Passion

I can't sleep...always a good time to blog, right? Somehow while I was praying in bed, my mind raced off thinking about passions and trying to categorize people's passions.  So here I find myself at 2:20 in the morning trying to get these thoughts on this screen.  In about an hour my husband will wake up (too early) to pursue his passion of hunting (morea bout that passion another day:)). 

I was thinking of how creative God is in His design of people.  There are people who are passionate about things that I honestly care very little about...and I'm sure there are many people who care little about my passion as as well.  I guess that's why we have relationships...to balance out...to learn and grow.  As I was thinking about some of the various passions, God revealed to me that they really aren't all that different. 

My husband rediscovered one of his passions this summer as he worked with men of God to minister to boys by rebuilding a hot rod and a motorcycle in one week.  Talk about some passionate men!!! The wise men that have been involved in heart of a craftsman ministered to my husband by showing him that one of his passions can be used to bring glory to God. 

How?  I'm glad you asked! They take time to PREPARE a car and motorcycle to be redesigned...to be made "new".  This preparation takes MUCH time and effort.  Then they spend a week with boys and let the boys see the results of a week of hard work by revealing the new vehicle.  The boys, men, and vehicles are all transformed...and they bring glory to God!  These men use passionate preparation to praise the Lord.

Stay with me here...this might be strange at first...but it made sense in my mind on no sleep, so I'm hoping it will as I type it out here!  Last weekend we got to spend some time with my cousin and her family at the fair.  Her husband was PREPARING cattle to show at the fair.  I've not been around this, so it was new and fascinating to me! She explained much to me-during the conversation she said they felt like they had found something that their family could enjoy together by raising and showing cattle.  He was so passionate about it and mentioned it during one of his breaks from the strenuous work.  Even as they start this endeavor, they have already seen results...and their story of getting there is neat! She has changed careers to pursue her passions and it is opening doors in their lives!

I know many people who are passionate about teaching/coordinating for education.  This requires much preparation...and it is preparing students! My friends Ann and Jessica both work in supervisory roles preparing many people to impact many students....their jobs must be tough...they must have passion to be successful!! The teachers at my daughters' schools must be passionate to make a difference in preparing young people!!

You may not have thought about it, but you may be passionate about preparation as well!  Parenting is all about preparation- I have many passionate parent friends (too many to list, but Tiffany and Corina come to mind).  Preparing the next generation to know, love, and serve Jesus is at the top of my list!  I have a friend Jennifer who is passionate about helping people take care of their body...preparing them to serve the Lord by being healthy!  I want to prepare the bride of Christ for His return (more about this soon!)

As I thought about passionate preparation I realized each of the passionate people I thought of have similarities...

What do passionate people have in common? 

-HARD WORK

-PREPARING
-SHINE-bring out the best in what they are preparing (Whether vehicles, cows, or people)
Passion is given by God to reveal His purpose and glory.
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

What are you passionate about?  Are you pursuing it?   Other than Passionate Preparation, there is Passionate Purification (Ruin or Destruction), and Passionate Pursuit.  Please share your passions in the comments so I can see if how it fits in the patterns I'm seeing...and we may talk more about this soon!

Is it worth it?

I have been wondering if taking the time to blog is worth it.  I mean there are tons of other bloggers out there who may be saying the same thing as me.  When I doubt, the Lord is quick to remind me of His promises.  He has a plan for my life and if He's guiding me to blog it has a purpose. Even if only one person comes to know Jesus more-it's worth it!

One of my primary purposes may be a teeny bit selfish.  Writing gets my thoughts out and they eventually make more sense to me.  When I blog and add tags, it allows me to recall what He has taught me.  Just this week I have used my blog posts to remember the goodness of God and His faithfulness in my life

Today I found another reason for writing and sharing what He is doing in my life.  Because people need to hear the good news!  Not that God needs me to do it, He makes himself known by His creation (Romans 1:20).  But when I follow Him, I will be blessed and I hope and pray that you will be encouraged!

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Psalm 105:1

The realization today was brought about by the circle of moms top 25 faith blogs.  I saw the post on facebook and checked it out since I am trying to interact with other bloggers.  I thought that I would find others blogging just like me-faith based....as in Christian.  I was wrong.  I frequently make the mistake of assuming people are like me in their beliefs. I was proved wrong today when the top faith blog selected was a pagan mom's blog.  I must admit, I am uneducated when it comes to the belief systems of other faiths.  This opened my eyes and reminded me that not everyone knows the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ!!!

So, I'm going to keep chugging along and stop thinking about the number of readers.  I will leave it in the hands of my Lord and Savior who has a plan for the words He gives me.  His word is alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword and will accomplish what He desires...bringing joy and peace!!!

As the rain and the snow

   come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

   without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

   It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

 You will go out in joy

   and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

   will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

   will clap their hands.     Isaiah 55:10-12

For the record, my blog didn't come in LAST place! I don't know who you are, but thanks to the 12 people that voted for it, lol!!! I entered it today-which was the last day to vote, so the only purpose was to get the blog out there.  I do have some traffic coming from that site (but, wait...I'm not going to focus on the numbers, right?).  I also had a new subscriber today because a sweet friend shared my blog on her facebook page! I am humbled and thankful for each of you reading this...whoever you are!!!

Forgotten God

I just finished reading Forgotten God Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.  I borrowed this book from the library since I have been on a quest to know more about the Holy Spirit after reading through Acts awhile ago.  While this book wasn't exactly what I was looking for as far as answering my questions, it was a good book.  Since it was on loan from the library I couldn't mark my favorite sections to remember later....bummer! 

This is the first Francis Chan book I've read after being 'introduced' when a friend shared a you tube video of Francis preaching.  I guess just by my personality I always 'test' an author to make sure that I'm not being deceived before I'm really comfortable reading their work.  I did not come across anything that I did not agree with....so he 'passed the test'.  (Of course, that's not to say that we don't each need to 'test' anything we read or hear to ensure that it lines up with the Word of God-including anything you read here!)

In reading the book I came across a a few themes God is working on in my life now-and has been for awhile.  1. Expectation 2. Motivation 3. Comparing 4. Grace vs Works 5. Relationship

1. Expectation (Trust)
On page 47 Francis writes about a common fear-What if God doesn't come through? One concern that I've often heard (and felt) is, what if I pray for the Holy Spirit and nothing happens?  What if I ask for more of the Spirit's fruit in my life and don't see any apparent "results"?  It's scary to pray boldly for change or freedom from sin, because if nothing happens, then doesn't that mean God failed? Doesn't that mean His Spirit isn't all we've been told He is? I think the fear of God failing us leads us to "cover for God." This means we ask for less, expect less, and are satisfied with less because we are afraid to ask for or expect more. (read Luke 11:13)
Do you believe that God in heaven gives His Spirit to those who ask?  Do you REALLY believe it?  This truth and what it means is so incredible that no one who actually believes it could then fail to ask for the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 2:28 is where we see that we receive the Holy Spirit when we begin to follow Christ)
It really comes down to trust.  Do you trust God that when He says no or "not in this way" to you, you still believe that He is good and doing what is best?
Um...yea, tough questions, huh?  It's easy to answer the questions the way they should be answered, but I had to reassess the easy answer and make sure my life lines up with what I say I believe. 

2. Motivation
Chapter 4 asks: Why do you Want Him? While we may have our own purposes for desiring the Spirit's presence and power in our lives, so does God! Yep...this theme keeps showing up in almost every area of my life...what's my motivation?  Do I want to bring glory to myself or to my God? 

3. Comparing
One of the things I enjoyed reading in the book was the profiles at the end of each chapter of a person (or couple) that Francis describes as being Spirit filled. Their stories were amazing and inspiring to see the fruit produced by Christ living in them! Since you know I have some comparison issues, at first these were tough for me because I tried to compare where I am now in my life with these people-and wanting my life to look like theirs.  Of course the Holy Spirit reminded me that He has a plan for my life that won't look like anyone else's but will be just as significant in it's own way. I was reminded that Jesus is the author and perfecter of my faith and it is not my responsibility to 'produce fruit'. My responsibility is to trust in and rely on the power of the God working in me to will and to act according to his good purpose.
On Page 130, Francis asks the reader to think of people in their life who walk with the Spirit daily so much that it's evident in the graciousness and peace they exude.  But Francis is quick to point out that in doing so it would be easy to compare ourselves with others in this area and that is NOT our job.  Instead he encourages the reader to examine their own life. 

4. Grace vs Works
Pages 131-133 is a discussion of who's job is it.  Is it God's work or my work? Francis uses Galatians 3:3
and Philippians 2:12-13 in the discussion.  Pages146-149 discuss the fruit of the Spirit and how as believers we often try to produce it on our lives. Francis encourages us with this reminder-  Instead of mustering up more willpower, let's focus our energies and time on asking for help from the One who has the power to change us.  Let's take the time to ask God to put the fruit of His Spirit into our lives.  And lets spend time with the One we want to be more like. 

5. Relationship
Throughout the whole book were reminders that it's all about a relationship with God...not religion or rules and regulations.  The last sentence of the paragraph above reminds us to spend time in communion with our God-have a relationship! Another quote stuck out to me: Our lack of intimacy often is due to our refusal to unplug and shut off communication from all others so we can be alone with Him.  (Uh...is that a BIG ouch to anyone else?  I was hit hard with this because I am usually so quick to 'comminicate' with the world through facebook-and was convicted that I sometimes do that more than run to Him throughout the day!) One last thing on relationship that came at the end of the book: You would think that learning more ABOUT  God would be a good thing....but when we gain knowledge ABOUT God without responding TO Him or assimilating His truth into our lives, then it is not a good thing.  I needed this reminder as I am always seeking to know more-just need to make sure that I spend time with the One I am seeking to know more about!

My favorite quote from the book is on page 142:
I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit.  I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn't be doing this by my own power.  I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through.  That if He doesn't come through, I am screwed.  ( I probably shouldn't write that word here, but it's how I truly feel about this.) I like this paragraph so much because it is my desire as well...and I literally laughed out loud at Francis' honesty and choice of words.

So, if you are a reader I would reccomend this book-or any other by Franics Chan, since I like his wrting style...just like he was chatting with his reader.  If you have read the book would love you to post here anything you got from it!  (Also...don't know legal ramifications about posting quotes from a book on a blog-for a complimentary review.  But, note that all italicized words are dorect quotes from the book and I put page numbers with most of them.)