88.ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT IT? - 2 Corinthians 10:5.

When speaking or listening to people does your attitude and conversation automatically turn to God’s Word or opinion on the matter being discussed?. In other words is your conversation both in content and in general; fenced, guided and kept under the control of the sincere truth of Scripture, or are you prone to bending, diluting, rephrasing and in some cases, even putting your own spin on it? Here is an example of what I mean,:-- In (2 Kings 13;18-19.) Elisha the Prophet speaking to Israel’s king Johoash “Pick up the arrows and hit the ground with them” Johoash grabbed the arrows and hit the ground three times, and then stopped. Elisha became angry with the King...”If you had hit the ground five or six times you would completely drive out the Syrians. Now you will only defeat them three times.” Elisha had given Jehoash the king of Israel, a plan from God for not only defeating his enemies but eliminating them permanently as a future threat. But the plan depended on two important factors, Being fully obedient and being passionate about it. Jehoash passed the first, but failed the second test. He was obedient to what the Prophet told him to do, but he didn’t go far enough and didn’t put his heart and soul into it. In short he settled for less than what God had planned for him. Maybe he was tired or distracted… or perhaps he didn’t listen properly to the instructions..or thought token obedience would be as effective as wholehearted obedience to God’s Word. The Bible doesn’t tell us, but this much we do know, he forfeited God’s best because he wasn’t passionate enough Don’t miss the lesson here. It’s not enough just to say, “I’ve obeyed The Lord.” You must obey Him wholeheartedly; otherwise,you can end up compromising your future and failing to experience the fulness of what He has planned for you. Paul Bottom-lines this when writing in (1 Timothy 4:15) Meditate on these things, give yourself entirely to them” In other words, when God tells you to do something, be passionate (enthusiastic, Zealous) about it. In Psalm 39:3-4) David wrote, “I felt a fire burning inside, and the more I thought, the more it burned, until at last I said; “Please Lord, show me my future.” Passion is like fire unless you feed and stoke it up, it will die. Question; On a scale of one to ten, How wholehearted are you about serving The Lord? Before you answer, think about these Scriptures; (Deuteronomy 6:5) “Love The Lord with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul and with ALL your strength”. (Psalm119:2) Blessed are those who keep His statutes and seek Him with ALL their hearts.” (Proverbs 3:5) Trust The Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Jeremiah 29:13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with ALL your heart.” (2Timothy 1:6) Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you.” (Luke 8:39.) “Return home and tell how much God has done for you. So the man went away and told ALL over town what Jesus had done for him(.“ (1Corinthians 14:12) “Since you are eager for gifts of The Spirit try to excel in those that build up the church. “To this end I strenuously contend with ALL the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:29.)” and “Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14) All those Scriptures can be reduced to one sentence; Be passionate about what God has called you to do. The enemy of passion is indifference; Very often we go through the motions, but our focus is broken by other things. It’s not that we have said No to God, It’s that we haven’t said a resounding YES! In The Old Testament account (2 Chronicles 25:2) King Amaziah ‘did what was right in the eyes of The Lord, but not wholeheartedly. Think about this:- At what point does the passion leave a marriage? It doesn’t happen overnight. It happens when we neglect and take each other for granted. Maybe you think your lack of zeal is no big deal. Think again! Jeremiah (48:10) warns about a curse on anyone who is lax (Negligent, slack or slipshod) in doing The Lord’s work.’ You may ask how does that happen? The Bible answers that question in ( Acts 28:27) “This people’s heart has become calloused; They hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. The word calloused depicts a steady build-up of hard dead skin on the soles of your feet until you can’t walk properly or without pain. Note what Jesus told the first and last two churches in the book of Revelation (1) I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. Revelation (2:4-5) (2) I know your deeds, That you are neither cold nor hot, I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm...I am about to spit you out of my mouth” Revelation (3:15-16). With those thoughts in mind it might pay for us to think about being passionate standing up and declaring what we believe instead of being lax, indifferent and saying nothing. Thank you for reading these thoughts on being Passionate about God and the business that truly matter to Him. Yes, our Salvation is guaranteed through Christ’s saving blood. But, to gain the promised rewards of eternity we are dependent on God’s perfect love, mercy and grace. which we need to understand, emulate and extend with a passion to others who so desperately need Him. This will only happen when we stand up, move out of our various comfort zones and open our mouths to tell people how much God loves them and how much He has done for them. Jesus said, “He who stands up for me in this world, I will stand up for him in the presence of my Father in Heaven.” Who better to have standing up for you when the time comes. Like me, I’m sure you would rather be judged by and with God’s perfect love and mercy than by and with God’s perfect justice, So, if you are wise, you will resolve to be more passionate about sharing Jesus with friends, family and acquaintances. God bless and help us all. Phaline.. ----------------------------