Show Love part 4
The only way to truly show someone God is to show them Jesus. You know, God in the flesh. Love in a body. What I'm trying to say is: The ONLY way to show someone God is to show them LOVE. And we do THAT, by holding tightly to Him. With the understanding that HE is holding tightly to us and will never let us go. With the understanding that whatever we do to the least of them, we do unto Him. I think it's one of the Kung Fu Panda movies that says, "The more you take, the less you have." And that could not be more true than it is in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Love. Because when it comes to love, it's not about getting--CERTAINLY not about taking--it's about giving. We have been given everything. The keys to the Kingdom. Because we have been given the King. We don't just live IN the Kingdom, we ARE the Kingdom. Because the King lives in us. And through us. And as us. Let me quote my verse for today. And I have Ranted extensively on this before but it fits right here. And you know the old saying, "If it fits... it sits." So look at Isaiah 43:21, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise." And the funny thing about praise is... praise is the RESULT of something. We don't praise Him in order to get Him to move. He already moved 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. We praise Him because His move was praiseworthy. I know the Kingdom is upside down and backwards--the first shall be last and the last first, for example--but I also think we HAVE a lot of it backwards. Like how we're always waiting for a move of God when He already moved. Like how we're always waiting for God to do something, when HE'S waiting for US to do something! He equipped and empowered us to show His love to people by loving us. By filling us to overflowing with His love. He formed us--fearfully and wonderfully--so that we could show (or shew) forth His praise. So that we could be witnesses among men. And you know what a witness does, right? He testifies what he has seen and heard. What he has experienced. That's why the New Commandment (for a New Man) is to love one another AS Jesus has loved you. You aren't expected to produce anything. God didn't want what Cain's hands could produce. He wanted the Lamb. You are simply expected to receive and release the gift of God. To let God love you, and to love each other with that love. To know that what He has done is worthy of praise, and then to let that praise be your natural reaction. Praise isn't about what's going to happen. It's about what has already happened. (And I know God knows the end from the beginning, and His timing is always perfect because He's a right now God. I'm simply saying, even when you praise Him and believe for something that hasn't manifested yet... there's a difference between trying to get something, and receiving something.) We were put on this earth, we were literally created, to be the visible expression of an invisible God. And that God is love. So in order to express Him we must show love. Just as HE has shown it to us. Love as we are loved. Guard our hearts--by keeping them OPEN to love--and let what's inside come out by filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. Not telling people about God, but SHOWING people who He is. By showing them what love is. By loving them. That's how we love God; by loving each other!