Title: To Inspire Passion
For the car to go forward, the engine needs to catch fire. Passion is the engine. The engine is important, but the direction it is going is also very important. Where do you direct your passion? The direction of passion is Jesus Christ. As we go through life, we need to direct our passion towards Jesus.
It's not a sin to be ugly. It is not a sin to be poor. But not living hard is a sin. Especially, if you do not work hard for Jesus, you cannot receive a reward when you stand before the Lord. Let's work hard for Jesus.
How, then, can this passion arise? Look at the text of the text. A disciple named Globara and another disciple go down to their hometown after Jesus is crucified and died. I don't know how passionately they followed Jesus, but after Jesus was nailed to the cross, they went down to their hometown with a feeling of exhaustion and despair.
When the energy goes down, the passion goes down. Priests say this Even if you want to work hard, your passion will cool if the business you are doing is not cool. Even if you want to work hard, if you lose your health, your passion will cool down. Even if you want to work hard, if your family members feel uncomfortable, your passion will cool down. It's not wrong. The same can be found in the characters in the Bible.
Look at Elijah. He was a man who had a great victory against the prophets of Baal. But when he heard that Jezebel was going to kill him, he ran away. He prays to God to take his life under the rosemary tree. The passion in Elijah's heart was gone. Look at Jonah. Jonah disobeyed God's command and boarded the boat to Tarshish. There is no passion for preaching the gospel in the heart of Jonah, who is running away secretly.
If we weaken ourselves, our passion will also cool down. What must be done to have passion in us? Look at the two disciples going down to Emmaus. Jesus' crucifixion and death caused them to go down. Enthusiasm has completely cooled down. But these two disciples hear the news of Jesus' resurrection. When they heard these words, their hearts began to warm. When they heard that Jesus had risen, the hearts of the two disciples began to warm.
If we want to generate passion, we can win our hearts when we trust the Word of God. Twelve spies came to visit the land of Canaan. The ten report that they cannot take possession of the land of Canaan at all. They are the bosses and we are nothing but grasshoppers compared to them. The passion for Canaan had completely cooled down. However, Joshua and Caleb give a completely different report. What do you mean, they are our food. We report that we can conquer the land of Canaan as much as we want because God is with us and it is the land that God has promised to give us. Joshua and Caleb trusted the word of God, so their passion for Canaan did not fade. When the two disciples in the text also heard the news that Jesus was resurrected, their hearts began to heat up. The fire of passion began to burn again in his heart.
When we trust the Word, God gives us passion. The two disciples going down to Emmaus are in a state of complete weakness. I have lost my passion. Then they heard the news that Jesus had risen. trust that word. My heart started to warm up. So are we. When you lose your health, when your business isn't going well, or when you're having trouble with your friends, your enthusiasm can cool down. But if you go down that road and lose your passion completely, your life will be rather damaged. Trust the word. The Word gives us strength. Words warm our hearts.
We can fail in life. It is easy to lose enthusiasm because of that failure. But God tells us: “The LORD sets a man's steps, and his way is pleased; he stumbles, but he does not stumble, for the LORD holds up his hand. From my youth until I am old, I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their descendants begging for food. All day long he shows mercy and lends, and his descendants are blessed.” When we hear these words and trust them, will not new passions spring up in our hearts?
Imagine a person who has been pushed aside by failure in life. No one recognizes me, and I have a hard time living each day. How could such a person be passionate? But listen to what he has to say to us. “Where shall I go from Your spirit, and where shall I flee from Your presence? Even if I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Hades, You are there. Even if I spread the wings of the dawn and go to dwell at the edge of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, and your right hand will uphold me.”
Where do you find your passion when you are pushed to the brink? But meditate on these words and put your trust in them deeply. Will not the passion that God gives us rekindle within us?
No matter what I do, I will experience the pain of a heavy load weighing on us. There are times when you can't help yourself. There are times when I pray to God in secret tears. If the burden is too heavy for me, the passion within us tends to cool. But God speaks to us. “Cast your burden on the Lord. He will uphold you; He will never allow the righteous to be moved.” Cast your burden on the LORD. Trust these words. Trust these words as God's promises fulfilled in the field of your life. God-given passion rekindles in our hearts.
1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxieties on the Lord, for he counsels you.” It is not to leave heavy burdens, worries, anxieties, and worries for a while. Instead of leaving it for a while and then returning it, I tell him to leave it to me. It is not an expression to stay there for a while. Leave it to me. When we trust these words, will not God restore us to a burning passion?
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, citing a research institute's research in an article titled 'Useless Worry,' states as follows: Among human worries, 40!% worry about an event that will never happen, 30!% worry about an event that has already happened, 22!% worry about the little things that we don’t really care about, how we can’t change it 4% worry about the incident, 4% worry about the real case we need to solve, and 96% of people are living their lives without joy, laughter, and peace of mind because of useless worries that are 96%. . Leave these 4% of worries and concerns to the Lord. When we trust these words, God restores passion in us.
The cares, worries, and anxieties that are in us like this kill our passion. But when we trust the Word, passion is restored. But it is the work of the Holy Spirit that takes place here. Peter preaches at Cornelius's house. “As Peter was speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word, and the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astonished that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles as well.” As Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit came upon all who heard the word. Their hearts are warmed and passion is bound to arise.
The Holy Spirit comes upon us like oil. If the word of God is like the burning material, the Holy Spirit comes upon us like oil. When a campfire is made, the wood catches fire and burns. Pour oil over it. The fire soars high into the sky. The Holy Spirit comes upon us like oil.
During my stay in Kazakhstan, I ate Hetbahn for breakfast. The electricity went out for a while and the oven could not be used. When electricity came back on, I was not so happy. What's the use of having electronics if there is no electricity? The same is true of people without passion. Although there is a refrigerator, electricity is not supplied, so the refrigerator is useless. What good is a car if you have a car and the engine doesn't catch fire because there's no oil? So is our life. Many people today lose their enthusiasm because of anxiety, worry, or failure.
Dear saint! We want to have passion in us. Trust the Word of God. Don't become a person who loses enthusiasm and goes down because of anxiety and worry, but trust the word God has given us. And let us pray and long for the Holy Spirit to come upon it. We believe that the anointing of the Holy Spirit will come upon the material of the Word.