Success! part 2
I think where we get into trouble with a verse like, "Love never fails," is that we think that means we can use love to get whatever we want. And that is, quite honestly, the farthest thing from the truth. Because love is NEVER about getting. Love is always about giving. Because love IS giving. So in order for love to never fail, we need to understand what it means for love to succeed. And what it means for love to succeed is for us to give ourselves to each other. And in that way we spread the gospel of the Kingdom. In that way we share the Kingdom. Because we don't just live IN the Kingdom, we ARE the Kingdom. The King lives in us, right? And wherever the King rules and reings, that's where--that's what--the Kingdom is. So when we see a verse like Isaiah 9:7, "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this," we start to undertand what's going on here. And the first thing I see is that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this! It's not about what WE do, it's about what HE did. On the cross. 2,000 years ago. The Kingdom HAS come. The King established it. For us... and in us. And the goverment and peace--the government OF peace--has no end because HE continues to reveal Himself to us, and through us, and in us, and as us! He continues to fill us to overflowing with Himself. With His love. So that we can obey the New Commandment and love one another as He loves us. Did you catch that? We love AS we are loved. We don't love in order to try to get something. We love because we have something. And the thing we have is too good to keep to ourselves. Before the cross man thought God's love was too good to be true. But he wanted it. Desperately. So he tried to earn it. He tried to get enough knowledge about good and evil that he might only do good and stop doing evil. But he didn't realize good and evil were on the same tree. The tree of death. And it wasn't until Jesus cursed that fig tree--because it couldn't produce any fruit--that we come to the true paradise of God (New Jerusalem) and we see that there is only one tree left. The Tree of Life. It wasn't until God poured out His Spirit on all flesh that we could finally see His love for what it is: Not something too good to be true, but something so good that it must be THE truth! That's what the Holy Spirit is; our love receptor. He is the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The ultmate truth of the universe that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. The ultimate truth that Daddy loves us. That it was His good pleasure to GIVE us the Kingdom. Eternal life--which is knowing the Father and the One whom He sent (living in the context of Sonship)--is a gift. And you can't earn a gift. And you can't use a gift to get something from people. So when we have this "I love you, you have to love me back. I'll scratch your back, but you better scratch mine" mentality... that's not love. That's selfishness. And love is selfLESS not selfish. Love gives. Love gives itself. Love lays His life down for His friends. So we can HAVE that life of love. So we can experience it by loving one another as we are loved. Love is what makes an abundant life abundant. Loving others is what truly makes life a success!