Passing Desires
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.“
~Matthew 7:7-8 NLT
The most fatal thing in the Christian life is to be content with passing desires.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones
I love reading Martyn Lloyd Jones and his exposition of Matthew 7:7-11 is excellent. What did he mean by “passing desires”? We are talking about a desire the flashes across our mind. It could be a temporary desire. Example: the pastor preaches on sharing our faith and we get convicted. For example, you hear a sermon on prayer and you think, “I really should pray more,” but you do not do anything about it. It is just a notion, a passing desire and in a few days, you forget all about it. You attend a COLS and the passing of your friend has made you think seriously about your stewardship of time and money. You are convicted at the moment but you don’t act on it and in a few days it is a passing desire.
Martyn Lloyd Jones understood the difference between a passing desire and a passionate determination. A passing desire says “I ought to change.” A passionate determination says, “By the grace of God, I will change.” There is a tremendous difference between the two. Many people desire holiness in the moment. Far fewer pursue holiness when pursuing it requires sacrifice, discipline, repentance, or giving something up.
It reminds me of Herod in Mark 6:20. Herod heard John the Baptist gladly and was perplexed by him. There was apparently something in Herod that was attracted to John’s preaching. But his desires never became strong enough to overcome his addiction to pleasure. Felix in Acts 24:25 is another example. Paul’s preaching affected him deeply, but Felix essentially said: “Go away for now; when I find time I will summon you.” Conviction came. Conviction passed. Nothing changed. James draws us a vivid picture in chapter one of his epistle, it is like a man who glances at himself in a mirror and then walks away, forgetting the kind of person he is. It is one thing for TRUTH to move us, it is another to be changed by that TRUTH.
Conviction is not repentance. Admiration is not obedience and desire is not discipleship. It takes a passionate determination and the grace of God to change. We must be willing to surrender. A part from total surrender, no progress is going to be made. Jesus said, “Count the cost!” He said this because it is the truth. No pain, no gain. The happiest people in the world are those who have surrendered their will to His.
- GOD’S WORD FOR ALL PEOPLE this Sunday September 13th. I am challenging every member to give $35 to translate a scripture verse so that people who have never had a bible in there language will have one. Our goal is to do the book of JAMES, 108 verses.
- Slidder and Hotdog supper Wednesday night September 16. We will cook on the South porch and eat in the fellowship hall. Too hot to use the pavilion. We will finish the book of James tonight LORD willing.
- Monday October 26…we are hosting the MORGAN BAPTIST ANNUAL MEETING and feeding about 60 people, not including the 49ers. I am asking the 49er for help on preparing the meal. We will get the KFC, drinks and rolls but we need your help with the other things. Instead of having the 49er meal on Oct. 23, we are asking the 49ers to help us with the meal on Monday October 26. You do not have to attend the meeting just bring your food at lunch time and stay for lunch. It will work if we have a servant’s heart!
- October 28 is our Bill Smith Jambalaya Supper and our November Wednesday night meal falls on Veterans Day and we are having a stew and Joe is going to have us a video of our veterans at the round table. After the Stew in November, there will be no more Wednesday night suppers until Spring.
Have a great Wednesday and thanks for reading the blog!!!!
