Where Is Your Passion?

Good Morning and A Very Happy Friday!!! TGIF - Thank God I'm forgiven ! "I have no pleasure in you." This was the Lord's stinging rebuke to His people through the prophet Malachi (1:10). God was angry with their careless, shoddy methods of worship. The animals they brought for sacrifice were not acceptable to Him because they were not the best of the herds and flocks. Instead, they offered stolen, lame, and sick animals (v.13). 

"When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the Lord.—Malachi 1:13 (NIV)

While we may not be showing this degree of contempt toward God, sometimes we are too casual in our worship. A friend of mine made this observation about herself: "When I shop for simple things like soap or butter, I hardly think about it. But when I'm looking for a blouse to match a skirt, I shop very carefully. I go from store to store until I find exactly what I'm looking for." Then she added thoughtfully, "I should pay that same attention when I am worshiping God. But sometimes I approach Him as casually as if I were shopping for a box of Kleenex." During worship services in our churches, we may fail to give God our full attention. We rush in late. Our thoughts wander. We need to discipline our minds so that we are not focusing on yesterday's cares or tomorrow's responsibilities. When we worship the Lord with all our heart, He will be pleased with us.

At the heart of true worship,...is worship from the heart.

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"What can kills your passion (for the Lord)?

Think about it in the context of marriage,...lack of interest, indifference,
and being too busy to take time to be together destroys passion,...distraction is a passion killer."

(Extravagant Worship, Darlene Zschech, p. 177)

"Before we lose patience with others, we need to stop, and think how patient God has been with us."