Open Up part 4
The very phrase that I used for the title of this Rant series (and specifically waited until today to explore) means, "Let what's inside come out." That's what you do when you open up to someone, right? And, yes, we did just look at opening up our heart to let Jesus in. But the truth there is that He IS in. He is the door that He knocks on. Its God's heart beating with love in our chests. So its never something external that we need. That was one of the problems with the Law of Moses; real, true, lasting change cannot come from without. Behavior modification may have some limited "success" at first if you can put enough pressure on someone. But at the end of the day, we are who we are. What's inside WILL come out. Or rather, what we believe is inside will come out. Which is why its so important to know and believe the Word of God. The ultimate truth of the universe. That the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. That God is love and He loves you. That God is your heavenly Father and you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. When we get that fundamental, foundational truth settled--who God is, and who we are--we can begin to rest. Because we will know that we don't have to try to be someone we're not in order to try to impress God. We will know that He loves us no matter what. Not because of what we do, but because of who we are. And because of who He is. I think when we really start to understand what it means that God IS love we will really start to think differently about, well, everything. We will be able to start using the mind of Christ by letting that mind (that's already in us) be in us. We will stop being afraid to love, because we will know what it means when the Bible talks about perfect love casting out fear. We won't be afraid to open up anymore. We'll be able to fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with, and instead of trying to earn something that can't be earned--the gift of God has already been given to us and must simply be received and released--we'll be able to give what we've got. When we know that we ARE loved, we will be able TO love. When we open up (the mind of Christ, and the heart of God) what's inside flows out. Naturally. And that's the point. Love is our new (TRUE) nature. We never needed to BE loved, because we always WERE loved. We just didn't know it. Couldn't believe it. It seemed too good to be true that the God who IS love could love a sinner like me. So what God did was He sent His only Son to take away the sin of the world. To transform us from "sinner" to saint. To give His life for us, and to us. To give us the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth, the loved receptor--so that we might KNOW that we have always been, and will always be, loved. The cross didn't change us into something that God could all of a sudden love. God always has, and always will, love us. The cross changed us into something that could know, and believe, and receive, and release the love of God. The cross--the revelation of Jesus--shone the light of the world on what's inside. The heart. Love. So that what's truly inside can come out. When we open up!