Exceeding Abundantly part 4
I know there's something more. Something greater than what our senses can reveal to us. More than just this "world." More than just "life." And that's why Jesus came. Jesus, the light of the world, came to reveal the truth to us. And when He shines His light ON us, what He revealed is that that same light shines IN us. Shines through us. Shines out of us. Because even as Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), WE are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). It's the same light. Before Jesus--before the cross--that light was just buried too deep for us to see. All of that surface stuff made it seem dark. So we stumbled around in the dark, trying to do the best we could with what we (thought we) had. We were "living" but we weren't truly alive. It seemed like something was missing. Love was missing. So we spent our Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) looking for love in all the wrong places. Because we couldn't see it. Couldn't believe it. Thought we had to earn it. Thought we had to DO in order to BE. It wasn't much of an existence. Wasn't much of a life at all. When Adam ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil... he died. He didn't die physically, but he died spiritually. And it wasn't until God poured out His Spirit on all flesh--it wasn't until Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit--that we could once again truly live. It wasn't until the Holy Spirit--our love receptor--began to lead and guide us into all truth that we could stop trying to earn what is freely given. And once we knew it was a gift--and that we had already been given the gift of eternal life, which is knowing the Father and the Son, living in the context of Sonship--we could begin to receive it. We could stop trying works and labor (which don't work), and we could start to rest. Stop trying to be someone we're not in order to earn something we don't have, and simply begin to be who we are and enjoy what we do have. Guys, there's a power working in us. And you can call it light, or Spirit, or God but what it really is... is love. If God is all-powerful (and He is) that means LOVE is all-powerful. And being all-powerful doesn't mean being most powerful. It means having ALL of the power. Nothing compares to love. How could anything? Love is exceeding abundantly more than anything we could ask for or even think. Love is better than we could ever imagine. This everlasting life-long journey into the heart of the matter is simply a eternal life-long journey into the height, and depth, and breadth, and length of God's love for us! And the best way--the only way--to truly experience God's love is by loving others. That's the New Commandment. Love one another as Jesus loves you. That's what it means to receive and release the gift we've been given. Receive it BY releasing it. That's what it means to walk by faith and not by sight--we don't always "feel" loved, but when we love one another it's impossible to NOT feel the love. When we share what we've got it grows. We don't lose it by using it. It feeds on itsef and grows and grows like a Holy Ghost wildfire, consuming everything that's not itelf and firing up everyone it touches. Not burning people down. Not condemning them, and giving them more of the same old same old that the world gives. But giving them something more. Something better. More excellent. Exceeding abundant love!