Honey part 3
I'm a pretty simple guy. So I try to make things simple. Especially when it comes to God. I have a bachelor's degree in theology. Which is in no way bragging, just to put it out there that I have (and do, and will continue to) study this stuff. Because I'm kind of obsessed with it. Obsessed with God. Obsessed with love. But one thing I learned at Bible college is that people like to--or maybe TEND TO is a better term--get stuck on things. That's one of the reasons why there are so many different denominations out there; someone gets a revelation, and they move to that spot and then plant their flag. "This is present truth!" And that's great. I'm all for present truth. I'm all for taking what the Bible (that was written a looooong time ago) says, and applying it to our lives here and now. But I'm also all about being flexible. Moving when God moves. And God is always moving. That's why He had the people of Israel carry around a tabernacle--it wasn't one permanent spot. It was a journey. An eternal, everlasting, never-ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. God's heart beating with love in your chest. That's what it means for God to love in you--LOVE lives in you. And flows out of you. Like the milk and honey that flows out of the Promised Land. The righteousness and revelation. Now watch this: "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse evil, and choose the good" (Isaiah 7:15). Which, actually, seems like a pretty good endorsement of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, right? Seems to say, "Do good and you'll be rewarded, do evil and you'll be punished." Which is the foundation that most RELIGIONS are built on. But Jesus didn't come to give us a religion. He came to show us the Father. To show us ourselves. To show us love. So when you look at this Old Testament verse you need to look at it cross-eyed; through the finished work of the cross. And you can pretty well (in my opinion) trade the words "evil" and "good," for "lie" and "truth." Because that's what happens when your eyes are enlightened; you move out of the realm of external--good AND evil--actions, and you move into the realm of faith. Because what you do flows from what you believe. Trying behavior modification is doomed to fail. That's backwards. You have to fix your believing IN ORDER to fix your actions. When you believe the lie that says you're not good enough, but through human effort you may some day be good enough... you'll never stop trying to be someone you're not. You'll always try to earn something that can't be earned. Something that has already been freely given to us. But when you believe the truth that God is love and He loves you... that's when (and how) you can be still and know that He is God. God's love to us, filling us up and flowing out through us, is the only way to experience the gift that we've been given. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that Jesus lives in us, and through us, and as us... when we stop trying to live it ourselves. Because nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. When we believe it, it manifests in our lives. And seeing is believing. Eating the honey is what equips and empowers us to believe the truth and ignore the lie. Equips and empowers us to give what we've got... because we KNOW what we've got. Be who we are because we KNOW who we are!