It's funny how most of my meditations that end up as Facebook notes occur at a time when I SHOULD be sound asleep. But again, God's laid something on my heart that I need to get on here...mostly for my own sake.
Wow. So many thoughts are buzzing around my head that I barely even remember what I wanted to write about. I was hanging out at Messiah tonight watching football, and when I left I was in an extremely good mood. So on the ride home, I put in my Lecrae CD and was about to party the whole way home...but the radio came on when I turned the car on. The song that was playing was "Give me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath...a song that's never really spoken to me before like it did tonight. I was no longer in the mood to party.
This first sparked my 45-minute time of meditation (time from Messiah to my house). I started thinking about the life I had been leading, "problems" that I've been having, and how the song relates to it. The song is about seeing everyone around us and responding to them with God's love. "Give me Your eyes for just one second / Give me Your eyes so I can see / everything that I keep missing / Give me Your love for humanity / Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted / the ones that are far beyond my reach / Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten / Give me Your eyes so I can see." My favorite line in that chorus is "give me Your arms for the broken-hearted" for multiple reasons. But the main reason is that it shows action...it shows a person that's DOING something about all of the brokenness around us. It's easy to ask God for love. It's easy to ask God to give us wisdom in dealing with situations. How much harder is it to actually carry out our part?
I put in a different CD. The first song was "Open the Eyes of my Heart". I got goosebumps. I saw just how much I'd forgotten about God and how much He deserves from me. He deserves my worship...all the time and in everything I do. Lately, I've been selfish. I've been lazy. Ever since the flood trapped me in from going anywhere, I just sat around and played video games for hours on end. I didn't worship God. I didn't reach out to those who may have needed me. But here, I worshiped. I worshiped because I realized the sin I was in...I was being selfish with my life.
Next song..."Jesus, Lover of my Soul". The first words of the song blew me away, and I feel like so many people I encounter need to hear this: "It's all about You, Jesus / and all this is for You / for Your glory and your fame / It's not about me / as if You should do things my way / You alone are God / and I surrender to Your ways." Wow. As if You should do things my way. What a lyric that is.
These songs really hit home tonight in a big way. There have been multiple things on my mind lately that have really kept me from living a more fulfilled life in Christ. The biggest one, "man, I wish I had a girlfriend." But I know God isn't ready for me to have that yet. Why do I know that? Because of the life that I've been living recently, and because of what these songs have shown me tonight. I haven't had the arms for the broken-hearted. I've wanted God to do things my way instead of vice-versa, the way it should be.
I meditated for awhile on the Ten Commandments. And you know something? Love your spouse ISN'T one of them. I considered the greatest Commandments as Jesus said them (love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself). Love your spouse is technically included in the second part, but it's not expressly stated. So where am I going with this? I go back to the biggest complaint that I had. See, I enjoy being in a relationship. I'm a high-energy guy, and I enjoy showing love toward a significant other. But with my past relationships I never put God first, even though I may have thought I did at the time. And I know that I have to run to God first and allow someone to come by my side as an extension of my worship to God. I recently fell under the temptation that if I grow close to God, then I'll be ready for a girlfriend. This is the wrong mindset because a girlfriend is my end goal, not God.
Y'know, I look back at what I wrote already and I think "I wish this was a little deeper...I just feel like I'm rambling about nothing at this point." Maybe that's true, maybe not. But before I started writing, I specifically prayed that what I wrote could be used to advance God's Kingdom in some way. I don't know how that's going to happen yet, but there's still a lesson that I can personally take out of this. It's weird to think that we forget the first Commandment...I mean, it's #1, right? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me". Pretty clear cut. Here's something to ask myself...would a girlfriend be a god before God to me? Interesting thought...but for anyone reading this, how can you apply that Commandment? The songs I listened to tonight remind me of how majestic God is and how much He deserves FROM us, and not things we deserve to have from Him. Why do we complain so much about what we don't have? Why do we get annoyed at God for things that we consider bad in our lives? We ask God so many questions about our trivial and petty problems, that we forget about the grand mission in front of us...to live fervently for God and to spread His glory through the earth.
One of my favorite books of the Bible is Job. Compared to us, Job had every right to complain about everything...he lived a holy life and was blameless before the Lord (Job 1:8). And complain he did, but he never shunned God for any of it. But after all of the chapters of dialogue, God finally speaks directly to Job with words that I would NOT want to hear from God. Job 38:2-3, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me." Whooooaaaaaa. Imagine how little Job felt right there. I'd be terrified...God just sounds pissed off! But you know what? God has every right to be. Job shouldn't be complaining about everything because God is God, and that's that. Ecclesiates 5:2, "Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few."
How quick we are to complain. How quick I am to whine about my petty problems. But God is in heaven. Ha, we think we suffer with our problems. God loved us so much that He send His perfect Son to die for everything we screwed up with, so that we don't have to ETERNALLY suffer. God loves us, even though at some point it may seem like our lives "suck". We as followers of God have a mission and a duty, and that's to pursue God with our whole heart. What an honor to even be allowed to pursue such a holy being. We can never truly know God to His fullest extent or we'll die (Exodus 33:19-20), but we lean on His promises and the FACT that He loves us and is ready to catch our little issues. But I want to stop complaining about little things and fulfill the mission in front of me. I want to live selflessly. I want to reach out to the broken-hearted and truly love others before myself. I want to pursue God with my full heart and not waver from that. And He'll bless me with a beautiful wife when the time is right (if He so chooses). Until then, and even after I have a wife, God comes first.
By the way, what happened to Job after God questioned him? Read Job 42. Specifically verse 12. Thanks to whoever reads this note...I pray that God is shown through me and what was written here :)
Wow. So many thoughts are buzzing around my head that I barely even remember what I wanted to write about. I was hanging out at Messiah tonight watching football, and when I left I was in an extremely good mood. So on the ride home, I put in my Lecrae CD and was about to party the whole way home...but the radio came on when I turned the car on. The song that was playing was "Give me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath...a song that's never really spoken to me before like it did tonight. I was no longer in the mood to party.
This first sparked my 45-minute time of meditation (time from Messiah to my house). I started thinking about the life I had been leading, "problems" that I've been having, and how the song relates to it. The song is about seeing everyone around us and responding to them with God's love. "Give me Your eyes for just one second / Give me Your eyes so I can see / everything that I keep missing / Give me Your love for humanity / Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted / the ones that are far beyond my reach / Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten / Give me Your eyes so I can see." My favorite line in that chorus is "give me Your arms for the broken-hearted" for multiple reasons. But the main reason is that it shows action...it shows a person that's DOING something about all of the brokenness around us. It's easy to ask God for love. It's easy to ask God to give us wisdom in dealing with situations. How much harder is it to actually carry out our part?
I put in a different CD. The first song was "Open the Eyes of my Heart". I got goosebumps. I saw just how much I'd forgotten about God and how much He deserves from me. He deserves my worship...all the time and in everything I do. Lately, I've been selfish. I've been lazy. Ever since the flood trapped me in from going anywhere, I just sat around and played video games for hours on end. I didn't worship God. I didn't reach out to those who may have needed me. But here, I worshiped. I worshiped because I realized the sin I was in...I was being selfish with my life.
Next song..."Jesus, Lover of my Soul". The first words of the song blew me away, and I feel like so many people I encounter need to hear this: "It's all about You, Jesus / and all this is for You / for Your glory and your fame / It's not about me / as if You should do things my way / You alone are God / and I surrender to Your ways." Wow. As if You should do things my way. What a lyric that is.
These songs really hit home tonight in a big way. There have been multiple things on my mind lately that have really kept me from living a more fulfilled life in Christ. The biggest one, "man, I wish I had a girlfriend." But I know God isn't ready for me to have that yet. Why do I know that? Because of the life that I've been living recently, and because of what these songs have shown me tonight. I haven't had the arms for the broken-hearted. I've wanted God to do things my way instead of vice-versa, the way it should be.
I meditated for awhile on the Ten Commandments. And you know something? Love your spouse ISN'T one of them. I considered the greatest Commandments as Jesus said them (love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself). Love your spouse is technically included in the second part, but it's not expressly stated. So where am I going with this? I go back to the biggest complaint that I had. See, I enjoy being in a relationship. I'm a high-energy guy, and I enjoy showing love toward a significant other. But with my past relationships I never put God first, even though I may have thought I did at the time. And I know that I have to run to God first and allow someone to come by my side as an extension of my worship to God. I recently fell under the temptation that if I grow close to God, then I'll be ready for a girlfriend. This is the wrong mindset because a girlfriend is my end goal, not God.
Y'know, I look back at what I wrote already and I think "I wish this was a little deeper...I just feel like I'm rambling about nothing at this point." Maybe that's true, maybe not. But before I started writing, I specifically prayed that what I wrote could be used to advance God's Kingdom in some way. I don't know how that's going to happen yet, but there's still a lesson that I can personally take out of this. It's weird to think that we forget the first Commandment...I mean, it's #1, right? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me". Pretty clear cut. Here's something to ask myself...would a girlfriend be a god before God to me? Interesting thought...but for anyone reading this, how can you apply that Commandment? The songs I listened to tonight remind me of how majestic God is and how much He deserves FROM us, and not things we deserve to have from Him. Why do we complain so much about what we don't have? Why do we get annoyed at God for things that we consider bad in our lives? We ask God so many questions about our trivial and petty problems, that we forget about the grand mission in front of us...to live fervently for God and to spread His glory through the earth.
One of my favorite books of the Bible is Job. Compared to us, Job had every right to complain about everything...he lived a holy life and was blameless before the Lord (Job 1:8). And complain he did, but he never shunned God for any of it. But after all of the chapters of dialogue, God finally speaks directly to Job with words that I would NOT want to hear from God. Job 38:2-3, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me." Whooooaaaaaa. Imagine how little Job felt right there. I'd be terrified...God just sounds pissed off! But you know what? God has every right to be. Job shouldn't be complaining about everything because God is God, and that's that. Ecclesiates 5:2, "Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few."
How quick we are to complain. How quick I am to whine about my petty problems. But God is in heaven. Ha, we think we suffer with our problems. God loved us so much that He send His perfect Son to die for everything we screwed up with, so that we don't have to ETERNALLY suffer. God loves us, even though at some point it may seem like our lives "suck". We as followers of God have a mission and a duty, and that's to pursue God with our whole heart. What an honor to even be allowed to pursue such a holy being. We can never truly know God to His fullest extent or we'll die (Exodus 33:19-20), but we lean on His promises and the FACT that He loves us and is ready to catch our little issues. But I want to stop complaining about little things and fulfill the mission in front of me. I want to live selflessly. I want to reach out to the broken-hearted and truly love others before myself. I want to pursue God with my full heart and not waver from that. And He'll bless me with a beautiful wife when the time is right (if He so chooses). Until then, and even after I have a wife, God comes first.
By the way, what happened to Job after God questioned him? Read Job 42. Specifically verse 12. Thanks to whoever reads this note...I pray that God is shown through me and what was written here :)
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