The Measure part 3
The measure of God is the fulness of God. Now let me explain that a little bit, and let me link two memory verses together to do it. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). That's the first one. And it pretty much just lays it out there. In Jesus is ALL of God. All of love. God is love. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. So that goes right along with John 1:16, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." We don't need anything from God, because He has already given everything He has and everything He is to us. Grace for grace. From glory to glory. Not starting at the bottom and working our way down, as the world would have us believe, but starting at the top and staying there. Seated at the right hand of the Father. The power seat. Love is all powerful. And, as always, that doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means love has all of the power. Love IS all of the power. There is no power in this universe except love. Now, I'm not denying that we EMPOWER things in our lives that don't have any power. We give things power over us, if I can say it that way. But we don't need to. And we shouldn't. In Jesus dwells all of the fulness of God. And in us dwells Jesus. So in us dwells all the fulness of God. THE measure of faith has been given to us. We have all received His fulness. We have no lack because our God has not lack. He gave it all to us. Simply because He wanted us to have it. To experience it. To give it away. To share it. Yesterday I said the measure of a man is in how he treats people. Who you are, at the end of the day, is your relationships. Because relationships are built on a foundation of love... or they're not. And which way it goes defines who you are. If you use people in order to "get" "love" (and yes I put both of those in quotation marks on purpose, because love is never about getting, because love is giving)... that's a type of relationship. But its an abusive relationship and its no good. That's not love. That's manipulation and control. Again--abuse. But if you understand that you have been literally filled to overflowing with the gift of God--His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life--you won't ever have to worry about what you're "getting." Because you will know (and believe) that you have everything you will ever need. And in having it, you will be able to give it away. Receiving and releasing that gift. That life. That love. Fulness. Filled to overflowing. What's inside coming out. Naturally. We have received of His fulness, grace for grace. Freely we have received, freely we can give. Because we have something to give. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. That's why hurting people hurt people. That's also why loved people love people. The measure of faith is knowing that we are loved. The measure of a man is what He does with that knowledge--that love. And the measure of God is the fulness of His love exploding out of us, the people that He loves!