What are some things that keep you from having that constant passion for the Lord?

Psalm 127:2 (TLB) "It’s senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing that you’re going to starve to death, for God wants His loved ones to get their proper rest."

An Unbalanced Schedule

That means if you are either overworked or under worked you’re going to lose your passion for life and lose your passion for God. Life is a series of seasons, the Bible says. There’s a season for everything. And there’s a rhythm to life. You need both in your life -- both input and output. You need both rest and work. And too much of either will cause you to lose your passion. Too much work will cause you to lose your passion. Too much of nothing—boredom—will cause you to lose your passion too, if you’re not working enough.

Some of you have the problem of always giving out. You’re always helping, you’re always sharing, you’re always serving, you’re always working, you’re always being generous. And you never take time to recharge. If you never take time to recharge you’ve become unbalanced on the ministry side; on the work side, you’re going to eventually get compassion fatigue.

Lord Jesus, this is Dennis, I want to always remember that I do what I do because I’m a funnel through which Your blessings flow. Bless me so that I can give others the blessings you have given me. None of it is mine, it's all about You.

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Matthew 22:36 (KJV) Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Here’s the amazing thing. In America it’s OK to be passionate about anything except God. That is not politically correct—to be passionate about God. I can be passionate about movies. I can be passionate about sports. I can be passionate about politics… But I cannot be passionate about God. That’s a no no.

But in our culture it’s OK to be passionate about anything except your religion, except your faith, except your relationship with God. I can go to a rock concert, or a political rally or a baseball game and I can shout my head off. I can get excited. I can get hoarse from yelling so loudly. When my team loses I can cry. Nobody thinks that’s a big deal. When my team wins I can jump up and dance around and wave my hands in the air. If I do that at a game people go, "He’s a real fan!" If I do that in church people say, "He’s a fanatic! He’s a nut case." You don’t want to get too emotional about your faith. It’s OK about anything else—but not that.

Lord Jesus, this is Dennis, I don't ever want to get over being saved!

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Everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate. And it dissipates your energy. If you had a birthday party with some helium balloons and they got loose and they went up to a high ceiling and you wondered how to get them down...they’ll be down by morning. And the truth is, it might not even be that long. In just a few hours they will began to dissipate, lose their steam and come back down.

A lot of times we’re like that. When you first become a believer and you really understand what a good deal you’ve got you get excited about it, "This is quite a deal! All my sins are forgiven. I now have a purpose for living, and I now have a future home in heaven. What a deal!” And you get excited about that when you give your life to Christ and you’re pretty passionate. But as time goes by you begin to lose your steam. You begin to lose your zip, your zest, your enthusiasm. What happens? Why does that happen?

I love the paraphrase of Mark 11:30, from The Message "Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’"

Jesus is saying, "If you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to go it with passion. You’ve got to give it some oomph, some spark, some zip, some enthusiasm, some zest. I want you to live passionately."

Lord Jesus, this is Dennis, My desire is to love you with everything I have. Holy Spirit I need your fire within me.

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Psalm 25:1-5 (KJV) "Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."

Valentine's Day 2017 - Today marks one decade since Jesus gave me the honor and privilege of adopting Zachery. We don't really call it "Gotcha Day" because I was raising him long before the adoption. In fact, the journey was a seven year process. Talk about questioning God, I had lots of questions. Why was he allowing this? Why so long? Why Zach? From a mother's heart, it felt like my child was suffering…exposed to people and situations I would never have willingly let him be. Yet, I waited.

The morning of our final court date, Jesus reminded me that He was my hope. This Valentine's Day, I rejoice, but am reminded of the many February 14th's before that day that I waited on the Lord to show me His way and teach me. I came to a place of truth that if the only gift Jesus ever gave me was His death and resurrection, that was more than enough. Yet, He keeps blessing and giving to His children abundantly. I am humbled.

Whatever your struggle this day, may you find your hope in Jesus. Trust Him and cherish every blessing from the cross and beyond. What a WONDERFUL SAVIOR.

Love, 

Lori C.

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The Bible tells us that we’re to seek God passionately. We’re to love God passionately. The Bible says that we’re to serve and obey God passionately. We’re to trust God passionately. Then as if you didn’t get the message, in Colossians 3:23 He says "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men." He says I want you to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me.

Romans 12:1 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor." Keep the fires going in your life. Notice, it’s not automatic. It’s a choice. It’s a discipline. It’s something you must maintain. You are not by nature passionate about God. It’s something that you must choose to do.

Lord Jesus, this is Dennis, thank You for being the love of my life, I adore and worship You!

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Nicholaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born into one of Europe’s leading families in the year 1700, and he grew up in an atmosphere of prayer, Bible-reading, and hymn-singing. He excelled in school, and seemed to possess all the qualities for national leadership.

After finishing his university studies at Wittenberg, Germany, Zinzendorf embarked on a grand tour of Europe, attending lectures and visiting museums, palaces, and universities. It was while visiting the art museum at Dusseldorf that the young count had a deeply moving experience that stayed with him the rest of his life:

Seeing Domenico Feti’s Ecce Homo (“Behold the Man”), a portrait of the thorn-crowned Jesus, and reading the inscription below it—“I Did This For Thee! What Hast Thou Done For Me?”

Zinzendorf said to himself, “I have loved Him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for Him. From now on, I will do whatever He leads me to do.”

When you look at the cross, can you say that you are doing and living the way God intends for you to live?

1. Are you living the way you know you should or are you hoping that you’ve still got time to change?

2. Have you made peace with those you need to make peace with?

3. Have you told that loved one how much they mean to you?

4. Can you honestly say that you are fulfilling your duty God?

Acts 23:1 (NIV) Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 

-A. Todd Caget, (From sermoncentral.com)
 

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Luke 17:10b We are unprofitable servants, we've just done our duty.

“German pastor Martin Rinkhart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkhart officiated at the funerals of the other two pastors. As the only pastor left, he often conducted services for as many as 40 to 50 persons a day – some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.

Yet living in a world dominated by death, Pastor Rinkhart wrote the following prayer for his children to offer to the Lord:

Now thank we all our God

With hearts and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom this world rejoices.

Who, from our mother’s arms,

Hath led us on our way,

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today.

Pastor Rinkhart understood that God did not owe him anything. Furthermore, he owed God everything. He was simply a dutiful servant who joyfully did his duty and gave thanks to God for his abundant mercies to him, even in the midst of a terrible epidemic and war.

Similarly, God does not owe us anything. We owe God everything. Let us remember that we are God’s servants who joyfully do our duty and give thanks to him for his abundant mercies to us. Amen.” (From Sermoncentral.com)

…and we all say..???   Amen!

-Dennis

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John 6:26-27 (NASB) “Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”

At our women’s meeting at church, we were talking about trying to be healthier, and one of the ladies suggested having a healthy cooking demonstration for one of our meetings. My response: “Do we get to eat the food? Then maybe I’ll come.”

The crowds following Jesus early in his ministry were in it for the food, too (feeding of the five thousand). They weren’t there because they believed He was the Messiah, they weren’t sure what to believe about His outlandish claims. But if we want Jesus to change our life, then we have to get past the short-term “what’s in it for me” attitude and trust that what we really need, only He can give.

-Kevi

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Psalms 86:15 (NKJV) “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Today was Groundhog Day, and if you haven’t heard, the groundhog saw his shadow, which according to the lore means six more weeks of winter. Six more weeks waiting for spring!

Maybe you feel like you are always waiting for spring. Always waiting for things to change or get better. If you’re like me, you may feel like you should be better by now, not committing the same sins over and over again. Always winter, never spring.

But the good news is that God is in it for the long haul. He has mercy in abundance. He is longsuffering towards us. Compassion? He has enough to spare. If we keep trusting in Him, He will keep covering us with grace.

-Kevi

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Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

I believe this statement is true, because I know the inverse is true. Today, I was not “in perfect peace,” and my thoughts were not fixed on God. I let all the little frustrations of the day, all the worries of tomorrow and all the self-doubts cloud my mind and keep me from focusing on God.

Then, I went to Bible study and heard a good word about how King Jesus is in control, then I read my daily Bible reading about how Jesus was there in the beginning (John 1) and you know what? I am feeling at peace!

Thank you Lord for returning my thoughts to You, I trust You to bring me peace.

-Kevi

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