Inside Out part 1
Jesus brought us out of bondage, and into life. HIS life. Abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. And He did this by drawing us all into Himself, and planting Himself in us. That was the cross. And the cross changed everything. Before the cross everything was external. Even the Holy Spirit would only come on people in power. But on this side of the cross everything is internal. The Holy Spirit lives IN us. And because of that we have been equipped and empowered to live that life Jesus gave us. We can partake of the Divine Nature. Because it's no longer us trying to act like Jesus. And thank God for that. Because all that will ever be is an act. Now it's Jesus living His own life--He gave it for us, and He gave it to us--in us, and through us, and as us. Now it's not external laws trying (and failing) to make an old man behave. Now it's a New Man simply being who He is. And who He is... is love. Remember I said we've been equipped and empowered to live Jesus' life through the Holy Spirit? Well the Holy Spirit is our love receptor. He is the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth of who we are. And who we are is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And when we understand--when we know and believe--that love is in there... that's when it comes out. Naturally. I know it's a pretty big chunk of Scripture but I want to quote Romans 12:1-2 from the Message Bible because it's my foundation for this Rant series. "So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." We're going to really dig into this passage in the next couple of days, but for today I want to focus on "You'll be changed from the inside out." That's the only way REAL change can happen. Because as a man thinks in his HEART, so is he. And the heart is on the inside. It's not about behavior modification. That can have some limited success, but at the end of the day you are who you are. Or rather, you are who you BELIEVE you are. As you think in your heart. Love can only come from a heart that's full of love. Jesus put the Holy Spirit in us so that we could KNOW we are loved. So that we can BELIEVE we are loved. So that we can love one another with the same love that we are loved with. Not because we're "supposed to" or because we're scared we'll get in trouble if we don't. But because that's what in there. Filled to overflowing. Coming from the inside out!