The Love Letter part 1
Before I really get this Rant series started I want to say: Everybody has a different part to play. There are some things I don't feel qualified to speak about, or write about. And there are some things I do feel qualified to preach. One of those things is love. I don't know why, but God has really put it on my heart (in my heart) to just talk about love. Which, since God IS love, works out well. So that's usually my focus. That's definitely my focus this series. Because that's why we're here. We're here to be loved and to love. Period. We are God's love letter to the world. His love flows into us and through us and out of us. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 in the Message Bible, "You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter than anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it--not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives--and we publish it." Think about that: Christ wrote a letter on your heart... by writing HIMSELF on your heart. By taking up abode IN your heart. And make no mistake, God's love letter to the world only has one Word on it. And that Word is Jesus. That Word is love. Jesus IS the Word of God. When God speaks (or writes) that's what He says. That's all He needs to say. And I love the way the Message Bible puts it: He wrote it in us, and we publish it. What's inside us comes out of us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And then the Word wrote Himself in us. And now the Word becomes flesh every time we let what's in us come out. Every time we love one another with the love that we are loved with the Word becomes flesh. The Word manifests in OUR flesh. Jesus (God in the flesh, love in a body) in and through and as us. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That's what it's all about and that's how it all works. I say this ALL the time, but it's not about what you do... it's about what you believe. Because what you do flows from what you believe. You can't fix what you do. But you can fix what you believe. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. The Word of God is written on your heart. Listen to your heart. Follow your heart. Let the love that's in there come out of there. People are going to "read your letter" no matter what. And that's why most non-Christians think most Christians are hypocrites. Because what we preach isn't always what we do. We preach the Law but can't follow it. Or we preach a, "Love or else" message when we aren't loving anybody. That stuff turns people off. The GOODNESS of God leads to repentance. Seeing a more excellent way equips and empowers us to believe (instead of just hoping). The Way of Grace equips and empowers us to Walk by Faith. It all flows from the source. Love flows from the God who IS love. He wrote it on (in) our hearts. All we have to do is read it (to ourselves) to receive it, and read it (out loud, to others) to release it. We are God's love letter to the world.