Passion Is A Starting Point

We all know that to produce energy, fuel is required. You have stored or potential energy in fuel being transformed through a process like combustion into other forms of energy. (eg. heat, light, sound, kinetic)
Fuel does nothing on its own. You can have a car full of fuel, but it will not move. But when you turn the ignition. Something is sparked off and what was in the car all along starts to burn and the car is moved when gears are in place.

I think God put in every single one of us some fuel. It could be some talent that you have, an interest in a hobby or a desire to do something no one else likes. But these things don't achieve anything if left by themselves. They are just like a full tank of fuel. Sitting there. Achieving nothing!

On the other hand, passion is like a fire. It burns where there is an abundance of fuel. There are different levels of burn. There is explosive, slow burn, glow, flare, or the simple spark. But you notice one thing that is consistent with ALL forms of burning. There is always light. When something burns, light is always produced.

I've heard this preached many times. We are the salt and the light. As light, we are not to light places that are already bright but to be light in places that are dark. The idea is not to make the bright places brighter. Where do we go to shine then? What can I do? Where can I be effective? These are question many of us ask but few find the answer to.

I believe Jesus asked the same question when He began His ministry in His thirties. In Luke chapter 4, verse 1 & 14 tells us that Jesus had been baptised in the Holy Spirit and that He was had power of the Holy Spirit. The passage says that He went to teach in synagogues and it became his custom.

I'm very sure that Jesus, as He served in the the synagogues, was praying and seeking for answers. I bet He was thinking to Himself, "Father, is this it? Is going to the synagogue all you have baptised me for?"
I'm sure He was wondering what that whole ordeal in the desert with the devil was for, if all He was to do was to go to synagogue every sabbath. Picture this. He was in His hometown of Nazareth where He had been brought up. He went to church as He had always been going, saw the same people, did the same thing week after week after week. Doesn't this situation sound familiar?

This is when God sparks off a scripture that would shape His whole ministry. In verse 17 of Luke 4, imagine what Jesus was thinking as he stood up to read the scripture.
"Why do I always have to read the scripture?!?"
You can almost hear Him giving the softest sigh as He unrolled the mundane looking scroll and just as He is about to read, Father God asks Him, "You wanna know what is it you're baptised for?"

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And then it clicks. And you can sense His expression changing. You can picture a smile creeping across His face and a twinkle in His eyes as He rolls the old scroll up. There is a huge grin as He gives the scroll back to the attendant and everyone is bursting with curiousity as He returns to His spot on the synagogue floor. Just as an over-inquisitive man takes a breath to ask, Jesus announces, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

That is the confidence and boldness of the Holy Spirit talking and that is History made. Don't be stuck in verses 14 - 17. Many of us think there's no future in what we're doing. But the truth is, God has not forgotten! Fuel up on the Word of God and the spark will come when you're ready.

The Weapon Of Worship

Someone once asked me why we sing songs in church. And the honesty of his question surprised me. I had never really thought about how people would feel about the worship of God in song. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that there is a big difference between worship and singing. We sing songs in the shower, you sing songs in karaoke bars, at gigs, at campfires, and at football matches. There is a difference between singing and worship but have we reduced worship to singing songs? Then its no wonder that lives are not being transformed.

So anyway, I tried my best to answer him by saying something about how singing is a form of expression of our love towards God. About how its one of the many forms of expression, like dancing or serving in church. I distinctly remember feeling pretty good about myself. Giving myself a pat on the back for a seemingly religious answer. But it wasn't till I was in bed that night, that I heard God ask. "Expression...?"
And I slapped my head in amazement of how pathetically shallow my answer was.

Worship is not simply an expression. It is a reminder to ourselves of Who we believe in and why we believe. It is a declaration of who God is and who we are in Light of Him. It is a battle call to build our faith before the battle. It is a cry for refreshing through His Strength and His Grace. The fact remains. Our words are the key to access His Power. Our words can contain the power.

One analogy I have is way back from army. Words are like bullets which are practically harmless when they are lying around or in a magazine. The most damage it can do is to bruise or scratch someone. That is the level that many Christians seem to be at. Just throwing verses at one another and bruising one another with it. What a shame! What a waste of ammunition. Wrong use and wrong target! The Word should be meditated on, pondered over, loaded or fed into your Spirit. Load that ammunition into your weapon.

What is your weapon?
James 3:1-12 is a passage that talks about the weapon that God has given to us. (See Untame your tongue) This passage refers to a dangerous weapon, powerful, but perverted by evil & having its power used as poison. But when used the way it was intended by God, the tongue is a weapon & the Word is ammunition! Again, we have many Christians pulling the trigger, quoting verses like crazy but nothing happens. They ask, "Why doesn't it work? Why isn't my gun firing? Why doesn't God answer my prayers?"

This is one area where I think is so important to believers. Revelation.
Revelation is the Word becoming real to you. It is the Word making sense in your situation and it lifts you, encourages you and drives you forward. Revelation is akin to the cocking of the weapon. What happens is when the mechanism of the gun or rifle pushes the bullet into the chamber of the weapon. Now it is ready to be fired. This should be the mode that the believer is in. This is the stance of the Christian ready to overcome. Being ready with a Word as what Paul taught Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 4:2.

When you worship God with the Word, singing songs that declare the Word of God, the promises of God, the truth of God, it is an upgrade of firepower. The M-16 is a rifle that has been used for more than 40 years. On this rifle there is a switch where you can select from 3 modes. Safe, Semi, and Automatic. Just like on a rifle, a believer also has these 3 modes.

When a believer is on Safe, no Words are spoken. Believers who are quiet when it comes to the Word are safe to the devil. Because although they read their bible and are loaded with scripture, they do not speak it out. They don't call those things which do not exist as though they did. (Romans 4:17 [NKJV])

Believers who are on Semi are those who try to face enemies by firing a warning shot in the air. Or they fire a single shot and wait to see the results. Then when it doesn't work, or when the situation remains unchanged, or the enemies are still there, they complain that it doesn't work and they switch back to safe. They give up.

What we should be doing is going fully automatic with the Grace of God. I want to be fully loaded with the Word of God! I want to do what Jesus did to resist the devil in the wilderness. Let the devil know that the more he surrounds me with enemies to my peace and wellbeing, the more the situation seems to come against me, the more trouble seems to try to squeeze me and get me to give up, the more I'm going to keep the trigger squeezed. I'm going to keep speaking the Word of God into the situation!

Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

In the light of modern day weaponry, we could read Hebrews 4:12 this way.
For the Word of God is responsive and reactive, faster, sharper, and fiercer than any bullet or weapon of mass destruction. It penetrates and separates soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It lays bare even the deepest thoughts and intentions of the heart.

God has given us the weapon of worship. So don't be afraid of the difficult times. Don't be afraid of tough situations. These are just opportunities to practice your aim. Practice worship and praising God. Practice using the power of the Word that is available to us. Worship God.