Godly Desires
What is your passion? Many of us have seen the movie, The Passion of Christ. Why do we call it The Passion? Today we are looking at two definitions of passion. One is an eager desire, a love, a zeal for, ardor, vehement desire. The other definition is suffer. The word itself literally means to suffer, that which is suffered or received. In the Cruden’s Concordance it says that in the singular (passion) it means the suffering and death of Christ. In the plural (passions), it means desires.
Jesus, the Son of God, became the son of man because of His great love, His ardent desire for mankind. He and the Father wanted to set man free from sin and all its consequences. They wanted to be able to fellowship with and have communion with the one who was created in their image, mankind. What a love God has for us. He is love. He doesn’t have love. All He is, is love. That’s His entire being. And because of His Love, Jesus suffered in our place and took our sin and sickness and disease and pain and poverty and lack and all that sin entails. What a great love to suffer in someone else’s place. His greatest desire was for us to be free. And love was the force behind that desire.
What is your greatest love? What is your ardent desire? There are desires of all kinds. There are earthly desires and there are spiritual desires. They are both important. God gives us the desires of our heart and then sets about to fulfill them. One thing we must be very aware of is this. Godly desires will line up with His Word always. Ungodly desires, those we make up, will not line up with the Word of God. For example, someone may say that they desire another person’s wife. That is not godly. That doesn’t line up with the Word of God. Or someone may desire to the point of envying someone else’s home or car. That doesn’t line up with the Word of God, because envying is a sin. When God places the desire in our hearts, it is pure and without guile.
He may place a desire in your heart for your vocation in life. Perhaps you have a great desire to be a doctor or nurse. Perhaps you desire to be a mother and housewife. Perhaps you desire to be a mechanic. Perhaps you desire to be a minister. He places that desire in your heart. Perhaps there is a desire in you to be located in a certain place. After prayer, you will know by the peace in your heart that that is the place you are to live. His desires bring peace and not agitation.
In Psalm 37:4 we see the prerequisite for Godly desire. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” When we delight ourselves in the Lord, when we seek Him with all of our heart, He is the One Who will give us the desires of our heart, in line with His Kingdom, His way of doing things. In verse 5 of that same chapter we read that we are to commit our ways unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. We delight ourselves in Him by praising and worshipping Him, reading His Word, fellowshipping with Him. And trust in Him is developed in that atmosphere. We trust people whom we know. The more we get to know the Lord, the greater our trust will be in Him, regardless of our circumstances.
In Romans 8:5-9 Amplified Bible we see that Godly desires are not things which our flesh wants. They are determined by the Holy Spirit of God. “For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit. Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death….But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and peace…. Those who live the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God or be acceptable to Him. But…when…you are living the life of the Spirit” it follows that you please and satisfy God.
So, we must conclude that when we follow the Holy Spirit of God, when we delight in the Lord, when we seek Him with everything in us, when we allow the Spirit of God to direct our thoughts and our pursuits, He will give us the desires of our hearts and then fulfill them for us. What is our part: We enjoy life in Him as He does the work in us and for us and around us.
Jesus, the Son of God, became the son of man because of His great love, His ardent desire for mankind. He and the Father wanted to set man free from sin and all its consequences. They wanted to be able to fellowship with and have communion with the one who was created in their image, mankind. What a love God has for us. He is love. He doesn’t have love. All He is, is love. That’s His entire being. And because of His Love, Jesus suffered in our place and took our sin and sickness and disease and pain and poverty and lack and all that sin entails. What a great love to suffer in someone else’s place. His greatest desire was for us to be free. And love was the force behind that desire.
What is your greatest love? What is your ardent desire? There are desires of all kinds. There are earthly desires and there are spiritual desires. They are both important. God gives us the desires of our heart and then sets about to fulfill them. One thing we must be very aware of is this. Godly desires will line up with His Word always. Ungodly desires, those we make up, will not line up with the Word of God. For example, someone may say that they desire another person’s wife. That is not godly. That doesn’t line up with the Word of God. Or someone may desire to the point of envying someone else’s home or car. That doesn’t line up with the Word of God, because envying is a sin. When God places the desire in our hearts, it is pure and without guile.
He may place a desire in your heart for your vocation in life. Perhaps you have a great desire to be a doctor or nurse. Perhaps you desire to be a mother and housewife. Perhaps you desire to be a mechanic. Perhaps you desire to be a minister. He places that desire in your heart. Perhaps there is a desire in you to be located in a certain place. After prayer, you will know by the peace in your heart that that is the place you are to live. His desires bring peace and not agitation.
In Psalm 37:4 we see the prerequisite for Godly desire. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” When we delight ourselves in the Lord, when we seek Him with all of our heart, He is the One Who will give us the desires of our heart, in line with His Kingdom, His way of doing things. In verse 5 of that same chapter we read that we are to commit our ways unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. We delight ourselves in Him by praising and worshipping Him, reading His Word, fellowshipping with Him. And trust in Him is developed in that atmosphere. We trust people whom we know. The more we get to know the Lord, the greater our trust will be in Him, regardless of our circumstances.
In Romans 8:5-9 Amplified Bible we see that Godly desires are not things which our flesh wants. They are determined by the Holy Spirit of God. “For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit. Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death….But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and peace…. Those who live the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God or be acceptable to Him. But…when…you are living the life of the Spirit” it follows that you please and satisfy God.
So, we must conclude that when we follow the Holy Spirit of God, when we delight in the Lord, when we seek Him with everything in us, when we allow the Spirit of God to direct our thoughts and our pursuits, He will give us the desires of our hearts and then fulfill them for us. What is our part: We enjoy life in Him as He does the work in us and for us and around us.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 9:37 AM
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