Look and Live part 3
What it comes down to is receiving and releasing. That's the Divine Order of things. That's what we see--see what I did there?--when the light of the world shines. When the light of LOVE shines. And here's the key: WE are the light of the world. Look at Ephesians 3:8-9, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." Paul received that grace so that he could make us see. And, listen, if you know me at all or follow my ministry at all, you know that I don't try to make anybody do anything. I'm perfectly happy with you believing whatever you want to believe. (Probably in large part because my "theology" doesn't end with anybody--ANYBODY--burning in eternal conscious torment. But that's not for today. Don't worry about all that.) In fact, I generally don't even tell people what I believe unless they ask me. And even then I think long and hard and try to discern whether they really want to know or if they just want to argue. Because, ask my kid, I'm NOT going to argue with you. Believe what you want. I'm ok with it. Now, having said that, I preach the gospel--that God is love and He loves you--at all times. And, yes, sometimes I even use words. You can make people see things... by showing them things. Make people see love... by showing them love. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is charity (love in action) worth? Priceless, is the answer. Love is priceless. There is nothing more important, or more powerful, than love. And there is no better way to express that love than to show people. That's what Jesus did. He came to SHOW us the Father. And He did that by letting the love inside His human body come out. He showed us a man who loves people. That's who Jesus is: God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And when He see Him, we will be like Him. Because we will see our true selves. We will see love. Human acts of love. We are witnesses, right? And a witness simply reports what he has seen and heard. He simply releases what he has received. And like I always say, you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. You can't release until you receive. Because until you receive you don't have anything TO release. Until you look, and see, you can't live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. You can't do one without the other. So you can't live without looking. Without seeing. If you go through "life" with blinders on you miss out on... everything. Everything worth having. If you shut your heart down--even in defense against being hurt, or being hurt AGAIN--you miss out on what life is all about. But if you let God love you... you can love people. By the way, God loves you... through people. So if you let PEOPLE love you... you are letting them make you see. And once YOU see, you can make others see. You can be loved and you can love others. And that, friends, is what its all about!