The Secret part 1
I know a secret. And because of this secret I don't have to accept things the way they seem to be. Truth is higher and fact. You can face the facts, or you can accept the truth. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says that we walk by faith and not by sight. This is the difference between the facts and the truth. This is the difference between darkness and light. Because walking by sight (natural sight) when it is dark out will cause you to stumble and fall. But walking by faith and knowing and believing that the light of the world shines in you... that's how Jesus keeps us from falling. Let me say this about faith: Faith is not trying to make something happen. Faith is believing in what already happened. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. Faith isn't hoping for a move of Christ. Faith is a revelation of Jesus. Faith is receiving and manifesting what is already true, no matter what the facts say. The facts say you're a screw up. That you're not good enough and no matter what you do there's always one thing that you lack. But look at Psalm 25:14 (our key verse for this Rant series), "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." So what, you may ask, exactly IS the secret of the Lord? It's the mystery that was hidden but is now revealed! It is Christ in you the hope of glory! It is God's covenant. The NEW Covenant. It isn't just Jesus for you, or with you. It's Jesus IN you and AS you! It's an ascended life. An abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! And here's the best part. When you KNOW the secret... you can enjoy the secret. When you KNOW what covenant you're in you can stop trying to fulfill an obsolete one and you can stop jumping back and forth between Old and New. I've used this illustration before: The Law is a stone. Grace is a mirror. If you try to mix the Law and grace you get a cracked reflection. A messed up picture of who you really are. But the secret is: You are loved and accepted unconditionally by your heavenly Father. The secret is... there's nothing wrong with you. You don't need to change. And in fact, the kind of change we usually think about (changing from evil to good) is impossible. If you're a sinner (which to me means unbeliever but to most people means somebody who does "bad" stuff), then at the end of the day that's who you are. But in God's eyes--in the New Covenant, once the secret gets out--you AREN'T a sinner. He built the New Covenant on a foundation that says, "Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more." He took a human race that considered themselves sinners and revealed them to be His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. He said, "If I can get your focus off of sin, and off our behavior, and off of what YOU are doing... then maybe I can show what I'M doing (both for you and as you). I can show you what I DID on the cross." That's the secret of God's love. He's not mad AT you, He's mad ABOUT you. And He would literally rather die than be without you. This secret (and we find the secret in the secret place, but we'll get there) is the difference between death and life. Because LOVE is the difference between death and life. Without love you can't really live. And with love there's nothing you can do BUT live. Here's the good news: The secret is out. God loves you.