From Passion to Transformation

<fueled by the message at Crossover, 14 October 2010 by Bishop Oriel Ballano. Dear all, as we read this note, I do pray that the Lord will speak to us, open our eyes and illumine our mind to the truth these words hold. In Jesus' Name.>

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (James 2: 18-20)
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (v. 26)

I have encountered couple of believers who argued as to what this verses mean. Some say Faith + Work = Salvation. Others Faith alone saves, and still others it's all in our Work. Paul is clear when he wrote to the Ephesians that salvation is of Grace, it is not of our own work lest none of us should boast. It's an unmerited favor to which we should be grateful - we don't deserve it but the Father so lavished His love for us that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to be the final atonement and redeem us once and for all.

In his book, James was speaking to the believers [including us, the new generation] about practically living our lives the way Christian should. A life of Faith that develops. He was straight-forward in dealing with the content of his letter, an instruction that we should not neglect. As it is, plenty of people claim to have faith, to have known God and know what Christ did at the cross. But how about a relationship with Him?

It is an exciting and exhilarating experience to know God. However, after knowing how God loves us, how He so lavished His unconditional love and prepared an abundant blessing and a great future for us, what comes next? I've heard this line that says, "It takes a pulse to fall in love, but it takes a plan to stay in love." I dare replace the "Pulse" with "EMOTION" and the "Plan" with "CONVICTION". To say it, "It takes an Emotion to Fall in Love, but it takes a Conviction to Stay in Love." Just the same with our relationship with Christ, we are at first so emotionally drawn to the fellowship, to the people, to the church, but if we haven't gone to be convicted, the word will not penetrate and will lose its power to change us. (See Parable of the Sower, Matt. 13:1-23)

If there is one person in the Bible who is remarkable in dealing with the passion he had for Jesus Christ, it's none other than Zacchaeus. (Luke 19:1-9) A person of short stature, of influence for his wealth, despised by his fellow men for being a tax collector, and most of all an empty soul yearning to know Jesus Christ. But just like Zacchaeus, we will experience hindrances that will test our commitment to Christ.

1. His Stature (v.3) He was short. We don't need to elaborate on this. Petite sounds better though but no matter how descriptive you'll be about him, there's remain a problem of his physical structure. This problem speaks of a physical hindrance. Something within us which we've become accustomed to use as excuse. But the truth is, we are just making excuses and so it deters us to know Christ more intimate. The greatest hindrance to our walk in Christ is ourselves. Along the way, we will find plenty of things to excuse from the fellowship, meeting with fellow Christians on Sundays, Cellgourps or others: it could be for not feeling well (after a night full of chatting and working and going out, unless we really are sick!), personal things to do, feeling worthless, self-pity or even sin that caught us over the week! The number can be inexhaustible. Zacchaeus had all the reason to say, "Well, am just short and I can't see him in any way. People are taller than I am." But he never did.

2. The Crowd (v.3) They are blocking him! Imagine you're caught in a traffic of people while waiting for the train (LRT/MRT) to arrive say you're in the mid station. Not only that the platform is crowded, but also the train when it arrives! Seemed like no one embarks from the train yet still another bunch of people are coming over! You won't only get irritated with the train, but also with the people pushing, stepping on your foot and all! The crowd symbolizes the external hindrances in our lives. It's a constant thing. we're living in a world where everybody or everything can be too difficult for us. That is why Jesus reminds us to "take heart! I have overcome the world!" This crowd can be our finances that disables us to step out in faith for fear of lack; our parents, relatives and friends who keep on distracting and restricting us; our work that can be very taxing and eating up all our time for God; and just the same, the list can go beyond. Zacchaeus was in it. He had the chance to excuse himself and say, "I still got collections to do, remittance to the Roman empire and all these corporate stuffs." And again, he never did.

Zacchaeus got into all these two hindrances, but he never excused himself. Instead, he transformed his PASSION to know Christ into strategic ACTION. Potential can be very useless unless it becomes a Kinetic Energy. So what he did was, he RAN ahead, and CLIMB! Knowing Christ entails our effort because God will not reveal Himself through just dreaming! We have to make a move. We have to court Him! We have to know His very intentions, what breaks Him, what He ever wanted for us.

However, after overcoming these two great hindrances, still another stood to shake him:

3. The Antagonists (v.7). People were mumbling, "He [Jesus] has gone to be the guest of a sinner." Not only did Zacchaeus suffered the disadvantage of being not blessed with a growth hormones and the crowd, he experienced the people's judgmental look! Dear friends, walking with Christ is not a bed of roses and so is walking without Him. But let's ask ourselves, which extremes do we prefer, a life of thorns with Christ or a life of thorns without Him? A life of Joy in Christ or a flickering happiness with the world?

People will be mocking us, test us and all the more. But it's comforting to know that what Christ suffered at the cross and while on the way through from His birth down to His Death and even until now far outweighs what we are about to experience in this world. Jesus said, "Whoever receives you [us] receives Me and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent me [Father]." On the other hand, "Whoever mocks you, rejects you, ridicules you, and persecutes you do the same to Me and the One who sent Me [Father]."

Take a good CHEER! We are NEVER in the Losing End!