On Fire and Full of Passion
By Mark Vaughn
()
About this ebook
Forty-five days.
Forty-five challenges.
On Fire and Full of Passion is a forty-five day devotional book that is designed to help inspire people to become more passionate and courageous Christians who will boldly go forth and share the Gospel of Christ with the people of this world. It is meant to get peoples faith in God past the point of speaking mere words and to the point of taking action. Its purpose is to help people become completely in love with God and surrender everything they have to him.
Each daily devotional has an application for the day as well as a unique challenge, verse, passage, and takeawayall specifically designed to help people become more accountable to one another and more intimate with God; to help them become on fire and full of passion.
Mark Vaughn
Mark Vaughn is a Software Application Developer from Columbia, Missouri who has a real passion to see the whole body of Christ set on-fire for God. He enjoys biking on the Katy Trail, spending time with friends, and serving as a volunteer at his church.
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On Fire and Full of Passion - Mark Vaughn
Copyright © 2013 Mark Vaughn.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV
and New International Version
are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.
WestBow Press
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3930-1 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-3932-5 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-3931-8 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014909875
WestBow Press rev. date: 07/15/2014
Contents
Introduction
The Journey
1. God’s Grace
2. A New Beginning
3. Walking in Boldness
4. Growing your Faith
5. Living like Jesus
6. Fanning into Flame
7. The Great Commission
The Continued Journey
1. The Holy Spirit
2. Reading Plans
3. Scriptures to Memorize
Appendices
1. Passages Cited
2. Verses Cited
To those who are willing to take up their cross
and follow Jesus with an on-fire and passionate heart.
Introduction
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15–17 (NIV)
The words of Jesus as well as the Apostle John are very clear when they talk about how we as Christians are supposed to live our lives. When I read passages like the one above, I cannot help but feel challenged to live a better life. I want to be so compelled by my love for Christ that I dare to move beyond the point of simply thinking about doing right things and actually start taking the physical steps to do them. I do not think we as believers can afford to stay seated in the spiritually complacent dugouts we have cozied ourselves into any longer. We have to get out and start playing in this very important game. It is time we became on-fire and passionate Christians who are completely in love with Jesus and willing to follow him to whatever end.
Nowadays, especially in wealthy cultures, it is very easy to become complacent in our walks with Christ. However, it is still possible to live a genuine life for Christ, but it will (not may) require you to become completely abandoned and left helpless at the mercy of God. This idea may scare you at first, but hopefully as you read this book and continue pursuing a more intimate relationship with Christ, it will become something your heart deeply yearns for.
I have written this book to help draw believers to the point of complete dependence on Christ by presenting them with daily challenges to perform and daily scriptures to read. Some of these challenges are really going to stretch you spiritually, but I can tell you that the reward will be far greater than you could ever imagine. It may be rough at first, but once you get moving and see your progress, I guarantee you will not want to go back to your old way of life.
There are 45 challenges in this book that are uniquely designed to test, stretch, and strengthen you. Their aim is to help move you towards a more intimate relationship with God, and my prayer is that they will do just that. However, I must clarify that it is not the challenges themselves that cause the change in you. It is you realizing what God means to you and running after him.
So, in order to have this more intimate relationship with God, you have to be willing to lay your old way of life down and never expect to get it back. This may be harsh, but it is what is required of those who want to follow Christ. God does not want halfhearted people to do his work. He wants people who are completely sold out for him and willing to give him their all for the sake of the gospel. It seems unobtainable. So what do we do? We get down on our knees and soak in the great and marvelous grace of God and ask him to help us along on our journey. We cannot become more intimate with Christ without him.
Do you think you have what it takes to pursue God with all of your heart? Do you have the guts to take up your cross and follow God’s lead? Can you submit yourself to him?
I believe so. I believe that every one of us can surrender to him somewhere deep within ourselves, and my prayer is that all of us would be able to find this desire within ourselves.
Now, because following after Christ demands your complete surrender to him, I strongly encourage you to find a friend to journey with you (preferably sooner than later). Over the course of my life, I have found that journeying with a friend makes the road much easier to travel, and it also keeps you more accountable.
Do you have a friend in mind? Good. Now, before you begin your first challenge, I want you to pray this simple prayer:
God, I submit to you. I surrender my flesh and all that I am. May my life be used for your glory. May I become nothing and may you become my everything. Fill me with a burning desire for more of you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, and ignite deep down in my soul a fiery passion for you that will not cease. Amen.
My suggestion for completing the challenges in this book is to do them one at a time, one day at a time. If you feel like you can do more than one in a day, that is great, but I strongly encourage you to keep it to one a day. The point is not to complete all of the challenges as quickly as possible; the point is the journey, with the ultimate goal of becoming more intimate with Christ.
So, find that accountability partner, and let’s get started on this amazing journey!
The Journey
God’s Grace
Before we begin the challenges, it is important that we talk about the grace of God. Grace is one of the most powerful blessings that God has given his people. It helps to purify the blackest of hearts, and it covers over multitudes and multitudes of sin. Without grace no one would stand a chance of becoming united with Christ.