Loved part 4
When we look within we find what we have. And when we know what we have we can give it away. Share it. And in that way EXPERIENCE what we have. That's why when I talk about receiving and releasing, I usually add that the best way TO receive is BY releasing. See, we talk about blind leaps of faith. But faith isn't blind. Faith is trust. And we trust God because He has proven Himself trustworthy. Romans 10:17 in the NLT says it like this, "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ." Faith comes from hearing. It's KNOWING and believing. You can't believe something you don't know. You hear the good news about Christ--that God loves you, and always has, and always will--and then you have a foundation to build on. Then you have something--someONE, Jesus, love--to believe in. And when have something... that's when you can give something. And that's why it's so important to preach the gospel at all times (and if you have to, use words). That's why it's so important to SHOW people the Father, just as Jesus did when He went around loving people, and healing people. And I'm not just talking about physical healing. I'm talking about emotional healing. Because sometimes the emotional hurts are much worse than the physical ones. And sometimes just knowing that someone is there for you can heal those emotional hurts. That's what love is all about. Giving everything you have and everything you are to those around you. Loving God by loving others. Loving others with the love that we are loved with. So looking inside and finding that love--strengthening ourselves in the Lord--is not selfish at all. Because when we fill ourselves with what we've been filled with... when we apprehend what we've been apprehended of... what we're really doing is filling ourselves to OVERFLOWING. So that what's inside COMES OUT. And instead of trying to force it out, knowing and believing it's in there lets it come out naturally. Our new nature--the love nature--begins to, as 2 Corinthians 5:14 says in the NLT, control us. We begin to be who we are instead of trying to be someone we're not. There's such a huge difference between being a son of God, and being the beloved Son of God. The difference between life and death, in face. The difference between being loved and KNOWING that you are loved. The difference between trying to earn God's love, and letting yourself BE loved by the God who IS love. When you're trying to earn something that can't be earned what you're really doing is robbing yourself of the gift you've already been given. But when you be still and know that HE is God... when you be still and know that God is love... then you can begin to experience that gift of eternal life. That gift of a life filled to overflowing with love. That gift that is meant to be given away. Shared. Because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Knowing (and believing) that you are loved is what equips and empowers you to love. Receiving is just the first step. It leads to releasing. Because what you receive is too big, and too good, to keep to yourself. It's not too good to be true, it's so good that it must be true. And something that good must be shared!