This will be a fun and busy week for you and your family! Have a safe, blessed and wonderfully fun trip! The word for this week is "zeal". We find it in John 2:17:
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. KJV
This is the Greek word "zelos". Strong's Concordance says: heat, i.e. ardor (in a favorable sense) and jealousy (in an unfavorable sense). Thayer's Greek Lexicon adds: excitement of mind; fervor of spirit; ardor in embracing, pursuing, defending anything. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament also adds this: the capacity or state of passionate commitment. The Amplified Bible says this for John 2:17:
17 And His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Holy Scriptures], Zeal (the fervor of love) for Your house will eat Me up. [I will be consumed with jealousy for the honor of Your house.] AMP
Another verse containing "zeal" is Romans 10:2:
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. KJV
Paul was speaking of Israel here. They were very passionate for their God, but they had no knowledge of Who He REALLY was/is! Nothing of the knowledge of the Word of God will just "magically" appear in us. We MUST make a conscious decision to seek out what we need to know. We have to make this same commitment that Paul made in Philippians 3:10:
10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], AMP
When we combine this burning "zeal" for the things of God with the knowledge of Who He is, and who WE are, in Him, there will be no stopping what we can accomplish of what He has called and equipped us to do! Here is an older song that we used to sing called "The Zeal of God":
Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
