Passion Killers II

Passivity / Complacency


Passivity is like being in neutral, not responding to outside force, remaining inactive when acted upon. A passive person has the “whatever will be, will be” attitude, believing they have no significant part in shaping their future or destiny. Complacency is being self satisfied, lacking desire. Both of these conditions will thrive best in a faithless atmosphere. Unbelief is most likely the root cause of passivity. The very nature of faith is change, growth, and movement, just like a fire.

Passion is strong desire, love, fervor, and anger. It is like an unsatisfied fire that will not stop until it has consumed everything. Passivity or complacency would act like a flame retardant, preventing its spread, like throwing cold water on another’s excitement.

In the book of Acts, it was the fire of the Spirit of God that erupted among Jesus’ disciples, which effectively led to multitudes being added to the Kingdom. The spread of the gospel could be compared to the spreading of a forest fire driven by the wind. The early church burned with the passion of the Spirit of God and it grew in numbers daily. Many rose up against the spread of the gospel but it seemed as though the more they tried to swat out the flames, the more it spread.

Passivity can be seen as a safe choice. If we are not sure what to do we choose to do nothing. We can stay out of trouble and preserve a favorable reputation by remaining neutral. There are some countries that choose to stay out of world conflicts and remain neutral, while others will not sit idly by, or look the other way, while injustice occurs. Over the years, the choice to be active and stand up in defense of other nations has proven to be very unpopular. In other words, passivity has become a preferred stance because it doesn’t cost in loss of lives, money, or reputations.

The same can be true for individual believers, as well as the church as a body. World opinion should not be a factor in what we do as Spirit filled, Spirit led believers. The fire of passion for the cause of Christ never has been a popular thing because it is not passive. It will not stay idle while injustice runs rampant across the world. On the other hand, what we do passionately must be led and fueled by the Holy Spirit.

God is love and love is passionate. He is also a jealous God that will not sit quietly by.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3 I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. NLT

These are very strong and difficult words expressed by Paul. It was God’s passion through jealousy over His bride. Just as Eve had entertained the cunning ways of the serpent, the Corinthian church was entertaining a different spirit, a different gospel and another Jesus. Paul was feeling the jealousy of God over His bride, not because the fake gospel and another Jesus showed up in church, but because His bride was enamored with the imposter. The one who had been espoused to be married to Christ appeared to be openly considering other offers.

There is a Godly jealously and there is a jealously that has been perverted by the world. I have heard stories of husbands who were so insecure in their relationship with their wives that they were always checking up on them and suspicious of any interaction they had with other men. They were constantly questioning the motives of their wives and, in doing so, actually caused great division rather than unity in their marriages. This type of jealousy has even driven men to commit murder.

Anger is another godly passion that has too often gone awry. The scripture says “be angry but do not sin.” Like jealousy, uncontrolled anger can lead to murder. These various passions must be under the control of the Holy Spirit. We do not want to be like Saul of Tarsus, who being very zealous in the Jewish religion of his day, found himself fighting against the God he thought he was working for.

Love is another strong desire that the world has warped the true meaning of. Love is a passion, like a flame that burns within, but if we are steeped in the world’s understanding of love, we see it as a means for getting certain temporary human desires met. The true love from God causes us to focus on giving and looking after the needs of others first, especially our own family. As Christians we know what is of God and what is of the world, but it is not always easy to do things God’s way. The world promotes instant gratification; the church can easily be drawn into the same trap.

My past experience with passions has caused me to take a very cautious approach to life. Without realizing it, I chose passivity as a way to control the passions in my life. For many years I used the passion of anger in the place of a bold authority. As a boy growing, I observed two methods of expressing authority. One was a commanding voice that struck fear into the hearer and the other was violent anger that did the same. Either one got immediate action and the desired results. Though neither of these methods created a pleasant atmosphere, they were my only frame of reference. Since I did not have the booming voice of authority and since anger came to me so naturally, I resorted to anger.

The bible says to be angry but without sin. The trick for me was to know where the sin lie was. Anger seemed to be what worked for me. I got the desired results but they came at the expense of good healthy relationships. Though there is a boldness of God’s authority that can be expressed through righteous anger, I was only familiar with the unrighteous kind. As a Christian, learning how to express anger in a godly fashion has been difficult. The same can be said about love. In the world I learned passionate love in the grip of sin’s lustful desires. As a Christian, I have to learn love by the Holy Spirit and believe that He will lead me and guide me into all truth.

Coming out of passivity means that I must face all these difficult challenges head on. As a Christian I can not stay in a comfort zone of passivity or allow old mind sets to dictate my future. I must allow God to set fire to my life and allow those godly passions, that the world has perverted, to come alive again. I must trust that His fire will purify and cleanse me where the world’s passion flame has defiled and polluted me. I must trust that His voice of authority will be heard in me and that His righteous anger will rise up in me, when need be. I must allow His jealousy for His bride to flow through me, as it did through Paul, that I would not hesitate to communicate the true heart of God for His church in every situation. I must not be intimidated by worldly passions that would try to bring fear to keep me from expressing God’s love for people. I must trust Him to lead me and guide me into all truth.

Passion Killers I

American Idols


Gen 1:25-28 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." NKJV

God created man in His own image and likeness, then gave him dominion over all the earth and every other living thing He had created. Before sin entered, idolatry was not an issue. It would have been total ignorance and forfeiture of authority to bow down and worship the things they had been given dominion over. But, because of the depravity of sin, man has even worshiped the very dust he was formed from. God found it necessary to give man the commandments engraved in stone as a warning against forgetting God and the purpose for which He created man.

Ex 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me. NKJV

Man was created with worship as part of his DNA. Because of sin, man lost sight of God, resulting in his need for a visible god. Man worships the visible creation in place of the one who created it. Rom 1:20-25 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. NKJV


Instead of giving glory and honor to the invisible God who made all visible things, man, under the guise of wisdom, foolishly bowed to worship the things he was given dominion over. Our worship ascribes worth to the thing or person that we worship. We declare the object of our worship to be of much greater worth and power than we are. If we worship an idol, we are giving it power over us and esteeming it to be greater in value than we are.

If we consider the value of the sacrifice Christ paid for our salvation, we have to conclude there is no created thing more valuable than human life and our relationship with our creator. It would be a real slap in God’s face to give ourselves in submission to idols, esteeming them of greater value than what He paid for us. God is the only one that is greater and deserves our worship. Even though we are to honor and respect other created beings, be it man or angel, we are never to worship them or value them more than the one who created us all.

We become like the one we trust in. Ps 135:15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. 16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; 17 They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them. NKJV

America’s idols are not likely graven images of silver, gold, wood, or stone but are more likely images printed on the pages of magazines or projected on a screen. Considering the amount of time Americans spend in front of a computer, or television, just to be entertained, we have to admit it fits the definition of idolatry. Of course, anything can become an idol: an automobile, a home, a person or anything we believe we could not live without. If our life is dependant upon anything more than God, we have made it an idol.

Idolatry kills passion for God. He is our source of passion fuel. Our passion flame is to be fueled by the oil of the Holy Spirit. Like a lamp that burns bright, we must have oil in our lamps to be ready for the coming of the bridegroom. The world offers us all sorts of passion fuels but we were not designed to burn with worldly passion.

A few years ago I was given a picture showing a believer like a fireplace, with a glass door over the opening. When we have the fire of God in us, the glass stays perfectly clear and the inner parts of the fireplace remain bright and clean, as new. The glass represents our vision and the inner parts represent our inner most being. As long as the flame continued to feed on the fuel of the Holy Spirit, we were made even more pure and had greater vision and understanding of truth. Then I saw a fire being fueled by the things of this world, the things the flesh lusts for. The fire began to smoke and soot began to build up on all parts of the fireplace. The believer’s vision was reduced to zero and their inner parts were defiled with the soot and ash from the burning garbage.

Like a fireplace we, as believers, are built to burn. Our lives are designed to run on holy passion fuel. If we do not get it from the right source, it spells disaster. The world’s passion fuel is supplied through covetousness which is equal to idolatry.
Col 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. NKJV

God says to cut off the fuel hose of the world and connect up to His Spirit.

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; NKJV

Idolatry has a snowball effect. It robs us of vision and revelation, causing us to think we need more of the same, which only leads to greater blindness. Spiritual blindness causes God’s people to cast off restraints and enter deeper into sin and idolatry. It becomes a vicious cycle that only the intervention of God can break. God’s word equips us with an idol detection system, establishing Godly restraints to protect us from the enemy’s snare.

Psalms 106:35 But they mingled with the Gentile and learned their works;
36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
37 They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters NKJV

Doesn’t this sound familiar? Is America into idolatry or what? We desperately need the intervention of God.

They, in verse 35, refers to God’s people learning the ways of the unbeliever and entering into the same idolatry, becoming ensnared by it. It even led them into the unthinkable: sacrificing their own children to demonic idols.

All this is preventable; we need to be ablaze with a passionate love for God. We are the light of the world, but if our light be hidden because of idolatry how will the world ever see?

Matt 6:22 "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?
NKJV

The lust of the eyes leads to covetousness, which is idolatry. The covetous eye is made dark and the lamp is put out.

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. NKJV

The devil himself has transformed into an angel of light, but he is of the kingdom of darkness and has no true light. If a believer is into idolatry, yet claims to have the light, the source of his light is from the kingdom of darkness and is doubly dark.

The World is Watching

What influence do we have?

As Christians, we are the representatives of Christ to our world. Our mission is to lead lost people into a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Some have focused on God’s laws and want to begin by confronting lost people with their failures. That kind of approach tends to make Christians look more like holy policemen rather than a search and rescue team. Confronting first will most likely drive lost people further away, not bring them closer. There is a time to confront people with their sin but, in most cases, they will not receive our correction until they sense our care and protection.

Jesus came to fulfill the law, not necessarily to enforce it. Love is the fulfilling of the law. The New Covenant uses new methods to deal with the sin problem. Rather than using the fear of punishment or death as a primary strategy, we use faith: seeing the things that are not as though they were. Rather than focusing on and speaking to the problem, we focus on the solution. Eradicating sin from our lives will only occur when we become like Christ; that takes place as we behold Him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. NKJV

We are changed as we look upon the one who never changes. We are the canvas that the Spirit of God paints the image of Christ upon. As we position ourselves before Him, His image is reflected upon us by His glory.

James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. NKJV

There could be two implications for those who look into the word, then go their way without putting it to practice. Not only is it possible to overlook needed change in our lives, but also to miss being transformed by looking upon the glorious image of Christ. We can easily forget what manner of men we are intended to be as well.

If the world is having trouble seeing Jesus, it may be that our reflector is aimed in the wrong direction. Some years ago I sensed the Lord’s gentle rebuke concerning my use of the mirror of His word. I was holding it as if it were a rear view mirror, checking out my neighbor’s faults while overlooking my own; like trying to remove the speck from his eye while having a log in my own eye. I was like the one who looked into the mirror of the word and went my way without seeing my own condition. I was self deceived, thinking I was already presentable. Little did I realize, I was not seeing Jesus as the true standard of righteousness; I was comparing myself to my neighbor. Seeing his faults made me look good in my own eyes. I measured my own righteousness by the failures of men, rather than the glory of Christ.

Faith sees what we are becoming, primarily, yet does not deny our present condition. Faith must have action or it is dead. Faith that works is acting like the one we are becoming rather than the person we are leaving behind. Looking into the mirror of the word reveals our faults, but not for the purpose reinforcing defeat. It is to show us our need for a savior. We must not dwell on our faults, but look upon the glory of the perfect Son of God and see our selves in Him. Keeping our gaze on Him reinforces who we truly are by faith. Faith continues to believe and focuses on Christ, trusting in God to form us into His image.

Having a confident identity in Christ will greatly influence others to receive Him. The world is watching and looking for someone to follow. They will follow someone who can convince them they can produce what they promise.

The Glory of Love

The English word “glory”, in the Old Testament, is translated from the Hebrew word “kabod”, literally meaning: “weight” and figuratively meaning: splendor, glory, and honor.

There appears to be at least two dimensions to the meaning of glory. Splendor, or majesty, refers to a visible appearance, like the breathtaking experience of the queen of Sheba.

1 Kings 10:4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. NKJV

Matt 6:28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” NKJV

The weighty dimension of glory speaks more of dominion and authority. Some may remember hearing the phrase “throw your weight around” in reference to exercising your authority. A king had dominion and authority over all who were in his sphere of influence. So the glory of Solomon’s kingdom included both the splendor of appearance and the authority of his dominion. Solomon’s glory also commanded tribute: people who wanted to enter his presence, sought his attention bearing gifts.

1 Kings 4:21 So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. NKJV

Love is both a covering of splendor and a weight of authority.

Song of Solomon 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love. NKJV

His glorious banner declares victory over the enemy and has inscribed on it the name of our King, which is Love, for God is Love. This banner of love rallies the host of heaven to our protection and bears the name of our heavenly country. Those who live and walk under this banner have the protection of God’s angels and are empowered to walk in patience and kindness. Love turns away from envy and selfishness; it avoids pride and arrogance, but embraces courtesy and good manners. Love does not insist on having things its own way and is not easily provoked to anger. Love has the authority to say no to evil, even to evil thoughts. It keeps no record of wrongs, so does not even mention them again. Love and truth hang out together like best of friends. Love does not accuse but is quick to defend; it believes the best about others and is not suspicious. Love never gives up on people but affirms their future in God. Love remains loyal to the end and does not fail, for God is Love.

Sin is a lie, a violation of relationship. It falls short of God’s glory leaving the sinner uncovered and unprotected. The glory of love is a covering over God’s people as well as a banner of truth. Love has a weighty authority that is without boundary, love has no end.

The world is looking for love. It usually searches through all the wrong places and finds no lasting fulfillment. The church of Jesus Christ is to be known by her love for one another. The greatest influence we can have in this world is to love our brother and sister, as well as the lost.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." NKJV