Heart Knowledge part 1
My inspiration for this Rant series is Ephesians 3:19, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Because as good as knowing something is (in your brain), some things pass knowledge completely and you know them in your heart. Heart trumps head, in other words. Which is why I always talk about following your heart. And why I always try to make the connection between the mind of Christ and the heart of God. Its not the brain of Christ. Its the mind of Christ. Its not thinking about things until you figure them out. Look at our verse in the NLT, "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Its too great to understand fully. Job 26:14 in the NIV speaks about how what we know of God are just the outer fringes of His works. The tip of the iceberg, if I can say it that way. And, granted, that was in the Old Testament, without the Holy Spirit. Because it is the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--that leads and guides us into all truth. That testifies of our true selves by testifying of Jesus. That shows us who we really are by shining the light of the world and showing us who God really is. A loving heavenly Father. A beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's basic. Its simple. But it can also be really hard to "figure out." Because we aren't supposed to figure it out. We are filled with the fulness of God when we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. And we're talking about the love of Christ. That's what we've been filled with. Right from the jump. That's what the cross brought to light, at the appointed time. Because the cross did NOT turn us into something God could love. He always loved us. He IS love. There's nothing else He can, or would, do. The cross turned us into something that could receive God's love. That's what the Holy Spirit is--He is the love receptor. And its only when we receive God's love, by releasing it, that we can truly understand the mind of Christ. The heart of God. By letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) be in us. By using what we've got, instead of trying to get something. Love is not about getting. Because love IS giving. And that's the biggest disconnect that I think I see in the "church world." People are too busy trying to "get sin out of the camp." Or they have the mindset of, "I'll scratch your back in order to get you to scratch mine." It seems to be more about what you can get, instead of giving what you've got. And that makes sense to the carnal mind. Work hard and get what you can. Run the rat race as fast and as long as you can. Makes sense. But there's something that passes that head knowledge. Something deeper. Something more important, and more powerful. Heart knowledge. Knowing that you are loved. Not because of what you do, but because of who you are. And because of who God is. And in knowing that you are loved... being able to love. That love of God flowing through us is what makes us complete with all the fullness of life and power of God. Its not us trying to live His life. Its Him living His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in us, and through us, and as us!