Over the past few weeks, I've been digging into many of the Psalms. This morning I am reading Psalm 84. What an amazing and heart-tugging Psalm!!! The first two verses set the tone of the entire Psalm. Psalm 84:1-2 says, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul YEARNS, even FAINTS, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh CRY OUT for the living God." The psalmist goes on to say in Psalm 84:10, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of MY GOD than dwell in the tents of the wicked."
I don't know about you, but I want my life to be a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW of glory for God and to God! Thanks be to Jesus, I am a child of God. I am in a personal and intimate relationship with God, and because of His presence in my heart, I can never be the same! His love has changed and is changing me from the inside out. I don't want my relationship with God to be a DAILY HABIT; I want it to be a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW. Daily habit is about what I am doing; it is about me making changes in me. Passionate overflow is about what God has done, is doing, and will do; it is about God making changes in me. Daily habit is about routine, and though routine can be good, it can also become more about my efforts than about God's love and amazing grace. Daily habit can limit the opportunities in my life, whereas passionate overflow can lead to unlimited possibilities in my life. Speaking of daily habit, Demas was a co-laborer with Paul. We find a striking comment about Demas in 2 Timothy 4. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:9-12 about Demas and other co-laborers in the gospel: "Do your best to come to me quickly; FOR DEMAS, BECAUSE HE LOVED THIS WORLD, HAS DESERTED ME and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." Several of Paul's co-laborers were separated from him in ministry because of their specific calling and assignments. However, Demas was separated from Paul and from ministry BECAUSE HE LOVED THIS WORLD. Demas didn't just get separated from Paul; he DESERTED Paul. It seems to me that his work was more about his daily habits than a passionate overflow of glory for God and to God. When you look at Paul, you can see that this was once a problem he encountered. Before his "Demascus road experience," Saul had a daily habit of knowing and keeping the law. However, when Jesus met him on that road to Damascus and changed him from the inside out, Paul's life became a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW! God poured Himself into Paul, and God pours Himself into us as believers. Our hearts and lives can then become an overflow of God's transforming love and amazing grace and awesome mercy! We can live and love and be vessels of glory for God and to God!
I thank God for Jesus! I thank God for His overwhelming presence in my life! Like the psalmist in Psalm 84 says, "My soul YEARNS, even FAINTS, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh CRY OUT for the living God." Father, may my life be a PASSIONATE OVERFLOW of glory for You and to You. Amen.
