Zeal: Tapping into the Father's Heart

Over the past couple of weeks I have heard two sermons from men I respect very greatly expressing the danger of zeal.  Though my respect still stands with both of these men, I must respectfully disagree with their words.  I do not undermine the fact that one can be zealous for the wrong things, but the last thing we need to be doing in the American church at present is to discourage zeal.  It is zeal that is threatening to see revival such as we have never seen.  I am confident that zeal is the make-up of revival.  Therefore, since revival is fundamentally when Christianity actually starts looking like Christianity, zeal is the make-up of Christianity.  I believe zeal is a necessary key in unlocking God’s favor, it is a crucial ingredient to stepping into one’s destiny, and it is absolutely one-hundred percent necessary to be a zealot if one would carry the image of God in the world!

Defining Zeal

The word zeal means to have eager enthusiasm.  Perhaps better it means to be: fervent, impassioned, eager, impatient, fierce, intense.  A zealot is an excessively zealous person, a fanatic!  Religion tells us that we shouldn’t be getting as excited for Jesus as football fans get for their teams.  Thus, we Christians allow football to be the most zealous religion in America.  Thousands upon thousands of screaming fans pile into football stadiums across the country on a weekly basis to fight for their cause.  Currently, the Euro Cup is happening in Europe with sixteen soccer teams from across Europe vying to be crowned the best “football”-country in Europe.  You better believe there are fanatics over there.  In fact they are called hooligans, and they do horrible things in the names of their teams.  However, they have a zeal that is after God’s own heart, even if it isn’t for God’s own heart.  The problem with religion is that God isn’t interested in it.  We have a passionate God, and when his bride fails to be passionate about them, we show all the passionate people in the world that the God of the Universe isn’t for them.  Let us ask these questions of ourselves:  Am I fervent in my pursuit of the Kingdom of God, Am I impassioned and eager to see his will be done on earth, Am I impatient for Heaven to invade earth, Am I fierce and intense in my pursuit of intimacy with my God, am I fanatic?  There was a pretty popular book written recently called, “Not a Fan,”  which decried religious practices of going to church and then going back to normal, worldly life.  I agree with what the author of this book is saying, and it is my life-pursuit to battle the religious monster we have offensively called Christianity, but I would point out that fan is short for fanatic.  I want to see the church get fanatical!  We have a God that is more than worth being that crazy over.  In fact I encourage people to take the titles Satan has twisted for bad, and get that way for God.  For example, I want to be addicted to God, obsessed with God, fanatical about God, possessed with God.  Strong language for a strong God!

Biblical Centrality

Let me spend some time just laying out why zeal is Biblical, and central to God’s plan for his people.  First of all, I will make my case a little more strongly against teaching that would discourage zeal.  If one is going to be a Christian teacher, a pretty good role-model to have would be Paul, and Paul makes this answer very clear for us.  The book of Galatians is written to set straight a church that has drifted from the grace of Jesus to the law of Judaism.  It is a gentile church that has been invaded by Jewish “Christians,” (people Paul calls false brethren Gal. 2:5).  The Jews are trying to force Jewish law and tradition onto these people saved by grace, that they will adopt circumcision and other customs so as to earn their salvation by works of the law.  Paul writes about this situation in 4:17-18, “They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.  But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.”  Paul certainly warns them of the false zeal of legalism.  What is the problem with that zeal?  It would make the Galatians zealous for their teachers.  Notice what Paul gives as the antidote for this false zeal:  Be zealous for good things!  It is always a good thing to have zeal for good things.  The antidote for misplace zeal is not caution, it is more zeal for God.  I love what Paul says here because it shows how fully he trusts the Holy Spirit.  Paul makes it clear that he wants the Galatians to be zealous, “AND NOT ONLY WHEN I AM PRESENT WITH YOU!”  The main reason the modern church discourages zeal is because we do not trust the workings of the Holy Spirit.  Pastors don’t want people to be “overzealous” because they believe they will go astray.  Thus, they try to control peoples zeal by means of pastoral baby-sitting.  I am not arguing against submission to leadership, but I am arguing against leadership that would Lord it over those who have been entrusted to them, rather than set a good example for the flock! (See 1 Peter 5)  Paul so trusts God that he does not feel a need to hold the Galatians’ hand as they zealously pursue the Lord.  Remember that this is a people who Paul is chastising for their horribly misplaced zeal, and still Paul has faith enough to encourage them to zeal.  Basically, Paul is saying, my zeal is taking me to other places right now, but you can’t wait to be zealous until I can get to you.  The Lord has kept my path straight as I’ve run zealously, so follow my example and chase good things!

OK, that was the first of my zeal clincher texts.  Here’s the next: “ . . . Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself his own special people, zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14)  Part of the very motivation for Jesus’ sacrifice was that he might gain a zealous people.  That explains why he is so disgusted with the Laodicean church as he addresses them through John in the book of Revelation.  The Laodiceans are lukewarm and Jesus threatens to spit them out of his mouth for their lukewarmness.  He then instructs them to, “be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:19)  We find ourselves in an American church that if it is nothing else is lukewarm, and caution is not an option if we are to taste the fruits of revival.  Jesus gives us a command as clear as any, BE ZEALOUS!  The text from Titus refers to God’s special people that he is bringing to himself.  The only other place I know of that uses that language is in 1 Peter 2 where we are described as, “A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his special people, that we may proclaim the praises of Him who brought us out of darkness and into his marvelous light!”  We must understand where zeal is going to come from.  Zeal cannot be mustered up, it must come from an overflow.  I challenge you to try and make yourself falsely excited about something.  It’s nearly impossible.  Thus zeal for God cannot coexist with religion.  In fact, zeal is the opposite of religion.  Zeal is the response of the human soul who has heard God’s glorious claim on his life.  If you don’t feel zealous than ask God to give you zeal for His presence that you might soak up an increase of zeal for good works.  The early church understood the purity of zeal, and so they used zeal as a barometer to determine a person’s qualifications to minister.  Paul promises to send a brother to the Corinthians and he states only that he has proved to be zealous in many ways.  So, zeal is central, and so Paul commands the Romans, “Never be lacking  in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” 

Bearing God’s Image – A Zealot

There is no denying the fact that one of the chief adjectives used to describe God is zealous.  It takes not only a merciful, but a zealous God to save Noah and his family when they are the only righteous people left on earth.  The zeal of the Lord is awesome and mighty always, but it can either be dreadfully frightening or wonderfully bolstering!  The Lord is, “Clad with zeal as a cloak.” (Isaiah 59:17)  “He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.” (Isaiah 42:13)  Our God is in a war, and he is the victor, “he shall prevail against His enemies”.(Isaiah 42:13)  God almighty cannot lose, but it does not mean he need not fight.  He has fought for our redemption and His zeal has driven him there.  God has several things that he is zealous for, several things that move him to strap on his battle armor, and to come with power.  In Ezekiel, God promises to be zealous for His holy name. (Ezekiel 39:25)  He is zealous for Zion, for Jerusalem, for his people, his land and his house. (Is. 26:11,63:15; Zech. 1:14, 8:2; Joel 2:18)  In other words God is zealous for His Kingdom.  When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your kingdom come,” he is teaching us to pray right into the zealous heart of the Father.  When we pray that prayer we match our heart with the heart of God.  His zeal will begin to flow through our veins.  I get zealous when I read the different names of this kingdom from Hebrews 12, “You have come to Mount Zion, the City of the Living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven, to God the judge of all men, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkling of the blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)   That is something I can get zealous about!

That really is the key of Christianity: letting the Spirit of the Living God fill you with the zeal of the Lord that you might indeed be the answer to, “Let your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  The best synopsis of God’s zeal is given to us in Isaiah 9:6-7, which reads, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.  And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”  That is the zeal of the Almighty God, and we must remember that it will be done.  God does not lose.  However, his grace is so magnificent that he has invited us to be apart of the increase of his government, peace, and kingdom.  The zeal of the Lord sent us Jesus, and in Jesus we are given the synopsis for what our zeal should in fact be.  Jesus cleanses the temple, because zeal for God’s house has consumed Him, or eaten Him up. (John 2:17)  But before he cleanses it from zeal, he uses it as his stage to declare the purpose of his life, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”  That is the zeal and mission of our Lord Jesus, and then he says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. (John 20:21)  Zeal for the things of God does not always look popular, it drove Jesus to tirade through the temple.  It is our call though, and if we allow Satan’s complacent scheme of religiosity to take hold of our hearts, we will fail to fulfill God’s zealous plans.

Wise Guidance for Zeal

So often in our Christian culture wisdom is misunderstood to be the same thing as caution.  I want to make very clear that this is the farthest thing from the truth.  Caution is against the will of God.  It is discernment that is God’s plan.  Discernment always comes from the mouth of our Father, and thus necessitates intimacy.  Discernment is the gift that allows us to do absolutely foolish things in the eyes of the world, because we have the ultimate insider!  Caution is the demonic mimic of discernment that breeds fear in the Children of God.  Caution I resist, discernment I seek as the source of all wisdom.

Because so many Christian leaders operate out of a spirit of caution and fear, most zealous followers of God are crippled by their “wise” overseers.  God is not into seeing his warriors neutered, and I do not use that word just for men.  Both the daughters and sons of God have been cautioned out of the fullness of what God would have for them.  Thus, it is my heart in seeking God’s zealous heart to establish in myself a teaching on zeal that would bring wisdom, but not suffocate the life-breath of the Holy Spirit.  Let us see what we can unravel.  Before I discuss some rules for the zealous lifestyle, I believe it central to remember that zeal is an attribute of God that we carry in ourselves.  Thus, if we have our zeal focused on what God is zealous for, Himself and His Kingdom, than we will do well.  Satan has two weapons against the zealous – pacify or misdirect.  Do not be pacified, but remember it is a narrow road we walk, and his name is Jesus.  When we stray from that way, our zeal becomes counterproductive to the work of God. 

Be not zealous for selfish gain-

Though this is kind of a “duh” statement, it is a tough thing to walk.  “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Remember that God does not give grace to the falsely humble, but if you are truly living zealously you should see any false humility in yourself go out the window.  Very often, false humility is the lukewarm believer’s excuse for remaining lukewarm.  We must remember our identity, as mighty, spirit-filled, holy sons and daughters of the most high king, and from that point work for our Father’s glory, not our own.  Brie recently did a study on the word ambassador, and discovered that ambassador means, “an agent of the highest rank.”  Thus when God says we are his ambassadors, it is quite an honor, though not quite the honor as our title as his children.  It is that title of Sonship that separates Jesus and us from the angels.  It may seem here that I am not talking much about selfishness, and the reason for that is simply that the more one talks about how selfish they are, the more they tend to focus on themselves.  The key to having self-less zeal is to get so filled up with what the Father has said about you, that you wouldn’t think about glorifying yourself over him!  We live not for riches, for titles, for earthly power.  We live to glorify God, which might mean we need riches, titles, and particularly supernatural power.  These things aren’t bad, unless you aren’t crazy enamored with your daddy!  Paul encourages the Corinthians zeal for spiritual gifts, and says, “Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”  Here is the step of instruction from Paul:  Step 1 – Get zealous for spiritual gifts (you can fill in the blank), Step 2 – Check your heart to make sure it is edifying the Body of Christ and glorifying the Head of that Body!

Be not Self-righteously Zealous

Paul warns the Romans saying, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:1-3)   I bear witness myself to many Christians that they do indeed have zeal, but often times that zeal lies outside the grace of God.  Often times there is a great zeal, particularly in the hearts of American evangelicals, for discipline, and acts of betterment.  Though these things are not bad in and of themselves, oftentimes the heart driving such acts comes from within bondage rather than liberty.   Very often spiritual disciplines are encouraged because Jesus did them, this is often a false notion.  Jesus’ interaction with the Father was never out of discipline, it sprang from desire birthed in intimacy.  The idea of discipline is one of slavery, and though being a slave of God is admirable, it is not God’s ideal.  I myself have been graced with the revelation of my own Sonship over the past years, and now see the zeal I have always had producing fruit far beyond anything my discipline ever accomplished.  However, I do believe that I was such a zealous slave that I found favor with God to be invited into the house.  To avoid self-righteousness we must get the revelation of the Prodigal Son.  The son understood that the Father loved him enough to bring him back home, but he figured he would have to work as a slave to earn it.  That is sadly much of the churches practical understanding of grace, and it leads very often to camping under the cross to pay tribute to the bloody Christ and his sacrifice but never accepting the grace to step into the fullness of the life he has purchased for us. 

Be not zealous for Flashy Leaders

We all love powerful leaders, and moving speakers, and there is nothing wrong with those gifts.  They come from an anointing of the Father.  However, Satan has crippled much growth of the church by letting movements arise that are built solely upon the sturdy back of a gifted man.  The problem with this is the same problem the Jews had with the priesthood.  Men die, and whatever they are holding by necessity must fall.  Often times the weight of what great men of faith have been carrying crushes their fan club rather than being carried successfully by the next generation.  Thus the short lifespan of so many revivals.  There is a beautiful exchange between Moses and his eventual successor Joshua that gives us great insight into this issue.  The background of the story is that the Holy Spirit has fallen onto several Israelite leaders and two men, Eldad and Medad have been prophesying in the camp.  Joshua, under a spirit of caution, tells Moses to forbid them from doing so, to which Moses replies, “Are you zealous for my sake?  Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”(Numbers 11:29)  What beautiful wisdom, and purity of heart from our great father Moses.  Joshua, we see, was offended for Moses’ sake.  Moses was the leader, he was the prophet, who were these fools to try to step into his domain.  But Moses does not have a heart to see his own success alone, he yearns and has zeal for the people of God to live into their fullness. We see this heart bear fruit as Moses, over the years to come builds Joshua to be the leader that will do what he could not, lead the Israelites across the Jordan.  This is a lesson for both great leaders, and the masses!  As Paul makes abundantly clear to the Corinthians, Christ is the only foundation, and the only head of the body.  As the head though, he needs a body, and he is not content with a few strong members, and the rest a bunch of limp-wristed pansies.  Jesus set a precedent for the church when he told his disciples, “you will do greater things than I.”  The reality is that we are not even to put Jesus on a pedestal.  Jesus is our Lord, but his life was simply the forerunner for the redemption of humanity.  He opened the doors for humanity to regain their destiny, and he expected those who would make up his body to do greater things than he, ALL OF THEM!  So, let’s get Jesus off a pedestal, get our church-leaders off a pedestal, and see a generation get zealous for the Kingdom to come through their individual selves with power!

Be not zealous outside of your godly identity

King David and the Israelites saw three years of famine during his reign and God revealed to David that it was due to the former King Saul’s slaughter of a people called the Gibeonites.  The text reads, “Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.”  Notice that Saul was zealous for the same thing God was.  He was pumped up to see Israel and Judah succeed.  Unfortunately, he did not understand God’s heart for doing so.  Thus, he broke a promise that Israel had made, and slaughtered a whole people that he was supposed to be in covenant with.  This same theme has repeated itself countless times throughout history: during the crusades Christians killed people to save their souls, in early colonial America Christians burned witches whom they should have been delivering from demonic control, in present times individuals with a zeal for God’s plan for sexuality and for holiness tell gay people that God hates them, when they should be ministering in the Spirit to set them free form their bondage to sin.  We must remember who we are.  We are ambassadors for God, and his agents for kingdom expansion in the world.  Remember Jesus said that the Kingdom was like leaven in dough, not like hostile take-over!  Just as God called Saul king, he too has called us royalty.  However, Saul forgot that he was a king in God’s kingdom, and began working outside of his kingdom authority, and outside of godly virtue and nobility.  Thus, the authority was eventually taken from him and given to a man with a heart after God’s.  The same thing can happen to us if we become zealous for work that God is not doing.  Ministry is so much easier, so much less effective, and so much less ministering when we act outside of the Spirit’s leading.  Jesus sent the counselor, the Holy Spirit to bring in his Kingdom.  He will only do it through us, but we must zealously co-labor with God, not zealously pursue what we think we would do if we were God.  Such ministry and wisdom is, “not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic!” That which is from above is, “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruit, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”  (Paraphrase from end of James 3)

Be not historically zealous

In the third chapter of John Jesus instructs Nicodemus about being born again, and in so doing describes the Spirit, and those filled with it as being like the wind.  They are unpredictable, and constantly shifting.  Unfortunately, zeal can often lead us into some uncomfortably, unpredictable circumstances, and all to often the zealous give way to fear, and become historically zealous.  I recently spoke with a man in his seventies who told me that he had been a part of five revivals during his lifetime.  I admire this, but what it shows to me is that he and those he was in revival with were unwilling to go someplace God wanted to take them.  Their zeal had a wall, and thus revival died, and this man is left looking back at the zeal he did have, and longing for it again.  If we put any cap on the Lord, we will eventually fall into historical zeal, which comes when a life is at present not living zealously, usually because they don’t want to go where more zeal would take them.  A beautiful example of this comes in the life of the Prophet Elijah.  Elijah was certainly a man zealous for God.  He boldly challenged hundreds of prophets of Baal to a fire-calling contest, and Elijah and his God not only won, but where the only one’s who left the playing field alive.  However, then this woman Jezebel turns up in Elijah’s life and he stops being zealous for God, starts getting zealous for safety and immediately drops into historical zeal.   His zeal for safety eventually leads him to a cave where God comes to find him and asks him what he is up to, more or less why he’s being a coward.  Elijah replies, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”  Do you see here what I mean by historical zeal.  Elijah is only in the reflective, patting himself on the back for his past labors, and whining about his present situation.  God’s response is to well up fresh zeal in Elijah.  He immediately sent him to anoint kings in Syria and Israel, and Elisha his replacement.  God also tells Elijah that He has reserved for himself seven-thousand who have not bowed to Baal. (See 1 Kings 19:10-14) There are a few things I want to point out from this.  First of all, god is always more zealous for Himself than we are.  Thus, he is always doing more than we think He is.  Elijah thought he was all alone, but he failed to realize God had been working.  Secondly, though I don’t want to bash Elijah too much (he is one of my great biblical heroes), we must recognize that as soon as Elijah’s zeal runs out and gives way to fear, he is sent to find his replacement.  We are only as good to God as we are willing to be zealous for where he will take us.  This is precisely why Elisha, Elijah’s replacement, may be my favorite Biblical brother.  He had a zeal that surpassed that of Elijah, which allowed him to inherit Elijah’s mantle, and build from Elijah’s ceiling, using it as his floor.  Unfortunately, when it came time for Elisha to die, no man could be found zealous enough to carry on with his work.  It is for this reason that we must not only pursue zeal, but inspire it!

Paul: a Case-study in Zeal

Though I could easily go on for pages tracking the heart of zeal in the faithful that have gone before us such as Peter the rock, Simon the ZEALOT, David the giant-slayer, I will hone my energies in on Paul, who previously was Saul.  Paul’s zeal began when he was Saul, and at the feet of the Pharisee Gamaliel.  He speaks in Acts to hostile Jews in Jerusalem saying, “I am indeed a Jew, born in tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.” (Acts 22:3)  Elsewhere, he writes the gentile believers in Galatia saying, “And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my Fathers.” (Galatians 1:14)  Paul is very clear to make it known that his zeal has been a life trait that has always set him apart.  Saul lived with a passion and fervor that made him rise above the rest of his brothers in the Jewish world.  I believe, he also had a zeal that caught the attention and indeed pleased his Father.  In continuing his letter to the Galatians, he writes, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.” (Galatians 1:15-17)  It’s easy to see Paul’s incredible zeal that not only drove him into ministry, whether as a Jew or as a Christ-follower, but actually was crucial in winning the favor of God upon his life!   It absolutely cannot be a coincidence that it was Paul and Peter that Jesus chose to be the leaders of his church after his ascension!  It’s hard to think of two more zealous men than these, and through the glimpses we get of Paul’s interaction with Peter it certainly appears that Paul’s zeal even surpassed that of the great Peter.  I am convinced that it was Paul’s zeal that allowed him to, “run with endurance the race set before him,” (Hebrews 12:2) and to “fight the good fight of faith.” (1 Timothy 6:12)  Paul tells the Philippians that his zeal as a Jew was so great that he was persecuting the church. (Philippians 3:6) However, whatever was to his profit as a Jew he counted loss that he might gain Christ, for whose sake he had lost all things! (See Philippians 3:7-8)  Paul had an encounter with Christ and went from persecutor to persecuted in a matter of days!  However, it was the same zeal that drove him in both endeavors, and I would go so far as to say that God smiled upon Saul even as he killed his future brother Stephen!  As CS Lewis has let us know, God is not a tamed lion, he is indeed wild and zealous, and beautifully, uniquely divine.  Lukewarm, boring, middle of the road kind of people do not have divine DNA, they fail to carry his image, and thus they fail to curry his favor!  Our Father God moved the heart of Stephen to ask for his killer’s forgiveness, of whom Saul was included, because he saw in that murderer: Paul- the Apostle, evangelist and suffer for the Gentiles.  The world probably saw a best of the class know-it all, but God saw the heart of a man who could be his ambassador to the world, who could carry the divine fingerprint!  It was his zeal that set him apart, just as it has been for all those God has used in mighty ways.  You don’t become mighty by being spineless or passionless!  We have a somewhat skewed understanding in the church that God always chooses the underdog, and lifts up the weak to great heights.  This just isn’t true.   Paul was certainly not an underdog.  He was one of the most powerful men in Jerusalem, but he had a zealous heart.  Peter was no more of an underdog than any other fisherman, but he was one who had a heart to drop his nets when Jesus said come.  David was not chosen because he was a weak, little shepherd boy; he was chosen because he was the only one with enough divine heart, with enough courage and zeal to stand up to Goliath and be the King of Israel!   There is a saying that says, “It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog,” and it is a godly truth.  God is not at all interested in appearances, he’s interested in heart-fight or zeal!  This does mean that looking good on the outside, knowing a lot of things, and speaking better than the president does not qualify you for anything in the kingdom of God.  But neither does it mean that just because you are down and out you are at the top of God’s draft list.  God would always choose a shih-tzu with the heart of a lion over a spineless Rottweiler, but a Rottweiler who would make a lion whimper, that is someone like Paul, that is the kind that wins favor with God, those are the ones destined for greatness!  Don’t bother building up the extras if you don’t have the heart of zeal, but if there’s a burning inside of you that you have quieted in any way, for the glory of God fan those flames and let them burn!  I believe zeal will be the defining quality of our generation, and of this next great move of God, and it will be a zeal that will leave a legacy of even greater zeal, a zeal that will indeed “hasten the day of God!” (2 Peter 2:12)