Well, how’s your level of passion for Jesus as we start 2008? Is your passion for Jesus still burning strong? Are you being truthful if you said “yes”?
A young man was sent to Spain by his company to work in a new electronics plant. It was a 2 year assignment that he had accepted because it would enable him to earn enough to marry his long-time girlfriend. They wrote to each other every week, but as the lonely weeks went by, she wrote expressing doubts that he was being true to her, thinking that he was going to give into a European beauty.
The young man wrote back, declaring with great passion that he was not paying attention to the local girls. He wrote,“I admit, that sometimes I’m tempted, but I fight it. I’m keeping myself for you.”
In the next mail, the young man received a package. It contained a note from his girl and a harmonica. She wrote, “I’m sending this to you, so you can learn to play it and have something to take your mind off the girls.”
The man replied, “Thanks for the harmonica. I’m practicing it every night while I only think of you.”
At the end of his 2 year, the man was transferred back to company headquarters. He took the first plane to Tennessee to be reunited with his girl. Her whole family was with her, but as he rushed forward to embrace her, she said, “Just hold on there a minute, Billy, before any serious kissing and hugging, let me hear you play the harmonica!”
Aren’t you glad that God is always passionate about His relationship with each of us? Let me ask...Have you ever thought of God as being passionate about you?
Exodus 34:14 “You must worship only the Lord, for He…is passionate about His relationship with you.” NLT
What is passion? Webster’s Dictionary says its, “A great devotion and intense conviction which fuels or motivates toward compelling action.”
2 Timothy 1:6 “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you...”
“Stir up” = fan into a flame
KEY: Notice that Timothy didn’t need a new gift, but rather re-ignite the one he already had!
Paul was telling Timothy to get out of his muck and mire and return to his might as a child of God!! A roaring fire will only continue if you stir the wood and coals already on fire! Does your spiritual fire need to be stirred up?
The apostle Paul’s passion was threatened at times but he refused to let any circumstance, challenge or crisis beat it out of him!
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure…In our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God…On him we have set our hope…”
The great evangelist John Wesley understood the pressures of life. While he was a small man, he weighed only 120 pounds. Samuel Johnson said of him, “He is always driven by God in an intense desire to obey him…”
He died when he was 90 years old and he still filled passion for God. He virtually lived in the saddle, on horseback, driven to serve his Savior.
The story is told of General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, and the day Queen Victoria of England asked to meet with him. Because she had heard so many favorable things about his work in the community, she asked him for the secret of his success.
He replied, “Your Majesty, some men have a passion for money. Some people have a passion for things. But I have a passion for people.”
So I ask - how many of us get out of bed every morning and say, “I can’t wait to see how I can live for Jesus today.” Is your life passionate about the Great Commission or poisoned by the great omission?
7 Passion Destroyers
Which of these 7 areas are destroying your passion for Jesus?
1. An Unclear Purpose.
Isaiah 49:4 “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.” NIV
I’m concerned that too many Christians live in their past purpose instead of creating a present purpose for their lives!
I suggest to you, that God is not as concerned about our past purpose as you and I might be! Are we still living off the old victories and old successes? Listen, we burn out and eventually our passion for Jesus fades out because we have no current purpose for our lives!
If we are going to be a distinctive church in the our community, that is, be “The Cure For The Common Church”.There maybe no cure for the common cold - but I assure you that there is a cure for the common church...which is...
Compassion for the hurting
Unashamed of biblical truth
Relationships are a priority
Enriched worship of God
You see, purpose creates passion for God! No purpose, no passion!
Is your Christianity diluted, derailed or dismal? Do others see your Christianity as dry, dull or dead? Then begin to line your life up with the cure and you’ll have a clear purpose!
2. An Unemployed Talent.
1 Corinthians 7:17 “Each one should live his life with the gifts that the Lord has given him.” PH
3. An Unbalanced Schedule.
Need I remind you that there is a power struggle over your time!
1 Timothy 4:7 “Take the time and the trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit.” PH
4. An Unconfessed Sin.
Psalm 38:4 “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear” NIV
No one can feel enthusiasm and guilt at the same time!
5. An Unresolved Conflict.
Job 5:2 “Resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.”
Job 18:4 “You are only hurting yourself with your anger.” GN
Resentment, jealousy and anger if not dealt with will become permanent poisons to passion!
6. An Unsupported Life.
Ecclesiastes 4:9,10 “Two are better than one, because…if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him.” NIV
LifePoint: Christianity is a lifestyle that needs support from every member of our church and family!
Parents: your passion is pasted on to your children! Your passion gives your children a reason not to use drugs and alcohol!
We need relationship and fellowship on a regular basis or we dry up! Jesus did not save you in this life to solitary confinement!
7. An Undernourished Spirit.
One of my most important responsibilities as your Pastor is to keep you from ever experiencing this!
Colossians 2:6,7 “Just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him, too, for each days problems; live in vital union with Him. Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him.” LB
Exodus 34:14 “You must worship only the Lord, for He…is passionate about His relationship with you.” NLT
Romans 12:11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor.” NIV
“Keep” – it not automatic in our relationship with God!
“Fervor” = boiling over
Paul is warning us never become lukewarm about our passion for God!
Now I’ve done my best to revive your hearts for Jesus! The rest is up to you!
2 weeks ago in Tulsa Oklahoma, a burglar did something quite unusual. Edward McBride kicked in the door of a house, and grabbed a duffle bag full of electronic gear. As he left the house, a man working next door saw him and called 911. The police arrived as McBride was running toward the ice cold Arkansas River and then he jumped in with the bag in hand.
Mike Branson was fishing in the river and saw officers go in after McBride. Mike said, “They were pulling their stuff off yelling at him to come back in. The officers got in the water, but the man went down once or twice, and then he didn’t come back up.” Folks get this: when the fire department recovered McBride’s body about 30 minutes later - one hand was still frozen to the bag.
All of us are part of this story. We too have clutched onto the things of this world with relentless passion, all the while Jesus is pleading for with us to leave the turbulent waters and come to safety.
You know Jesus died with one hand reaching up to the Father, and the other was reaching out to us - literally He was a human bridge to heaven! So many of us have one hand clutched to so many things of the world and over time have lost our grip on the things of God!
