Passion

"Passion is the roller coaster ride that can happen when you follow Jesus Christ. It is the breathtaking, thrill-filled, bone-rattling ride of a lifetime where every moment matters and all you can do is hang on for life dear. When you become a Christian, when you decide to follow Christ, you decide in favor of passion. Jesus came to forgive us of our sin, yes, but His mission was also to introduce us to the passion of living. Most people believe that following Jesus is all about living right. Not true. Following Jesus is all about living fully. Listen carefully to the apostle Paul's description of the Christian life to the church in Rome.

"'It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!...

'This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" (Romans 8:10-11, 15 from the Message)'

"What is passion? Aliveness. Living with expectancy, anticipation, and enthusiasm.

"What is the opposite of passion? Dead living. Living a life that is borrrrrrring!"

--Dangerous Wonder, by Mike Yaconelli

Here's to living with aliveness, expectancy, anticipation, and enthusiasm!

Megs

Things that I am thankful for today:

1. Sunshine.

2. Warmth.

3. Open windows.

4. Summer sandals.

5. Open moonroof.

6. Going for a walk in a short-sleeved shirt.

7. Did I mention warmth?

8. Book group.

9. Summer planning.

10. Irish coffee to end the evening...

11. Friends who pray for each other.