The Journey part 2
The more I get into this truth of a Finished Work the more my thinking begins to change. Or, as the Apostle Paul put it, the more I BE transformed (into what I'm already transformed into) by the renewing of my mind. Not by trying to think God's thoughts, but by letting Him think His own thoughts in and through and as me. Letting the mind of Christ (that's already in me) BE in me. And this maturation process is really focused on life right now. Because as many things as we try to make our existence about... it's about life. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. And, really, that's one of the biggest perceptions that had to shift. Life isn't about getting stuff. Life is about giving away--or sharing--what you've got! It is more blessed to give than to receive. Because it is only by giving that we truly can receive. Now let me say this, because I really think it's important: There's a big difference between being given something, and receiving something. I believe that the gift of eternal life was given to every man when Jesus was lifted up from the earth and drew all men into Himself. But that does NOT mean that everybody is experiencing. Because that's what faith is all about. Knowing and believing that you've been given something is what allows you to receive and enjoy what you've been given. But having said that, I also believe that receiving something is very different than "getting" something. If you're trying to get something it means you believe you don't have something. And that's coming from a place of lack. Let me say this clearly: We have no lack, because our God has no lack. We are always with Him, and everything He has is ours. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. So, we don't need to get anything. We simply need to receive what we've already been given. What does this have to do with The Journey? Everything! Because it shifts our focus. Jesus said, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Matthew 6:25). Take no thought for your life. There's a more excellent way then "getting what you need" and simply surviving. Is not the life more than mean, and the body than raiment? What's more than what you eat and what you wear? What's more than life? Abundant life! HIS life! Love! A life of love... which is what LIFE really is. The Father loving us and us loving each other with that same love. That's what it means to truly live. And that's got nothing to do with a journey from point A to point B. That's got nothing to do with going anywhere or getting anything. That's a totally different mindset about success, and about what we are "supposed to do." Tomorrow we're really going to look at this, but the journey was a three day journey from death to life. And, in the person of Jesus, we have already taken that journey. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead in Adam. But now, BECAUSE of the journey, we are alive in Him! Because of the journey that He took (both for us and as us) we can rest. Because of the journey, we can be transformed... because we've already been transformed. We can love, because we know that we are loved, and we know that we are love!