“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (Hebrews 10:16 NLT)

The Lord’s passion is for His spoken word to be revealed and experienced in our lives.  Gone are those days when His commandments were perceived as mere dictates, rules and regulations independent of His love for us.

Do you know that a TEST from God comes when either good or bad things happen to us here on earth?  We normally think that tests are only when we go through difficulties in life.  No!  There are “silent” tests when we see His goodness demonstrated in our lives, most especially when He answers our prayers.

I believe it is easier to acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior when we find ourselves in unpleasant situations.  When there seems to be no other way but to look up, we press on for His hand to be laid bare before our very eyes.  It is a test how fully persuaded we are that He Who promised is faithful.  And when He comes exceeding our expectations, we praise Him on top of our lungs and bow low in worship.

When things shift in our favor, are we still as fervent in our pursuit of Him as when we were still seeking and waiting for the answers?  It is not that He will condemn us if we don’t, but the showcase of His goodness is for us to know Him MORE as we grow deeper in our experiential knowledge and relationship with Him.

How about when things are going well with us, when we see blessings, favors, promotions, opportunities, provisions, fulfilled dreams and desires surrounding us?  These, too, are tests of our true character if we remain as passionate to behold His beauty and inquire in His temple. It is easy to be laid back when everything we see is according to what we desire.

Likened to marriage, when a man is still in pursuit of the apple of his eye, we can see his determination and tenacity that nothing can stop him.  But when time has passed, I have seen many who have grown cold in their relationship.  They have entered a state of complacency, taking for granted each other’s presence just because they are always together.  When familiarity kicks in, it hinders both parties to find ways and means to discover the each other’s hidden beauty that is there to appreciate and celebrate.

Relationship is God’s fiery passion for His people.  It is a kind of connectedness where communion and communication are of vital necessity.  He is always speaking, but are we hearing?  He is always showing His presence in our midst, but are we seeing and recognizing Him?  When our minds are filled with life’s concerns, weighing us down with worry and anxiety, it blinds us to see His beauty.  It is in quietness, our spending time alone in His presence, and confident trust, fully relying on His sufficiency, is what give us strength.

Last night, I saw this 4-year old boy named Reign standing on a chair, holding a TV remote control as his microphone, singing as loud as he can a song that overwhelmed me.  “Open the eyes of  my heart, Lord.  Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You, I want to see You.”  He continued to sing over and over again.

Then we, adults, told him to lower his voice and not shout at the top of his lungs.  In reality, in our perspective, he was not singing any longer but shouting.  BUT in the midst of it all, he refused to lower his voice.  His passion remained.

As I was listening to him, I felt a tug in my heart and a gentle whisper, “that is how passionate you are to be, that no matter what other people would say, stay steadfast in your walk with Me.  Stay in the course of My passionate love for you that will cause your heart to respond with such fire.”

Oh yes, I was silenced.  And yes, in immediacy, I viewed his singing or shouting for that matter as his passionate worship to our living Savior, JESUS!

That night, I came home with a changed heart JUST BECAUSE of this one little child who showed me how to be in fiery passion to worship the King of kings and Lord of Lords, JESUS.

But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (Matthew 19:14)

“Jesus called a little one to his side and said to them, “Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in. Whoever continually humbles himself to become like this gentle child is the greatest one in heaven’s kingdom realm.”  (Matthew 18:2-4 TPT)

Today, I saw a fiery cloud on top of the house just across mine and I once again heard a gentle whisper in my heart, “You are My temple, the house where I dwell.  That is how glorious it looks when your heart is touched by My fiery love that will cause yours to burn your love for Me that is demonstrated when you love others.”

God’s fiery and passionate love is to fill us that we may flood out to others.  When Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” three times and Peter answered Him “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.”, Jesus next statements were, “Feed My lambs”, “Tend My sheep”, “Feed My sheep”.  (John 21:15-17)

Feeding and tending mean LOVING our neighbors, LOVING those within our reach.  Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40).  What He desires is for us to be changed, rearranged and conformed according to His image and likeness, that what He did for us, He graces us to do unto others.

“For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.” (John 13:35 TPT)

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You, for Your great love that You sent Your only begotten Son, Jesus, for the whole world to see that Your fiery passion is for all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth of Who You are.  Thank You, Jesus, for demonstrating the love of our Father when You died at the cross for us.  “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  How privileged and honored we are that You call us Your friends.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for revealing Jesus and His perfect love by His perfect finished work to imperfect people like us, that we may become perfect before our Heavenly Father’s very eyes, accepted, approved, favored, blessed and embraced by His presence.  Amen!

Photo Credit:  Melai G. Felicidario (first photo); Itin Encomienda (Reign’s photo)