The Real part 3
Love is real. That's why it's all I seem to talk about, or write about, or think about. Because I can't think of anything I'd RATHER talk about, or write about, or think about. God IS love. I'm really trying to frame everything--EVERYTHING--in the reference of love. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, right? The beginning and the end? And Jesus is love. God in the flesh, love in a body. So that means love is the beginning and the end. We start with it (with HIM) and we end with it (with HIM). That's when we move out of the fake, surface, circumstantial WORLD and into the real, deep, everlasting Kingdom of God. And when I say "move" what I really mean is MANIFEST. Colossians 1:12-14 says, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Remember the cross? The FINISHED work? We aren't trying to get into the Kingdom. We're already in the Kingdom. And since the Kingdom is simply the realm where the King rules and reigns... we ARE the Kingdom! The Kingdom is real. It's not just where we live, it's who we are. And since it's the Kingdom of God... it's the Kingdom of LOVE. When I read the Bible, I actually replace the Word God with the Word Love. Just so I can keep my affections on things above. Just to remind myself about what we're really talking about here. The tricky part, as always, is that the surface stuff--the fake stuff--is right in our face. The world screams at the top of it's lungs trying to conform us. But think about it this way: If we need to be conformed to the world, it's only because we've already been taken out of the world! We've already been translated into the Kingdom! Which is why Paul warns us to, "...be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2). Not because we need to GET transformed, but because we need to BE transformed into what we've already BEEN transformed into! We need to walk in newness of life, instead of trying to earn a new life. Struggling, and scraping by, and letting the world dictate to us is NOT why we were created. We were created to experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus by letting Him live His life in and through and as us. We were created for something real. Created to be loved, and to love one another with that same agape God love. Guys... to live is to love and to love is to live. You can't experience real life without real love. They're one and the same. God is love. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. You can't have one without the other. So in my life... that's all I want. I want the real. I want the love. And I know that I already have it. So now I can share it. I can receive it and release it. I don't have to accept what the world offers because it's fake. It's a lie. And I know the truth!