Practicaly things. Which, of course, is why I always try to Rant about love. Why I always try to look at things through the lense of love. I try to look at things cross-eyed, through the finished work of the cross. So when I build this Rant on Ephesians 2:22, "In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit," I want us to understand that this is a clear and present truth that is vitally important on a day to day, moment to moment basis. Because we are the habitation of God. "Habitation" being number 2732 in Strong's Greek Concordance and meaning, quite simply, "a dwelling place." We are God's dwelling place. We are where God lives. We are the visible face of the invisible God. And notice that I keep saying "WE." Because we are builded TOGETHER. Its not just me. Its not just you. Its us. Together. We are all different parts of the body of Christ. All different members of the many membered body of Christ. God lives in us. He dwells in us. We are His habitation. His natural atmosphere, if I can say it that way. And if God lives in us... that means LOVE lives in us. Look at 1 John 4:16, "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." See, its not just God living in us. That's where it starts. We love, because He first loved us. Everything flows from Him. But even as He lives in us, we must learn to live in Him. We must learn to live in love. Learn what it means to live in Him. Learn what it means to live in love. We waste so much time chasing love. Looking for love in all the wrong places. Accepting whatever we can get because we think its better than nothing. Or because we think its all we're worth. But love is everything. Love is the God who IS love laying His life down for us. Giving us everything He is and everything He has. Simply because He wanted us to have it. Simply because He loves us. Guys, I'm telling you, the only way to learn how to love is by learning how we are loved. Learning how God loves us. Letting God love the hell out of us and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of each other. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Knowing that He inhabits us... knowing that He dwells in us... and letting that truth equip and empower us to dwell in Him. One more time--to dwell in love! God made us His habitation because He wanted to express Himself--express His love--to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. He wanted us to be able to experience His love. Experience His life. And the only way we can "live" the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God is by letting HIM live it in us, and through us, and as us. The only way to experience the gift we've been given is by sharing it. By giving it away. And because He has made us His habitiaton, we can make Him OUR habitation. OUR natural atmosphere. Because He lives in us, we can live in Him. Because love dwells in us, we can dwell in love!

I know this isn't what Jesus was necessarily saying with His proverb about the seed being sown, but look at Matthew 13:5-6, "Some fell upon stony placed, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." Jesus was kind of illustrating how important it is to HAVE roots... to HAVE deepness of earth. But I want to look at it from another point of view. I want to end this Rant series by saying don't GIVE things roots or deepness of earth. Don't let things get ahold of you that really don't matter. Or don't belong. Once, many many moons ago, I preached a sermon about how when you move from one house to another you don't always have enough room for all of the stuff you've accumulated. Some stuff, quite frankly--even if it served its purpose for a time, at the time--doesn't fit anymore. We outgrow things. We move past things. And we can leave them behind. Look at Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Stop fighting. The only fight we're supposed to fight is the good fight of faith--laying hold of eternal life. Receiving the gift we've been given by releasing it. Sharing it. Giving it away. But here's my point: You don't have to let everything that happens get a hook in you. Some stuff you can just lay aside. Just don't give it a chance to grow. Let it wither. Again, you don't have to fight it. You can just let it go. Don't give it your three T's (time, talent, treasure). Don't give things that don't have any power, power. Don't let things get into you, even if you have to go through things. We all have to go through things. That's life, man. And life happens every day. What you feed is what grows. So what you lay aside will starve. It will wither away. You don't have to fight against things. You can simply let them go. Let go and let God, as they say. Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you. Let God take care of it. Focus on the good things (the GOD things... the love things) in life. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. When Jesus is holding you up, nothing can drag you down. When LOVE is holding you up. So fill yourself with that love, and let it flow out of you. Fill yourself with what you've already been filled with. Don't leave room for anything else. Love is a feast that you share. And you are what you eat. So chow down on love. And let the rest of it starve!