iPassion
2 Timothy 1:6-7
2 Timothy 1:6-7
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
(NIV)
This month, a whole new set of graduates will enter the workforce. These grads have been impacted by iPhones, iPods, iTunes, iMovies--and the fact that life is pretty much about "I”.
The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion.
Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion.
Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion.
Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go, "I’m going to do something with my life today." Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. God created you with the emotions to have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete where they’re breaking records. You’ve got to have passion in your life.
In our culture it’s ok to be passionate about anything except your religion, except your faith, except your relationship with God.
Exodus 34:14
14 You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you.
(NLT)
C. S. Lewis said it like this,
"The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important."
It either deserves your entire life or nothing.
Tracy, was a little girl who was listening very closely to the preacher during the morning worship service. But she left service puzzled. She said, Mommy, didn’t our pastor say today that God is bigger than we are? Her mother was pleased to see her daughter was listening in service and said, “Yes, honey.” Tracy then proceeded on with her second question, “And didn’t our pastor say today that God lives inside of us.”
Her mother could sense a big question coming forth and she said, “ yes honey”. Tracy then put her points together and said, “well if God is bigger than us, and God is living inside of us, then shouldn’t God be popping out all over so that others could see God when they look at us.
Passion is not automatic.
Passion is waking up in the morning wherever you are and bounding out of bed because you know there’s something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that God made you for and you’re good at, something that’s bigger than you are and you can hardly wait to get at it again. It’s something that you’d rather be doing than anything else and you wouldn’t give it up for money because it means more to you than money.
V. Raymond Edman, late president of Wheaton College, liked to remind his students that “it’s always too soon to quit.”
iPassion = Living with
COMMITTMENT
2 Timothy 1: 7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power
Daniel 1:1-6, 8
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility-
young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
(NIV)
Daniel and his friends lived with PASSION, even in a foreign land. Their commitment to God fueled their passion. And they refused to back down!
Alexander the Great had an army of committed men. A few centuries before Christ, Alexander the Great conquered almost all of the known world with his military strength, cleverness, and diplomacy. One day Alexander and a small company of soldiers approached a strongly defended, walled city. Alexander, standing outside the walls, raised his voice, demanding to see the king. The king, approaching the battlements above the invading army, agreed to hear Alexander’s demands.
“Surrender to me immediately,” commanded Alexander.
The king laughed. “Why should I surrender to you?” he called down. “We have you far outnumbered. You are no threat to us!”
Alexander was ready to answer the challenge. “Allow me to demonstrate why you should surrender,” he replied. Alexander ordered his men to line up single file and start marching. He marched them straight toward a sheer cliff that dropped hundreds of feet to rocks below.
The king and his soldiers watched in shocked disbelief as, one by one, Alexander’s soldiers marched without hesitation right off the cliff to their deaths. After ten soldiers had died, Alexander ordered the rest of his men to stop and to return to his side.
The king and his soldiers surrendered on the spot to Alexander the Great.
iPassion = Living with
COMPASSION
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit…of love
God made it clear to the King in Daniel’s day that judgment would soon come. Daniel heard the dream God gave to the King concerning his future and told him the truth about what was to come. But Daniel put himself in the King’s shoes, begging him to choose to change.
Daniel 4:27
Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue."
(NIV)
Although the King had no fear of God, Daniel had only fear for what God had said would happen to the King. And although it could have cost him is life by not telling the King kind words, Daniel told the truth in a loving way.
Six young men were slated to compete against one another in Seattle, Washington. The event was the hundred-yard dash. The men lined up, waited for the starting gun, and took off in a sprint. About halfway down the track, the man in front stumbled and fell, skinning his hands and knees. The other five men stopped and helped him up. After they brushed him off and were sure that he was unhurt, they decided to finish the race together, holding hands. None of the judges could tell who won the blue ribbon; none of them could see through their tears. No one in the stands that day would ever forget this demonstration of compassion. As the race ended the crowd stood and cheered for ten minutes. These young men were competing in the Special Olympics, and they showed that they cared more for a fallen friend than for winning a race.
iPassion = Living with
CONVICTION
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit… self-discipline
Daniel 6:1-4, 7, 10
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities
that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs,
but they were unable to do so.
They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.
The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict
and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king,
shall be thrown into the lions’ den.
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published,
he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened
toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God,
just as he had done before.
(NIV)
Conviction says that this is so important that nothing, not even the heated breath of a lion, is going to change my mind! I am so PASSIONATE about this cause that you will not turn me to the right or to the left. Living with Conviction means that I am CONVINCED that this one thing is more important than anything else.
What defines you?
iPASSION
