Builded Together part 5
WE are the house of God--the temple of the Holy Spirit. And I emphasize WE because its not an "us vs them" thing. Its a "we're all in this together" thing. So WE need to stop causing so much separation. Between us and each other... and between us and God. Because there IS no separation between us and God. How could there be when God lives IN us? When we live IN God? Paul wrote, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). So the thing that we are so desperate to get... is really the thing that we already have... and couldn't get rid of if we wanted to. Now, Jesus DID say that we are, "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye" (Mark 7:13). Like when Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God. The presence was still there, but they were willfully separating themselves from it because they were naked and ashamed and were afraid that God was mad at them. Guys, God is not mad AT you. He is mad ABOUT you. Head over heels in love with you. To the point that He swore He would never leave you nor forsake you. To the point where He gave His only begotten Son so that you might have something (someONE, Love) to believe in, and in that way experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love that is the gift of God. Experience it by letting Jesus live His own life in you, and through you, and as you. Experience the gift by giving it away. By sharing it. That's what it means to be builded TOGETHER. We can't do this on our own. You can't love without having someone to love. You can't give everything you are and everything you have without having someone to give it to. It takes two to tango, as they say. Relationship is more than just yourself. I always quote the song that says, "What you got if you ain't got love? The kind that you just want to give away..." Because that's what love is; love is giving. God filled us up to overflowing so that His love for us could come out of us (naturally) and flow all over everybody we come into contact with. Its not about building walls to hide behind. That's not how you guard your heart. You don't guard it by closing it down. You guard it by keeping it open. Open to love. When Logan and I pray I always thank our heavenly Father for an open heart full of love. An open heart that lets love in... and out. (I think our next Rant series is going to be An Open Heart, so stay tuned for that.) Relationship is what makes life worth living. Connecting to people on a real, true level. The deep calling out to the deep. The God (the love) in me connecting to the God (the love) in you. We are builded together. Bonded together. We're all in this together. That's how we learn and grow--I teach you and you teach me. That's how we survive and thrive--together. Love is not building walls. It (HE) is building bridges. Temples. Houses. Homes.