A Passive Pursuit?...

I've been thinking about the message at my church on Sunday. The series my pastor is doing is called Transformed: Activate the Extraordinary, and it's really good. You can actually listening to it here online for the first week, and here for the 2nd week. Both weeks were extraordinary, but i've been really thinking about this weeks message. One quote in particular: "Spiritual gifts never come to the passive." -Pastor Kevin. It's so true, and not only with Spiritual gifts, but everything. Faith involves action. Being a Christian involves action. Yes, God chooses you, He loves you without any action on your part. But in order to be saved and have a home in Heaven, you need to take the action of repenting for your sins, believe that God sent His Son, Jesus to die for your sins and rose again, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Action is required to receive the gifts God has for you (including Spiritual gifts).

Several times in the Bible, He says: "Ask and you shall receive.." and "You have not, because you asked not." Christianity isn't about a religion, it's about a relationship and relationships take actions. A relationship where one is passive isn't a very good relationship. The Bible says often- Seek and you shall find, seek me and I will be found by you, draw near to me and I will draw near to you.

If you've been passive, it's time to stop. What results come from a passive life? From my experience, not much. I wouldn't have bought a house if I was passive and didn't contact the realtor, mortgage company, looked at houses, placed an offer (or 2 or 3). Good things come to those who wait, but you can't just wait- GO AFTER IT! Pursue the good things. God has awesome plans for you life, go and seek Him, GO AFTER HIM. Pursue God. Find out His will for your life and go after them. If you feel a desire to be a singer, go after it. Practice, get your voice out there. If you have a desire to run your own business, go after it. Figure out what you want to do, plan it, invest in it, market it, and etc. Dreams don't work unless you do. And most importantly, include God in every step. Include Him in your every day life.

It's interesting, not many of the people from the Bible were passive when it came to things of God. Moses did have some obstacles and hesitations before doing what God called him to do, but God made a way, and Moses did it, He went after his calling. So many of the stories in the Bible involved people who were active in their faith and did not live a passive life, but went after all God had for them and live extraordinary!

 I want to be that. I don't want to sit and watch things pass by and see others living the awesome life God has. I'm going to work on that. And it starts with simply seeking God. I can't wait to know all that God has planned for me. I can't wait to be living the life more abundantly. I can't wait to live the extraordinary life. I'm pretty excited!

Hope this encourages you! I will post verse references for this tomorrow, and maybe add more to this subject. A lot is on my mind about it, hence the longer than norm. post! :)
Have a good night/day!
-Jen