Ok, here's the situation--- Your faith is all but gone, your depressed, dejected, in despair, don't know where to go, what to do, who to turn to, if you can turn to anybody, if they'll really be able to help you anyway if you do, you've had it with your faith and with God, and you're at the end of your rope. You're hurt so bad that you don't even care any more. And all you want to do is quit. At this point, someone might come up and try to tell you that quitting is just never the answer, and "things will get better somehow", and that "quitting is never the answer." If that's the case then how come everything in you is screaming "Quit! Stop!! It's killing me!!" ?? It's because the things that have driven you to this point need to be stopped and quit. Quitting IS the answer, but quitting the correct things. The desire to quit inside of you is legitimate. Only you need to know what it is that truly needs to be quit. What truly needs to be quit is all of the fear and the striving and the performance and the things that are driving you up the wall. The attitudes that show no trust and produce no love. And the only reason He hasn't showed up so far is because He doesn't want you to think that all of your fearful, striving, performance based efforts are what are going to endear you to Him. You should not ignore your real emotions. Only you don't have to respond to them the ways that the world always says to respond to them. (Giving up, quitting, etc.) You just need to be honest about them and then see what you can REALLY do to change them. And here is my suggestion. Instead of quitting, trust.

See, you have wrong ideas about God. You think that He is waiting for you to get your act together before He'll take care of you. You don't know that you can stop everything you are doing and He'll carry you. He really will. You just don't know it because you've never experienced it before. Talk about faith. Talk about taking a chance. Talk about stepping off of the ledge when you see no plank there. Your pastors and leaders have always espoused the merits of this kind of thing, so why not do it for real, and see if He doesn't catch you? Cause it's a lot better than walking away from Him. There is an alternative to quitting your faith and quitting on God. It's called quitting your striving and your efforts born of fear and performance, and trusting that He really can be God in your life. Let go and let God.

See, you certainly can quit. Your heart is telling you the truth when it wants to quit. Just quit the right things!!

Saying no to God

Ever wonder if you could say no to God? Ever wonder if He'd get mad at you if you did?

Here's a thought. I believe He does give us the freedom to say no to Him. And it's precisely this freedom to say no to Him that produces the desire inside of me to say yes.

Just a thought.

No fear

Was watching Star Wars Episode 1 the other night, just minding my own business, when all of a sudden Yoda says this cryptic statement, and God starts to talk to me through it. Here's what he said-- " Fear is the path to the dark side, because fear leads to anger, and anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering."

WHOA.

Preach it Yoda. This is what I've been trying to say for quite some time now. WE'VE GOT TO STOP BEING AFRAID OF GOD. Because if you are, it will cause you to be angry at Him. Whether you think about it conciously or not. And how can you possibly be in love with someone you are afraid of?? And since faith works through love, THEN HOW CAN YOUR FAITH WORK WHEN YOU ARE BEING AFRAID OF HIM??

Respect, yes, honor, yes, aknowledgement that He is God, and the Creator of ALL things and therefore the one in charge, the Head Honcho, The One who knows what's best for you, and is worth trusting, and follwing, yes YES YES. But fear? NO. Emphatically and desperately NO!

Anger always follows fear. If you are living in fear of God, you will be angry at Him, and your faith will have a BIG FAT HOLE in it. One which the devil will be able to exploit to his advantage.

You must understand that God loves you... Infinitely, deeply, passionately, and truly. Forever. And you MUST live your life from this foundation. What is the one thing that the Bible says never fails?? Love. YOU may fail, those around you may fail, but love never fails. And God is love.

Repent

So I was thinking today about how many times in the Bible God is telling us to , "Repent! Repent!!" I mean, the old testament is almost nothing but that. (Which, by the way, brings up another good point--namely, the purpose of the law being to show that we can't live that way, underneath it, because God kept having to tell them to repent over and over and over again!) But nevertheless, back to my original point. The Bible is full of calls to repentance. Especially in the old testament, but throughout the new testament as well. Repent, repent, repent. Almost gets kind of scary, doesn't it? NO!! And here's why not!

Was also thinking today about how most PEOPLE respond to seeing someone else doing something obviously wrong or evil. How you and I respond to the people we see doing bad things in the world around us. How I respond, when I see someone doing something that I know is wrong, to hurt somebody else, or themselves. We, as human beings usually respond with such anger that it's amazing. We, I want to usually go over and stop them, and sometimes the ways that I think of using to stop them are not very nice. There's the key.

None of us think twice about the ways we respond to the evil we see around us in the world, however much damage we may inflict upon the person who's doing the bad thing; verbally, mentally, or even physically. None of us think twice about feeling justified in our feelings of rage, anger, and vengeance. In fact, we even tend to think that we are on God's good side when we are feeling those ways, because this person/people are obviously so freaking wrong and evil. In short, you and I and the rest of the human race feel good about about smashing evil people, and destroying them.

But God doesn't. God never crushes them between His fingers in righteous anger and indignation. He doesn't just automatically snuff out anybody who he sees is doing wrong. Which He most certainly could at any given time, as we all know. All He does is tell them to CHANGE!

I hope that just sank into you like it just did for me. We think nothing of our own evil desires to hurt and destroy people (all in the name of righteousness), all the while living comfortably in one another's company, not fearing each other, and all the while living in fear of God who has no desire to destroy anyone. PROVEN by the fact that none of us are destroyed on a daily basis, but are only continuously, out of love, told to CHANGE.

What in the world are we thinking?? How flipping backwards can one race of beings be?? God we need help.

And to be fair, and completely accurate, God did decide at a couple of places in the old testament to just wipe out everybody. Namely, the flood, that killed everybody. But when He was done doing that, He said this, apparently feeling bad about the whole thing--"I will never again curse the ground for man's sake...nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done."

Constant calls to repentance are a sign of His love and mercy, not His anger.

Faith and Trust

Heard a guy say something very interesting the other night. He was speaking about human relationships and business, but I related it to God... Here's what He said.-- "We have to live by faith for a while, because TRUST takes time."

Wow.

And again I say, wow.

Let's think about this in human relationships. If you are a person that I enter into some sort of relationship with, maybe some sort of business relationship, I would have to live on faith, or hope, for a while, that what you told me was true, that what you said you were going to do, you did, and when you said you were going to pay me, you did, etc. etc.

But eventually, after some period of time, my faith would turn into trust, if you came through for me on a continual basis, consistently, over and over and over.

Then, I wouldn't be living by faith any more, ...eventually, I would be living by trust. My faith would have turned into trust.

This is the logical progression in relationships. Healthy ones, anyways. This is the natural progression, it is the way God designed it to work. This is how relationships are formed.


The more I get to know the Lord, the more I find out that He has set things up the way they are for a very good reason, even though we have trouble seeing it a lot of the time now while we are still so young. The point here being that he tells us we're going to have to live by faith for a very good reason. And I'm hoping to possibly explain some of that reason here.

So here's the gig. We are born into this world, with no sense of God, or connection to Him in any conscious sense, until some point in our lives, when he intercepts us, and we get to meet Him. We think this is just the greatest thing since sliced bread, and want to tell everyone else about it, and rejoice in it, but often make the mistake of thinking that that is the goal. When in reality, that is just the very beginning.

So we enter into the scene called "christianity", where we find other people who have had this same type of experience, and one of the first things we discover, from those who have been doing it already for some time, is that we have to "live by faith". In God. And most of us just sort of accept this is true, because God says so, without ever stopping to think about WHY this might be true. WHY would he tell us that we had to live by faith for a while??

IT'S BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT YET LEARNED TO TRUST HIM. Because trust takes time. BUT ONCE WE BEGIN TO SEE HIM FAITHFUL TO US, OVER AND OVER AND OVER, AND OVER AGAIN, THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, THROUGH THICK AND THROUGH THIN, NO MATTER WHAT COMES OUR WAY, FOR REAL...

WE BEGIN TO LEARN TO TRUST HIM.

AND TRUST IS THE DOORWAY INTO LOVE.

I've got news for you people. I DO NOT THINK THAT FAITH IS FOREVER. Faith is for now, because we are all so young, and such beginners, and He knows it's what we need in order to survive for a while. BUT EVENTUALLY, YOUR FAITH IS GOING TO TURN INTO TRUST. And that will lead you to love.

"Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease;whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love."

Why

Why we don't experience as much of Him in our services and activities as we'd like to. It might be because we still do so much of it out of fear, trying to earn His favor and appease Him. And He does not like this, because it keeps us from receiving His love, because true love can never be expressed under those circumstances, otherwise it is not true love, which is what and Who He is.




Stop. Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop. You need to be loved.

But couldn't it be because we need to be more holy??

Exactly.

And one of the greatest steps toward holiness that we can take is to eliminate fear from from our lives, because it is one of the least holy things out there. It is entirely unholy to be trying to earn His love.

God will never motivate you through fear! Fear is entirely UNHOLY! We need to stop being afraid of Him so that we are able to receive His love!

Fear of God?

Also, continuing on with the theme of being loved, I think I understand why it is that so much Christian writing carries with it the fear motivation, and why so much of it makes you feel afraid of God. It's because of the fact that we, as human beings, as a race, are so unused to being loved, and so used to being feared, that when He does something good for us, out of His love, we still, because we've been programmed to think and act and operate that way, see it through the lens of fear.

I think that this is what has happened to a lot of Christians, a lot of people, over the years, and that is why we have a lot of Christian literature that unintentionally makes us afraid of God. Because the people writing it were not able to see past their fear, in the situations where God did something REALLY good for them out of His love. And so they wrote down their experiences, because they rightly feel that they are worth recording and passing on to subsequent generations, but because of their lack of ability to receive love properly, they, because of their lifetime's worth of fear programming, logically then superimpose their fear onto that situation, their experience that they just had with God, where he tried to love them. Then when they write the experience down, they write their fear into it. Which is why, we, reading it a hundred years later, pick up on their fear, feel afraid of God, and assume (assume?) that being afraid of God must be correct, because how could this guy be wrong, who was such a great man of God, because everybody knows that all the great men of God lived in the 1800s, and we're just a bunch of schmucks today.

NO. The people back then were just as fouled up as we are today! They had no corner on the market. The Bible says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All. Even the great men of the 17th and 18th centuries! The Bible also says that there is no partiality with God!

The Bible says that God is love. The Bible also says that their is NO FEAR in love. What part of no don't we understand? When you sin, there is no fear in love. When you make mistakes, there is no fear in love. When you fail, there is no fear in love. When you give up and collapse under the pressure, becuase you just can't take it any more... THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE... AND HE IS LOVE.
God is love. Everything He does is out of love, out of WHO HE IS. It is irresponsible for you and me to abdicate the responsibility for our own relationships with God to someone who lived over a hundred years ago, and was just as screwed up as you and I are. No matter how spiritual their writings were, or are. It doesn't, in any waay, and cannot, in any way, release us from our responsibility to have a relationship with Him ourselves!!!

Your Authority

First John 4:13 states that "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as He is, so are we in this world."

Holy smoke. Did you catch that? This is possibly the most amazing, most fear smashing, guilt defeating statement statement anywhere ever.

Do you think that God ever got mad at Jesus? Do you think that Jesus was ever afraid of His Father?

Was Jesus afraid of the devil?

No. The answer to all of these questions is NO... and neither should you be!

Why?
BECAUSE AS HE IS, SO ARE YOU IN THIS WORLD.

You, as a child of God, with a new nature created in the nature of Christ, are just like Jesus. All His authority, all His love, all of HIM. WHO HE IS, His nature, IS NOW YOUR NATURE.

We have no business ever being afraid of God again. Ever.

taking the mystery out of the Bible

Ok, here we go again. Lets try to find out what another bible verse really means, and therefore give us a more accurate picture of God, and therefore make us less afraid of him, and therefore causing us all to fall more in love with Him, each other, and the world around us.

John2:4. Jesus is at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, and they have just run out of wine. (Heavens! What's a wedding without wine?) Anyhow, Jesus' Mom comes to Him and alerts Him to this serious situation. Jesus then utters these cryptic words... "Woman, what do I have to do with You? My time has not yet come."

WHOA. That's heavy. What's He saying, like, "Who are you, I have no need to have any involvement with you. Stop trying to interrupt the divine timetable." That's the way I've always seen this. Till now. The more I learn about God, the more I think it really just went something like this.

"Mother Mother, Mother... What am I gonna do with you? Always asking me to do miracles before the time for my ministry has started. " With a big smile on His face.

And then he goes ahead and does it anyway.

THIS IS MORE LIKE THE CHARACTER OF THE GOD WHO WE ARE GETTING TO KNOW.HE'S NOT CRYPTIC AND HE'S NOT WEIRD. IT'S ONLY OUR RELIGIOUS MINDSETS THAT MAKE HIM APPEAR SO.

We need to fall in love with a cool guy who loves us instead of living out our religion. It sounds a lot more fun.

Taking more fear out of scary Bible verses...

Many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 20:16

Another scary Bible verse. What to do with that one.

Here's what I believe.

To start us off, let's look at another Bible verse in John 3. John the baptist is talking about Jesus, and says, "...I am not the christ, but I have been sent before Him. HE WHO HAS THE BRIDE IS THE BRIDEGROOM; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full."

John is referring to himself as the friend of the bridegroom, and to Jesus as the bridegroom. This can tell us a lot about what Jesus is about.

Why in the world would John refer to Jesus as a bridegroom? Why wasn't he satisfied with just saying, "He is the Lord. I'm not, and He is." Why does John call Him the bridegroom, and then himself the friend of the bridegroom, and then with a big smile on his face, say, "And now this makes my joy full!"?

It's because of this. John knew something about Jesus that you and I are beginning to learn. That is the fact that God's love, Jesus' love, is so strong and powerful for us, the "Bride of Christ", that it is illustrated for us by the love that a husband feels for his bride on their wedding day.

Now, for any of you that have ever fallen in love with a woman, you know what feeling, what emotion, what passion I'm talking about. There is just nothing like it in the world. This is why John was so stinkin' happy about it, because He knew this. He knew that the living essence of love, love itself, the one who created that passionate feeling in the breasts of men throughout the ages for their brides, was walking down the river bank towards him. And He knew that this Love was also going to walk towards the entire world. That's why He was so happy about it. (ie., The friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly etc...)

God Himself, Jesus Christ Himself, through whom the world was created, (Collossians 1:16), thought up that feeling that we get when we fall in love. That feeling that absolutely lights up our lives, and makes all our problems seem inconsequential and small. That wonderful thing that half the world's songs are written about. He made it. Because it's what He wants and likes.

Jesus does love the world like this. It's not just a catchy slogan. When, or if, you tell sombody that Jesus loves them, you are telling them the greatest thing that they can ever come to believe and know. And He loves the entire world this way. This is what that verse means when it says that many are called. Many. As in, the entire world, is who Jesus, and God, and the Holy Spirit love. Everybody. For God SO LOVED THE WORLD.

MANY are called. If you are reading this, you are called!! Jesus tells us another parable about the King who threw the wedding feast and invited a ton of people. But half of them didn't come. The king was bummed, so He told His servants to go out and invite anyone off the streets they could find. MANY are called. You are called. "Come in! Come in!" He is shouting, over and over and over, down throughout time and all the ages. To anyone and everyone who will!! "Come in and be loved!!!"

Ok. So we've got that part established. Many are called. But what about the few are chosen part? And what about the part in that last parable I mentioned where the king asks the wedding guest how He got in without the proper attire and throws him out?

Few are chosen because few accept the call.

Look around at the world. Do we see many people accepting God's offer to love them, His offer of marraige? To make them His bride, his object of passion and desire? Do we see a lot of the world saying, " Ok, God... Jesus... you may love me."?

That is all Christianity is. An acceptance of God's offer of pure, real, committed, love. Everything else within it is just stuff we learn aloing the way to enhance that relationship. With him, and then with each other. That's it!!

And so why did the king throw the guy out who wasn't dressed right? In other words, why is there a need to get clean, to stop sinning, to repent? Why is this such a crucial part of our lives when we come to Him?

I myself am looking to get married. And if I am honest, I see that I am looking for a woman who is going to be faithful, who is going to be truthful, who is not going to lie to me, or try to manipulate me, or deceive me, or ignore me, or talk bad about me behind my back... who will do what's best for our children and our household, etc. Because I want us to enjoy our love, our marraige relationship as deeply and as passionately and as closely and intimately as we can.

So do I think God is any different?

It's not because he's heavy handed, or mean, or vengeful... it's because He's love.

And deep, real, everlasting, rich, meaningful, fun, intimate, joyous, passionate love is what He is after.


Let's accept the call!

Looking for God?

Looking for God? Trying to reach him???

This is somewhat funny, considering how huge He is. Considering how all omnipresent, omni knowing, omni aware of you, me, and everybody and every little thing we do, He is. Trying to "reach" God is like the oxygen atom in a water molecule in the middle of the South Pacific trying to reach the ocean. Only this analogy is not big enough.

Feed on HIS faithfulness. Psalm 37 something.

Be still and Know that HE is God.

The Narrow Path

Matthew 7:13-14 says that we should enter by the narrow path, for broad and easy is the way that leads to destruction. Well, what is this path, and why would a loving, caring Father say something so seemingly difficult and challenging to us?

It's because of this. The answer is found in that fact that He is so loving and caring. The narrow path is this--being loved. The narrow path is allowing yourself to be loved by God.

Don't miss this. This is astonishingly important. That is why He calls it a narrow path, because it can be easy to miss.

Listen.

I'll say it again, because it's this important. The narrow path that Jesus is talking about is being loved.

The Bible says that God is love. Since this is so, God must want to love you. No, He does love you, and wants to be able to express that love to you.

I would say to everyone in the world, stop. Stop almost all of what you are doing, and be loved. You do not need to provide love for yourself. There is plenty in Him and He wants to give it to you.

Anything that is of love, is of God. Anything that is not of love, is not of God. Fear is never of God. Neither is guilt, or shame, or any of these other related things. Does He want us to stop sinning? Certainly... out of His love.

I digress. The narrow path, is to open yourself up to God and allow Him to love you.

I know this is the narrow path because I see hardly anybody walking it. Jesus said that it was way easier to walk the other path, and it's obvious to see that He was right. Most of the world is just gonna do their own thing. In pride. When they could be being loved. Beautifully, gently, tenderly, and wisely.

My advice to many people in the church is to stop what you are doing and allow yourself to be loved by him. Stop whatever you are doing, and be loved.

It's so simple, it's easy to miss. Stop all of your human constructs, fleshly constructs, born out of fear, pride, whatever, and some even in the name of God, and be loved.

Just stop, and let Him. He'll do it, I guarantee.

There is no fear in love. The narrow way is being loved. Trust Him on this.

Trust.

Be loved.

Quit walking the broad raod to destruction, and feeling smug about it. You don't have to love yourself. You don't have to live in Pride.

I quit.

Father, consider me quit. I need you to love me.




And I say to any of you young people out there, those of you hitting late teens, early twenties... save yourselves a load , a world of trouble, and let Him love you now. Please, please, please don't ignore this. THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU, ANY OF YOU, TO GO THROUGH THE YEARS AND YEARS OF STRUGGLE AND HEARTACHE THAT SO MANY OF US OLDER PEOPLE HAVE GONE THROUGH. IT'S JUST NOT NECESSARY. Just allow yourself to be loved. Save yourself a world of pain and suffering. It's not glamorous, like the world tries to make it look. It's really a drag. And I'm saying this to you because because I care about you---Be loved. Allow yourself to be loved.

God will love you, given the chance. I guarantee it. I know Him, and I've seen this is the way he is. Trust Him. With all your heart. It's not just Bible verses to memorize. It's real, and it's life.

Security?

Life is full of risk and danger.

I don't see one instance in the gospels where Jesus spent even one day trying to achieve financial security.

How to know God's voice

I am going to address this issue because it is very close to my heart. It is something I have endeavored to find out for YEARS. And you know what? He is being faithful to teach me. Here it is.

If the voices you are hearing have any fear attached to them, IT IS NOT GOD. And you should stand up to them and tell them to get out of your face. No joke. There is no fear that you will be resisting God at this moment, and incurring His anger at you, because you already know that it is not Him.

I'm telling you people, I know this. I've learned it through hellish trials and heartache, and I am very glad to have gone through all of them at this moment because I can now stand here and tell you with every confidence that ANY TIME THERE IS ANY FEAR WHATSOEVER ATTACHED TO IT, WHATEVER THEY ARE TELLING YOU, YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO STAND UP TO IT, RESIST IT, AND MAKE hIM FLEE FROM YOU.

Because God will never intimidate, coerce, manipulate, force, or confuse you. He will never do anything to harm you or hurt you. Challenge, discipline, and correct, yes out of love. He will do these things, AND EVERY TIME HE DOES, IT WILL LEAVE YOU FEELING ENCOURAGED AND FREE. BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT HE DOES IS OUT OF LOVE. How do I know? Well, because the Bible says so. The Bible says over and over and over again, all the way through it, that he is love. And then it gives a very good description of Him, of what love is, therefore who He is, in 1st Corinthians 13.

And that's how you can tell if it is His voice you are hearing.

If it is a voice full of patience, and kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and joy, and gives you peace, is gentle, even in correction, does not intimidate, and does not scare you, then it's more likely to be His voice.

EVERY time that He has ever spoken to me, it has encouraged me. Even the times when He has disciplined or corrected me, it has ALWAYS come with a solution and the gract to live it. ALWAYS.

He NEVER makes you feel guilty and leaves you hanging. He NEVER makes you feel afraid. NEVER. I don't CARE what you've been believing to the contrary. He wil NEVER, EVER, EVER use fear to motivate you. PERIOD.

Because if He did, then He would be doing the same thing that the devil does. And therefore it is a dead giveaway every time as to who it is speaking to you.

NEVER, EVER, EVER,....EVER give in to fear. EVER.

Fear Is Always Wrong.

Fear is always wrong. Always. Any time you are being motivated by fear, it is wrong. I don't care what you believe, what you think, or what you feel. Any time you are being motivated by fear, IT IS WRONG.

AND, if you are feeling fear, it is never God. I don't care what your theology says, or anybody else's for that matter. If there is any fear attached to it at all, it is not God. God will never ever, ever, ever, EVER, EVER, EVER, motivate you by fear. I don't care what anybody tells you to the contrary, they are wrong. If you are feeling pushed around, bullied, intimidated, threatened, or ultimatumed, it is never Him, and you should NOT be afraid to stand up to it and tell it where to go. Because it's not Him.

How do I know all this? How can I be so sure? Because I've read my Bible. And it says that He is love. And it also says that there is NO fear in love.

Case closed. What more do I need to know??

THE GREATEST WEAPON YOU CAN WIELD, IN YOUR OWN LIFE AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS, IS TO CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN AND RECEIVE GOD'S LOVE.


There is no fear in love.

THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE.

THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE.

THER IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THER IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. Did you get it yet? No? ok, THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE.

THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE.

Manufacture your own breakdown.

Because it's a proven fact that God shows up most in our lives when we're at our worst, in order to show us that it's ALL by His Grace--and because I believe we don't have to wait for a tragedy to strike or for something bad to happen to benefit from this principle--I reccomend that you, we, all, manufacture our own breakdown before the real one strikes, and in order to avoid the real ones.

How do you do this? You stop doing all those things that are driving you toward the breakdown. All of the fear based actions, all of the performance, all of the stuff you are doing out of guilt... in other words, stop all of those things that would stop when you had the breakdown. All of the things that are driving you toward the breakdown, and the things that fall away in the breakdown. All of the fear. All of the performance. Stop it all. Engineer a breakdown in your life on purpose-- a planned, calculated one, one born out of honesty, before you have an unplanned one.

Either way, you will get to the same place--the place where God is able to love you, and show you His grace. It just doesn't HAVE to be difficult and catch you by surprise. You can do it yourself, and receive the same benefits--namely, His love.

Fall in love while you are young

Fall in love while you are young. This is the best advice I can give to young people these days. Fall in love while you are young, and avoid ALL manner of craziness, pitfalls, and heartache in this life.

I mean it. It's no joke.

The single most important thing you can do in this lifetime is to fall in love. It is actually the purpose of your life, of being alive. And this is not some cheesy religious rant where I'm gonna pull the ol' switcheroo on you and tell you that, of course, I mean you need to fall in love with God. I am going to tell you the real reasons behind things, behind life, behind falling in love with another human being, behind falling in love in general, and you'll automatically fall in love with God.

See God knows what He's doing. He's set life up the way He has for a reason. He's really smart. And it's all designed to get you in love. Love love love. It's the answer to life.

But, I speak, firstly and foremostly, as I always do, to religious people. Everyone else will certainly benefit, and it is a message for everybody... but it's especially a message to those of you/us in the religious community. I will say to you, very plainly, that if you would focus on love inside of a relationship with God, as your first, major, and primary goal, you WILL save tons and tons of heartache. Trust me. There is so much crap to be avoided, dispensed with, and done away with, and it can all be done by simply falling in love with Him.

This post is titled, "The dynamic of relationship," as the titling option for my little blog here seems to be not working. The dynamic of relationship.

Now, this is a little departure from the main theme that we've been on about being loved, but a good friend of mine said it to me today, and I believe that it's worth posting. So there will be more on being loved, cause that's the most important message right now.

And now, for the dynamic of relationship.

Everything that we do, especially in our spiritual lives, our walks with the Lord, must be subject to, or practiced in, done, in the dynamic of relationship. In other words, everything that we do, our prayers, our Bible reading, our use of our spiritual gifts, our service, everything, has to be done while having and out of a relationship with Him. This is the only way any of it will work. It's the only way any of it will bear any real fruit. Two Bible verses come to mind, the entire passage about Jesus being the vine and we being the branches, ("abide in me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit..." and, "apart from Me you can do nothing,") and the one where at the end of time Jesus says to the people that He never Knew them, even though they did a bunch of stuff in his name.

Also, again, and I know I harp on this scripture a lot, but it's because it's so freaking true, faith only works through love, and how can you have any love without a relatonship? How can you love a woman without a woman? (No comments from the peanut gallery.) How can you love your kids without having a relationship with them? How can you receive love from somebody you don't know? You can't receive love from Dolores Jones in Duluth, Minnesota, because you don't know her! The only way you can receive her love is if you spend time with her, get to know her, visit her often, write letters to her, get letters from her, call her on the phone every so often, etc. etc. etc. This is the only way that you can receive love from and give love to Dolores Jones in Duluth, Minnesota. By having a relationship with her.

So the only way that you can receive love from and give love to the Lord is by having a relationship with Him. And you need love in order for your faith to work.

So my suggestion to all of us, to stay on the theme of receiving love and being loved, is to stop whatever we are doing that is not born out of love for Him, true, real, exciting, passionate love, and allow ourselves to be loved by Him, which will, inevitably and irresistably, cause you to fall in love with Him, and... VOILA!! Relationship!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It works people, I'm telling you!!!!!!!!!! FAITH WORKS THROUGH LOVE. FAITH WORKS THROUGH LOVE.

FAITH WORKS THROUGH LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best thing about all this, (everything I've written in my last four or five posts,) is that it works so different from everything we've BEEN doing. What we've BEEN doing , striving and performing out of fear, always produces the same fruit. Meager pittances, where we have to tell ourselves and each other how good of a job we're doing, and it always suggests that we need to do more. And more. And more and more and more and ad infinatum. But the best thing about receiving love, is that the less you do, the more you are able to receive love.



Whereas before, it was always, "gotta do this, gotta do all these things that I know I have to do to keep my relationship with God going, to keep my spiritual growth going... gotta say the right things, gotta be the right way, gotta read enough Bible, gotta gotta gotta, until you are run ragged and are still faced only with the concept of doing more to make it any better...under this new system, of love, the more things you stop doing, the more you will be able to receive love from Him.

The LESS you do, the more you will be loved by Him. HUH.

When all that's required of you, in this true form of repentance, is to stop all of the things you are doing that are born out of fear, shame, guilt, pride, etc. etc. etc., and the devil has to leave you alone then, because He has no more hooks with which to grab you by, then all that's left for you to do is to be loved. And boy, will it feel good. Rest. True rest for your soul, the kind that you've been longing for for as long as you can remember. The rest of being loved.

And I'll tell you something. THEN you will start to bear fruit. How? Because you will be abiding in Him. By being loved by Him, on a continual basis, you will be at such peace and rest and freedom, that it will blow your family and friends away. You will bear fruit without even having to think about it. You will bear fruit naturally, without even having to try. It'll just come pouring out of you. Real fruit. Real love, real joy, real patience, real kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control etc. Real. with no effort involved. Uncontrived, unforced. You will bear fruit in your sleep. Cause He says He gives to his beloved in their sleep. I have news for you. YOU ARE His beloved!!

Jesus said,"Come to ME, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and you will find rest for your souls." He didn't say, "Work hard, and you will find rest for your souls." He didn't say, "Try Harder, and hopefully you can find rest for your souls, maybe..." He said to go to Him. A relationship. Faith only works through love, and love, as stated in my previous post, can only be found in a relationship.

Jesus also said, " The road is narrow, and the way small that leads to life, and few are those that find it."

I believe that what He meant by this is that the way to life is to be loved, by Him, in a relationship with Him, and all your faith will work after that, in which you'll love everybody in your world. You won't be able to help it or stop it. So many people misinterpret this scripture, and because of our faulty wiring, given to us from a sinful, screwed up, backwards world, think that it means that we have to try even that much harder in order to find life. But from my experience, having been on this planet for thirty five years now, (almost thirty six), and seeing the world around me, I don't see mostly people who are letting themselves be loved in humility. I see people, christian and non, who are acting on pride, born of fear, trying to do it on their own. Trying to desperately make up for this lack of love, which, if we would only allow it in, would lead us straight to life.

I know what is wrong with religion. I know what it is that we're missing.

We are missing the most beautiful, absolutely necessary, wonderful, life bringing, life giving, meaning giving, critical thing in the world. It's the one thing that we, especially religious people, need more than anything else. But it's also what everybody needs.

It is the answer to life. It is what we are here for, and it brings life to our lives, and to everything that we do. It is the goal in life and it is the motivation behind life. (or at least should be.) It is the antidote to all of our ills, sins, screw ups, hangups, hurts, failures, mistakes, heartaches, etc. It is the one thing that would set religion on fire, and draw the entire world's eyes to us, as it is more beautiful, astonishing and captivating than anything they can come up with. It is the one thing that can change the world how it really needs to be changed.

It is to learn to allow ourselves to be loved. This, I am convinced, would light up our lives.

We need to learn to let ourselves be loved.

I am convinced that this single event, more than anything else we can do, would evangelize the world.

Because this is what everybody needs. Everybody.

Everybody.

And sometimes what we are doing now is not that. Sometimes, (not all the time), what we are doing now is what we think we are supposed to be doing. And that doesn't really work.

God is love. I don't care how many thousands of sermons you can listen to that lead you in every direction, I don't care how many interpretations of Scripture you learn and listen to, I don't care how much you read your Bible and know it inside and out, I don't care how many books you read, how many conferences you attend... none of it will change the fact of Who He Is. And He is love. I don't care how scared you get, I don't care how hard you try to perform. It will not change the fact that He is love, and because that's who He is then that's what He's going to do. TO YOU.

I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE IMPORTANT OR UNIMPORTANT. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE THE WORST SINNER IN THE WORLD OR THE BEST PERSON IN THE WORLD. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE AN ATHIEST. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE AN AGNOSTIC. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE A GOOD OLD BOY FROM THE SOUTH OR A MUSLIM FROM THE MID-EAST. I DON'T CARE, AND IT DOESN'T MATTER. HE HAS ONLY ONE AGENDA FOR YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE, AND THAT IS LOVE. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE IN PRISON OR IF YOU ARE THE CEO OF OF AN INTERNATIONAL BANK. YOU NEED TO BE LOVED.

What we are often doing, as a race, and as the church, is trying to love ourselves. And we've got to stop. IT HAS TO STOP. A lot of what we do is motivated out of fear. Because we haven't been loved right. And since we haven't been loved right, but are built to be, we act out in all manner of crazy ways. I mean in the world, and I mean in the church. We are all aching and longing to be loved, whether we recognize it, can name it, or not. IT'S THERE. IN ALL OF US. AND IT'S WHAT WE NEED MORE THAN ANY THOUSANDS OF BILLIONS OF SERMONS.

WE NEED TO BE LOVED, WE NEED TO BE LOVED, WE NEED TO BE LOVED!

IT'S THE ONLY WAY THAT IT'S GOING TO WORK. WE'VE GOT TO STOP WHAT WE ARE DOING AND LET OURSELVES BE LOVED! THE WORLD IS DYING BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE ATTRACTED TO FEAR. THEY'LL NEVER BE ATTRACTED TO BOREDOM! THEY'LL NEVER BE ATTRACTED TO RITUALS.

THEY'LL NEVER BE ATTRACTED TO MORE BURDENS WHEN ALL THEY ARE TRYING TO DO NOW IS DESPERATELY GET RID OF THE ONES THEY ALREADY HAVE!!!!!!!!!

THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS JUST LIKE US AND IF WE DON'T LET OURSELVES BE LOVED, THEY'LL NEVER SEE THAT THEY CAN BE LOVED, AND COME.

You've got to stop trying to perform for Him. He doesn't need it. You've got to stop trying to work for Him. He doesn't need that either. You've got to stop being afraid of Him. It just isn't so, WHATEVER you are believing that causes that.

I don't really think we fully understand who we're dealing with here. I mean really. Now get ready for this, brace yourselves, cause it's going to be a shock. This IS GOD. I mean really!!! If we are really dealing with the infinite, all powerful, all loving, omnipresent being who fills the heavens and the earth, who created all life in the first place, who keeps it all going with His power, etc. etc. etc... I mean, if that's who we're really dealing with here, then what we are doing and how we are expressing Him to the world by our fears and insecurities is sad.

PLEASE, TELL YOUR PASTOR, TELL YOUR PARENTS, TELL YOUR FRIENDS, TELL EVERYONE YOU CAN THINK OF TO STOP WHATEVER IT IS THAT THEY ARE DOING THAT IS BORN OUT OF ANYTHING ELSE, AND LET THEMSELVES BE LOVED BY HIM.

It's the only way the world's going to be fixed, and,... it's the only way that YOU are going to be fixed!!

Faith works through love. I DID'NT MAKE THAT UP!! It says so right in the Bible!! Think your faith is not working? Then it's probably due to the fact that THERE'S NO LOVE IN IT!!! Feel guilty? Feel afraid? Feel unworthy? Feel anything but precious in the sight of your creator? Then your faith can't work!! Faith does not work through work, faith does not work through fear, FAITH DOES NOT WORK THROUGH ANYTHING BUT LOVE!!

TO WIT. Take Jesus, as our ultimate example. We would probably all agree that His faith worked pretty well. He had no challenges trusting God, no problems healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the hungry, loving every single person He ever ran across, laying down His own life for us, and knew absolutely no fear whatsoever. Wouldn't we all like to be like this? So how was He able to be like this and to do all this? It's because His faith was worked. And it worked through love!! I present the following for your consideration...

"And the glory which you have given me I have given them, that they may be one, JUST AS WE ARE ONE; I in them, and YOU IN ME, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You did send me, and did love them, EVEN AS YOU DID LOVE ME. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which You have given me; FOR YOU DID LOVE ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, YET I HAVE KNOWN YOU, and these have known that you did send me; and I have made your name known to them, and will make it known; THAT THE LOVE WHEREWITH YOU DID LOVE ME may be in them, and I in them."

and...

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? ... Believe Me, that I am in the Father and the Father in me."

And, the coup de gras of all the love scriptures in the entire Bible;

"This is My Beloved Son, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED."

Now, the greatest thing about this last verse, is that GOD SAID THIS ABOUT JESUS BEFORE HE EVER DID ONE THING.

BEFORE HE BEAT THE DEVIL IN HIS TEMPTATIONS, BEFORE HE HEALED ANYBODY WHO WAS SICK, BEFORE HE RAISED LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD, BEFORE HE SUCCESSFULLY DISCIPLED TWELVE OR MORE DISCIPLES, BEFORE HE FED NINE THOUSAND PEOPLE, BEFORE HE WALKED ON WATER, BEFORE HE CALMED THE STORM, BEFORE HE KICKED THE MONEYCHANGERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE, BEFORE HE DIED FOR YOU AND ME, BEFORE HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD, BEAT THE DEVIL, AND SECURED EVERLASTING SALVATION FOR THE SOULS OF ALL THE PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE... God said that He was pleased with Him!

This tells me something about the nature of love. Namely, that it values the person most of all. It values you because you are you. Period. It doesn't depend on what you do. God is willing, longing, and able to love you regardless of what you do. And, it values you, as I've said before somwhere in the annals of this blog, over and more than getting what it wants done. We, as humans, have a yardstick by which we can measure love. And it is this. Am I valuing you over getting what I want, and subjecting my wants to your value, or am I subjecting you to my wants, and therefore using you in order to get what I want? This is always the litmus test of love. And where did this standard came from? From ourselves? From some renowned psychologist somewhere?? From a self help book? No, this standard comes straight from the One Who is love. The One who is Himself the epitome of love. He is not just the epitome of love, he IS love. And this is how He treats people. No matter what you've been told before, that makes you try to earn it, He loves you perfectly already. Simply because you are who you are and He made you!!

Think of it in heaven. Do you believe that there will not be any stress and strain due to trying so hard, to do all the things we think we're supposed to do and try to be all the things we think we're supposed to be? I believe that. Which tells me that this is the way God works, as heaven is certainly under the rule of Him nd His Kingdom. And which tells me that you can begin to relate to Him like this now. And this is how you will bring God's Kingdom to earth, and His will be done here as it is in heaven! Pretty neat, huh??

Allow yourself to be loved by Him!! It's really neat!

To Review

The most effective way that I can think of to fight spiritual warfare is to: #1 For yourself, BE loved, and #2, for others, LOVE. Here's why.

The devil works by getting us to believe things like fear, guilt, shame, unworthyness, you name it, anything that is not love, not of God, who is love. It's really the only power he has. So the key is for us to not believe those things. That's how we fight spiritual warfare. And when we are loved, it is exactly the opposite of all those lies that the devil tells us. So love dissolves all those lies. Therefore you stop believing them/him. Therefore you win !!!

THEREFORE YOU NEED TO BE LOVED!!!!!! IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL FOR YOU TO BE LOVED. SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW, SOME WAY, YOU MUST BE LOVED. IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL, HENCE MENTAL, HENCE PHYSICAL WELL BEING. IT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE DEFENSE. (See previous post,"Be Loved, for instructions on how to do this.)

Next, when looking out for your brothers and sisters in this world, THE ABSOLUTE GREATEST WEAPON, DEFENSE, HELP THAT YOU CAN GIVE THEM IS TO LOVE THEM. BECAUSE THIS WILL TEAR DOWN ALL, I REPEAT, ALL, OF THE LIES OF THE DEVIL AND THE WORLD IN THEIR LIVES. THERE IS NOTHING GREATER THAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM. THERE IS NO BIGGER, MORE POWERFUL WEAPON THAT YOU CAN EMPLOY, TAKE OUT OF YOUR ARSENAL ON THEIR, ON ANYBODY'S, BEHALF.

Whenever we feel guilt, shame, fear, etc., it gives the devil a place to hook us. BUT IF, BY LOVE, BY BEING LOVED OURSELVES AND LOVING OTHERS, WE CONTINUALLY AND CONSISTENTLY REMOVE ANY PLACES OF ACCESS FOR HIM,

HE WILL HAVE NO ACCESS TO OUR LIVES, AND WE WILL WIN!!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... and I'll continue to say it throughout time and eternity, THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS LOVE, FOUND IN RELATIONSHIPS. FOR SO MANY ENDLESS, CRITICALLY IMPORTANT REASONS!

Love is the greatest weapon.

This is also why it is so important for us to love each other, seeing as how love is our best defense. Since love is what we need to combat all spiritual lies and darkness, then every time we love somebody we are fighting spiritual warfare on their behalf. Every time you love somebody you are building up their spiritual defenses. Because you are casting down every thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, who is love. Since God is love, when you love someone you are expressing God to and putting Him into their lives. This is the greatest act of spiritual warfare that you can do. Just love people. It's all God does, and it works.

Love is the greatest weapon we have. Christians, humans, everybody. As we saw in my last post, Be Loved, love is our own best weapon against all forms of spiritual warfare. Being loved tears down EVERY lie of the enemy in our lives. And as it is with us, so it is with everyone else. THIS IS WHY IT IS SO ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL THAT WE LOVE EACH OTHER AS WELL! BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU LOVE SOMEONE YOU ARE BEING AN EXPRESSION OF GOD TO THEM. And we all know that where God is, there is spiritual warfare won. Period! So loving people is the best and most effective form of spiritual warfare that you can do for anybody. I believe this is why Peter said in one of his epistles, "ABOVE ALL, keep FERVENT (hot, burning, glowing, fiery, vehement, impassioned, passionate, intense, eager, keen, zealous, and fierce) in your love for one another. " "Above all," he says, because He knows that it is our greatest weapon.

Be loved

"Love is the greatest weapon we have," said a friend of mine. True, but not loving, as much as BEING loved, is our greatest weapon.
It is only when we don't feel loved that we pick up our lives, feeling that we have to make something out of them ourselves. This is an action born out of fear. When we don't feel loved, we feel afraid. So we act against that fear. This is then called pride. And fear and pride are definitely not fruits of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are produced in us when we are loved by God. When we are loved by Him, it is natural for us to then love, to be joyous, to have peace, to be patient with people, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self controlled. All these things are easy when you feel, and know, you are loved. They only become difficult when we feel like we are not loved by Him. Think about it. How can you ever express those traits when you are feeling guilty or afraid?n How can you be full of love, and joy, when you are feeling like you have to perorm and work up your own spirituality? The only fruits that can come out of those emotions, spiritual states, are pride, born of fear, and subsequent works of the flesh. This is why the Bible says that faith works through love. Because it really does!

The lack of being loved is the epidemic of the world. I believe that most sin is born out of humanity's attempt to compensate for its lack of love. If people were loved like they were created to be, from day one, they would feel no need to do most of the crazy things that they do. I believe that they do most of those crazy things as a substitute, to try to meet that unmet need. We are made to be loved. We, human beings, are at our core, love receiving machines--- it's how we're built. We are built in the image of God, and that's how He's built. We are all, us and Him, primarily love receivers. This is why we need each other. This is why no one of us can go off and live in a cave by ourselves somewhere. We will, eventually, in some fashion or other, seek the love that we so real-ly need. It's not a want, it's a need, because that is how we are made.

So it's only when this need is not filled that we try to fill it ourselves, which is, technically, not possible. We cannot love ourselves. Not in the way that will fill that built in need to receive love. Because that place can only be filled by the love of another. Yes, it is possible to love ourselves in the sense that we do what is best for ourselves, agree with God in what he says about us, forgive ourselves when He forgives us, etc. But there is a place inside us, built in, that needs the love of another, or others. And THAT place inside of us, which is the most critical one of all, is one that we cannot fill ourselves. That is what I mean when I say that we cannot love ourselves. It is impossible.

And all manner of sin, brokenness, dysfunctionality, sickness, is born by us trying to love ourselves. As stated before, I believe this is the main problem with the world. We are all trying to love ourselves, because we've been, tragically, seperated from the source of that love that we all need right from the get go, namely God.

Love secures us. Love eases our worries, takes away our fears, and makes us whole people. The happiest, most functional people I have seen in my life are those who have been loved consistently, mainly by their parents/families, their entire lives. These people are the ones who seem to flow more effortlessly through life. Because they are living in God's perfect plan for human beings, in which you receive and give love all the time. He created this family structure as a place for us to experience His love in practical expression. And these people show forth the results! It is a beautiful thing to see, and I do not begrudge these people anything. I love to see them.

On the other hand, it is usually those who have experienced the least love who are the most dysfunctional, the loudest, brashest, most insecure, troublemakers, etc. etc. etc. And if you have the eyes to see it, you can recognize that this their attempt at filling that void that never got filled. These are the people who are trying the hardest to love themselves. And what is it that always brings these people around? Somebody loving them. We've all seen the movies where this happens. That's because this principle works. In any human being. It's always the same, because reality is always the same. Love NEVER fails. In Christianity or out of it. It ALWAYS works. It works in Muslims, Buddhists, athiests, agnostics, Jw's,... you name 'em. The Bible says that LOVE NEVER FAILS. Never. And the Bible is right!

See, sin is not so much human beings choosing on purpose to do bad things (although it is that at times). It's rather more of a default setting that comes out that hole that's left inside us where God's love should have been. So what is the solution to all this, and the purpose of me writing this essay? It is to propose a solution. To Christian and non-Christians alike. To everybody. And here it is.

Allow yourself to be loved.

I'll say it again for those of us who didn't quite get it. Allow yourself to be loved. Allow yourself to be loved.

I believe that this is the answer to the world and all its' problems. And it is, fortunately, what God is just dying to do. I mean that literally and figuratively. He is dying to do it figuratively, because that's who He is. He IS love. So how could He have any other motive towards you? It's impossible. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that if you come to God, you will be loved. Period. Because it's all He can do. He is infinite love. It's who He is! And, of course, this love was brilliantly illustrated when He died for us literally as well.

Now, the key is to let Him. Now I can't tell you that I understand all how this works, or that I've got it all figured out, or that I even do it very well myself. All I know is that it's true. And it desperately needs to be done. We are all so love starved, and the only solution is for us to be loved.

And I mean all of us. All of humanity. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, or subscribe to my theology or not. I don't care, because if you are a human being, you need to be loved. You need it and there is no denying that. So my proposal to us all is to allow ourselves to be loved.


YOU NEED TO BE LOVED. More than you need to work hard, more than you need to read scripture, more than you need to go to church, MORE THAN ANYTHING. And I believe that God is fully able to do it, but we have to be willing to step down and let Him. And when I say step down, I mean stop all of our efforts at trying to earn it. LOVE CAN NEVER BE EARNED. Otherwise it would not be love!! Therefore, God can't love us when we are in that state. Because true love can not be earned. Otherwise it is not love!! It is a reward, something to be earned. And that's something other than love. And we must be willing to stop all of those things we do attempting to love ourselves. We have to be willing to take this HUGE leap, (and I do mean huge, because we're all so used to loving ourselves,) AND JUST STOP. STOP.

STOP, STOP, STOP.

Let's all say it together...whether you are a Christian, non-Christian, whatever... it doesn't matter--"God, right now I choose to stop whatever it is that I am doing in order to try and love myself, because it's obviously not working, and I'll let you love me."

The only reason we feel like God is not thinking about us all the time is due to OUR OWN screwed up beliefs, not His. He IS thinking about you all the time, and would LOVE to move in on your life and fill it with His love. It's only because we don't think He's like that that keeps us from receiving Him like that. Which, again, goes back to the root cause of it all, lack of love. We ARE made to be loved by Him like that, but because we're not used to it, we haven't thought it's real. BUT IT IS!!!!!!!!!! It only takes learning how to trust to enter into it.

Now... does this mean we are just supposed to sit in our houses and do nothing all day long, waiting for God to come down and love us? No. Life is for living, and we are supposed to be out there living it. BUT THE ONLY WAY TO BE MOTIVATED TO DO ANY OF IT CORRECTLY IS BY LOVE. So I DO advocate ceasing to do all those things that you do that are motivated by fear and guilt and any other jacked up, perverted, twisted motive.

Now I know that a lot of people will say something like, "How then is my spiritual life to be maintained? If I stop praying, stop fasting, stop reading the Bible, stop going to church, etc etc, how am I possibly going to maintain my spiritual walk?"

So God is foing to forget you.

Riiiiight.

This would be like you forgetting yourself in the morning when you wake up. This would be like you forgetting to feed yourself, forgetting to bathe yourself, clothe yourself, brush your teeth, go to the bathroom, etc. etc. etc. The Bible says that we are His body.

The only reason we feel like God is not thinking about us all the time is due to OUR OWN screwed up beliefs, not His. He IS thinking about you all the time, and would LOVE to move in on your life and fill it with His love. It's only because we don't think He's like that that keeps us from receiving Him like that. Which, again, goes back to the root cause of it all, lack of love. We ARE made to be loved by Him like that, but because we're not used to it, we don't think it's real. BUT IT IS!!!!!!!!!! It only takes learning how to trust to enter into it. Which, as I stated in one of my earlier posts, is another critical skill that we need to be taught, (as opposed to trying harder.)

God forgetting you would be like my cat forgetting that she wants to be fed in the morning...and later in the morning...and in the afternoon... and at night... and late at night. It's just not going to happen! It's an impossibility.

TRY IT AND FIND OUT!

Knowing

The meaning of life is to Know.

Their needs to be a shift of focus about our lives. Conventional/contemporary wisdom (wisdom?) says that life is about quality of life. That's what the world focuses on and tells you it's about. No wonder the world is so miserable. They are going after the wrong goal. The right goal is Knowing. Which can also be translated, loving. And I spell it with a capital K because it signifies something much deeper than just knowing somebody. It is the purpose of life. To Know people. God first, as the creator of all people, and the source of the life of all people, but then other people too.

This might be a difficult blog entry for some of you to swallow, but I believe it needs to be said. The word Know in the Bible is often used to denote sex, as in Genesis 4:25--"And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore him a son and named him Seth." Why? Why wouldn't it just say, "And Adam had sexual relatios with his wife, and she bore him a son?"

Well, I think that it's done on purpose, by God, to show us something...namely, the meaning of life.

Why is sex like it is? Why make something in life tht is so incredibly astonishingly attractive and irresistable? Why make something as good as sex? Why? What's the purpose?

It is because God is trying to tell us something. All of God's creation tells us something about Him, and something about the way he thinks. (See Romans 1:20)

to be continued...

Religion kills

Was thinking today about what sort of things I will allow in my house. I rent out my rooms, and was sorting out how to communicate to my renters what I will not allow in my house and why. Being a christian, I obviously don't allow evil stuff in my house. So then I was thinking about what sort of things I will allow in my house. I came up with a list which included all things that exist in order to have fun, i.e., pets, games, toys, etc. So I began to think about why. It's because there is nothing wrong with these things. There is only something wrong with anything that is sinful. I had the thought that I want to encourage fun in my house as much as is humanly possible. Which made me think logically about God being like me in this situation, only on a larger scale. The world being His house, and us being the renters, so to speak. (This post would have worked a lot better had I children in my house, not renters!) He obviously does not want anything evil or sinful in His house, but He is obviously not against all the things in life that are there for us to enjoy. Because He is only against sin, not fun. He is actually for fun. If you are not sinning, that only leaves one other option--fun.

Which then got me to thinking about how in so many christian discussions you hear people talking about their toys as evil. Or, talking about other people's toys as evil. I mean things like boats, jet skis, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, golf clubs, airplanes, etc. etc. etc. And not just toys, but fun activities, too. Eating, fishing, sports, sex, travel, vacations, camping, etc. All fun things. All things that allow us to enjoy life. Which is what God is for, not against. Which, by looking at the analogy between me, the situation that I just went through, and God, and how His governance of the world must be the same way, only on a much larger scale-- thinking logically, it just confirmed to me again, that religion kills.

Anything masking itself as from God, that is not based on truth and reality, will hurt, not help. It will not bring life. God brings life.

Find out the truth. By having a relationship with the real, living, creator of the universe. That is why you are here, and I gaurantee, that it will lead to fun.

Just trust

God is so big, and so all knowing, and so all caring and loving, and so all powerful/able to do, that the only logical response to Him is trust.

Trust and Love

Christianity should be taught in the context of trusting and loving, not in doing more. We've been preaching doing more forever, and it's still not bearing any fruit. Most sermons you hear talk about trying harder.

Most sermons should be about loving and trusting.

How can it be that a God who "fills the heavens and the earth" (Isaiah something) cannot hear us? How can it be that a God who is love and who is Infinite, all at the same time, could not be thinking about us and caring for us all the time? How can it possibly be that we have somehow escaped His notice? Most people are aware of Him being aware of them when they do something wrong, so how could it be any different at any time in our life? And how could it possibly be that He doesn't know what we need, and, since He IS love, how could it possibly be that He wouldn't want to give it to us? How can it possibly be that an infinitely powerful Being needs our hard work? The only thing He needs is us... just like we need the ones that we love. Because we couldn't live without them!! THAT'S the way God needs us!

WE NEED TO BE TAUGHT HOW TO BE LOVED--NOT HOW TO TRY HARDER.

Very few of us know how to be loved!! So we substitute our own efforts at reaching out to God, which so often constitutes religion. And that's why it's a never ending treadmill, which never bears any real fruit for the world to see, which is why people are not attracted to church/christianity...because God will not work that way. He will not work by rewarding pride and religion, born out of fear and insecurity. Because if He did then we'd be encouraged that that was the right way to operate! WHEN IT'S NOT!!! Try operating that way in any human relationship and see how stressful and unhealthy and fear based that relationship becomes. So why do we try to operate that way with a God who is love??

THE ONLY WAY TO OPERATE WITH GOD IS TO BE LOVED BY HIM. PERIOD. HE IS LOVE AND HE CANNOT OPERATE ANY OTHER WAY.


WE NEED TO BE TAUGHT HOW TO TRUST--NOT HOW TO TRY HARDER.

The answer to life is love, born out of relationship--healthy relationships--that are based on nothing else but love!! Which can only come as we learn to trust! And what goes with God goes with people as well. That's right, you can only have loving relationships with people when you learn to trust them. Even with all of our brokenness. Yes I run the risk of getting hurt, but I also run the risk of receiving somebody's love!! A risk that MUST be taken if I am ever to experience being loved! This does not mean be foolish. You still must be responsible and not throw your pearls before swine, but at some point, with someone, whom you know know is going to be trustworthy, albeit imperfectly, you are going to have to learn to trust them.But at the bare minimum, we know that God is trustworthy, SO WE NEED TO LEARN TO TRUST HIM, and not our own efforts!

TAKE THE RISK OF TRUSTING IN ORDER TO RECEIVE LOVE. With God first. Risk losing your own fleshly efforts, risk losing your fear, risk losing your insecurity, and risk losing your pride, in order to learn how to be loved.

IT'S WORTH THE RISK

God's Word

Now I'm really gonna rock some people's boats.

I believe that God's word is more than just the Bible. Ephesians 6:17 says "taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Interesting to note here that the new testament had not even been written when Paul wrote this. So what could He have been thinking? Well, I guess it's fair to acknowledge that He may have meant the Old Testament. Because as we all know Jesus Himself used the Old Testament when fighting the devil. This is valid, but I still believe there is more to the definition. And it's actually very simple.

Anything God says is His word. Simple as that. Just like anything you say is your word.

God's word is simply whatever He says. It's not only the Bible. The Bible gets billed as His Word, correctly so, because it was and still is God speaking. But God's word is also whatever he says to you. You can fight spiritually with the "sword of the spirit" with the words God speaks to you just like you can with the Bible. Because anything God says is His word, not just the Bible. This is how, I believe, Paul was able to confidently say that the word of God is the sword of the spirit. Because He heard God speak.

The Bible is the word of God. But God's word is also anything he says. And you can fight spiritually, very effectively I might add, with the word(s) he speaks to you. Because He knows you individually and will speak to your specific situation/need. Listen to Him!

God is freedom

It is very tragic to me when I see people leave their faith in order to be free. This tells me that there are serious flaws in their theology. Serious ones.

This is because God Himself IS freedom. Freedom is an expression of God! God Himself is free! Therefore freedom itself, even the very concept, only exists because He exists! And it is very proof of Him and His existence that the concept of freedom is so highly valued throughout creation and the world! Freedom points to Him because it comes from Him! There would be no freedom without God.

What's more, He is love, and one of the primary principles of love is that it always sets you free. If you love someone, truly, you will set them free. It's just part of love. Love always sets you free. Therefore, God HAS to set you free because He IS love!! He cannot do otherwise. It's what He Has done, is doing, and will continue to do throughout eternity, because it's who He is !!!!!!! Setting people free by loving them. This is who He is. Anything and anybody that ever, ever, EVER comes to God, will be loved by Him and therefore set free!!! It's impossible for it to be otherwise!! Because it's who He is!!!

So we can see that when someone chooses to walk away from Him in order to get their freedom, what a tragic mistake that is. Technically speaking, yes, you will be free from God, and religion, and rules, and the like. This is certainly true. But because freedom itself is a product of Him, of God, you will in reality experience less and less freedom the longer you stay away from Him. Because you have seperated yourself from the One who IS freedom, the One from whom all freedom flows. So in your "freedom", you will eventually, as time goes by, become less and less free.

Now, these truths realized, this tells me a tragic tale about what people are experiencing as christianity. To walk away from the very creator of the universe who embodies and emanates freedom tells me that someone must have some very serious misconceptions going on.

Some more about love (what a surprise!)

Was thinking about how the love relationship between a man and a woman illustrates the meaning of life... that union, loving fellowship with God and others. Was thinking also, simultaneously, about how that love relationship between a man and a woman is an analogy of us in our relationship with God, He being represented by the man, and we being represented by the woman. Hence the term, "Bride of Christ".

That's when it hit me. Jesus' love for us, God's love for us, is as intense and powerful as that love that the man, the groom, feels toward his bride, toward the woman. Now, all of us guys will be able to relate. There is just nothing sooooooo powerful and wonderful as that intense desire and longing for the woman. Nothing. You just have to stop and think about this. This pull, this tug, this yearning, longing, got to get to Know her strong feeling inside of us... it's just the most intense, magical, beautiful, best feeling in the world.

Stop now and think about this. This is how Jesus feels about you, about us!! Pretty freaking cool eh? I mean, just stop and think about that for a minute! It's just flippng awesome! Don't ever scoff at someone who tells you that Jesus loves you. They are telling you the meaning of life!! THAT'S what it's all about!

That all encompassing, passionate, burning desire, that intense longing that becomes almost a need, that absolute captivation by her beauty, that, overwhelming attracton-- that's how God feels about you! And to take it even further, the attraction of sex-- that overwhelming pull to be one with someone and join with them, Know them... this is why the Bible uses the term Know when it refers to sex. Because it is the ultimate expression of knowing someone! And the ultimate desire and meaning of life is to know God and to know people. God first, and then other people. This is what our lives will consist of in eternity, Knowing God and knowing people.

Knowing God. Can you imagine this? Knowing, truly, deeply and intimately, an all loving, totally righteous, clean, holy, infinite being--one who is so infinite that we will never ever EVER run out of newness of Him to discover and explore--this is what will will get to do for all of eternity. Freaking rad. I. quite frankly, am seriously looking forward to this. This is what eternity will consist of. The joy that sex is a representation of, a physical representation of a spiritual reality. Flipping wonderful. Thank you Jesus. Praise you Lord for you are beautiful and you rock.Woo hoo!!!!!!!!

The Main Real Reason

It seems to me that lots and lots of Christians and religious people practice their Christianity without really knowing why. I mean really. I think a lot of people just do it because they feel they should, or it's what they've been taught, or even because they've experienced God and know He's real, and that their faith and even their relationship with Him is genuine, but they still maybe have never thought to think or ask WHY, ultimately we are doing it. So why are we? What is the goal of Christianity, or any religion for that matter? And if it really is the one true faith, and the real God is really in it and has even created it and set it up how it is, (which we really believe He has), what was He thinking? Yes we all know that he wants to save people, and that He loves us and cares about us, but isn't there more? Since we truly believe that the supreme, infinite, eternal Being, really, is behind it all, what does that infer? Can the entirety of the Real God be seen and found within Christianity then? And if so, what is that??

Well, in order to answer these questions, I believe we need to look at life. But we need to look at it from God's perspective. Since God created everything, what can we learn by looking at what He has created? Since He created everything, then everything must be a representation of Him. (By everything, I mean the entirety of what is created, not sin and bad stuff). Acts 17:24 states " The God who made the world and all things in it" So the world and everything in it came from the mind of God. So let's take a look at the world and everything in it to see if we can see what was on His mind when He decided to create all of this.

Now, the previous statement contains volumes. Volumes and volumes could be written on what God was thinking when he created all this. In fact, it could be almost endless. There is no way we could discuss all of that here. But the point is great. The point that we CAN look at creation to see what God had, and has, in mind. For this short essay though, I am going to focus on one area of creation, the one that I feel sheds the most light on the mind of God. The reason I am going to focus in on this area is because it is the most potent part of creation. It is the strongest part, the part that we want the most, enjoy the most, DO the most, and the part that moves us the most. I mean love.

Love is the strongest desire inside of human beings. If we are honest with ourselves about ourselves, and about the world, we will see that the cingular most driving force inside of human beings is the desire for love, specifically the desire for a mate. This desire is the most intense, the most satisfying, the most urgent, strongest pull we have inside of ourselves. Some people would call it nature's way of ensuring the survival of the species. We call it what is at the heart of God's mind. From this we can see that love must be exceedingly important to God. It must be what is exceedingly important to Him, else He would not have made it so that it is so exceedingly important to us.

Maybe God did this on purpose, so that we would not miss the point of what life is all about. I think that He very purposefully made this desire, this urge in us as strong as He did in order to illustrate for us what the purpose and meaning of life is. Since creation itself is a picture of God--us, the world, and everything--it all came from the mind of God--humanity itself came from the mind of God--and since this desire for love is the strongest expression of our humanity, then God must really be into love. It's very logical. Think of that. Humanity, in its pure form, I mean without all the gunky junk that we as a race have muddied ourselves up with, is such a tremendous and beautiful expression of life, of all that life can be, all the beauty, all the wonder, the mystery, the deepness, the undefinable inexpressable stuff that we all long for and yearn to touch, and to experience, and to be, all those things, all that indefinable something, is all an expression of the life of God. Everything! The late afternoon sun filtering through the redwoods on the Pcific coast, the feelings you get on Christmas eve, the way you feel when you step into the warm sunshine on the first warm spring day and you feel the grip of winter breaking, all of these things--the list is infinite--are expressions of The Life, God Himself. Since all of creation comes from the mind of God, is actually more of an expression of Him, who He is, we can know God just by looking at all of these things. Or at the very least we can know what He is like.

And what experience, what joy, what part of all of this creation is the best? What's the one, out of all the myriad expressions of His life that we live, causes us the most excitement, the most joy, the most everything?? What one area of creation is the best out of all of it? It's love!! I mean that thrill, that overpowering feeling that washes through your soul when you see that someone with whom you are falling in love. There is just no feeling like it in the world. The first kiss... there's just no comparison. There is something so magical, so strong, sooo the fullest expression of being alive... something stronger and more powerful than all the mists in twilight, all the snowy nights in the mountains, and all of the battlecries you can ever muster... is this rush of attraction to another being, the desire to come together, the desire to Know them, that nothing else in our existence can compare to. And here, more than any other place in our experiences as human beings, God's creation, is where we can see the heart of God the most, what is REALLY on His mind. It must be love!!

So we are created in the image of God. The thing that excites us the most is love. Logically speaking, what do you suppose excites God the most? Obedience? No. Work? No. Church attendance? Giving to the poor? Bible study, Prayer? I would have to say no. I would have to say, judging from the evidence that we have examined so far that what God likes most is love. Attention. Attraction. Appreciating Him just for who He is. Spending time with Him just to spend time with Him, in order to just get to know Him. Knowing Him.

Love is so important to God. We have our priorities so mixed up. Most christians I hear seem to think that the greatest expression of our Christianity, our faith, is obedience. You hear it everywhere. If obedience was a higher priority than love to God, then why would He create us differently? I mean, we, as human beings place higher value on just knowing each other and being friends than we do on obedience. Think about it. When we are with the people we love, friends, etc., just hanging out with our friends, which is our pasttime of choice, as in, when we are done working, and we have free time, what is everybody's choice? What is it that we want to do, and choose to do, over and above everything else? Be with our friends and family. The world over. This does not change. And when we are doing that, what we as a race choose to do as our highest goal, being with the ones we love, obedience is not an issue. I don't mean that we stop doing it, I mean that we don't think about it during those times, during the times of love. There is never any talk about obdience, because in that area of life, the highest expression of our lives, living in love, there is no need for it. Obedience has already taken place long ago and in THE RIGHT PLACES AND TIMES WHEN AND WHERE IT NEEDED TO, and so WE ARE NOW REAPING THE BENEFITS OF THAT OBEDIENCE-- WHICH IS LOVE. We are now experiencing WHAT OBEDIENCE IS FOR. OBEDIENCE IS NOT AN END, IT IS ONLY A MEANS TO AN END--LOVE.

Also, the relationship between a man and a woman. This relationship is a blatant, obvious, accurate picture of the way in which we are to be in love with God, and Him with us, but during the exchange in this relationship ( I mean all exchange, not just sexual ), there is never any talk of or allusion to or concern with obedience. If there is, it indicates something wrong in the relationship.It tells us that the ultimate expression of loving is something beyond obedience.

Obedience is not the greatest goal we can achieve for God.. Obedience is only to lead us to love. Again, I use us, humans, as the example. We require obedience from our kids all through the years they are growing up, and for good, healthy reasons. But when obedience is accomplished, and they are healthy, whole, responsible adults, with kids of their own, do we call them up and invite them over to dinner to see if they still know how to obey us? Do we call them over to make them do things for us? We can ask them, when they are at our house, but if they say no, we have to respect their wishes as responsible adults and let them be free. Because we have passed from the stage of obedience into the stage of love. Obedience worked! So there's no more need for it! Or rather, there is no more need to focus on it, because we're living lives of love formed from obedience. The things we needed to obey have become part of us, so there's no need to emphasize them.

Now this is us, human beings. Fallen, flawed human beings at that. Yet we recognize, choose, and live these principles with our kids and with our friends. So are we better than Him? Is it really true that we know how to love better than God? OF COURSE NOT!! DON'T BE SILLY!! It's just that there is SO much emphasis on obedience these days, that we are missing the point of WHY we even obey!!! Is obedience necessary? Yes! Is it the end, the consummation of our relationship with Jesus, with God, with the Holy Spirit? Is it what we will be doing for eternity? Is that why we exist and why He created us? NO. LOVE IS WHY HE CREATED US!!!! And if obedience has already finished its work in us, and gotten us to the place where we are responsible and living in love with Him, and with our brother, THEN OBEDIENCE IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE. We've come to an understanding, as mature people do, of the reasons for obedience. It's no longer an issue for us. In fact, we've even taken to doing the right thing ourselves, WITHOUT HAVING TO BE TOLD!!!!!!!!!! In fact, we've even come to understand what the Bible talks about when it says that we are new creations in Christ, ones who are dead to sin and alive to God, ( See 2 Cor. 5:17 and Romans 6) and consider it true! So it's not even an issue whether or not we obey. We ARE new creations, ones who are dead to sin and alive to God. 1st John even says that we cannot sin , being born of God.

So what's my point in all of this? Well, the same point as in all the rest of my posts. Which is that the purpose of life is love.We are created for love. It is apparent from creation, when we look around us, and it is apparent when we read the Bible. God is into love more than He is into obedience. It is evident from just looking at what He himself created, us and everything else around us, and it is evident by logically asking ourselves the reason for obedience. It's all for love. Love God. Obey Him? Sure, but just be sure that you understand that obedience is only a small, beginning tool that's necessary right now in this short, brief space of time that we have here on earth, (and not even all the time here, hopefully, if we grow like we're supposed to) to get us to the place where we live permanently in love. This is what God is after. Do not make obedience your primary goal. Make LOVE your primary goal! It's what you're going to be doing forever anyways, so you might as well start practicing now!

I believe that God is a sucker for love, just like you and me are. Here again, all you have to do is look at us to see Him. Since we ourselves are suckers for love, and we are created by Him in His own image, then it only logically makes sense. I think it's what He's after more than anything else. Just like it's what you and me are after, more than anything else. Try loving Him, and see what happens.

God is not looking for perfection, He is looking for affection

Why Jesus is So Great.

Ok, so everybody always hears about why Jesus is so great. But why is He great, really? What is it about Him, and trusting in Him, that makes Him so great?

Because living outside of him is where you have to deal with being good or being bad. And if you've ever had to deal with either one, seriously, you know that they both are extremely hard, and taxing on the soul. This is why the Bible calls the original sin "eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". Because that's the problem It doesn't matter which side of the coin you are on, the good or the bad, it's stiil the same coin.

So what's the solution? What the Bible calls "eating from the tree of life". Which is, quite simply, God. Who IS the Tree of Life. Which is why I always say, that the answer to life is relationship. With God. And then with others.A relationship with the one who is life is returning to eating from the tree of life.

Don't try to be good. TRY TO LOVE.

the "flesh"

Ok, time to tear down some more myths. This time I'm going to attempt to clear up this notion of the "flesh", as put forth in the Bible.

What is it really? I guess in order to answer this question, it might be helpful to look at what most people's perceptions of it are. And I say "most" people's perceptions because I hear more people talking about it incorrectly than correctly. So here goes.

Most people I hear talking about it think that it means your human appetites, particularly our desires for sex and food, but also things like money, or material posessions, or to enjoy life, or to feel good about yourself or the things you do, etc. etc., fill in the blank. I hear this belief from mostly christians, but I suspect that many non-christians subscribe to it as well. So, logically then, since christians think that these things are their "flesh", they feel bad, guilty, for having all these desires. And then they try, by power of their will, to supress, deny, do away with, ignore, basically get rid of, these good and very natural human desires. Which is not good at all, because, as we will see, these things are not what the Bible refers to as the "flesh" at all. What the Bible refers to as the flesh can actually be those efforts, by our own will power, to do away with things that we mistakenly think are bad. So, irony of ironies, people are, by means of what is really the "flesh", attempting to do away with, deny and supress real, good human attributes that God designed and put in us for good, important reasons.

It's funny, but a lot of the efforts of the "flesh" that I see, are done by well meaning chrisians or other religious, sincere people. This is sad, because these are the very people who are trying their best to live how God wants us to live.

Here is a real definition of "the flesh", from God's perspective, as spoken of in the Bible. It is basically living life, any of it, not by God's spirit. We were designed to run on God's spirit from the beginning. And the entire world is screwed up as it is because most of the world lives not by His spirit. It is very simple and logical. When you live from and by God's spirit, you operate like God wants us to, in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, etc. etc. When you live apart from His spirit, you don't operate how He created us to operate; hence, sin. It's really this simple.

So we see that the issue is not your desires as a human being. Everybody is human. We all have the desires for love, for a mate, for good food, for enough money to have our needs met and be financially free, to enjoy life, etc. We all share these things in common, chrisians and non-christians alike. We are all human. These are not your "flesh". These are your humanity, and should not be squelched, supressed, or wished away. The real issue is from what impetus you are living your life, whether it is God's spirit or not. And if it is His spirit, then you will be walking by the spirit, like the Bible says. And if yoour impetus is not His spirirt, then you will be living by the flesh.

When we look at it this simply and logically, we see that your desires as a human being are not the issue. It is how those desires will be lived by you, dependent upon which source youare living from. If you are living from the source of His spirit, then those desires for love, to enjoy food, to have enough money, etc., will be expressed in loving, kind, good ways. When you are living from the source of just your flesh, (being human apart from God's spirit), your human desires for love, for good food, for enough money, etc., will be expressed in unloving, unkind ways.

Don't deny your humanity. Deny the flesh. For real. And learn to enjoy life as a loving, gentle, patient, kind, child of God.