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Here are some thoughts that came to me about passion.
I have not found a better illustration for understanding the government of God than the way an electrical circuit operates. To me, passion is analogous to electrical current or voltage, I'm not sure which is more accurate or if that is really relevant. But passion is a power very similar in nature to electricity. And just like electricity, passion in and of itself is not the problem. The problem arises when passion is applied backwards to the original circuit designed by God that synchronizes with reality. When passion is run backwards, like misapplying electricity to a circuit, it changes appearance and produces results that looks like something very different than intended by the designer. The way you can know if it is running backwards is the degree to which selfishness is involved.
Selfishness transforms passion into exploitation and fornication. In Revelation the evil woman is represented as having a cup full of wine and elsewhere it is noted that this wine is the passion of immorality. Immorality certainly involves passion and often it is passion itself that is blamed for the problems of immorality. But passion is not the problem, it is the way in which passion is exercised and the direction of its orientation. Immorality is very selfish passion that is craving to exploit others for its own pleasure.
On the other hand, the passion of God is always totally selfless. This passion is even more intense than the passion of immorality but because it is totally selfless it is generally foreign to our way of thinking. In fact, the great confusion that has arisen about God's passion is because it is so foreign to our way of thinking that when we do perceive it we see it through the distorted assumptions of our own false passions, our backwards way of experiencing passion, and so we believe that God's passion is actually wrath. Because we believe it is wrath we even experience it as wrath and we are fully convinced that indeed it is wrath.
But what makes God's passion seem like wrath to some and glory to others is the amount of resistance that is in the heart to the ways and the motivations of God's heart. If I am resistant to the selflessness that always motivates the heart of the God of heaven then the heat generated by my resistance creates in me a sensation of wrath. But if I am completely freed from all resistance to the unselfishness and the real truths about God's character and if I have been completely transformed so that my heart synchronizes with His heart and motives, then instead of feeling the heat of resistance to His passion I am empowered to be fully alive and can live as a conductor of massive amounts of the current of passion that flows to and from the heart of the Father throughout the full circuit of all the universe.
So I think it is safe to say that those who will be safe to save are the ones who have released their resistance to the truth about God's goodness, grace and passionate love. For when the full measure of God's passion is revealed to all the universe on the final day of revelation called the day of Judgment, only those – humans and angels alike – who have accepted and freely chosen to embrace the real truth about God's fairness, kindness and perfect motives will be safe to be exposed to that awesome power of passionate love. Being safe to save means being free of all resistance to the current of selfless love and choosing to live life in sync with the spirit of service and other-centeredness that is the hallmark of heaven's pure atmosphere.
Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35)
Looking unto Jesus we see that it is the glory of our God to give. "I do nothing of Myself," said Christ; "the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father." "I seek not Mine own glory," but the glory of Him that sent Me. John 8:28; 6:57; 8:50; 7:18. In these words is set forth the great principle which is the law of life for the universe. All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life. {DA 21}
If you understand anything about the way electricity works and the requirements for its distribution, you will know that the closer you get to the source of current the larger the capacity of the conductors is required. I believe that this correlates closely with the circuit that defines the universe. A spirit of selfless service, of passing on all credit and glory is the purity and capacity needed for being a larger conductor.
Jesus declared that John the Baptist was the greatest in the kingdom. I think this was partly because he was safe enough for enormous amounts of God's passion to flow through him without being embezzled for his self-interest. His life attitude that he expressed in the words “He must increase, but I must decrease” is the needed qualification for one who is closer to the throne which is the source of all passion, the current that powers the universe. That is getting very close to what Lucifer's job was originally.
The more selfishness and self-focus we have the smaller the wire we can be in God's circuits. It is too dangerous for very much current to flow through us because we will quickly overheat and be consumed.
God is working patiently to increase the size of our wires. But He can only increase our capacity according to the willingness and humility with which we are willing to open up and accept His spirit of selfless love and service. We must be cleansed of all resistance to love and selfishness which are fatal elements in the high voltage world of the electricity of heaven.
To convey the passion of God safely requires a higher level of selflessness that what we are used to. We must be transformed by that passion to be in sync with its motives which are pure, out-flowing love and self-sacrifice. But to resist the current of love is to endanger ones very existence by default.
The counterfeit form of passion is selfish and craves attention and recognition for self. Misdirected, selfish passion lives to exploit others for one's own pleasure and benefit at a cost to them. It is more interested in what I can get from others than what I can do to benefit others.
God's passion is always oriented to bless and uplift and impart life to others at any cost to one's self.
Another question came up in my mind relative to this. How does doubt, questions or unbelief fit into this picture?
As I pondered this I came to sense that there is a distinct difference between questions spawned by willful unbelief and questions arising out of a sincere discomfort with what is known. The first is the product of a self-centered heart that is becoming more and more skeptical, a heart of unbelief that resists evidence of the truth about God. The key active ingredient here is resistance, and resistance is the element that hardens the heart against the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit.
The second kind of questioning is the product of a heart that has integrity and is willing to honestly consider evidence that disagrees with one's own feelings or assumptions. This is a mind that is not so self-focused that it only looks for the negative in everything or is looking to defend its own opinions in spite of evidence to the contrary. This is the kind of skeptical but honest questioning that even some of the angels in heaven have about God's approach to dealing with sin.
God respects this kind of honest questioning with integrity and will never force anyone to change their opinions. He is confident that the questions that have arisen out of the minds that He created will be fully satisfied in the end when enough evidence is presented. And those answers will always end in the vindication of God's ways and God's righteous intentions.
What man is there who will not have fear before you, O Lord, and give glory to your name? because you only are holy; for all the nations will come and give worship before you; for your righteousness has been made clear. (Revelation 15:4 BBE)
