Passionately Passionate

So lately I've been thinking about passion. People have always said I am a very passionate person, I've also been told I am "dramatic" and "loud." Which are both very true indeed but I would categorize those characteristics under passion. I like to express myself in a passionate way and often times it's seen to others as "hyper" but I see it as passion.

Passion is a funny thing, most often I think it is associated with love. But really you can be passionate for anything. I would say some people are passionate about food, others art, or fitness. It's pretty easy to find out what most people are passionate about. In just a few questions you can get a pretty good read on what someone really enjoys or loves because they become excited when they talk about it.

I'm sure you know where I'm leading with this idea of passion and that is our passion for God. I think it is easy to walk with Christ and begin to go through the motions or check off the things on our "God list," instead of really developing and maintaining a passion for Him.

But not just for Him, in Him. You see God lives in our hearts, the Bible says he is all-consuming and our body is His temple. So with the king of kings living, dwelling, residing in you, don't you think a passion should be exuding from within you.

C.S. Lewis hit it on the head in one of his sermons call "The Weight of Glory," here is an excerpt:

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drinks and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

What Lewis is saying is, unfortunately our modern-day minds have convinced us that we are "selfish" if we desire to find pleasure in God. This is where a problem arises, we become so comfortable in this box we call our relationship with God, we settle for mud pies instead of infinite delight. We don't seek out the pleasure with passion. The Lord offers us happiness in him. Pleasure, excitement and love exist through him within our hearts. Yet, we don't embrace that joy and passionately live with a constant desire for him, we settle. We fall short of the Glory of God...

Did you know praise means for consummate pleasure. Consummate means to bring to a state of perfection or fulfill. By praising God we are fullfilling our pleasure in Him. Think about all the praise you read in the Psalms, God is the object of satisfaction in all of that praise. He lives in us, so it only makes sense that we get pleasure (happiness) out of what delights in us!

"Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) When our passion is in Christ all of our needs are met by the delight that dwells within us.

Are you passionate in God? Are you delighted, excited and joyful in the Lord who has given you unending life?

My Psalm

A few days ago as I stood triumphantly upon my mountain, thanking God for the strength and guidance to get me there. I stood, praising my king in this moment of glory and was humbled by His gracious love, and powerful victory. I never stopped to notice the stormy weather overhead that would blow me from high place, to the darkness of defeat.

Today I struggle for air as I am carried away in the current of this churning river that is ready to swallow me whole. I fight for my life. Gasping for breath, as I suffocate beneath its slippery grip.

I will not be drowned. So I fight, knowing my Lord will save me once more. He has always rescued me. He has provided for me and been my light. I have faith that I again will climb upwards to the top of the mountain. That peak gives me hope, even in this river of darkness.

My faith relies on my triumphs and makes the swim easier because in this fight, I know I will gain strength for my next mountain-- for the next battle towards victories high peak.

The glory of the Lord comes with trials and triumphs. Whether you are in the valley or drowning in the riving, you must press forward in faith. Know that God has a mountain for you, and when you've gained enough strength in the struggle, you will see its enormous promise before you.

Trust that he is your strength. Turnover and float in that churning sea, and rely on the peace of Christ to guide you back to the calm of land.

Rejoice in the trials, for you will gain more than you will lose.


Can you relate to this feeling? How do you overcome the valleys of your life?

Ups & Downs

David used his gift of writing to express his feelings. God gave us emotions and feelings so that we can express ourselves but he also calls us not to sin in those emotions. Like anger, it is not a sin to be angry, but the Bible does say not sin in your anger. It is a sin to have hatred in your heart because of your anger. See how that works, you can be sad but you should not let bitterness develop because of your sadness.

God created us as human beings and to have feelings but we have to control them, when we are sad, we need to mourn and cry. When we are frustrated, we can yell out to our Heavenly Father, and when we are happy, rejoice and praise Him!

In 1 Peter 1:6&7 it says,"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trial for a little while. These trials will show you that you faith is genuine, it is being tested as fire tests and purifies fold-- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus is revealed to the whole world" (NLT)

Wow, what an awesome reward we are promised for enduring trials. Life is a constant struggle. It is filled with different trials and difficulties. If you are not in a struggle now, you just got out of one and if you're in one now, soon you will find peace.

The Bible says God understands the emotional life we live, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize without weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are--yet is without sin. Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." -Hebrew 4:15 & 16

See Jesus knows exactly how hard is it to be us sometimes. We can always come to him and share what we are going through knowing he will have mercy and give us the love or comfort or discipline we need!

How do you handle your emotions? Do you write or read? Maybe you exercise, play an instrument or talk to friends. David expressed his greatest joys, failures, angers, and all the ups and downs of his life in the book of Psalm. It is like reading a journal really, his everyday prayers and feelings written for the world to read.

Write your own Psalm today. Whether you are rejoicing, worshipping, crying, angry, scared, or confused, try to create your own emotional prayer to God in writing. You will be amazed at how close to Him you feel and what a release you feel. This is a beautiful way to grow in your relationship with your Lord.

Leave your Psalm as a comment if you really feel led!