Will You Burn For The God Of God, or In Hell For Deeds Of The Devil?
If there’s anything that catches people’s attention and causes them to sit up and take notice of what you’re saying or doing, it’s ENTHUSIASM! The word enthusiasm is derived from two Greek words: “En”, which means IN, and “theos”, which means GOD. So enthusiasm literally means “in God”, or “God in us”!–Thus the truly enthusiastic person is one who acts and speaks as if he were possessed by God!
God’s Word tells us, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;…!”–(Ecclesiastes 9:10). The Bible also tells us, “Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your spiritual FERVOUR, serving the Lord!” (Romans 12:11). The Lord expects His children to be WHOLE-HEARTED wildly willing workers who are filled with an impassioned desire to please and serve Him!–ENTHUSIASTICALLY!
In fact, Jesus said that half-hearted, lukewarm, indifferent Christians make Him literally SICK to His stomach! He says to them, “I know your works, that you are NEITHER COLD nor HOT. I WISH that you were EITHER one or the other, cold OR hot!–So then, because you are LUKEWARM, and neither hot nor cold, I will SPEW (vomit) you OUT of My mouth!…Be ZEALOUS, therefore, and repent!” (Revelation 3:15,16,19).
The Lord wants and needs on-fire, red-hot, enthusiastic followers who love Him more than anything or anyone else on this Earth!–Disciples who are DETERMINED to follow Jesus all the way because they know they have found the TRUTH!
Such fervent followers of God should all be driven by the same compelling COMPASSION which motivated the Apostles and the martyrs and virtually EVERY great man or woman of God throughout history!–In fact, it’s the same irresistible motivation that should motivate EVERY child of God in EVERYTHING they do, EVERYTHING they say, EVERYWHERE they go, and which the great fanatical Apostle Paul summed up in these few famous and ringing words which have cried out from the heart of every true Christian in every true good deed he has ever done, and for which indeed he is willing to die: “The LOVE of CHRIST constraineth or COMPELS US!” (2nd Corinthians 5:14).
Regardless of what you may lack in the way of natural talents, abilities, gifts etc., if you truly YIELD your heart to the Lord and let HIM inspire you and take control of your life–obeying God’s Word and letting Him live IN you and THROUGH you, so that your heart BURNS with HIS Love–then He will be able to GREATLY use you and make you a blessing to MANY!
This is a crucial decision that EVERY Christian must face: To truly GIVE and YIELD your ALL to the Lord, and be willing to be an on-fire, enthusiastic, “HOT” servant of the LIVING God!–Or to WITHHOLD yourself from the Lord, compromising and fearing to vary from the norm, afraid to be different from the rest of the skeptical World lest others look down on you or think of you as some kind of a “fanatic” or “extremist”! The Bible says, “Every man according as he purposes and decides in his HEART, so let him GIVE!” (2nd Corinthians 9:7).
The great pioneer missionary, David Livingstone, when still a young man, was faced with this decision and wrote in his diary: “I have found that I have no unusual endowments of intellect. But this day I RESOLVE that I will be an UNCOMMON CHRISTIAN!”–He “purposed in his heart” to give his ALL to the LORD and determined to become an ENTHUSIAST for the TRUTH.–And he WAS! He became one of the greatest missionaries the World has ever known!
The famous historian, Arnold Toynbee, said, “Apathy can only be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: First, an IDEAL which takes the imagination by storm; and second, a definite intelligible PLAN for carrying that ideal into practice. “What GREATER ideal could ANYONE have than to bring EVERLASTING SALVATION and ETERNAL HEAVENLY LIFE to a lost and dying World which is PERISHING without it? And what BETTER “intelligible plan” could ANYONE have than that given by JESUS Himself to His followers: “GO into ALL the WORLD and PREACH the GOSPEL to EVERY creature!”? (Mark 16:15). As CHRISTIANS, we should be the MOST ENTHUSIASTIC people in the entire WORLD!
The Apostle Paul was one of God’s greatest enthusiasts. Even before his conversion, he showed a great deal of enthusiasm, but with the WRONG ideal and the WRONG plan, as he was fanatically ANTI-Christian.
But as soon as Paul was converted, he became an enthusiastic fanatic for the RIGHT side!–And he almost single-handedly was responsible for the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire! When others saw his total dedication and enthusiasm for the Lord, THEY got on fire for God TOO!
NOTHING could quench Paul’s enthusiasm! In his own words he says, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2nd Corinthians 11:23-27). Did Paul let these difficulties and obstacles stop him? NO! He went right on serving God no matter WHAT hardships or difficulties befell him!
Nothing can stop the man who is fired with enthusiasm and on fire for God! He will keep going no matter WHAT, because he KNOWS he is doing the RIGHT thing for the RIGHT cause and for the One Who is ALWAYS right!
So where do we GET such enthusiasm, this inspiration that fills a life with fire and fervor for the Lord?–From the HOLY SPIRIT of God! The Bible says, “Our God IS a consuming FIRE” (Hebrews 12:29), and repeatedly compares His Spirit to a fire, or flames of fire. (See (Acts 2:3,4; Revelation 4:5; Matthew 3:11). So if you want to be enthusiastic for the Lord, full of His fiery anointing and inspiration, just PRAY and ask Him to EMPOWER and FILL you with the power of His Holy Spirit! And He WILL! (See “The Spirit of Love”.)
Someone once asked a great man of God what the secret of his success was and he replied, “I just get on fire for God and the World comes out to see me burn!” But if you HAVEN’T got the FIRE, if your Christianity is nothing but cold dead icicles–no warmth, no heat, you’ll never inspire ANYONE to do ANYTHING! He who has no fire in himself cannot warm others.