Our One Consuming Passion
The Bible says that "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." That verse was meant to be an all inclusive verse. It means we are to love God with everything we have and with everything we are. I was talking to one of my church members earlier today and it came to me that this is the one thing that seems to be missing in our churches above all things ... an all consuming love for our God.
John Piper gets it exactly right in his many books. If you ever read John Piper you will find that his books are almost all a variation of a single theme ... that the Christian's highest joy is found in knowing God. Therefore, the Christian's one pursuit in life is to use every resource available (heart, mind, soul, strength) to come to know God more. As Piper would say (paraphrasing Piper paraphrasing Jonathan Edwards) God is glorified when we know Him. But He is more glorified by our delight in knowing Him. Almost everything Piper writes is an attempt to get Christians to see that we need to delight in knowing God. He (Piper) presents this from a variety of different perspectives.
Remember though, we are called to love God with everything we are. One verse that has always spoken to me is found in Song of Solomon. It says simply "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." God has come to us in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is where I want to plant my thinking tonight. I am persuaded that what I need most and what my congregation needs most is to become passionately in love with Jesus Christ.
Such a love is dangerous though. When nominal Christians meet a passionate Christian, their hypocrisy is exposed and is open for all to see. Passionate Christians are often attacked and ostracized. Passionate Christians are often called zealots, fundamentalists and extremists. People don't like passionate Christians, but that is exactly the kind of Christian that God is calling us to be. The greatest commandment is to love God with our whole being. We are to love Him above all else including parents, spouse, kids, power, wealth, fame or anything else!
If we are ever going to see any kind of revival in the Churches, we need to return to this first and greatest commandment. John the Baptist said that when Jesus came he would baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Friends, isn't it time we acquired the fire?
The Bible says that "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." That verse was meant to be an all inclusive verse. It means we are to love God with everything we have and with everything we are. I was talking to one of my church members earlier today and it came to me that this is the one thing that seems to be missing in our churches above all things ... an all consuming love for our God.
John Piper gets it exactly right in his many books. If you ever read John Piper you will find that his books are almost all a variation of a single theme ... that the Christian's highest joy is found in knowing God. Therefore, the Christian's one pursuit in life is to use every resource available (heart, mind, soul, strength) to come to know God more. As Piper would say (paraphrasing Piper paraphrasing Jonathan Edwards) God is glorified when we know Him. But He is more glorified by our delight in knowing Him. Almost everything Piper writes is an attempt to get Christians to see that we need to delight in knowing God. He (Piper) presents this from a variety of different perspectives.
Remember though, we are called to love God with everything we are. One verse that has always spoken to me is found in Song of Solomon. It says simply "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." God has come to us in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is where I want to plant my thinking tonight. I am persuaded that what I need most and what my congregation needs most is to become passionately in love with Jesus Christ.
Such a love is dangerous though. When nominal Christians meet a passionate Christian, their hypocrisy is exposed and is open for all to see. Passionate Christians are often attacked and ostracized. Passionate Christians are often called zealots, fundamentalists and extremists. People don't like passionate Christians, but that is exactly the kind of Christian that God is calling us to be. The greatest commandment is to love God with our whole being. We are to love Him above all else including parents, spouse, kids, power, wealth, fame or anything else!
If we are ever going to see any kind of revival in the Churches, we need to return to this first and greatest commandment. John the Baptist said that when Jesus came he would baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Friends, isn't it time we acquired the fire?
posted by John | Thursday, September 21, 2006
1 Comments:
John,
I'm happy to see that you're settled in Davenport. May the Lord bless your ministry in Iowa.
I have updated your entry on the BaptistLife Baptist Bloggers Page. You're good to go.
Blessings,
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