Passionate for God

'For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.' Psalm 51:16-17 Sometimes you come in your fullness and make yourself empty, as Zacchaeus did. At other times you cry out in your bankruptcy, hunger, and pain, and God shows up. That's the cry God can't deny. Men and women come to Him in every conceivable posture and position, but we all wind up in the same position in the end-on bended knee. Some come to Him steeped in pride and stiffened by a stubbornness descended from Adam's seed. Others bend low and come to Him in the knowledge of their sin and some come crawling face down in their desperate need for deliverance, healing, and miraculous intervention in their impossible situation. It seems easier for God to lift someone who comes to Him "meek and lowly" than to "lower" someone who comes to His throne haughtily. How do you approach the King of glory-from the position of the meek and lowly or from the position of pride while parading your own strength? Do you cast your prayer list at His feet or do you first throw your crown at His feet in worship, humility, and unconditional adoration? Passion caused God to remodel heaven so He could turn the dead-end door of death into a secret place of access to heaven. In His passion He said, "I have to figure out way to get My kids in here, even if I have to remodel what was preexistent." It is illogical that God would sacrifice His own Son just to get close to you, but passion got in His way. Many people would love to challenge the very concept of passion in the church by asking, "What does passion have to do with the gospel?" Passion has everything to do with it. Pure logic would rule out the mercy and grace Jesus made possible on the cross. It was passion that led God to sacrifice so much for what seems to be so little in heaven's economy. The Bible says, "For God so loved…" and not "For God so thought…" I am not against logical thought or the acquisition of knowledge; but I must protest when I see logic, human thought, and mere knowledge exalted to idol status. What role does God-ward passion play in your life? Do you pursue Him primarily because it seems logical, or because passion for His presence leaves you no choice?

Questions We have to Confront 1. Do you remember times when you "emptied" yourself to reach out for God? What happened? 2. Do you have memories of crying out to God in times of spiritual of physical bankruptcy or desperation? Describe what happened: