Full of It part 4
When you know and believe that you are loved--when you are full of it--you can love. That's why Jesus said, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other" (John 13:34 NLT). And that's why 1 John 4:19 (NLT) says, "We love each other because he loved us first." You have to receive before you can release. But you receive SO THAT you can release. Filled... to overflowing. And think about this: Loving each other as Jesus loved us puts all of the emphasis on Jesus. Not what we do, but what HE did. And what HE does in us, and through us, and as us. We don't love in order to be loved. We love because we are loved. Because we are LOVE. That's not just what God does, that's who God is. And as He is, so are we in this world. So that's not just what we do... it's who we are. That's our nature. Not the selfish, self-centered beast nature of the old man, but the love nature of the New Man. We don't release in order to receive. That's backwards. We don't love because we're trying to get something. We have everything we need. We have been blessed with all Spiritual blessings. We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. Jesus did it all so we could get it all. And now we have it all. In abundance. More than we could even ask or think. More than we could ever contain, even if we tried. And out of this abundance of love comes life. Because to live is to love. To love is to live. Light, life, love, Spirit, consuming fire... it's all the same thing. It's God. It's HIS Divine Nature that allows us to live HIS life as HE lives it--I'll say it again--in us, and through us, and as us. He filled us up to overflowing with Himself. So that we could experience Him. The unconditional love relationship between a heavenly Father and His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. So that we could experience LOVE. And the only REAL way to experience love is to give it away. To fill ourselves with what we have been filled with and let it overflow naturally. To love one another as we are loved. We love... because He first loved us. He filled us up and gave us something to share. Something to share with EVERYBODY because it is the one universal thing that EVERYBODY needs. And when you really know just how full of it you are, it happens effortlessly. Remember Peter? His shadow crossed over somebody and healed them. He didn't try really hard to do something. He was just so full of it that it happened naturally. It wasn't Peter forcing his light to shine. It was Peter knowing that his light was shining, and because of that he illuminated everything and everyone around him. It overflowed out of him. Naturally. He loved... without even trying to do it... because he knew he was loved!