So I admit there are still a couple of hold overs from my young adult/hippie life. One of them is finding a song I LOVE and playing it over and over and over and ... you get the idea ... as loud as I can stand it until I am sick of it. Well, more like everyone else is sick of it because I LOVE it so much that I don't get sick of it.
The best opportunity for this kind of indulgence is when no one is around and there is a chore to do (like cleaning the house) that maybe said ex-hippie doesn't particularly feel motivated to do BUT nevertheless these mundane things must be done.
Music is the road to take us places. God created it for His purposes. Unlike my rock 'n roll days, I choose to listen to music that leads my heart to places in God. Music that raises the standard. Music that exhorts and exalts what God purposed in my heart to become. Music that pleases and/or wouldn't offend the heart of my Savior.
Music can either feed our emotions and our fantasies or it can feed our spiritual life and serve to further our longing for God and His kingdom. It's really easy to tell what music is doing in your soul. Just stop while listening to any given genre and ask yourself what it is leading you to think about, where it is taking your emotions, or what memories of your 'old self' is it helping you to relive.
Anyway, last week while I was cleaning house I was singing along to this song and all of a sudden right in the middle of cleaning the toilet I was weeping in the presence of God's love and worshiping Him. This is a highly recommended way to get the housework done!
Today, the same song cranked out in rotation while doing the same sort of high priority chores and I just went ahead and pushed the repeat button to hear it over and over and over... very loudly. I don't know loud just seems better.
Would you like to hear it too? Let me know if you like it enough to blast it on your i-pod speakers and sing at the top of your voice while working.
Disclaimer: the video is less than great... but the music is Jeremy Riddle; More Than A Friend
In the quiet of my soul,
in the stillness
I hear your voice
call
and I am overwhelmed
and I am lost for words
to describe You
Jesus, you're more than a friend
Jesus, you're more than my heart
could ever express
Your love and your grace never fail
Your merciful touch always heals me
You bring joy to my soul
10 comments:
This post is AWESOME! I'm thinking that you are on a roll, meems! The song is good too...didn't "send me" but I may not have been in the proper setting to really enjoy it...the video was less than great. :o) Thanks for sharing such great stuff with us!
s/s/m: thanks for letting me know you listened. I know how it is with music. Or anything for that matter that one person is moved by and another isn't necessarily. The song that might be just what you need at the time is not necessarily what "sends" the next person as you say.
You hit on just what I always think ... proper setting. (I need to do a whole post on this).
When the song first started playing and I listened to the words the softening in my heart that began immediately, caught me off guard (I've heard the song before). This particular time, my heart engaged with it and before I knew it I was in that "spiritual hook" place... that place that just connects and links to the spirit (the song was the road that took me there). When that happens... it's all about what the spirit of God wants to do in our heart and I just let Him by yielding to it... Most of the time you don't know but sometimes it is very clear what is happening. I've learned to just let it happen (when circumstances permit)and let God have His way in my thinking and heart to affect change on the inside. It's hard to explain spiritual connections and spiritual ways but they are more real than what we can see, taste, touch, feel, hear.
The best thing is that they are eternal!
i have to admit i listened and watched then i just listened...
i like the listening better. i thought the video was distracting. i like the depth of the singers voice. i listened to a couple of the other songs too.
i love what you said so matter of factly.
"It's really easy to tell what music is doing in your soul. Just stop while listening to any given genre and ask yourself what it is leading you to think about, where it is taking your emotions,"
i consider myself pretty black and white but not in my emotions. they fool me quite often. (that's one reason i need a saviour).
you definitely gave me pause for thought with that quote. i think you have a gift for being very decisive, that not everybody possesses.
your last few posts have been personal and i can relate to that! i like your honestly in these and of course your wisdom.
i too have the need to hear a song over and over again until others are begging me to change it but i always figured it was something dull in me that takes me a long time to grasp something and put it somewhere deep.
marmee: you gave me a chuckle on this note... "i always figured it was something dull in me that takes me a long time to grasp something..." I can totally relate to that too... that is also a factor for me. But I don't mind as long as we're willing to do whatever it takes to "grasp it" I think we are okay.
Who me? A gift for being decisive? hee-hee. Actually, I thank God for that characteristic although those around me may not appreciate it so much... it can also come off as critical and judgmental (as you well know) which is not my heart.
Emotions can be the thing that can fool any of us easily. They are a factor everyone has to deal with and they can easily derail and hinder our progress with God if we aren't aware of them. THAT is one reason why the music we choose to allow entrance into our soul is SO important. Music is a gateway to our soul-- our souls house our mind, will and emotions.
Emotions change, emotions lie and emotions confuse even sometimes what we know to be right and wrong ... IF we don't keep them in check with the word. We cannot ever let them be the deciding force.
I always go back to the scripture in Heb 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
AND I Cor 5:7
for we walk by faith, not by sight
Anyway, I'm glad you let me know you listened to the song. Too bad the video even had to come with it but I was happy to find it recorded in order to share it.
I appreciate your comments and your kind words. :-)
Just wanted to say I have really enjoyed these last couple posts. So revealing and real. Thanks for sharing and for your willingness to be so open. Very inspirational and thought provoking.
NT: Well, thanks for the comment. It has been an interesting experience writing such personal stuff but hey... I'm trying to learn to LISTEN more and obey better ... :-)
Has anyone else noticed you really never finished the original post below:
"Friday, August 15, 2008
Just What Is Surrender?
There is a little something I’ve noticed lately some Christians do that just doesn’t sit right with me. Well, to be completely honest there are lots of things… but then there are lots of things about myself, too. But for today I do have the floor to express my, let’s say, curiosity about it."
The follow-up posts were so touching and inspiring, maybe you just 'forgot' your original intention. Is there a final post to this series of total surrender? Just curious!
pilgrim: I don't know if anyone else has noticed but to answer your question there are more posts (yes plural) to the total surrender series. I'm not sure if I'll ever get back to my original intent. I'm trusting God to help me express what He wants to say through me telling my story. I'm working on it...
i figured it decidedly took a turn for something a bit different from the original intent(maybe cause the holy spirit had something different in mind).
marmee: I can see that the H.S. has something more in mind but I'm not so certain I won't get back to the original point. Not sure yet... we'll have to see as it unfolds.
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