Resist Not part 5
Here's where I want to end this Rant series: "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." Some things need not be resisted. Evil, for example. Simply overcome it with good. The lie. Which can be ignored when you know the truth. And some things need to be resisted simply by not giving place to them. The devil. Sin. Those are "resisted" simply by submitting ourselves to God. Focusing on what is good and true. Focusing on love. If you are filled with love, there is no room for anything else. If you are filled with light there is no darkness in you at all. And some things can't be resisted. The wisdom and the Spirit of God. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance, right? Not the fear of God. Not God saying, "Do what I say or off to hell you go." That kind of "doing," in order to be... or in order to get something... never works. Works and labor don't work. Because God's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love is a gift. And you can't earn a gift. You can only receive it. And then experience it by sharing it. By giving it away. Receive it and release it. Breathe it in and breathe it out. So while we tend to think of resistance as something we should do against something bad... a lot of times we end up resisting the love of God by looking for love in all the wrong places. Or by trying to earn something that can't be earned. Something that has already been given to us. Something that has already been made available to us. Something that we already have. If you're trying to earn something you already have, that's being a robber. Because the robber tries to get into the sheepfold any other way but the door. Jesus is the door. And the door is open. So stop robbing yourself of what you already have. Just trust in Jesus. Let Him show you what He has already filled you up with, and then you can fill yourself to overflowing with it. Then it can come out of you. Naturally. If you're trying to get what you think you haven't got, but what you in truth already have, you will never be anything but frustrated. You will always come at things from that place of lack. And that's such a hard thing to do. Such a hopeless place to be. So don't resist God's love. That's the point I want to make today. Don't resist. Don't resist evil. Turn the other cheek. Don't fight back. Don't get all worked up. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called (identified as) the Son(s) of God. People are going to do what they are going to do. All you can do is love them. And sometimes from a distance. But don't resist GOD either. Don't think you're not worthy of His love. Don't think you have to earn it. Or that some day, somehow, maybe He'll be able to love you if you do this, this, and this. Love is unconditional. It's either there... or it isn't. From God, to us, it's there. Period. Always has been, always will be. Don't resist it. Just let it happen. Fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with... and experience it in a very real way by giving what you've got. Let God love you, and then love Him back by loving people. That's the secret of life. It's all about love. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. The love is there. Don't resist it!