A few weeks ago, I was on an airplane sitting beside a stranger for one eternally long flight. After the usual small talk, he asked me about my occupation. (Big mistake!) It wasn’t long into the conversation that he commented about my passion for seeing a move of God sweep across our nation. Recently while attending a luncheon, I sat across the table from a beautiful young couple that were children’s pastors in a tremendous church. Again, after just a few minutes of talking about the need for churches to allow the Holy Spirit to be Himself, they too commented about my passion. If this was a support group, without shame I would stand up and say, “Hello, I am Billy Burns and I am consumed with a relationship with the Holy Spirit and unrelentingly passionate about passing this love for the Holy Spirit on to the children, youth, and adults in churches around the nation.” I so desire that it be said of me what was said of Peter in Acts 5:28, “Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” I want this passion to be so visible that it spreads to all those around and, before long, individuals and churches and cities will be joining together with me proclaiming “TODAY is the day of the Holy Ghost” and seeing Him demonstrate His presence.
There is so much that I could say about the importance of having this kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit. I will limit myself to just sharing that those around you desperately need to see someone that is filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and is putting their passion on display. That is the only way that you will fill your Jerusalem with your doctrine.
When you share passion what response do you get? Please answer.
Bob, passion ignites and fans the flames of passion in others. I have trouble containing my passion about the Person of the Holy Spirit. It’s like trying to squeeze a 38 inch waist into a size 32 pair of jeans … my spirit just isn’t big enough. And, just like the jean analogy, when you can’t get everything into the jeans, it just spills (flaps) over and is highly visible. Everyone around knows.