Wisdom: The Power of a Burning Heart
Proverbs 23:7
Proverbs 23:7
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: (KJV)
What burns on the INSIDE determines who you are on the OUTSIDE!
Proverbs 27:19
19 As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
(NIV)
What burns in your HEART?
Three questions:
1) What makes you LAUGH?
2) What makes you CRY?
3) What makes you MAD?
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Why do people lack PASSION?
1) They allow the PRECIOUS to become FAMILIAR!
Many people are optional thinkers, rather than directional. Do you ever catch yourself turning at a familiar intersection, even though you planned to go someplace else beyond that point? Or let’s say you wanted to go to Des Moines, Iowa? How would you go? Well, Des Moines is North of Bossier City. If we leave here and head north we should get to Des Moines, right?
When those of you who hunt go hunting, how many of you just point the gun into the woods and fire it? The deer are in the woods, are they not? If you fire the gun into the woods, you should hit one, shouldn’t you? You may hit something, but it probably won’t be a deer.
If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it dead center everytime.
Satan has a very directional plan! He uses every means at his disposal to get you to think you can just take the important for granted. His plan is to take nothing from you, only cause you to not pay attention! His goal is to take what is most precious to us and make it appear as most common. Satan is an expert at robbing the sparkle and replacing it with the drab. He is the author of the yawn and he puts the hum in humdrum. He will make you forget what it is like to be lost. He uses the poison of the ordinary to dull your senses to the magic of the moment. You’ll soon lose your first love!
Revelation 2:1-3
1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Sounds like the folks have it all together! They have been doing all the right things! But for the wrong reasons!
Revelation 2:4
4 Yet I hold this against you:
You have forsaken your first love.
(NIV)
What does a coach look for most in an athlete? Shari Kuchenbecker and her team of research assistants from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles interviewed six hundred and fifty-eight coaches representing forty-three sports. The athletes they coached ranged in age from three to twenty-two. Across the board, Kuchenbecker says, coaches picked psychological factors over physical factors when asked what makes for a successful young athlete. Responses like "loves to play", "positive attitude", and "self-motivated" far outnumbered responses like "strong" or "naturally athletic" or "physically gifted".
Unfortunately, parents don’t always realize that they should be putting the emphasis where the coaches put it-on qualities like attitude and enthusiasm. Instead, they put a lot of effort into sending the kid to special tutors or camps to work on their physical skills, failing to foster a simple enjoyment of the game.
"The Number One thing coaches want is a kid who loves to play. A kid who loves to play is fun to coach," she says.
2) We desire APPROVAL
We lack passion because we desire everyone to like us! Every great movement of God began with people passionately loving Him, serving Him, worshipping Him. And every great revival fire has been quenched because people wanted to be accepted!
3) Everyone is APATHETIC
Who cares? That’s the attitude! What ever happened to “I have Decided to Follow Jesus”? “Though None go with me, still I will follow”?
Matthew 10:37-38
37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
(NIV)
4) APATHY can increase with AGE
Why retire when you can re-enlist?
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What PASSION does for us?
1) DESIRE determines DESTINY!
Philippians 3:13-14
13 …But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(NIV)
Wherever the Apostle went there was either a either a revival or a riot!
Christians’ Point of No Return
If you were inside the cockpit of a departing airplane, just as it took off from the runway you would hear the copilot or captain call out, "V1." This phrase represents the "point of no return."
As the airplane accelerates toward the end of the runway, the pilot must decide if the plane is moving fast enough for a safe takeoff. This speed must be determined preflight based on several factors, including the air pressure, temperature, speed of the wind, and weight of the aircraft.
The pilot maintains a hold on the throttle as the plane approaches the V1 speed, so that he or she can abort the takeoff if something goes wrong. However, after V1, the plane must take off.
As Christians, we should have a V1 commitment to our walk with Christ. Once we have placed our faith in Christ alone, we have reached the point of no return. We need to adjust our "attitude," apply full throttle, and take off.
2) PASSION makes the IMPOSSIBLE possible!
Matt 17:20
20 I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
(NIV)
If you don’t have anything worth dying for, you’ve never really lived!
3) PASSION protects
Proverbs 27:12
12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
(NIV)
An “I don’t care” attitude is open territory to temptation!
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How to get HEARTBURN:
Revelation2:5
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
(NIV)
Three “R’s”…
REMEMBER
REPENT
The more I try to cling to my rights, the less free I feel. The more I think something will bring me happiness, the less it satisfies.
RE-DO
Colossians 3:1-2
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,
set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
