Addictions are powerful things that affect most, if not all of our lives. We think of addictions to thinks such as alcohol, cigarrettes, other drugs, sex/pornography, but we can be addicted to anything. From a christian perspective, anything that is more important to us than God and that we spend more time with than we do with God seems to qualify as an addiction. We are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind." How can we do this if something else is occupying our thoughts and attention?
I tend to judge those who have nicotine addictions, because i think it is disgusting, unhealthy, weak, and a lack of self-control. Recently this addiction has hit close to home and it caused me to step back and look at my own addictions or my lack of addiction to God. I have never had a substance addiction, so it is impossible for me to know the strength and self-control it takes to quit. Instead of criticizing and judging however, i realized i need to build-up, encourage and support those close to me trying to quit. Love doesn't make people feel like failures, love doesn't make them feel an inch tall because they couldn't do something immediately, love (God) forgives for slips and regressions over and over again. I need to take a step back and look at myself, look at how i show love, and look at my own addictions and the things that distract me from God.
My house and all the projects become addictions at times, my husband becomes an addiction, laziness, work, tv, music (christian or not) are all things i find myself filling my time with instead of the one thing i should be doing.
Pray for those who are trying but haven't quit their addictions yet, support them unconditionally, forgive them when they mess up, when they hide it from you because they are ashamed. Pray for yourself that you would not put material things and distractions before worshipping God and spending time with Him. "How can you say to your brother: Let me take the speck out of your eye, when you fail to notice the plank in your own." Luke 6:42
Just something i've been thinking about lately and struggling with in my own life. Think i was displacing my own ashamedness on others with addictions. An addiction is an addiction- it keeps you from the one thing you should be addicted to: serving, pleasing, worshipping, and obeying God. I can't emphasize enough how everything else pales in comparison to Him. Let us fall on our faces because we are naked and ashamed at the feet of the One who forgives all; the One who desires to be our addiction.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Beautiful Lord
When the storm is raging all around me
You are the peace that calms My troubled sea
And the cares of this world Darken my day
You are the light that shines And shows me the way
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
When my sin is all that I can see
Your grace remains the shelter that I seek
And when my weakness is all I can give
Your gentle Spirit gives me strength again
And oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
You’re beautiful, my Lord You’re beautiful, my Lord
He is so beautiful and we so often fail to acknowledge this. His love is perfect, unconditional, never ending and THAT makes Him so beautiful to me. His grace is freely given, no strings attached. His forgiveness is complete, it's over and over again until we think there's no WAY He could forget what we have done. THAT is what brings me to my knees.
This song is such a tender love song between a Father and His child- in our desperation and weakness, His gentle touch gives us strength to keep going. When we are overcome and devastated and think we've worn out all our "i'm sorry's" He listens to those words again and embraces us with His mercy, shows us the cross and casts our sins as far as the East is from the West.
Praise God above all else because He cares for us. The hands that placed each star, wove each blade of grass, placed each drop of water in the ocean longs for our affections. To go back to a previous blog post- He is jealous for us and our attention. Give Him all you have- He deserves that and so much more.
Thanks to my brother Timmy for posting this song on facebook- it was just what i needed today :)
You are the peace that calms My troubled sea
And the cares of this world Darken my day
You are the light that shines And shows me the way
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
When my sin is all that I can see
Your grace remains the shelter that I seek
And when my weakness is all I can give
Your gentle Spirit gives me strength again
And oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
And I am lifted by Your love to sing!
It’s Your mercy that has made me free!
Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!
Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord
You’re beautiful, my Lord You’re beautiful, my Lord
He is so beautiful and we so often fail to acknowledge this. His love is perfect, unconditional, never ending and THAT makes Him so beautiful to me. His grace is freely given, no strings attached. His forgiveness is complete, it's over and over again until we think there's no WAY He could forget what we have done. THAT is what brings me to my knees.
This song is such a tender love song between a Father and His child- in our desperation and weakness, His gentle touch gives us strength to keep going. When we are overcome and devastated and think we've worn out all our "i'm sorry's" He listens to those words again and embraces us with His mercy, shows us the cross and casts our sins as far as the East is from the West.
Praise God above all else because He cares for us. The hands that placed each star, wove each blade of grass, placed each drop of water in the ocean longs for our affections. To go back to a previous blog post- He is jealous for us and our attention. Give Him all you have- He deserves that and so much more.
Thanks to my brother Timmy for posting this song on facebook- it was just what i needed today :)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
what is worship
I thought i knew what worship was, i knew i wasn't great at it, but i thought it was music- singing my heart out to God. I guess i knew it was more than that, but i didn't know how to go about doing it. I'm reading "A Seeking Heart" by Alicia Williamson & Sarah Groves and i am learning so much about what it means to truly worship our God.
Worship takes a conscious effort of turning our mind's attention towards God and directing our heart's affection at Him. I have not been putting the effort in. It's like i show up at church or wherever and I say "OK God, here I am, come get me." What a lazy believer I am, that I can't meet God in the middle or take my steps first.
Under no conditions do i think my life is one of worship currently. Church once every 2 months and grace at suppertime doesn't qualify me as anything but a lazy, selfish sinner. But I've realized this.. and now it's time to change. That's the beauty of the grace of our God: yes i'm a sinner, this is a given. But i have received mercy and I now have the freedom to change my ways and take the path that was laid out for me. Praise God!
I hadn't read my Bible in I don't know how long and i realized over the last couple of days... there is some GOOD stuff in there!!! The verses have encouraged me, spurred me on toward living a righteous life that is pleasing to God. They have given me comfort in knowing my God is God of the universe, and that if i come near to Him, he will come near to me- easy as that.
I read today about loving God first and as many times as i've heard those words, they didn't sink in until just now. And let me just say that as awesome as He is, i think that is going to be very hard for me. I love my husband already more than i can comprehend, my family feels like they are my vital organs... how do i love more than that? I still do not know, but i will die trying.
It is going to take a lot of concentration to do each task each day for God and His glory. It will take even more to let my words glorify Him. I pray my words will uplift others and that God will be pleased when He hears them.
Worship is a form of loving God and to love Him, we must know Him. To know Him we must do what we do to know anyone- talk to Him, read what He has written for us, and spend time with Him often.
I have discovered that i am not as busy as i make myself out to be. The tv is on way too much and is just a distraction from what i could really be doing, which is building up the most important relationship in my life. There are so many things each day that tear us away from the place we really need to be. The devil makes us busy, distracts us from what is important, and then he wins. Slow down, let God set the pace of your life. Don't put worship into a little box that involves only music, or only praying. Let worship invade your life, cry, sing, pray, read, help others, whatever He tells you to do, do it and let all glory be His.
Worship cannot be put into words. As much as i'd like to sit down and read a book that tells me exactly how to worship and how to love God, it doesn't exist. It is personal, this relationship that we must develop. That is the beauty of it- it is between us and God and no one else. Revel in that fact and delve into the depths of His love... you might just find worship there.
Worship takes a conscious effort of turning our mind's attention towards God and directing our heart's affection at Him. I have not been putting the effort in. It's like i show up at church or wherever and I say "OK God, here I am, come get me." What a lazy believer I am, that I can't meet God in the middle or take my steps first.
Under no conditions do i think my life is one of worship currently. Church once every 2 months and grace at suppertime doesn't qualify me as anything but a lazy, selfish sinner. But I've realized this.. and now it's time to change. That's the beauty of the grace of our God: yes i'm a sinner, this is a given. But i have received mercy and I now have the freedom to change my ways and take the path that was laid out for me. Praise God!
I hadn't read my Bible in I don't know how long and i realized over the last couple of days... there is some GOOD stuff in there!!! The verses have encouraged me, spurred me on toward living a righteous life that is pleasing to God. They have given me comfort in knowing my God is God of the universe, and that if i come near to Him, he will come near to me- easy as that.
I read today about loving God first and as many times as i've heard those words, they didn't sink in until just now. And let me just say that as awesome as He is, i think that is going to be very hard for me. I love my husband already more than i can comprehend, my family feels like they are my vital organs... how do i love more than that? I still do not know, but i will die trying.
It is going to take a lot of concentration to do each task each day for God and His glory. It will take even more to let my words glorify Him. I pray my words will uplift others and that God will be pleased when He hears them.
Worship is a form of loving God and to love Him, we must know Him. To know Him we must do what we do to know anyone- talk to Him, read what He has written for us, and spend time with Him often.
I have discovered that i am not as busy as i make myself out to be. The tv is on way too much and is just a distraction from what i could really be doing, which is building up the most important relationship in my life. There are so many things each day that tear us away from the place we really need to be. The devil makes us busy, distracts us from what is important, and then he wins. Slow down, let God set the pace of your life. Don't put worship into a little box that involves only music, or only praying. Let worship invade your life, cry, sing, pray, read, help others, whatever He tells you to do, do it and let all glory be His.
Worship cannot be put into words. As much as i'd like to sit down and read a book that tells me exactly how to worship and how to love God, it doesn't exist. It is personal, this relationship that we must develop. That is the beauty of it- it is between us and God and no one else. Revel in that fact and delve into the depths of His love... you might just find worship there.
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