W. P. K. Lee

What is spiritual passion? Every religion has a deity and the practice of prayer. In the Old Testament, there is a verse about prayer. Proverbs 28:9 (NIV) “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayer is detestable.” There is a dialogue with God of the bible. I need to listen to Him first. He speaks to me through the law which refers to the first five books of the Old Testament according to this verse. 

I have read the English translation of the bible from Genesis to Malachi, 39 books of the Old Testament written over a few thousand years in Hebrews and Aramaic originally; and from Matthew to Revelation, 27 books of the New Testament written within 70 years in Greek originally; a number of times over a number of years.

I know the bible is true. It passed the historical evidence test. There are countless number of testimonies over 2000 years of church history which is continuing right now. The Holy Spirit confirms it is true to me through miracles and healing in my life.

I have read one shorter book of the New Testament many thousand times to learn its content; to read its context, and to know its literature style.

I have studied the bible historically. I am studying it from time to time still.

I have memorized certain verses of the bible.

I have meditated on many of those verses that I memorized.

I have applied those verses that I meditated on. A doctrine is a topic, a principle that is found in many places in the bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, for example, peace. An application of a verse needs to be based on a sound principle from the bible.

I would say that my first step of application of a verse that I meditate on is to pray to God as a result of my meditation.

There are three of my dialogues with God below with sub-heading: Pride, Joy and Peace. God answers these prayers mightily, more than I can ask or imagine.

This fills my spiritual hunger. This is not spiritual passion. I want to know God more and know Him better. This is spiritual passion. Ephesians 1:17 is a prayer on this matter.

As you can see, I learn about spiritual passion from someone, great teachers of the bible within the church. If I can gain spiritual passion, then I can also lose it; you can find a title of a book called “Restoring your spiritual passion”. https://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Spiritual-Passion-Gordon-MacDonald/dp/0840790694

Pride

I did a short bible study and I had a dialogue with God about humility. It helps to see what humility is when we see the opposite. The opposite of humility is pride.

I pulled out the passages of scriptures from that dialogue relate to pride, put them together and make the following observation.

Proverbs 3:34 tells us that God mocks proud mockers. Proverbs 11:2 tells us that when pride comes, then come disgrace. Proverbs 29:23 tells us that a man's pride brings him low. God opposes the proud, they will be disgrace.

Isaiah 14:12-15 NIV How you have fallen from heaven O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.

The morning star or daystar, son of the dawn above is referred to the ancient king of Babylon because of his splendor in the context of Isaiah 13 and 14. This passage also shows us how pride works. Pride is saying, “I will ascend to the heaven.”  A creature tries to climb high on its own with its own effort from its own reserve. Imagine flying a plane to a destination and return without fuel, runway, ground control, emergency personnel, airport security and support with infrastructure to the airport. It is not going to happen. There are so many people helped to lift a plane into the air safely and bring it back on the ground safely. It is a piece of well rehearsed and precise team work.

A heart filled with pride does not motivate the mind and the body to go very far or do very much. It is like punching in the air. It makes claim that will not fulfill. 

Proverbs 8:13 NIV To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I (Wisdom) hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Thank you, Jesus, you took the pride of all humanity on that cross and you have given your people, your Holy Spirit - the Spirit of fear of the Lord.

JOY

One of the world’s favourite Christmas carols is “Joy to the World”. Some 25 years ago (1990), I was taught according to scriptures the benefits of praising God by one of the university students’ pastors of our church. In the Old Testament of the bible, the book of Psalm Chapter 22 verse 3 tells us that God dwells among the praise of his people. Psalm Chapter 16 verse 11 tells us that God will fill us with joy in his presence. So when we praise God with our lips whether in songs or prayers; whether in private devotion or in public assembly of the church, we will experience joy in our hearts.

In the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah Chapter 58 verses 13 and 14 tell us that we will find joy in God by valuing his weekly day of rest; and the book of Nehemiah Chapter 10 verse 8 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. In the New Testament, the book of First Corinthians Chapter 13 verse 6 tells us that joy and truth go together. Truth brings joy. Love and truth go together. Love brings joy. Therefore when we hear or speak the truth in love, there will be joy in our hearts. The good news of Jesus is truth in love: forgiveness, time of refreshing, provision from temptation, protection from the devil, resurrection power, eternal life in heaven and more. The book of 1Peter Chapter 1 verse 8 tells us that a genuine salvation experience for Christian is being filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy as a Christian believe in Jesus Christ. Before the first coming of Christ, sin offerings and burnt offerings with the mediator of a priest from the Leviticus priesthood in the promise of land of Israel were needed in order for people to enter the presence of God and the people of God were mainly of Jewish in origin. Because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross; his resurrection from the dead; and the endowment of the Holy Spirit since the birth of the church, believers of any origins might have the abiding presence of God anywhere on earth including here in Sydney, Australia, a long, long way from Israel in distance as well as time frame. The thought of this living reality alone should bring us great joy as it did to Abraham as Christ described it in the book of John Chapter 8 verse 56.

I have lived when all the odds were against me and I have lived in the midst of the majority. I can say honestly in both sides of the coin, the joy of the Lord has been my strength within me. I have experienced lack in my life and I have experienced plenty in my life, the joy of the Lord carried me through the former and the joy of the Lord satisfied me during the latter. Joy is one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.

My prayer for everyone who read this page: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The book of Romans Chapter 15 verse 13 (NIV).

Peace

If my tongue is working properly, I know the difference between sweet taste and spicy taste. If my nose is working properly, I know the difference between the fragance of perfume and the smell of rotten food. If my eyes are working properly, I know the difference between a dark parch of green and a bright light.

I lived in the city of Hong Kong for 13 years; then the city of Sydney for 1 year; then a coastal town of New South Wales for 9 years; then the city of Sydney again for 6 years; and then the city of Hong Kong again for 5 years. I knew the difference between fast pace living and lay back living.

When I received Christ Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, I experienced his peace for the first time. I was able to testify that the peace of God that I had was one of the biggest differences that I noticed after I became a Christian.

This question came across my mind. 'Does the peace of God relate to the pace of life?' When I was living in the city of Hong Kong the second time, I did the study on the peace of God below so I dig it out.

Colossians 3:15 tells us that we have the peace of God rule in our hearts in the church.

Psalm 119:165 tells us that there is peace when we follow God's word.

Isaiah 48:17-19 tells us that peace is found in abundance in paying attention to God's commands.

Philippians 4:4-7 tells us that peace is found by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving presenting our requests to God.

Romans 8:6-7 tells us that the mind controlled by the Holy Spirit is life and peace.

Galatians 5:22 tells us that the Holy Spirit produces peace in us. Peace is one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:25-27 tells us that Jesus gives us his peace.

2Thessalonians 3:16 tells us that the Lord gives us peace at all times and every way. This is a promise and a prayer of peace.

James 3:17-18 tells us that as we sow (give) in peace in our relationship, we raise a harvest of righteousness. We should keep our word in the matter of giving to others to maintain peace.

Hebrews 12:10-11 tells us that as we sow with endurance and discipline in the difficult time, this season produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

1Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that as we grow in the knowledge of God and his truth; and we are being transformed by them, we have peace.

From these bible references on peace, it seems clearly that it is not related so much to a physical place. Wherever you are reading this page, this is my prayer for you: “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. 2Thessalonians 3:16” Thank you, Jesus.

You can see that there are a lot in the bible. I am sure that you have read the bible many times if you find yourself reading this page. With some studying tools, I was blessed by the passage of Romans 5:20 – 6:2.

Romans 5:20-21NIV

The law was added so that the trespass might increase.

                                 But where sin increased,                grace increased all the more,

                           so that just as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life                                                                                                                         through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Is trespass different from sin? What is a trespass? You may find a sign printed “NO TRESPASSING” on some buildings in Sydney. This mean that a place where one should not enter if the person does not mean to be there. The Old Testament law was added so the old covenant people crossed the Red Sea on dry land know exactly where not to enter after they had been delivered from slavery in ancient Egypt. It stated not to steal, therefore not to go there. There are so many items in the Old Testament law code; therefore when the set of law was given, the people realized that all these areas which they had never thought of; they were not to enter any longer. Here is another way to look at it. A person might think that he had only one bad habit. When the set of law was given, that person realized that there were many many more existing habits were also bad. To make this worse, covetousness is an internal feeling. There are struggles outside and within a person.

The good news is that there is forgiveness through Jesus Christ in the new covenant. He paid for all the sins of humanity on the cross. When a person sins, there is forgiveness through confessing it to our faithful God as Jesus paid for them all. This is grace. This undeserving grace is unlimited.

Without forgiveness, a person is trapped in sin; fragmented for going to so many wrong places with the wrong feelings. That person is dead spiritually. Jesus came to pull people out of the trap but more than that; he give people grace to live right continually with his Spirit after they are forgiven. That is a great relief! Thank you so so so much, Jesus.

Romans 6:1-2 NIV

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on

                                                sinning so that              grace may increase? By no means!

If a person got pull out of a maze of wrong places, then stood on a hill holding hands with the rescuer and tasted safety, rest and freedom; I do not want certainly to jump back in.

If we keep reading the book of Romans, there are so much more that God does for his children.