Be part 4
I really think in this world of ours there is too much trying and not enough flowing. Too much work and not enough rest (Spiritually speaking, of course). Too many of us spend our three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) trying to be someone we're not instead of being who we are. And that's why this life is so frustrating so much of the time. A round peg doesn't fit into a square hole. It can't. As hard as you try to be someone you're not... it'll never work. It'll never feel right. And I know this is kind of a departure from our theme of BEING in Christ (when we are all already in Him), or BEING transformed (into what we've already been transformed into), but I think it's important to say. Because if any man BE in Christ he is a new creature, right? But we always seem to be in the process of BECOMING a new creature. As if to say, "I'm not good enough yet, but I will be someday." Or my personal (least) favorite, "God's not done with me yet." I mean, what part of "It is finished" don't we understand? What part of "complete in Him" don't we get? God IS finished with you, in the sense that He did everything He needed to do. It's not a "change" that takes place--or needs to take place. It's the revelation of the change that TOOK place. It's making what's already true... true for you. By believing it. By BEING in it. Being in HIM. Even as He is in you. By receiving the gift of God and releasing it to those you come into contact with. Receiving it BY releasing it. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. John said it this way in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Did you catch that? We ARE Son(s) of God. Done deal. But it doesn't always appear that way. BUT when He appears (to us, and in us, and through us, and as us) that's when we BE like Him. Not when we TRY to act like Him. All that will ever be is an act. But when He appears. Because that's when we see Him as He is, and that's when we see ourselves as we are! Jesus is the Truth. The truth about the Father. The truth about the Son. The Truth about the relationship between God and man. The Truth about God IN man. He's the Truth about you! He's your true identity. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And when we stop trying to be someone we're not--some external, performance-based, religious idea of who we're "supposed to be"--that's when we can be who we are. That's when we BE in Christ, even though we're already in Christ. That's when we let what's true BE true. When we know it and believe it. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Faith is how we be. We hear it. We know it. We believe it. Faith is how we renew our minds--believing that He already renewed our minds. Not by trying to think Godly thoughts, but by letting God think His own thoughts in us. His thought--His heart beating with love in our chests. That's the flow. The river of living water. The love that everyone is thirsty for, and the love that we can provide when we BE who we are. When we receive it and release it. When we stop trying and start flowing!