Trust part 1
I think sometimes I repeat themes (and perhaps even titles) for these Rants... but I took to heart the advice my pastor gave me a long time ago: Preach it until your heart is empty of it. And these themes are the ones that I'm full of. The ones that can't help but overflow out of us. So if I've Ranted before on the trust issue we seem to have, I'm doing it again now, and will probably do it again later on. Because I think its important. Because obedience is all about trust. If you trust that your heavenly Father has your best interests in HIS heart, then you'll be willing and able to do what He says. And, spoiler alert, He only ever says one thing. He only ever wants us to do one thing. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). That's about as simple as it gets. Let God love the hell out of you, and love the hell out of everybody you come into contact with. Receive and release the love of God. Share the gift you've been given by giving it away. Fill yourself to overflowing with what God has filled you with. Which is Himself. Which is His love. Isn't it interesting that the sum of the Law of Moses was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength? But the New Commandment (for the New Man) is to love ONE ANOTHER... and to love one another AS JESUS has loved us. The Law was all about what you could do. The New Commandment is all about what Jesus has done. In you, and through you, and as you. Its a complete and total shift from being self-centered to being Christ-centered (people-centered). From trusting ourselves... to trusting Him. Look at 1 John 4:16 in the NLT, which is my key verse for this Rant series: "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." Knowing and believing. Because you can't believe something you don't know. Because faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God. We know God loves us because He gave His life for us, and He gave His life to us. And we put our trust in His love. When He asks us (or commands us) to love... we know that He loves us. In truth, the only reason we CAN love is because He first loved us. Because love is giving. And you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. God gave us His love so that we could give it back to Him by giving it to each other. But you have to have faith in God. You have to have faith in love. You have to trust that love will light the way, and lead the way. You have to trust that you have everything you need. Otherwise you'll waste your life trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. God doesn't want that for you. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. A life of love. Being loved and loving others. Trust me... that's what its all about!