Milk part 5
The milk of righteousness. Drinking it in as a way of knowing what's in. Because faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Which is Jesus, which is love. That's how you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. You listen to that still, small voice that's deep inside. The one that says, with every beat of your heart--with every beat of GOD'S heart in your chest--"I love you, I love you, I love you." See, look at John 15:26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." The Holy Spirit testifies our true identity to us by testifying of Jesus to us. We know who we are when we know who He is. Because who we really are... is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in your flesh. Love in your body. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. Who we really are in Christ is who Christ really is in us. And when we lose our identity... that's when we try to be someone we're not. But that milk strengthens us. The foundation that we build on is a simple one. It is love. It is the glorious truth that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. When we have that part figured out, everything else can flow. We can get into the deeper things. But it starts with our righteousness--and by that I mean HIS righteousness in us, not self-righteousness. Its starts with the truth about His righteousness in us. And, one of the best things I think I ever heard a preacher say, "when you mess up you are STILL the righteousness of God in Christ!" That's not about what you do. That's who you are. What you do FLOWS from who you are. That's why behavior modification only ever has limited, short term success. You can make someone behave by scaring them... for a time. To a point. But at the end of the day people are who they are. I've found that the two hardest things in the world are 1. Doing something you don't want to do. 2. Not doing something you do want to do. So the only way to affect real change... is by letting the Holy Spirit do what HE wants to do. Real change comes from within. It is never forced, or coerced. Strict parents make sneaky kids, is basically what I'm trying to say. But if you teach up a child in the way he SHOULD go... he will not depart from it. If you give that strong foundation for people to stand on--by telling them what's RIGHT with them instead of what's "wrong" with them--they will not be shaken. They'll be able to ignore the lie simply by knowing the truth. That's why (and how) the truth makes you free and sets you free. Its not freedom TO sin... its freedom FROM sin. Its the freedom to live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Its the freedom TO love that comes from knowing that you ARE loved. Knowing that you are love. Love isn't just what you do. Its who you are. So when you start to forget who you are... get you a glass of milk. Drink in the righteousness of God. Remind yourself who you are by reminding yourself who He is. To you. In you. Through you. As you. Let what's inside flow out by knowing and believing that its in there. By accepting and embracing who you are. Believing the Word of God (again, Jesus... love) instead of the lie of the world. And then BEING who you are by loving people with the love that God loves you with!