The Three L's part 1
I talk about the Three T's a lot--Time, Talent, Treasure. Because, to me, those are the things you can really control. Those are the things you have. So those are the things you can use. And you can either use them wisely--spend them, or invest them--or you can waste them. It's a bummer when I see people wasting them. But for this Rant series (and I'm contemplating doing a super long one instead of the regular 5 parter, we'll see), I want to introduce the Three L's. And these Three L's are really just three different ways of saying who God is. The Three L's are: Life, Light, Love. When we really start to understand who God is, that's when we can come out of the religous works and labor "relationship" with Him and begin to really see Him as He is. That's a big part of the light aspect. And that's one of my favorites. I love preaching and Ranting about the light. Jesus identifying Himself as the light of the world... and identifying US as the light of the world (John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14 respectively). It's the same light. The same light that HE is, is the same light that WE are. It shines on us, and in us, and through us! And if you look at John 1:4 you see, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." There's not only a connection between life and light. There is a very plain, simple, and bold statement that they are the same thing. So we're beginning to see the picture here. Look at 1 John 1:7 (NLT), "But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowhip with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." LIVING in the LIGHT means fellowship (or LOVE) with one another! And a byproduct of that love... is being cleansed from all sin. I'm going to do a podcast episode on this in the near future, but I want to touch on it here. When 1 John 3:9 says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God," what we need to understand is that sin is unbelief. And a believer--by defintion--cannto sin. How could he? What we need to understand is that when you're full of light, there is no room for darkness. When God arises, His enemies are scattered. It's not a deal where you have to be "Mr. Perfect" and never make any mistakes. If you never make any mistakes, how can you learn from your mistakes? Even on your worst day, when you've done everything wrong, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Because nothing can separate you from His love. Nothing can change your identity--who you are in Christ, which is who Christ is in you. In Revelation 21:3 in the Message Bible we read, "I heard a voice from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and wome! They're his people, he's their God."" God moved in. To you. You are the house of the Lord. You are where He lives. And He's never moving out. So our blessed assurance is not "heaven" as an opposite of hell, someday, when (if) we die, if we're good boys and girls and make the cut. Our blessed assurance is that when Jesus died (and we died in Him) we went to heaven. That's where we are right now. The days of heaven on earth. Ruling and reigning as kings and priests on this earth. Understanding His Three L's so we can correctly spend our Three T's. Living in the light of love. That's as simple as I can make it. This abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God is all about living in the light of His love! Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with and enjoying the gift we've been given by giving it away. By sharing it! Knowing who we are by knowing who HE is and BEING who we are letting HIM be who HE is in us, and through us, and as us!