Right part 3
When its right, its right. And you know it, beyond a shadow of a doubt. You don't have to force right. In fact, you can't. The harder you try to make something that ISN'T right... right... the more frustrated you get. Because you can't earn a gift. No matter how hard you try. And the love, and acceptance, and mercy, and grace of God is the GIFT of God. That's what eternal life is--knowing the one true God and the One whom He sent. Knowing God as loving heavenly Father and knowing ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's the right standing that came about through, and because of, the cross. Because first of all, in the beginning, we were made in God's image. And then, on the cross, we were conformed to the image of His Son. We could finally stop trying to be someone we weren't. We could finally stop looking for love in all the wrong places. And we could know (and believe) that we are who we're supposed to be. We could finally find love in the God who IS love. Right at the source. Right inside of us. God is everywhere, right? But He LIVES in--He dwells in, He operates from--our hearts. When the Bible describes Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father--the power seat--that's the heart. God is all powerful (which doesn't mean MOST powerful, but ALL of the power) and God is love. So LOVE is all powerful. And love doesn't come from without. Love comes from within. God is love. As He is, so are we in this world. We ARE love. We CAN love because we ARE loved. And because we ARE loved, we can understand our true nature; which IS love. Loving is the most natural thing in the world--when you know who you really are. When you're not trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. And love is the rightest (is that a word? Most right?) thing in the world. If you want to be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing... love people. Wherever you are. Whenever it is. Love is the right thing. Always. But love is giving. So you can't be focused on getting. Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and everything else will be added to you. HAS BEEN added to you. So when you stop trying to get, you can see what you've already got. When you stop trying to be who you're not, you can be who you are. And God created you to be who you are. He created you to be... you. And to do everything you do the right way. Not because you're trying really hard to do it right--works and labor don't work--but because you know that you can only do it right by letting Him do it. In you. And through you. And as you. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. When we can't... He can, and will, and does! Love is too big to keep inside. But its all too big to do by ourselves. I mean, in order to love, we need something (or someone) TO love. It takes two to tango. But we can't do it without the God who IS love. Without Him loving us we don't have any love to give. We love because He first loved us. We give what He gave us. We receive it and release it. We give it away. We share it. And in that way, we experience it. That's the right way to do it. That's the right--the only--way to live. Life is empty without love. Without people. Without relationships. But when its right... its right!