Confessions of a Giddy Sea Worlder...

Sea World, Disneyland, Magic Mountain. You say just the name and I instantly turn into a giddy and excited gal. While at Sea World I'm like a five year old in a Disneyland candy shop on Christmas with purple socks on! The Shamu show, "Believe" still makes me smile for no apparent reason. And every time I see it, it only re-awakens my desire to be part of it one day. Shamu is my passion. Music is my passion. Laughing is my passion. What if God was my passion?

I don't know if it's just the Bako heat, but lately I've been feeling that the fire is smoldering, It's still there, not extinguished, but not blazing. There is still the desire to know God more intimately, but I have become content with not seeking. So, how do we get past this?

Well, on those days I remember the Passion of the Christ. And I'm not referring to the movie. Christ has a burning desire to know us and for us to know Him. He wants to bless us. He wants to reveal his character to us. In fact, he loves us so much that he went to the cross. He intercedes for us to the Father. (Romans 8:34) He took on our burden of sin. That's a heck of a lot of shame. In fact, it was so much that the Father turned his back on His own son because He could not stand to be in the presence of sin. I cannot comprehend that kind of passion or love for us. But is was all to His glory. Phil.2:9-11 "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The disciples understood the meaning of the cross. When Christ revealed to them that that was His fate, they were shocked and horrified. If we fully took into account what the cross means, we would gasp too. And if we fully realized the slightest glimpse of the true cost, we would not be able to stand. In fact, we would live the most passionate lives, fully surrendered, because we can't even imagine giving Him anything less. And it would never be enough. "All I can offer is this fragile breath." Psalm 63:1 "A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

But getting back to the smoldering fire. Fire burns, but it also purifies. It cleanses, it consumes, it comforts, it gives light. It stands out amongst the darkness. But it can only do these things when its blazing. I want to be on fire. I want to be consumed, by love. "Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me."-Jim Elliot. I think, my friends, that the fire has been stoked.

Over the years I have come across many definitions of passions, but one I remember distinctly. I was watching an episode of "My Antonio" with my roommate (for those of you who don't know it was pretty much the bachelor, but with a soap star). But anyway, one of the girls asked "What do you think of when you hear the word passion?" And his answer was entirely different than what I expected. I expected the typical worldly man answer-sex. But instead he floored me when He said, "To be so lost in love, that you can't imagine yourself without them." And while, yes, it is somewhat cheesy-especially coming from a reality show- I thought he had something there. Because think about it, that is what defines a passion for God. A fervent love for Him because you have no idea where you'd be without Him. Hmm, not bad soap star. Not bad at all.

"At the cross You beckoned me. Draw me gently, to my knees and I am lost for words. So lost in love..."