Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Having a passionate heart for God does not come by accident. You can't just choose to have a passionate heart for God because it is a result of taking several actions. Many have tried to be passionate for God and failed because they think it is a possession that one holds instead of a result of doing right. Every believer should desire to have a passionate heart for God, but most believers don't have that heart because they don't take the steps it takes to develop a passionate heart. The verses above show several steps it takes to develop a passionate heart for God that I want to share with you.
The first step is having a fear of the LORD. The fear of the LORD is having a respect for what God’s power can do to you if you abuse it, but it is also having a respect for what His power can do for you if you use it properly. If you have no fear of God, you will not have a passionate heart for God. Having a fear of the LORD is critical because it is the first step of many that leads to a passionate heart for God.
The second step is to walk with God. The fear of the LORD creates a walk with Him. The more you walk with God, the more you will respect His power. There is no way to develop a passionate heart for God if you don't walk with Him daily in His Word and in prayer. You only develop a passionate heart for whatever or whoever you walk with, which means you must walk with God to have a passionate heart for God.
The third step is to love God. A love for God is created by walking with Him. Your love for God will always wane if you never walk with Him in His Word and prayer. The only reason someone doesn't love God as they should is because they don't walk with Him. You cannot walk with God without developing a great love for God.
The fourth step is to serve God. When you fear God, that causes you to walk with God, and when you walk with God it develops a great love for God, and a love for God creates a great desire to serve Him. You will always want to serve the one that you love; therefore, the only reason you don't serve God is because you don't love Him as you should. When you develop a love for God, that love will create a great desire in you to serve Him.
The fifth step is having a passion for God. Serving God creates a great passion within you to do more for God. A passion for God is not developed by sitting but by serving God. The more you serve God, the greater a passion you will have for Him. The reason some don't understand your passion for God is because they are not serving God as you serve Him. Your passion for God is determined by the degree you serve Him; little passion means little service, but much passion comes from serving God much.
The sixth step is a passion for truth. The more passionate you are for God, the more passionate you will be for His truth being preserved. Your passion for truth and keeping it pure shows your passion for God because God is truth. You will love truth dearly when you have a great passion for God.
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