Passion

Last week we talked about not letting our love for God grow cold. Romans 12:11 says, “Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let him fill you with excitement as you serve him.” We have been talking about going deeper in our love for God. It certainly is much easier to go deeper in our love for God when life is going great, and we are surrounded by insurmountable blessings. But, although it may be harder in tough times to draw closer to God, it is necessary.

I have been praying scriptures over myself and I came across Romans 12:11 and I thought, “Yes, I certainly want that!” I want to be enthusiastic to serve Jesus, excited about partnering with Him in whatever He is doing. I want my passion towards Him to be boiling hot. I want to radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill me with excitement as I serve Him. If you want the same you better start praying Romans 12:11 over yourself! Don’t allow your love and passion for God to grow cold.  

In the season we are living in (not summer/ autumn but spiritual season) there is a lot happening that can distract us from serving God or even loving Him. People who love each other seldom go to bed in love and wake up the next morning hating each other; it doesn’t happen overnight. It is gradual.  

Right now there is so much happening in our world. We were just in a global pandemic with Covid, then in Australia we had some flooding, others had tsunamis, earthquakes, war in Ukraine and all sorts of calamities. It is very easy to want to disconnect from it all and wait for the rapture. But we cannot disconnect. Now is the time we plug into God on a whole new level. Now is the time we seek God even more and listen even closely to His voice. Now is the time we fall deeper in love with our Saviour as we entrust our lives and the lives of our loved ones into His hands.

Life is happening all around us, disasters are happening all around us, but we put our faith and our hope in the One who’s love for us is everlasting and knows no end. We snuggle even closer with Him just like little chicks tuck in under the mother hen we too must tuck in under the protection and covering of our Mighty Father. Now is the time to get to really know who our heavenly Father is and the best way to do that is by reading our Bibles.

John 1:1-14 tells us all about how Jesus is the Word. So, if you want to get to know Jesus you get to know the Word. If you want to encounter God, He is all over the pages of your Bible. Our Bible is not just like any other book. It is not for our amusement or just a good read. It is Holy.

And when we take the time to read our Bibles, the Holy Spirit will begin to reveal God to us not only in the pages of the Bible but in our lives. We start to see the hand of God at work in our hearts and in our lives. As we do that, our connection with God begins to grow and our relationship with our Saviour begins to deepen as the revelation of who He is and His great love for us is enlivened in our hearts.

Loving God for us is not because we are so great at loving. Nah, quite the contrary. We suck at it until God steps in and teaches us how to love. Loving God is our response to His love for us. We love because He first loved us, 1 John 4:19.

I mentioned last week that love is not an emotion. It is not about whether or not you are getting goosebumps in praise and worship or all your prayers are being answered, love is a decision. You get to decide whether you want to love God or not. The beauty and tragedy of free will is we always have a choice but we don’t always choose right. Well, this choice is simple. Choose to live your life loving God with everything within you. Choose to love God not only in your external actions but also in your heart and innermost thoughts. Choose to love God in the good times and the bad times. Decide to get to know Him, He is pretty awesome. Now is the time.

As our passion and our love for God grows, we will find ourselves serving Him with enthusiasm and not hiding in a corner waiting for the rapture. We need to keep building and to keep serving so when Jesus returns, He will find a people full of faith who are standing strong on His Word.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.