Sacrifice part 5
It was the ultimate sacrifice. Literally giving everything He had and everything He is. Not so that He could get something, but so that WE could HAVE something. Because Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. God wanted the best FOR us, so He gave the best TO us. He SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So that we might know that we ARE His beloved Son. So that we might HAVE that abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. So that we might be able to partake of the Divine Nature and know that we are unconditionally loved. Because what is more divine than love? God IS love. I'm telling you, the most holy thing you can do is love somebody. And the greatest expression of love that a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. That's the sacrifice that was made 2,000 years ago on the cross. And because Jesus made that sacifice (both for us and as us) we can now make that sacrifice. WE can give everything we have and everything we are. We don't have to be afraid of losing what we've got, because perfect love casts out fear! There is no fear in love. The sacrifice isn't about courage. It isn't about being afraid and doing it anyway. It's about faith. Trusting that the more we give it away, the more we experience it! And, again, our sacrifice is made possible because it is the same sacrifice that Jesus already made! We don't have to conquer. He already conquered. We are MORE than conquerors through Him. He did the work, and we get to enjoy the fruit of HIS labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Love. And we experience it by receiving it and releasing it. By knowing it and believing it. Not by faking it until we make it, but by letting God love us so much that it fills us to overflowing and comes out naturally! I think people are desperate for something real. They know when you're faking. And they're not interested in that. That's why religion is such a turnoff to so many people. There's nothing real there. No real, lasting change. Because change doesn't come from the outside-in. It comes from the inside-out. It isn't even "change" as much as it is a manifestation of Kingdom reality. Which FEELS like a change, don't get me wrong. But the change took place 2,000 years ago. And really, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. So the "change" was always in place. Just waiting for us to understand the truth. To know and believe--through the Holy Spirit--that God always has loved us and always will love us. When the circumcision of the heart was made, the flesh of human effort was cut away and God's heart was revealed in our chests. And God's heart beats with love. So the sacrifice of loving God by loving one another is really every breath we take and every move we make. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. In us HE lives, and moves, and has His being! He made the sacrifice of love so that we might know love. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So when you know that you ARE loved... you can love. When you know that you ARE loved... you know that you ARE love! And then the sacrifice doesn't feel like a burden at all. It feels like the best, most natural thing in the world. SImply giving what you've got out of the abundance of your heart. Simply letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's (He's, love) in there!