it's not about you.

"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them & was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15

I have been reading a book by Tim Keller called "The Meaning of Marriage."  You don't have to be married to read it.  Actually, I think you should read it before you get married & then again while you are married.  I'll have to remember that for when I am.  Any day now, right God? ;)  Anyway, I just read a section in the book on selfishness that I think we can relate to married or not.

According to 2 Corinthians 5:15 the essence of sin is living for ourselves, rather than for God and the people around us.  Jesus can sum up the entire will of God for our lives in the two greatest commandments: to love & live for God rather than ourselves and to love and put the needs of others ahead of our own. (Matthew 22:37-40)

We live in a world that makes it so easy for us to be self-centered.  It's an all about me mentality. How are you going to help me?  I think we can go a long time and not even stop once to think about anyone other than ourselves.  I don't wanna be like that.  I don't wanna be that person.  Or that friend. Or that sister. And no one wants to be around that person either. 

It's all about being intentional.  Making a conscious decision & effort to change.  To live a selfless life.  Not thinking less of yourself or more of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.  It means taking your mind off of yourself & realizing that in Christ your needs are going to be met & you will have all that you need anyway.  We have nothing to lose!

Let's try to start putting others needs above our own & start giving more.  More time, more help & attention, more love, more effort in a friendship or relationship.  Let's forget about what we want for once & think of ways we can help others in need.  If you're reading this thinking, Yeah right, easier said than done, then maybe you should get over yourself.  Will it be easy?  I think that depends on the kind of person you are.  Regardless, something needs to change.  You don't get anywhere by staying in the same place.  You have to make a move. 

And random side note.  I discovered this song today & have to share.  It's by Brooke Fraser called C.S. Lewis Song.  I can't stop listening to it... it's like my iPod's stuck on replay. ;)

preachin to the choir.

I absolutely LOVE music.  Music excites me, motivates me, encourages me, speaks to me, keeps me going and... gets me dancin!  I like to say there's a song for everything.  I love to make mixed CDs for my family & friends.  Who does that anymore, right?  Well I enjoy sharing music with people & it's a way for me to be able to do that easily... even if it is outdated.


We all have different things or even places that help us feel closer to God.  Like maybe you like to be outside & enjoy reading Scripture or praying while you overlook the great outdoors.  Or you like to use devotions and study guides to help you along your quiet time.  I know people who feel closest to the Lord when they're serving and others who feel closest when they have long meaningful prayer time alone with God.  And as you might guess, music is what gets me.  Yes, I love the outdoors & yes I use devotions, but the times I feel the most passionate and the closest to the Lord, are during worship or when I'm listening to Christian music.  (It's a shame I have no music ability whatsoever.) 

 

 <<<<>>>>

Set a fire down in my soul 

that I can't contain that I can't control, 

I want more of You God, 

I want more of You God.

<<<<>>>> 

A few months ago, I was in a church service & heard this song, called Set a Fire for the first time.  At first, I just listened. I'm not good at pretending I know a song even when the words are on the screen.  I think I've learned my lesson through experience.  It seems like I'm always that one person who belts out a word at the pause in the song and then it becomes awkward. You know what I'm talking about too because it's happened to you!  Anyway, it wasn't too long before I stopped listening, and started singing.  It is now one of my absolute favorites.

I am a words person & I pay attention to words in songs like none other.  But the simple lyrics to that song get me every. single. time.  I want more of You God.  That is my heart's cry.  I want all of my selfish desires, and pointless worries to be overtaken with more of Him in my life.  The more Jesus I have in my life, the less room I have for unnecessary junk and the easier it will be.  I didn't say easy, I said easier.  ;)

Recently, the Holy Spirit has been convicting me about the music I listen to.  I think it's easy to excuse "secular" music sometimes by saying, well I don't really listen to the words anyway.  But I'm pretty sure that half the time, we'd be surprised about what we're really listening to.  I'm not a "Christian music only" kind of girl, but I absolutely believe that as believers, our music choices could be better... need to be better.  I think the Lord deserves more respect.  He deserves to be glorified in all things & it's kinda hard to do that when a song is about partying, drinking, or cheating.   

Anyway, I don't know about you, but I am going to be more intentional about my music choices from now on.  I love music & I have to have it, but I can't allow myself to mindlessly listen to lyrics anymore.  

 

lose control.

100% of the prayers we don't pray won't get answered.

Such a profound & true statement.  I've been reading a book by Mark Batterson called The Prayer Circle & following his 40 day devotional called Draw the Circle.  Both are incredible & you should definitely check them out if you're looking for something that'll change your life.  I have underlined & written down so many quotes from the books it's ridiculous.

 >>>>>>>

So, the thing is, I feel like we get so caught up with the worries of this world, that we don't even realize we're trying to control our own lives instead of allowing the Lord to.  We try to do things faster, or easier, or better.  But we always find that when we do that, when we try to do God's job for Him, it's unbearable.  Haven't we learned that when we try to make things go faster, we usually slow things down?  When we try to make things easier, we make them harder?  We don't trust Him like we should. 

We are all looking, searching, and waiting on something.  You talk about it to your friends & think about it all the time.  It might even completely consume your thoughts & your conversations.   And most likely, you try to figure out how to make it happen asap.

But, have you prayed about it as much as you've talked about it? 

I'm not sure if you were aware but, prayer is powerful.  And when you pray, things happen. 

Batterson really put things into perspective for me with one of his analogies:

You are on a planet that is rotating on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour.  Planet Earth is moving around the sun at speeds approaching 67,000 miles per hour! 

We don't doubt God's ability to keep the planets in orbit, 

but have a difficult time believing He can keep our lives in orbit.

I mean, really!  When is the last time you prayed, "Oh thank you Jesus for keeping the planets in orbit.  I really wasn't sure about that today, whew, but you really came through!"  Like c'mon!  He's orbiting planets & we can't even trust Him with ours lives?

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." 

Don't try to do God's job for him.  Make it easier on yourself & allow Him to work in your life.  Run after Him & seek Him in all that you do, and everything else falls into place.

We underestimate the power of prayer but it can truly be life changing if we allow it to be.  If we already trust God for the big things, like rotating Earth, then it's time we trust him to do the little things too!