Steadfast part 5
Stick with me as we end this Rant series tonight. Because I want to drop my memory verse first and then build off of it. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the widsom of men, but in the power of God." I've been on a kick lately--it's been heavy on my heart, if I can say it that way--to try to help us (myself included) understand that what we have is 100% who God is. We have faith... because He is faithful. We have forgiveness... because He has forgiven us. We have grace... because He is graceful. All good and perfect gifts come down from the Father of lights. Our heavenly Father. Which makes us the lights. Jesus identified Himself as the light of the world, and He identified US as the light of the world. Same light. The light of life. The light of love. God's Word (which is Jesus, which is love) is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We are steadfast... because HE is steadfast. Our faith is not built upon the wisdom of men. Because--look, we have an unction from the Spirit and we know all things. We know the ultimate truth of the universe that God is love and He loves us. But knowing it and understanding it are two different things. Head knowledge vs heart knowledge. You can know something is true without really understanding the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of it. That's what this never-ending eternal life-long journey is all about. It's about getting to the heart of the matter. Which is the heart of God beating in our chests. The heart of God saying "I love you" with every beat. "I love you. I love you. I love you." And it's that consistency, that unconditional presence of His love that equips and empowers us to do everything we were meant to do. Which, by the way, in a word, is love. We were created to love. We are meant to love. Filled to overflowing with love. Guys... it's all about love. But in order to be steadfast IN love, love has to be steadfast in US. That makes sense, right? You can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. So you have to first have it. We love because He first loved us. He gave us what He wanted us to have so that we could use it. So that we could enjoy it by giving it away. By sharing it. Paul was writing of demonstrating the Spirit in power. Charity. Love in action. Putting our money where our mouth is, so to speak. Living a life that exemplifies and glorifies God... by receiving and releasing His love. That's all we're ever supposed to do. Let God love the hell out of us and then love Him back by loving each other. That's what this life is all about. And that's why God loves us all of the time, no matter what--so that we can love each other all of the time. No matter what. So that we can stand in the power of God. The power of love. We can let that love flow through us. Into us and out of us with every breath we take and every move we make. We can be, as one preacher put it, the spout where the glory comes out. We can experience, and enjoy, this life we've been given by sharing the love we've been given. No. Matter. What. We can be steadfast in His love by being steadfast in our love one to another!