Recently I talked about the importance of teachability/teachability 2.0. I said teachability is an essential quality of being a disciple. Disciples, by definition, are teachable!

Disciples must be passionate!
Another requirement, I believe, is passion. Think about it: the word apathy means “without passion.” What do you think about the term, “apathetic Christian”? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

One day, Jesus was tested by a group of Pharisees. They asked Jesus about the greatest commandment in the Scriptures. Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22.34-40).

Loving God with your whole being - that’s what passion is! Loving others as you love yourself. Only passionate people can do that. Passion is required for fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, the Passionate One!

Models of Passion
Let’s look at a few people from Scripture who modeled a passionate life.

David
David was a passionate person. He was described as “a man after God’s own heart.” During one celebration (bringing the ark of the covenant home to Jerusalem), the Scripture says, “David danced before the LORD with all his might” (2 Samuel 6.14). David was a passionate person!

And the Psalms DAvid wrote are filled with passion, too, things like …

• “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 25.1)
• “I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.” (Psalm 34.1)
• “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself; how I praise you!” (Psalm 63.1-3)
• “With all my heart I praise the LORD, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise the LORD! I will never forget how kind he has been.” (Psalm 103.1-2)

Jeremiah
Jeremiah was another passionate lover of God. Jeremiah’s ministry was to preach judgment in order to turn God’s people from imminent disaster. That’s a tough call! It takes a passionate person to fulfill that call.

At one of Jeremiah’s low points, he prays a passionate prayer …

O LORD, you persuaded me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked by everyone in the city. Whenever I speak, the words come out in a violent outburst. “Violence and destruction!” I shout. So these messages from the LORD have made me a household joke. And I can’t stop! If I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in! (Jeremiah 20.7-9)

Passionate people have fire in their bones. It’s God’s fire. “Our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12.29)

Jesus
And who was more passionate than Jesus?

Read John 2.13-17. Jesus clears the Temple and the disciples later remembered Psalm 69.9, “Passion for God’s house burns within me.” Jesus was a man of great passion!

Jesus was the most passionate person who ever lived. Is it any wonder we call Jesus’ suffering and death the “passion of Christ”? Jesus’ death is the ultimate picture of love and total sacrifice for others. That’s passion!

Rekindling Passion
But all passionate people struggle, at times, to keep the passion alive. If your passion gage is running low today, let me suggest the following …

:: Repent of apathy!
We all, no doubt, have been apathetic toward someone or something at some point in our life. And, if we’re honest, we’re probably pretty apathetic toward something right now, something that we should be giving our whole heart to. Maybe you’re not loving your spouse or your family as you need to. Or, perhaps you’re not giving God all of your heart! Maybe you’re holding something back. If so, I invite you to join me in repenting of apathy!

:: Experience God’s love!
Since we can only give what we have received, to give love, we have to have received love. Think of yourself as an empty cup. To be able to pour anything out, your cup must first be filled. And the more we pour out, the more we must receive. And the more receive, the more we have to give!

:: Love God and others with passion!
Love is a decision, a choice we make. We have to guard against waiting to feel passionate about God to love God. The emotions of love usually follow the act of loving God and others. So, start today to love God and others with more and more of your heart.

:: Discover and live out your unique passion!
Of course, we’re all wired differently, and we all have different passions in life. I am passionate about some things that you may not be, and you are passionate about some things that I’m not. But you need to discover what you are passionate about. What fuels your engine? What excites you? What brings you energy?

How full is your passion tank?
I can’t think of anything much worse than being apathetic, complacent, lukewarm. In fact, Jesus had a harsh word for a church that was lukewarm. Jesus, through the Apostle John, says, “you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!”

But these people in this church did not know they were lukewarm. They thought they had everything they needed. Jesus challenged them, “Be diligent and turn from your indifference.”

O God, we are empty clay jars and we need you to fill us once again. Forgive us for our apathy, our lack of passion. Fill us with your love. And help us to love you in return. Help us to love you with our whole being - heart, mind, soul, and strength - everything that’s in us! Help us to love each other as brothers and sisters. And help us to love spiritually empty people, especially those we know and interact with locally. Empower us to be your passionate followers! Amen.

Ephesians 1.17-23

Persistent Intercessory Prayer
vv17-18a
Paul is praying a prayer of intercession, a prayer for others, specifically for the Ephesians. But it is my prayer for us and I want you to make it your prayer for yourself, for other believers and for this body. It is a persistent prayer, "I keep praying." He continues to make this his prayer. It is a prayer for illumination, for God to reveal or make known three things to the Ephesians.

Prayer for hope, rich inheritance, and power.
vv18b-20
Hope: a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation
Inheritance: looks forward to the consummated kingdom of God, that which is expected after the Second Coming of Christ
Power: four words are used of power and also a demonstration of that power is pointed out.
Dunamis: the inherent power of God, that which belongs to him because he is God. It is the power to accomplish, to perform miracles.
Working: superhuman power
Strength: force or power to overcome what stands in the way, dominion.
Might: exercise of power

Similarity, not difference, is of importance. Four words are used to demonstrate this ultimate power. This power that is above all. This power that is different than any other power that you have encountered. Paul doesn’t stop at these four words to describe this power byt says that this power was demonstrated as God … raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the heavenlies.

What power do we know that can overcome death? We know that medicine has limited power, but it is just that, limited. There is only so much that doctors can do. But this power overcomes death. Jesus is the first fruit. That power of God is demonstrated in him. Many saw him die. Many witnessed to his resurrection. There is no doubt of his resurrection.

50 days between Easter and Pentecost celebrate the time Jesus spent with the disciples after the resurrection. Many saw Jesus:

1 Corinthians 15.3-7

Power over …
vv21-22a
Power over all things. Names four things again and goes on to say every title, and also at any time.
All subjected to Christ. All is under Christ. All must obey Christ. All is under Christ’s control.
Universal dominion.

Power for …
v 22b
This power demonstrated in Christ, this exaltation of Christ over all things is for the Church. It is God’s gift to the Church. It is for the benefit of the Church.

Church is filled …
v 23
The Church is filled with Christ. Filled to fullness. Are we full of Christ?
Full of Christ’s presence, Christ’s power. Full of Christ’s life, his gifts, his blessings.

The Church manifests Christ to the world, only as the church is filled with Christ.
Through the power of God in our lives we can live victoriously in our living in our personal lives.
Through the power of God given to the Church, we can impact our world for Christ.

Living in the Resurrection Power
We don’t have to settle for the status quo. We don’t have to settle for mediocrity.  Sanctification is going on to perfection. Sin remains in our life, but no longer does it reign (D&DR). Just as Jesus reigns over all things, he reigns in our lives. He reigns over temptation, over sin, over anything that would hinder our relationship with God and with others.

Dunam and Dunam Reisman point out that it’s about asking the right question: “Our usual response to the question as to whether a Christian sins is, “Of course!” But the more important question is whether a Christian has to sin. The answer to that is a resounding no!”

Through Jesus Christ sin is conquered. He has taken our sin to the cross and raised us to new life, victorious life.

We glorify God by living sanctified lives; lives that overcome. Christ died so that we can be victorious. Living victorious lives is our way of saying thank you for what he did for us on Calvary.

Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Drove him to rely upon God. It was a source of humility: he gloried God and not self.

God is calling us to greater things … in his power, in our personal lives and in the life of his body, the Church. He is calling us to impact the world around us. If we want God to reveal his power to us, we need to step out where he can display that power. We need to step out where we rely on him and not ourselves. We need to serve in ways where we need to rely on his strength rather than our own abilities. His supernatural power is that which empowers us to do more than what we can accomplish on our own. God wants to defy circumstances, common sense, and logic. That is the power that Paul experienced and is praying that the Ephesians experience. That is the power I want to experience in our midst!