The Guide part 1
This is one of the many, many, many things I learned from my pastor: The Bible can be considered a map. Because it tells you where you are, and how you got there. But the Holy Spirit is your GUIDE. And it's better to have a guide than a map. Because a guide has a PHD--Physically Has Done it. A guide has been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. A guide knows shortcuts. A guide knows places (and things, and people) to avoid. A guide can keep you out of trouble. That's why I always say, "The Bible is wonderful, but unless you know the author (God, Jesus, Love) it can get you into a LOT of trouble!" So I guess basically what I'm saying in this Rant series is: Follow your heart. Because it will never lead you wrong. Because, "Charity never faileth..." (1 Corinthians 13:8). Here's the key though: You have to know what love (or charity, which is love in action) is trying to accomplish. Because if you have this selfish idea of love, "I'll scratch your back so that you'll scratch mine," then it may very well seem like love DOES fail. But really, love isn't failing. Your expectation has set YOU up for failure. Guys, if you're loving in order to get something... you're not really loving at all. We don't love in order to get. We love because we have. We have something that's too good to keep to ourselves, so we share it. I'm convinced that along with looking for love in all the wrong places, we "love" for all the wrong reasons. And then we look around and wonder how we got to where we are. We dig a giant hole and then wonder how we got in so deep. I even read a quote recently that said, "Your heart is a drunken compass, don't trust it." But that's just bitterness and cynicism. I've said this before, I don't believe a heart can break. It's too strong and too resilient. It can ACHE, but somehow it always bounces back. Somehow it always keeps loving. Especially when you go a little deeper--not into that hole you dug, but into the inner man, the hidden man of the heart--and begin to understand what it really means to love. And what it really means to love... is to give. Remember the old phrase, "You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving." Love IS giving. Giving what you've got. Giving who you are. Laying down your life for your friends. And that takes on a whole new meaning when your Spiritual eyes are open and you see EVERYBODY as your friends. When you destroy your enemies by MAKING them your friends. When you heap fiery coals on people's heads, not to burn them, but to melt their hearts. Let me say it like this, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). That's my focus for this Rant series: exploring what it really means to be led by the Spirit. Because I don't think it means God says, "Do this or I'll punish you." I think it means, in a nutshell, listening to the still small voice testify of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. Why do you think those who are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God? Because that's what the Spirit is telling us! And then, when we do who we are, everything flows from that identity. Not from outside-in, but from inside-out. We don't love in order to get. We don't do in order to be. We love because we have! We do BECAUSE we be!