Passion To WIN! -- Does Anguish Ignite Passion?

Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Read Ephesians 4:26a
By Nichole Boggs

The word “passion” is unfortunately so tied to Hollywood’s take on it, that we relate it most times to a relationship between a man and a woman. When I think of passion, I think of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If anyone was passionate, He was. In the Bible we see that He is full of love and compassion. He is justice and truth. He is forgiveness and compassion. He is mercy and grace. We are told of a time when He became angry because of the sin of the people (Matthew 21:10-17). So angry, that He went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Jesus went on to tell them that they had turned the House of God into a den of thieves. Jesus had become angry at the lowly regard these people had for the holiness of the things of God. I also think of the time that Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. As sweat drops of blood fell from His brow as He cried out in agony to the Father. Passion.

A message by David Wilkerson so stirred my heart that I wanted to give you a few of his statements. "Anguish is extreme pain and distress. It is an acute deeply felt inner pain because of the conditions about you, in you, or around you. It is a deep pain. Anguish is not just concern. All true passion is born out of anguish. It is not just a flash of emotion or a great sudden burst of concern that we let die. It is a deep pain that drives us to our knees.” Out of those statements birthed these thoughts; until we have been in agony and anguish over our condition, the condition of the church, the condition of our nation, the condition of the world we will continue to be blind to the lukewarmness of ourselves. When we go from having concern to deep anguish we will find ourselves being driven  to our knees as we weep, mourn, fast, and pray. This is the kind of passion that took Jesus to the cross. The perfect Son of God, out of the anguish of His heart, passionately took on all my sin as if He had done it all Himself because He knew He was the only way that I could live this life in victory and one day be with Him together in glory. May passion drive us to build up walls around our heart and our homes! May passion drive us to reach the lost! When we do these things, we win every time.