Living in God’s Abundance
His Abundant Passion
2 Peter 1:3-4
ONE THING
We must continually fight the conspiracy to quench our passion
for God and His Kingdom
We are going to continue our series topic, “Living in God’s Abundance”
His Abundant Pardon
His Abundant Peace
His Abundant Power
His Abundant Promises
Tonight we are going to continue looking at the specifics of God’s
Abundance by looking at…
His Abundant Passion
Romans 12:11 (ESV)
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
To accomplish anything that really matters requires passion
Every great artist, every great composer, every great musician, every great
athlete, has become so through PASSION
In fact, every great feat can only be accomplished through PASSION
PASSION
Mobilizes armies
Moves scientists to new medical breakthroughs
Breaks athletic records
Scales mountains
But what about a PASSION for God?
It’s interesting that you can have a PASSION for anything and people
applaud and consider you a fan
But have an intense PASSION for God and people In will call you a nut
case; a fanatic; a fruit loop
In our passage tonight we see a longing in every believer’s heart…
Romans 12:11 (ESV)
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
We long to serve the Lord …
We long to fulfill His purposes for our lives…
Yet we find ourselves unmotivated
We have a desire to read God’s Word …
Yet we get busy doing other things and neglect His Word
We want to share our faith with others …
Yet we never seem to get around to it
We see the ungodly injustices all around us …
Yet we never do anything about them
ONE THING
We must continually FIGHT the CONSPIRACY to QUENCH our
passion for GOD and His KINGDOM
1. Identify the Passion Blockers
Romans 12:11a (ESV)
11 Do not be slothful in zeal ...
The word “slothful” here means …
Slothful – “To shrink from something, to hold back, hesitation,
reluctance, idleness, laziness”
“Do not be reluctant in zeal/eagerness/passion”
Story of Joash’s hesitation
Joash was the king of Israel and they were under attack by the Syrians
He went to Elisha, now advanced in age and about to die
2 Kings 13:15–17 (ESV)
15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and
arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And
Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the window
eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he
said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall
fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.”
2 Kings 13:18 (ESV)
18 And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of
Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped.
2 Kings 13:19 (ESV)
19 Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck
five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an
end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”
Joash’s lack of zeal kept him from total and complete victory over his
enemy
The same is true for us…
We must stir up our PASSION or we will never fully defeat our enemy!
Passion BLOCKERS
1
Self-Centered Living
This is nothing more than living to please self
It doesn’t mean that you have no concern for the things of God
It simply means that when push comes to shove, you chose self over God
And as I said this morning, Sin is the determination to live life independent
from God
Passion BLOCKERS
1
2
Self-Centered Living
Worldly Mindset
The culture is bent on removing God from everything
Psalm 2:2–3 (ESV)
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds
apart and cast away their cords from us.”
Passion BLOCKERS
1
2
3
Self-Centered Living
Worldly Mindset
Unhealthy Self-Worth
An unhealthy self-worth goes both ways…
Thinking too highly of yourself
Old saying…
“If I could buy him for what he’s worth and sell him for what he
thinks he’s worth I would be a millionaire”
Proverbs 16:18 (ESV)
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Thinking too lowly of yourself
“I can’t do anything”
“I’m good for nothing”
This unhealthy value of self will kill passion every time
Passion BLOCKERS
1
2
3
4
Self-Centered Living
Worldly Mindset
Unhealthy Self-Worth
Disconnected Life
What I mean here is isolating yourself from everyone
Never opening up to anyone on a personal basis
This is an epidemic among the 35 and below!
Facebook and other Social Media are giving the appearance of being open,
but in reality they keep us disconnected from each other
Connecting through Social Media is surface connection
Connecting heart-to-heart with others is real connection
And for believers, connecting spirit-to-spirit is Spirit-filled connection!
Passion BLOCKERS
1
2
3
4
5
Self-Centered Living
Worldly Mindset
Unhealthy Self-Worth
Disconnected Life
Hypocrisy toward Others
In somewhat of a continuation to #4, this is presenting an image of concern
for others, but not really caring enough to move us to action
1 John 3:18 (ESV)
18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
This hypocrisy toward others springs from hypocrisy toward God!
Passion BLOCKERS
1
2
3
4
5
6
Self-Centered Living
Worldly Mindset
Unhealthy Self-Worth
Disconnected Life
Hypocrisy toward Others
Unconfessed Sin
There is nothing that kills passion for God like guilt from unconfessed sin
Psalm 38:4 (NLT)
4 My guilt overwhelms me— it is a burden too heavy to bear.
Psalm 32:3 (NLT)
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day
long.
We must continually fight the conspiracy to quench our passion
for God and His Kingdom
2. Incorporate the Passion Builders
Romans 12:11 (ESV)
11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
The word, “fervent” means to boil over or be inflamed
From the Latin fervere which means “boil”
“fervent in spirit” – To bubble over or be glowing hot in spirit
1
Romans 12:1 (ESV)
Passion
BUILDERS
Verse
Surrendered Life
Romans 12:1
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship.
You will never have a passion for God unleashed through your life until you
have surrendered self-centered living
Luke 9:23–24 (ESV)
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
1
2
Passion
BUILDERS
Verse
Surrendered Life
Transformed Mind
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.
1
2
3
Passion
BUILDERS
Verse
Surrendered Life
Transformed Mind
Honest Self
Assessment
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:3 (ESV)
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each
according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Abilities
Experiences
Personality
Spiritual Gifts
“I became comfortable in my own skin”
I assessed my weaknesses & my strengths
I assessed what stirs me deeply
1
2
3
4
Passion
BUILDERS
Verse
Surrendered Life
Transformed Mind
Honest Self
Assessment
Community
Connection
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:4-8
Romans 12:4–8 (ESV)
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have
the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to
us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our
serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his
exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal;
the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use
them well to serve one another.
1
2
3
4
5
Passion
BUILDERS
Verse
Surrendered Life
Transformed Mind
Honest Self
Assessment
Community
Connection
Genuine Love
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:4-8
Romans 12:9a
Romans 12:9a (ESV)
9 Let love be genuine...
1 Peter 4:8 (NLT)
8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers
a multitude of sins.
1 Timothy 1:5 (NLT)
5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that
comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Passion
BUILDERS
Verse
Surrendered Life
Transformed Mind
Honest Self
Assessment
Community
Connection
Genuine Love
Cleansed Life
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:9b (ESV)
9 ... Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Psalm 32:1 (ESV)
Romans 12:4-8
Romans 12:9a
Romans 12:9b
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psalm 32:5 (ESV)
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will
confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Living in God’s Abundance
His Abundant Passion
Romans 12:11
We must continually
the
our passion for
1.
to
and His
the passion
Passion
1
2
3
4
5
6
2.
the passion
Passion
1
2
3
4
5
6
Verse