Wow!
Since I posted last, I have seen God work more powerfully than I ever have before. In just a little over a month, He has provided for all of my needs this coming year! He truly is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
Ironically, now that the real pressure is off and I'm somewhat secure for the next year, I am struggling to keep a proper perspective and view on life. It's like the old saying "there are no athiests in foxholes." When I was out of my comfort zone and relying on God day after day, it was relatively easy to maintain a relationship with Him through prayer and Scripture reading and meditation. I needed it! But now, even after witnessing such a display of God's power of provision, I often feel like I no longer need to be in a close relationship with Him.
This is made worse by my frequent self-focus. For various reasons, I have had a lot of time recently where I didn't have the mental juice or the energy to apply myself to study or planning, and so I just vegged and did whatever I felt like doing. Entertainment is fine in moderation, but when consumed in larger amounts it fuels a harmful self-focus: what can I do to have fun and relax in the short term? This has been my problem in the past week or two, and even though it feels good at the time, it has left me feeling unfulfilled and empty. We were designed by God to live in community, facing outward not inward, and we were designed for long-term happiness in His kingdom, at the cost of some short-term pleasures. Only when we are living in community with God and others, and when we are thinking, planning, learning, and living in light of that future glory will we be satisfied.
For me in the next few weeks, this probably means pulling back to none or almost no media usage, spending more time reading the Bible and other books that I have been meaning to read, and spending more time with my friends and family instead of entertaining myself. It will be difficult, but the results will be worth it!
Showing posts with label priorities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label priorities. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
American Music's Idol
I was listening to an eclectic music mix in the car today, and I guess I was in a philosophical frame of mind, because I suddenly found myself thinking about the focus and worldview of different types of music. It's a fascinating thing to think about while driving!
The focus of most modern music is ourselves or other people. Think about a typical love song. The lyrics usually talk about how amazing the main character's love interest is, and then transition to talking about how sad they are because they can't be together, something has negatively affected their relationship, etc. Other lyrics speak of how the main character "needs" his or her love interest, how they'll "only be happy when we're together," and so on. This kind of attitude and worldview tends to cause listeners to focus on other people for fulfillment and happiness in life. This does not make love songs evil. I believe that these kind of emotions and desires have been given to us by God, and that there are legitimate situations for these kinds of things. However, the fact that there are so many love songs and ballads being written every day is evidence that our culture has made relationships and "love" into an idol. We have set these things up as the ultimate fulfillment, instead of God. I enjoy listening to some of these types of songs, but if I listen to too many "lonely" or "unfulfilled" love songs I start to get lonely and think that maybe I need some kind of romantic relationship to make me truly happy. It's amazing how much music can affect your mind and worldview, even temporarily.
Writing songs that focus on people is not bad in and of itself. It only becomes a problem when we put people and relationships above God.
The focus of most modern music is ourselves or other people. Think about a typical love song. The lyrics usually talk about how amazing the main character's love interest is, and then transition to talking about how sad they are because they can't be together, something has negatively affected their relationship, etc. Other lyrics speak of how the main character "needs" his or her love interest, how they'll "only be happy when we're together," and so on. This kind of attitude and worldview tends to cause listeners to focus on other people for fulfillment and happiness in life. This does not make love songs evil. I believe that these kind of emotions and desires have been given to us by God, and that there are legitimate situations for these kinds of things. However, the fact that there are so many love songs and ballads being written every day is evidence that our culture has made relationships and "love" into an idol. We have set these things up as the ultimate fulfillment, instead of God. I enjoy listening to some of these types of songs, but if I listen to too many "lonely" or "unfulfilled" love songs I start to get lonely and think that maybe I need some kind of romantic relationship to make me truly happy. It's amazing how much music can affect your mind and worldview, even temporarily.
Writing songs that focus on people is not bad in and of itself. It only becomes a problem when we put people and relationships above God.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
My Number One
When God really wants to teach us something or remind us of something, He often uses many different experiences in our lives to emphasize it. This has definitely been the case for me during the past few weeks.
The pastor at our church has been preaching a short series through the Lord's Prayer, petition by petition. In his sermon on the first petition, "hallowed be thy name," he introduced a key point for the series: we try to fill God's place with other things that we hallow and praise, but whatever we praise will control us. Only when we put God first will He control our lives and make us complete. The second petition, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," has a similar focus. The primary point of his sermon on this petition was active and passive obedience and submission to God's will. Whatever we submit to will control us, and so we need to submit to God to have a thriving Christian life.
In my personal reading time I have been going through books ranging from Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn to Emotional Purity by Heather Arnel Paulsen, and I have been struck by how all of these authors emphasize contentment with God's will and a close relationship with Him as the foundation or even the solution to so many problems that we experience in this life. When God is our number one, our all in all, our first priority, we no longer feel compelled to seek satisfaction, identity, and fulfillment in wealth, power, or relationships. God may graciously give us those things in His good timing, but even when we receive them, we will treat them as gifts rather than the Giver if our hearts are God's first. Our pastor preaches a similar message in many of his sermons.
I sometimes read Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest as a devotional. It teaches that we must be filled with God and with the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish His purposes in our lives.
Hmmmm.
Maybe God wants me to concentrate more on my relationship with Him and make Him my number one priority in my life? Maybe He wants me to focus on being filled with the Spirit to be His agent on this earth?
It has been challenging to see His standard for Christian living and to see how far I am from that standard. Over the next few weeks I am going to attempt to analyze my life from His perspective and see what needs to be changed or removed. I definitely can't do this on my own, so I would appreciate prayers for the Holy Spirit's help.
~Mac
The pastor at our church has been preaching a short series through the Lord's Prayer, petition by petition. In his sermon on the first petition, "hallowed be thy name," he introduced a key point for the series: we try to fill God's place with other things that we hallow and praise, but whatever we praise will control us. Only when we put God first will He control our lives and make us complete. The second petition, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," has a similar focus. The primary point of his sermon on this petition was active and passive obedience and submission to God's will. Whatever we submit to will control us, and so we need to submit to God to have a thriving Christian life.
In my personal reading time I have been going through books ranging from Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn to Emotional Purity by Heather Arnel Paulsen, and I have been struck by how all of these authors emphasize contentment with God's will and a close relationship with Him as the foundation or even the solution to so many problems that we experience in this life. When God is our number one, our all in all, our first priority, we no longer feel compelled to seek satisfaction, identity, and fulfillment in wealth, power, or relationships. God may graciously give us those things in His good timing, but even when we receive them, we will treat them as gifts rather than the Giver if our hearts are God's first. Our pastor preaches a similar message in many of his sermons.
I sometimes read Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest as a devotional. It teaches that we must be filled with God and with the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish His purposes in our lives.
Hmmmm.
Maybe God wants me to concentrate more on my relationship with Him and make Him my number one priority in my life? Maybe He wants me to focus on being filled with the Spirit to be His agent on this earth?
It has been challenging to see His standard for Christian living and to see how far I am from that standard. Over the next few weeks I am going to attempt to analyze my life from His perspective and see what needs to be changed or removed. I definitely can't do this on my own, so I would appreciate prayers for the Holy Spirit's help.
~Mac
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