Inside Out part 4
What's inside comes out. And it comes out naturally. But, to a certain degree, it's really what you BELIEVE is inside that comes out. Because there's a truth that always has been and always will be true: God is love, and you are the focus of His love. But unless you know and believe the love of Christ then what's true isn't necessarily true for you. That's where faith comes in. Faith is what activates the truth, if I can say it that way. Because, again, what you believe is what manifests. So let me build this for a second. Jesus said, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). Here's the key--whoever DRINKS the water that Jesus gives. Whoever RECEIVES the gift of God that was given to us when Jesus gave His life for us and as us on the cross. It's not just being given the water. It's drinking it. Not just being given the gift, but receiving it (and releasing it). So how do we do this? In a practical, rubber meets the road sort of way... "Therefore with joy shall ye draw out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted" (Isaiah 12:3-4). We ARE the well that the living water of eternal life springs up out of. But we don't have to force it out. We don't have to "fake it 'til we make it." See, our faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. We have faith in God because He has proven Himself faithful. We don't declare His doings in the hopes that He'll do something. We declare His doings because of what He HAS done. The work is finished. And that's where our joy comes from. Not from what we hope God will do, but from what He has already done! We draw out of the well (that we are) with joy. If we weren't full of living water we couldn't draw it out. You can't give what you don't have. And the glorious truth that we DO have it... that's what produces the righteousness, peace, and joy that is found in the Holy Ghost that IS the Kingdom! The Kingdom is within you. And when you stop trying to get it and simply start enjoying it, that's when it manifests all around you. That's when what is inside comes out. And when you stop trying to MAKE it come out... that's when it comes out naturally. When you stop trying and start resting, that's when you can enjoy the fruit of JESUS' labor. That's when outside circumstances stop dictating reality to us, and that's when the true reality of the Kingdom manifests in our lives! For so long we've just accepted what the world throws at us, or struggled against it trying to change it into our idea of "how things should be." But when what's inside comes out, that's when things are revealed to be as they truly are. When we know and believe there's love inside--that we are loved--love comes out and we understand that we are LOVE!