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PASSION IS IN FASHION by Lesa Ankney |
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Passion is in Fashion;
Sometimes being fashioned by God is exciting; sometimes it is stressful and it always costs you something. This series has little to do with fashion, clothes and makeup. It is mostly about being formed and shaped by God.
Our generation of parents has spent so much time and has tried so hard to eliminate problems for our kids. We have made things easy for them, sheltered them from pain, discouragement and all suffering as best as we could. As a result, our young people have been brought up without a sense of real feeling. They do not feel the triumph of winning because on the baseball field, we have made everyone a winner. We took the concepts of right and wrong out of the picture. It is no wonder our children have no sense of what is right and wrong or suppress things that hurt.
Acts 1:3 KJV
Jesus’ passion was his crucifixion, it was his suffering. This word passion, in King James Version, is the only time the Greek word was translated passion. It is translated 39 other times as suffer or suffering. The 40th time it was translated, the word vexed is used in King James.
Many of you may be ready to head for the door hearing about suffering! (“No thanks, I have suffered enough already, thank you!”)
Jesus’ passion was his love for us.
Passion is a deep, deep, deep emotional feeling.
“One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.” -E. M. Forrester
That one person with passion will do more than all those forty. I want to evoke PASSION IN YOU. Decide where your passion is. We do not have to suffer to the extent that Jesus Christ did. It is not likely that we will have to shed our blood for our passion for Christ, unlike many others in different countries.
John 15:13 KJV Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus calls us his FRIENDS. Because of his great love for us, and the joy that was set before Him, He was able to withstand the intense suffering on the cross. He did not fight back against his accusers. He did not want to experience the pain. He prayed several times, if there is any other way, please take this cup away from me, Father. [Matthew 26:39] He was a man [Acts 2:22] so he fully experienced the full pain of his suffering. Push through the hard times. God is fashioning you to walk in your passion. There was a statistic that is old by now, that 80% of all the work and money given is done by 20% of the people in a church body. It is probably more like 90% of all the work done and money donated is by 10% of the people. These 10 % have the passion and the energy of their convictions to serve & give. We can decide that we are going to be different, because we LOVE Jesus and mostly because He loves us!
TESTIMONY ABOUT LESA’S WORK ETHIC WHEN A YOUNG WOMAN LEFT OUT I want to be one of the ones with passion, not one of the forty with mere interest. If your passion is not evident maybe you have not found out what it is yet or because of life’s events, you may have suppressed it because of fear, being ridiculed, rejected and slammed down over and over again. Sometimes it’s easier to just stay down than to feel the deep pain again. You have heard, “What does not kill you will make you stronger.” I have heard some of you say, “Don’t ask me to do this or that.” I just may go ahead and ask you to do it anyway to stretch you. You have Christ in you, the hope of glory. There is nothing that you and he cannot do! [Colossians 1:27]
On the handout that I am passing out to you, write down all your interests in a list on one side of the paper. On another column, write down your abilities in a list. Where the two lists intersect, (on both lists the same things) is likely an area of passion. If you are having trouble determining your interests, go back to when you were a child. You are likely to remember things that you loved as a child that got lost in the busyness of adult life. Sometimes these things will lead us to our passions.
In finding your passion: 1) Set specific goals and understand obstacles that typically keep you from reaching them. a). Be specific b) Be intentional c) Be consistent 2) Don’t let the fear of
failure keep you from exploring ideas. 4) Learn not to live your life in compartments. 5) Realize that finding your passion happens overtime, not overnight.
As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” -1 Corinthians 2:9 An example may look like this:
Looking over this person’s interests and abilities might lead her to write a book, since she not only enjoys writing, but is also an English major. Going a step further, her book could have something to do with cooking since she is both interested and able. The obstacles might be lack of time, or fear of rejection. The one in the forty is willing to do the work. Find your passion. Stop being too busy in the world. Do the things that give you energy. Stop doing the things that you dread. Mostly, we are afraid of the “what ifs.” Look up and read some autobiographies of successful people. They failed many times before succeeding.
Set specific goals. Relearn or learn to delay gratification. Don’t live your life in separate compartments. You are one person who is in Christ. Your live, no matter what "hat" you are wearing, should glorify God. Every area should line up with all the others, or you will be pulled in many different directions and will not succeed at anything. Honor God with all aspects of your life. Finding your passion happens overtime, not overnight.
God is absolutely committed to each one of us
Secrets (they are secrets because we have not used them)
Hebrews 12:1-3 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
We need each other to inspire each other. By faith
the great cloud of witnesses persevered and walked with God and changed
their environments. We have people in our life that are good examples.
Don’t try to do it by yourself. God placed us all in one body of Christ.
The whole body is affected when one part is missing.
Secret: AND THROW OFF THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES YOU. Some things that entangle you are not sin but the sin needs to be thrown off. For example, for one person something like playing tennis may need to be thrown off because for them, tennis is an idol. But tennis is not a sin in of itself. It would not be a problem for me to play tennis…it is not an entanglement that keeps me away from Jesus. Ask God to show you the entanglements that you need to cast off. These entanglements take you away from your passion. Does this thing that you are doing (I am not talking about the time you spend hanging out with your friends, etc.,)…does this thing move you toward your goal? If not, then discard it.
For some of us, some of our relationships keep us bound and entangled and keeps us from moving toward the goal.
“…let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”
There IS a race, a course that is set out for you. Ask God what it is. Ask him, study His word for insight, do the exercise I have handed out to you to do. The real secret, the real key is to keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus. You can tell what your entanglements are by what turns your head away from Jesus. My opposition is NOTHING compared to what Jesus had to endure so we would not become weary.
Re-read Hebrews 12:1-3. Surround yourself with believers who stand in great faith.
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