What are you passionate about?

In the age of the super comfy couch, TV trays, fast food and plasma HDTV's not many people, at least that I know, spend much time reading anymore. We get up and fight the traffic to go to work, work all day then come home tired after a busy non-stop day at the office and battling the rush hour traffic all the way back home. Some people get a quick work out in at the gym or spend some time with their kids before dinner; but once it's dinner time the TV comes on and it's VEG time for the rest of the night. In the fast paced world that we live in today it's really easy to have your Passion and Motivation sucked right out of you; and sometimes without you even knowing it. It can sneak up on you like a thief in the night and rob you of your joy and enthusiasm so quickly that you are left wondering what happened to the person you used to be? How did I get so cynical and frustrated? A loss of passion can come from a number of things but my main problem has been a loss of vision and goals in my life. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of where I was headed and how I was going to get there. Life got in the way and other things in and out of my control stepped in and tried to choke the life out of me before I was rescued, healed and set back on the road with a fresh start.
I've been thinking about Passion a lot lately because that's the series that my pastor is teaching about at Church. We've been talking about what passion is and what it means to be passionate in your daily life. My thoughts are this and I'm going to keep this short.
I believe that the devil is sneaky and cunning, he will hit you where he thinks he can take you down the easiest and put you out of commission so you won't be able to do the work that God has designed you to do. In America we don't have to worry about famine, disease, hunger or wars going on around us; these are things that most of the rest of the world has to worry about that causes them to lose faith, passion and hope. In the other parts of the world the devil uses fear and pain to keep people from following after the Lords calling; but here in the US he is much more subtle. I believe that the devil will use anything he can to keep you from reading your bible, going to church and serving God by using your talents and gifts that the Lord has blessed you with. God has gifted everyone of us with something that is unique, a gift that the God of the Universe has blessed us with that He plans to use to Change the World in some way or another. There is something that every one of us is destined to do, a work that God has created you and I to do that can't be done by anybody else in the world now or in the future. God has a plan for you and a purpose for you to be here, every day that you wake up in your bed with air in your lungs and you take that first conscious breath God has something that He is leading you toward and He has big plans for every one of us. I will go into that in more detail another day. Back to what I was saying. The devil will use anything to keep you from becoming the man or woman that God has planned you to be. He will make your life so comfortable; money in the bank, nice house and big screen TV and make you as prosperous as you want to be. He will use your job opportunities and sporting events to keep you away from God and out of Gods will. It's so subtle but it's true. It never fails that anytime I am planning on going to church on a weeknight something will come up that gives me the choice that I have to make to either go do what just came up or miss something and go to church like I had planned. The same goes for church on the weekend, weather you go on Saturday night like I do or Sunday morning; something will always happen. You might not feel well or you will wake up with a headache or you will accidentally sleep in or not have slept well the night before. Vanessa and I used to fight every time we were on our way to church about the stupidest things, it never failed that I would either be in a bad mood or she would be taking too long and we would be running late. It was always something. After that had been happening for a long time it finally dawned on me that this was the devils doing. He will use anything and everything he can to keep you from doing the Lords will. He wants to kill and destroy every one of you and make your life miserable in any way possible. The trick is figuring out what he is up to and seeing what is going on around you through the eyes of a believer and follower of Jesus. If you know that God is in control of your life and you know that God has a plan for you and that you are willing to dedicate your life to obeying the Lords commands. If you are passionate about doing what God wants you to do because you Trust Him that He knows what is best for you and you realize that the devil is after you and is always going to be coming after you to bring you down anyway possible. Once you discover this and realize what is going on around you then you can begin to see these things as they happen. When you have every opportunity to get mad at that person at work or that guy cuts you off on the highway, when you would normally get furious and let them have it you can step back and see that the devil is just trying to make you mad. He is pushing your buttons to get you out of your sweet spot resting in the will of God and trusting Him.
Once I learned that the devil is going to be coming after me because I am a follower of Jesus Christ and because I am passionate and dedicated to following the will and call of God for my life I started looking for those situations and asking God to help me get through them. Once you give your life to God you are on the devils radar, period. He is going to be looking for anyway to get to you and keep you from becoming the person that God wants you to be and that you are destined to become. There is nothing that the devil wants more than to keep you from touching millions of people's lives with the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope and joy that is caused from knowing the God of the Universe. So know, Christian, that the devil is after you. You are a marked man or woman, you have a bullseye on your back and he is coming after you with an army to keep you from fufilling your destiny and become a great and mighty warrior for God. You are in a battle, its spiritual warfare out here and you are under constant attack on all sides. Just remember that you have God and Jesus on your side and Jesus has already won the war, the victory is yours and there is nothing that the devil can do to you unless you let him.
I'm going to leave you with this and I want you to think about it very very hard. It's my whole point that caused me to write this long letter to my loved ones. And I know I lied that it would be short, sorry about that. My point is that MOST followers of Christ don't struggle with the big temptations like drugs or sex or whatever else you would call a big temptation. The biggest temptation for most people is the temptation to become Stagnant and Complacient. Once you get comfortable and you stop moving forward the devil has got you right where he wants you. Out of the Game, on the sidelines where you aren't being effective or not a threat to what the devil is doing around you. The biggest problems start when you stop growing and stop moving forward. A lack of passion and a lack of vision are the gateway to problems because you get bored and an idle mind is where trouble starts. I challenge you to spend time reading your bible daily, even if it is only for 15 minutes. Spend time with the Lord and spend time praying because that is your armor and your sword in the spiritual warefare that I was talking about. You arm yourself with the word of God in your heart so you will know right from wrong and what God tells you to do in every situation and how to live your life. That's what the bible is, it's the play book or the instruction manuel; read it and it will change your life I promise you. Then pray!!! Pray about everything that is going on in your life. Pray about the help you need or your friends troubles. Pray for strength to resist temptaion or pray that you will be able to find a gas station before your car runs out of gas. Prayer is your weapon against the evil of this world. God wants to hear everything you have to say. He yearns to hear from His children and he longs to be an active part of your life; won't you spend some time talking to your heavenly father today? God wants to have a relationship with you and that is the whole point of being a follower of Christ is to be in a relationship with the God of the Universe who found you worthy to be a part of His family. You are an heir to the thrown of Heaven, brother to Jesus Christ and you will spend eternity in Heaven along with everybody else who believes and gives their life to Christ. This is something to be proud of and should give you the passion and vision that you need to get out there and make something happen, change the world and spread the hope and love that comes from knowing the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Be passionate about being a Christian, let the Lord fill you with the joy that is yours if you would just ask for it. Start walking with the Lord and just watch where He will take you, it's the journey of a lifetime and it's what this life is all about. What are you passionate about???