The Promised Land part 3
God promised us (Spiritually speaking) a land flowing with milk and honey. Righteousness and revelation. The revelation that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. And we took that to mean, "I need to do this, this, and this in order to get what's coming to me." Which is so twisted. If someone promises to give you something... then its on THEM to give it to you. You don't have to make it happen (Captain). A gift can't be earned. And, yes, God did lead the people of Israel around in the desert (in part) to prepare them. To make sure they were ready to occupy the land. That's even why He cautioned them to take it a step at a time. A little at a time. Here a little, there a little. Because sometimes we're so gung-ho to go we get in over our heads. We take on too much. And then we end up spreading ourselves too thin and not really accomplishing much of anything. Slow and steady wins the race, right? But what I want to talk about today is the idea of seeking. But not seeking in the sense of trying to find something you don't have. We're not--or at least we shouldn't be--trying to fill a void. We should be seeking in the sense of exploring what we do have. Not filling a void, but seeking to understand what FILLED that void. Because the void we feel is God-shaped. Love-shaped. And the only thing that can fill a God-shaped void... is God. The only thing that can fill a love-shaped void... is love. So let's look at Matthew 6:33 with this understanding: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." See, we treat this as, "I gotta find the Kingdom. If I can just find what I'm looking for I'll be alright." But I think I said this yesterday: We are IN the Kingdom... and we ARE the Kingdom. Seek the Kingdom of God--the Kingdom of love--that's within you. Stop looking everywhere else and look within. Find that righteousness, not in works and labor to try to earn something, but in random (or not so random) acts of kindness that flow from the abundance of the heart. And then, once you understand who you are and what you've got--when you understand that God made good on His promise over 2,000 years ago--you will be able to let "all these things," the natural basics like somewhere to eat and somewhere to live, be added unto you. Because Jesus didn't say "add them unto yourself." He said, "shall be added unto you." Your heavenly Father is your provider, and your provision. He has everything we need because He IS everything we need. Have you ever heard of, like, old people who have been together for their whole lives... one will die and then the other will die shortly after? Because what we need more than anything else--more than food, or drink, or shelter, or what--is love. And when its gone... we're gone. So focus on what is the most important first. Get it settled in your mind (the mind of Christ) and your heart that the promise of a land where you can rest... has been fulfilled. You are who you need to be and you have what you need to have. Stop seeking as if to find... and start seeking to understand. You don't need to do anything. God did it all. So you could get it all. And now we have it all. So we can start giving away what we've got. The land FLOWS with milk and honey. We can let go and let God... and we can let what's inside flow out of us! We can give love away, but only when we know that we have it. We have it. So start giving it away!