WEEK 3
DAY 15
We did a study in the last 2 churches we served written by Kerry & Chris Shook called One Month To Live. One reason I was drawn to it was the sense of urgency that we should live our life to the fullest and do what is really important. I felt it would give people a chance to look at their lives and revaluate priorities. It did just that! I remember one scene of the video we used that showed a cemetery, and no place echoes with eternity like a cemetery does. The point was that a person’s entire life is really the dash between the two dates on the grave marker, i.e. is between the date born and the date of death. What really matters is what transpired between these two dates, so it comes down to what’s in the dash. In 33 years of ministry, I have had the privilege of ministering to many people in the last weeks and days of their life here on earth. Many died with regrets. If you knew you had one month to live, would your life and what you do change? The one change I made was to make an effort to spend more time with our son Nick & his family who lived 1,900 miles from us. I was living life to the fullest and loving every minute of it.
After I was released from the hospital in Dec 2014, I found out I had died and was revived while in an induced coma. I had to re-examine my life again. I didn’t need to make any changes this time. I had no regrets if I had not been revived and stayed in Heaven, which I got a glimpse of when I died. I want to live my life each day as if I had only a month to live. That is my goal. In the Quiet Times over the next few weeks, I want to challenge you with this question, “What would you do if you had one month to live?” I want us to examine four universal principles that will enable us to really live the dash instead of dashing to live.
The following principles are from the study One Month To Live. Principal # 1: Jesus Lived His Life Passionately. Jesus said, “…My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10 - NLT) The HCSB says it this way, “… I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” Think on these things. Ask yourself if you are living a full and meaning life as God wants. Mediate on the question, “What would you do if you had one month to live?” If you would change the way you are living, what would those changes be? Write these out in your journal or keep your notes through this series of Quiet Times.
DAY 16
We said yesterday that the first principal was: Jesus Lived His Life Passionately. As I think on this we can do this because of a verse that comes to mind. 1 John 5:11-13 (NLT) “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” This is a verse that assures us we will go to Heaven when we die if we have the SON. That assurance is why we can live our lives to the fullest. This is a verse that I want to challenge you to memorize. The Apostle John was kind of like Howie Mandel on the show, Deal or no Deal. He says the choice is yours and it’s pretty clear cut choice, life or death, deal or no deal. Think on this and make sure you have the SON so that you know you have eternal live. Seeing many people just going through the motions of life and not living life to the fullest, living to work, to exist and running from here to there shows changes need to be make. Think on the question which I will ask again, “What would you do if you had one month to live”? Approach this question with passion and really examine your life and God will reveal to you what you need to change. Some already know even now without meditating on the matter.
Principal #2: Jesus Loved Completely. Look at what Jesus did when he knew he had only a short time to be with his disciples. John 13:1 (NIV) “It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” If you had one month to live, what would you say and what would you do? Would you need to focus on relationships & express your love to those closest to you, change your lifestyle, change your language, priorities, etc.? Then why aren’t you doing it now not knowing how long you have to live? Remember the old Nike ad, “Just do it!” Well? Take some time to meditate on relationships.
DAY 17
Principal # 2 Continued: Jesus Loved Completely. God says we can live life the way we were made to live. The choice is ours. We must desire to live life to the fullest and make an intentional effort to do so. We must love completely as Jesus loved. If you had one month to live, you would say the things you’ve always wanted to say and do the things you have always wanted to do. You would focus on your relationships and express love to those closest to you. Why not do it now even though you don’t know how long you have to live, whether it’s hours, days, months, or years? That question will be asked through these QT’s. Take time to examine yourself each time you think on this. Jesus summed up the entire Bible when he said in Matt. 22:37-39 “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." He is saying love God first and love others in the same way that you love yourself. At the end of our lives it won’t matter how much money we have in our bank account, in assets, or honors received, etc. All that will matter is did you love completely. If we live our lives loving the way we are commanded, we will not fail. 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV) says “Love never fails.” First, did you love God with all your heart, soul and mind? Did you love your family as God wanted you to? Did you love others as Jesus commanded? Take time to answer these questions and record your response. If you had one month to live, how would you change the way you are living? The challenge for all of us is to live day to day as if we had only one month to live. Read 1 Cor. 13 and rejoice in Jesus, thanking him for his love and asking him to teach you to love as he loved!
DAY 18
Principal # 3: Jesus Learned Humbly. Even though Jesus was God he taught us by his own example how to learn humbly. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine Privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Underline the last part “…he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Jesus learned humbly though he was God. “… He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” What an example of humility! This verse should challenge us to be like Christ in the area of humility. We were made to learn to be more like Jesus. That is character building. God uses the trials of life to build character in us. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I say “Lord, don’t I have enough character without this trial?” However, our character is the only thing we can carry to Heaven. Earth is the preparation ground where God is building our character to make us more like Him. He is preparing us for eternity with Him. There are probably only 2 things that build our character. First is the Word of God, as we dig deeper each day of our lives. Take this as a challenge to do just that. The importance of spending daily time alone with God cannot be emphasized too much. That is the most important time of the day. Just hang out with him and with his Word. The second thing that builds character is trials of life. I personally like God’s Word much more than I like trials. Remember you are either just coming out of, about to go into, or currently in the middle of a trial. We just need to know that God is with us no matter where we are in life. Take time today to reflect on humility and on Jesus as our example.
DAY 19
Principle # 4: Jesus Left Boldly. This is the next idea from the study of One Month To Live by Kerry & Chris Shook on which I would like to elaborate. Not only did Jesus live passionately, love completely, learn humbly but he left boldly. Luke 9:51 (HCSB) says “When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem.” There was no hesitation or reservation with Christ Jesus even though he knew the suffering he would undergo. I would call that BOLD! He was determined to fulfill the purpose for which he came. If you had one month to live, would you be resolved to finalize your purpose? I don’t think you would waste time & energy on things that really don’t matter. Would you spend time looking for a legacy to leave? If that is the case, and you are not leaving a legacy, why not begin now when you don’t know how much time you have to live on this earth. I have written another book that is called Leaving A Legacy. I hope to get enough money to publish it this year. My point in the book and here is that Becky & I chose to invest our lives, not spend our lives. When God calls us home, I believe we can leave boldly. God has been so good to convict us and give us what we need to leave a legacy. We are working each day to do this. Our goal as Believers should be to hear God say “…Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” Matt. 25:23 (NLT).
The question I ask myself and challenge you to do the same is this, if you died today and stood before God would he say, “Well done good and faithful servant?” Many people tell you how to live your life, but at the end there is only one opinion that really matters and that is the Audience of One, our Heavenly Father. Through these last few days as we have looked at One Month to Live, I challenged all of us to live passionately, love completely, learn humbly but leave boldly when the time comes to be called home. None of us know when that day will be. Another challenge and something for you to meditate on is what kind of legacy will you live behind? Every person is leaving a legacy even if he/she realizes it or not. The question again is what kind of legacy are you leaving your children, your friends, your co-workers and all those who you come in contact with? If you are leaving a spiritual legacy already, thank God for enabling you to do so! If you are not pleased with the legacy you are leaving, write down what you want to change in order to leave a legacy that is pleasing to God. What changes are necessary to do so? Are you investing your life in others so that you will leave a legacy? Another question that I think about is if you died today and stood before God and he spoke to you and said, “Welcome to Heaven, who did you bring with you?” How would you answer him?
DAY 20
I want to look at how we can go forth with these four principles we have studied. First of all, I am thankful for this study and the lives God touched through it, both my church and myself as Lead Pastor. Let us revisit Principle 1: How to Live Passionately. Nothing great happens without passion. Passion is what makes things great. Of course, we are speaking of good things although bad things are done with passion and we would not call them great! Those radicals in the countries of the Middle East who are murdering people and want to take over our great nation and the nation of Israel are passionate about their cause. It is just a hellish cause. God help our government officials to be passionate about preserving our great United States of America with all the freedoms we have and a nation so strong and powerful that we can help bring democracy and freedom to those countries who need our help. Now for the positive, look at an athlete. No athlete has ever accomplished greatness without passion. What drove Brent Farve to stick with football so long? Why is Peyton Manning still pursuing his career at his age? Does he need money or recognition or something else? NO, he is passionate at what he does! A person cannot be one of the best in his career field unless he is very passionate about what he is doing. Think about Billy Graham, W. A. Criswell and many other preachers who kept on as long as their health would allow them, Billy now in his 90’s. To raise godly children, parents have to be passionate and intentional in order to accomplish this.
We have to live with a passion to be all God wants us to be, loving him above everyone else. God created us to live a passionate for Him and the things of His. I think about Mark 12:30 (HCSB) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This speaks of passion! God is a passionate God and he created us to be passionate people. The question we must answer is, “Am I very passionate about God’s Word and am pursuing learning more and more and then applying it to my life? Are you passionate about leading your family spiritually, raising godly children, leaving a great spiritual legacy (back to the word legacy) and being a living testimony to the world around you? If you died today would you be known as a person who was living passionately for Jesus? Take some time to examine your life for this passion for the things of God of which we are speaking. Pray for God to give you the passion he wants you to have. Pray for the citizens of the USA to be passionate patriots.
DAY 21
How To Live Passionately – continued. I write these Quiet Times because God gave me a passion to encourage people to walk daily with the Lord. Becky & I wrote a book, Quiet Time - A Guide to an Effective Time Alone with God, not to make money selling books, but to promote a life style of walking with God daily. When our book is sold online by a book seller we make $1.29, and that plus donations enable us to give away as many as we sell. In case you haven’t gotten one of these books, you can get one from an online book seller or contact us and we will send you one. The book sells for $10.00 plus postage. Contact us by e-mail at jerry.becky@juno.com with your name and address. You can send us whatever payment you are able to after you receive the book. Sorry about the commercial, but again we are promoting a lifestyle.
God uses people who are passionate for him. I challenge you to look at the life of Jesus, Paul, and Peter, and in the OT the life of Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel and many others. These people were used by God because they were passionate for the things of God. They were ordinary people just like you and me. God uses ordinary people. He uses us in accordance to our passion for Him. Romans 12:11 (NLT) says “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” Many people come to know Jesus as Savior and never have a passion for God. Others have it for a while and then for different reasons lose it. Stop right now and think about when you received Jesus and where you are in your spiritual life. Did you have passion? Do you have passion now? You cannot have the passion for God as he desires unless you walk with him daily! Let’s ask ourselves, “What is the greatest passion in my life”. The greatest passion in all our lives should be for the Lord and we should be determined to live for him in spite of “hell or high water” as my Granddaddy would say. Do something drastic. If a person has no passion for Jesus and never has, I wonder if that person has really received Jesus as Savior!
In Luke 5:18-20; 24-26 (NIV) it says “Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’…But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins... He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’" I love this passage seeing the passion, persistence, determination, and faith of these friends of the paralyzed man in getting him to Jesus! That passion drove them to not allow anything to stop them from getting their friend to Jesus! Think about your passion. Is there anyone you are praying for them to come to Jesus with the passion demonstrated here? Do you have the passion that will drive you to do something drastic to get family or friends to Jesus? If you knew you had one month to live, would you have the passion for the things of God? Why not ask God for that passion today?
DAY 15
We did a study in the last 2 churches we served written by Kerry & Chris Shook called One Month To Live. One reason I was drawn to it was the sense of urgency that we should live our life to the fullest and do what is really important. I felt it would give people a chance to look at their lives and revaluate priorities. It did just that! I remember one scene of the video we used that showed a cemetery, and no place echoes with eternity like a cemetery does. The point was that a person’s entire life is really the dash between the two dates on the grave marker, i.e. is between the date born and the date of death. What really matters is what transpired between these two dates, so it comes down to what’s in the dash. In 33 years of ministry, I have had the privilege of ministering to many people in the last weeks and days of their life here on earth. Many died with regrets. If you knew you had one month to live, would your life and what you do change? The one change I made was to make an effort to spend more time with our son Nick & his family who lived 1,900 miles from us. I was living life to the fullest and loving every minute of it.
After I was released from the hospital in Dec 2014, I found out I had died and was revived while in an induced coma. I had to re-examine my life again. I didn’t need to make any changes this time. I had no regrets if I had not been revived and stayed in Heaven, which I got a glimpse of when I died. I want to live my life each day as if I had only a month to live. That is my goal. In the Quiet Times over the next few weeks, I want to challenge you with this question, “What would you do if you had one month to live?” I want us to examine four universal principles that will enable us to really live the dash instead of dashing to live.
The following principles are from the study One Month To Live. Principal # 1: Jesus Lived His Life Passionately. Jesus said, “…My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10 - NLT) The HCSB says it this way, “… I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” Think on these things. Ask yourself if you are living a full and meaning life as God wants. Mediate on the question, “What would you do if you had one month to live?” If you would change the way you are living, what would those changes be? Write these out in your journal or keep your notes through this series of Quiet Times.
DAY 16
We said yesterday that the first principal was: Jesus Lived His Life Passionately. As I think on this we can do this because of a verse that comes to mind. 1 John 5:11-13 (NLT) “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” This is a verse that assures us we will go to Heaven when we die if we have the SON. That assurance is why we can live our lives to the fullest. This is a verse that I want to challenge you to memorize. The Apostle John was kind of like Howie Mandel on the show, Deal or no Deal. He says the choice is yours and it’s pretty clear cut choice, life or death, deal or no deal. Think on this and make sure you have the SON so that you know you have eternal live. Seeing many people just going through the motions of life and not living life to the fullest, living to work, to exist and running from here to there shows changes need to be make. Think on the question which I will ask again, “What would you do if you had one month to live”? Approach this question with passion and really examine your life and God will reveal to you what you need to change. Some already know even now without meditating on the matter.
Principal #2: Jesus Loved Completely. Look at what Jesus did when he knew he had only a short time to be with his disciples. John 13:1 (NIV) “It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” If you had one month to live, what would you say and what would you do? Would you need to focus on relationships & express your love to those closest to you, change your lifestyle, change your language, priorities, etc.? Then why aren’t you doing it now not knowing how long you have to live? Remember the old Nike ad, “Just do it!” Well? Take some time to meditate on relationships.
DAY 17
Principal # 2 Continued: Jesus Loved Completely. God says we can live life the way we were made to live. The choice is ours. We must desire to live life to the fullest and make an intentional effort to do so. We must love completely as Jesus loved. If you had one month to live, you would say the things you’ve always wanted to say and do the things you have always wanted to do. You would focus on your relationships and express love to those closest to you. Why not do it now even though you don’t know how long you have to live, whether it’s hours, days, months, or years? That question will be asked through these QT’s. Take time to examine yourself each time you think on this. Jesus summed up the entire Bible when he said in Matt. 22:37-39 “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." He is saying love God first and love others in the same way that you love yourself. At the end of our lives it won’t matter how much money we have in our bank account, in assets, or honors received, etc. All that will matter is did you love completely. If we live our lives loving the way we are commanded, we will not fail. 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV) says “Love never fails.” First, did you love God with all your heart, soul and mind? Did you love your family as God wanted you to? Did you love others as Jesus commanded? Take time to answer these questions and record your response. If you had one month to live, how would you change the way you are living? The challenge for all of us is to live day to day as if we had only one month to live. Read 1 Cor. 13 and rejoice in Jesus, thanking him for his love and asking him to teach you to love as he loved!
DAY 18
Principal # 3: Jesus Learned Humbly. Even though Jesus was God he taught us by his own example how to learn humbly. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine Privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Underline the last part “…he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Jesus learned humbly though he was God. “… He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” What an example of humility! This verse should challenge us to be like Christ in the area of humility. We were made to learn to be more like Jesus. That is character building. God uses the trials of life to build character in us. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I say “Lord, don’t I have enough character without this trial?” However, our character is the only thing we can carry to Heaven. Earth is the preparation ground where God is building our character to make us more like Him. He is preparing us for eternity with Him. There are probably only 2 things that build our character. First is the Word of God, as we dig deeper each day of our lives. Take this as a challenge to do just that. The importance of spending daily time alone with God cannot be emphasized too much. That is the most important time of the day. Just hang out with him and with his Word. The second thing that builds character is trials of life. I personally like God’s Word much more than I like trials. Remember you are either just coming out of, about to go into, or currently in the middle of a trial. We just need to know that God is with us no matter where we are in life. Take time today to reflect on humility and on Jesus as our example.
DAY 19
Principle # 4: Jesus Left Boldly. This is the next idea from the study of One Month To Live by Kerry & Chris Shook on which I would like to elaborate. Not only did Jesus live passionately, love completely, learn humbly but he left boldly. Luke 9:51 (HCSB) says “When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem.” There was no hesitation or reservation with Christ Jesus even though he knew the suffering he would undergo. I would call that BOLD! He was determined to fulfill the purpose for which he came. If you had one month to live, would you be resolved to finalize your purpose? I don’t think you would waste time & energy on things that really don’t matter. Would you spend time looking for a legacy to leave? If that is the case, and you are not leaving a legacy, why not begin now when you don’t know how much time you have to live on this earth. I have written another book that is called Leaving A Legacy. I hope to get enough money to publish it this year. My point in the book and here is that Becky & I chose to invest our lives, not spend our lives. When God calls us home, I believe we can leave boldly. God has been so good to convict us and give us what we need to leave a legacy. We are working each day to do this. Our goal as Believers should be to hear God say “…Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” Matt. 25:23 (NLT).
The question I ask myself and challenge you to do the same is this, if you died today and stood before God would he say, “Well done good and faithful servant?” Many people tell you how to live your life, but at the end there is only one opinion that really matters and that is the Audience of One, our Heavenly Father. Through these last few days as we have looked at One Month to Live, I challenged all of us to live passionately, love completely, learn humbly but leave boldly when the time comes to be called home. None of us know when that day will be. Another challenge and something for you to meditate on is what kind of legacy will you live behind? Every person is leaving a legacy even if he/she realizes it or not. The question again is what kind of legacy are you leaving your children, your friends, your co-workers and all those who you come in contact with? If you are leaving a spiritual legacy already, thank God for enabling you to do so! If you are not pleased with the legacy you are leaving, write down what you want to change in order to leave a legacy that is pleasing to God. What changes are necessary to do so? Are you investing your life in others so that you will leave a legacy? Another question that I think about is if you died today and stood before God and he spoke to you and said, “Welcome to Heaven, who did you bring with you?” How would you answer him?
DAY 20
I want to look at how we can go forth with these four principles we have studied. First of all, I am thankful for this study and the lives God touched through it, both my church and myself as Lead Pastor. Let us revisit Principle 1: How to Live Passionately. Nothing great happens without passion. Passion is what makes things great. Of course, we are speaking of good things although bad things are done with passion and we would not call them great! Those radicals in the countries of the Middle East who are murdering people and want to take over our great nation and the nation of Israel are passionate about their cause. It is just a hellish cause. God help our government officials to be passionate about preserving our great United States of America with all the freedoms we have and a nation so strong and powerful that we can help bring democracy and freedom to those countries who need our help. Now for the positive, look at an athlete. No athlete has ever accomplished greatness without passion. What drove Brent Farve to stick with football so long? Why is Peyton Manning still pursuing his career at his age? Does he need money or recognition or something else? NO, he is passionate at what he does! A person cannot be one of the best in his career field unless he is very passionate about what he is doing. Think about Billy Graham, W. A. Criswell and many other preachers who kept on as long as their health would allow them, Billy now in his 90’s. To raise godly children, parents have to be passionate and intentional in order to accomplish this.
We have to live with a passion to be all God wants us to be, loving him above everyone else. God created us to live a passionate for Him and the things of His. I think about Mark 12:30 (HCSB) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This speaks of passion! God is a passionate God and he created us to be passionate people. The question we must answer is, “Am I very passionate about God’s Word and am pursuing learning more and more and then applying it to my life? Are you passionate about leading your family spiritually, raising godly children, leaving a great spiritual legacy (back to the word legacy) and being a living testimony to the world around you? If you died today would you be known as a person who was living passionately for Jesus? Take some time to examine your life for this passion for the things of God of which we are speaking. Pray for God to give you the passion he wants you to have. Pray for the citizens of the USA to be passionate patriots.
DAY 21
How To Live Passionately – continued. I write these Quiet Times because God gave me a passion to encourage people to walk daily with the Lord. Becky & I wrote a book, Quiet Time - A Guide to an Effective Time Alone with God, not to make money selling books, but to promote a life style of walking with God daily. When our book is sold online by a book seller we make $1.29, and that plus donations enable us to give away as many as we sell. In case you haven’t gotten one of these books, you can get one from an online book seller or contact us and we will send you one. The book sells for $10.00 plus postage. Contact us by e-mail at jerry.becky@juno.com with your name and address. You can send us whatever payment you are able to after you receive the book. Sorry about the commercial, but again we are promoting a lifestyle.
God uses people who are passionate for him. I challenge you to look at the life of Jesus, Paul, and Peter, and in the OT the life of Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel and many others. These people were used by God because they were passionate for the things of God. They were ordinary people just like you and me. God uses ordinary people. He uses us in accordance to our passion for Him. Romans 12:11 (NLT) says “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” Many people come to know Jesus as Savior and never have a passion for God. Others have it for a while and then for different reasons lose it. Stop right now and think about when you received Jesus and where you are in your spiritual life. Did you have passion? Do you have passion now? You cannot have the passion for God as he desires unless you walk with him daily! Let’s ask ourselves, “What is the greatest passion in my life”. The greatest passion in all our lives should be for the Lord and we should be determined to live for him in spite of “hell or high water” as my Granddaddy would say. Do something drastic. If a person has no passion for Jesus and never has, I wonder if that person has really received Jesus as Savior!
In Luke 5:18-20; 24-26 (NIV) it says “Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’…But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins... He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’" I love this passage seeing the passion, persistence, determination, and faith of these friends of the paralyzed man in getting him to Jesus! That passion drove them to not allow anything to stop them from getting their friend to Jesus! Think about your passion. Is there anyone you are praying for them to come to Jesus with the passion demonstrated here? Do you have the passion that will drive you to do something drastic to get family or friends to Jesus? If you knew you had one month to live, would you have the passion for the things of God? Why not ask God for that passion today?
