Intentional Music

Yay! This post is really all about music. Can you guys guess some of my favorite artists? No? I honestly didn't expect you to. I love music, it can change your entire mood and if you're not careful you're entire thought process. Some people who are Christian still listen to secular music and I, for one, do not have a problem with this. I still listen to some of the same music I did before I was born again. I believe that the real problem comes when you start listening to the music that held you captive in the world and think it wont effect you now that you want a relationship with God. But your are still growing in that relationship and before you start trying to play tag with the devil you need to build up your spiritual strength and make sure all your armor is on correctly. I have written about it before but the devil doesn't even try to tempt you with new stuff once you're saved, he brings those old things into remembrance. That is why we must be mindful and intentional about what we listen to. If you had a serious issue with cussing in the world and still listen to vulgar music, stop. If you had issues with lust and want to listen to the same pornographic songs, don't.

I am not saying that this is a one step process for everyone because it isn't but music impacts us more than you may think. When it first came out I listened to Lazarus by Trip lee every single day for over a month at the start of my day. it put a smile on my face and pumped me up. It prepared me with a positive attitude in which to face the day. Think about what you listen to in the morning and what you listen to at night. It doesn't always have to be Christian but it should never be something that pulls you back into wherever you were. It should be positive and uplifting. Personally, I love soul, R&B, neo-soul and showtunes. I could listen to Leela James or Gregory Porter all day. But that music still has a positive message in it, there is no profanity and if there is very very little and it is something I would not mind listening to with my grandma. Think about that next time you sit down and put headphones in your ear. Better yet, think about how God would feel if you listened to that song in His presence, because that is what you are doing.



Do you need something inspirational to listen to? Well, here is a list of my suggested artists and note that not all of them are Christian artists.

1. Leela James
2. Music Soulchild
3. Lyfe Jennings
4. Tedashii
5. Jonathan Mcreynolds
6. Gregory Porter
7. Brian Mcknight
8. Trip Lee
9. JGivens
10. John Givez
11. Canon
12. Andy Mineo
13. Shope
14. Swoope
15. Travis Greene
16. Martha Munizzi
17. Fantasia
18. Anthony Hamilton

We have to be mindful of everything we allow to be in our personal space because even though it may not seem like it at the time, it does mean something. I remember when I was young and CD's were still popular that my my dad, my brother and I were all driving somewhere and my dad had put in a Snoop Dogg CD. I fell asleep on the armrest in the back but when I woke up and the next time I heard one of those songs, I knew it by heart and I didn't even remember listening to it! We internalize everything we hear and see and that is why we have to be careful. We're meant to be in this world, not of it and if you still have the same mindsets as those in the world can you really say you are a Spiritual being? That is rhetorical but it is also something I want people to answer down below if you so choose.

The song for the day is Confetti by Shope

Get Myself To Right

"I gotta get myself together, 'cause I got someplace to go. And I'm praying when I get there I'll see everyone I know. I wanna go to Heaven."

Everybody knows Mary Mary, the dynamic sister duo backed up and supported by their family. At least everybody I know anyway. Well, this song just came to mind because it reminds me of what I need to do to get myself right. And soon. I have been pretty much alone in my grad school experience, no close friends or acquaintances, no one to hold me accountable or talk to about heavy issues except God. And I know very well that I need to be going to God with my issues and situations (both good and bad) but sometimes you need other people.

Lately, I stopped.

I stopped living the way I am used to and as a result I started getting bad, for lack of a word to describe my utter uselessness. It started affecting me physically. I felt drowsy and lazy while at the same time having all this nervous energy built up inside. Plus, I want you all to know that I am not coming from a place of victory against this thing just yet but I do understand it and I do know that I will be victorious. Now, back to your regularly scheduled broadcast. I was feeling ridiculously low and all of the old stuff I thought was dead and gone in the past started trying to come back. I started having awful nightmares and waking up in pools of sweat, started overeating (and I had trouble with binging in high school), started feeling just plain awful, procrastinating with the simplest tasks and putting off anything and everything that I didn't see as urgent. And the only thing I saw as urgent was sleep.

Well recently, I realized that maybe the reason I was feeling low down and just altogether messed up is because I had stopped living the way I am used to. I have not danced since I have been here. I have not worshipped in the morning before the start of my day, I have been slacking in bible study (I still do it but the commitment is not there as it should be) and I have not really been striving after God, even though I wrote posts about it. It is one thing to say something and another thing to live it out.

And that is where I come to in this little narrative. I had stopped living for God. Like, seriously! And the worst part is how long it took me to notice but God is still good and still moving in my life. Therefore I started thinking about what it meant to live. Just live and I looked at it from a secular and a Christian perspective.

According to dictionary.com to live is just to be alive and capable of vital functions. I don't really like this definition because it means that those who are disabled are not truly living. There were two definitions I looked up in my concordance though, The Hebrew chayah and the Greek zao. The first means to keep alive, to revive, to suffer to live, nourish up, preserve, and to be whole. Zao means to live, quicken.

So, I decided to read two passages: Psalm 119:17-24 (Gimel) and Psalm 118:17.

According to Psalm 119:17, to live is to keep God's word. And according to its counterpart the chapter before living is synonymous with declaring God's works. In Psalm 119:20 David says his soul broke for longing to live righteously. How can a soul break? I don't know but I know it's more powerful than when your heart breaks. From this I got that not only can I not make it on my own but if I am not living for the Lord then I am not living at all. And I had to stop putting off my responsibilities as a Christian. I wasn't really making God a priority, much less was He the center of my life. (And for those who don't know, when I say God I mean the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) So instead of putting it off I have to start saying yes.

 No more silencing the King.

Well Done by Deitrick Haddon

Biblical Role Model

Hey guys,

So lately, I have been really in a slump. Not just because of the election, I feel like there's just a lot of negative stuff all compounding on my shoulders at once and for a while I didn't even have the energy to do anything. I didn't do homework, was slacking at the gym, I wasn't even cooking. I had been surviving on carrots. And now I feel like I am starting to get back in the hang of things, not because of me but because I had someone I could talk to and she helped me out a lot. That is why fellowship is so common in my posts, especially my older ones. Anyway, today I was able to get a good amount of stuff done and even though I am nowhere near close to my usual productivity level, I am slowly starting to get back in the swing of things. Yay!!!

Also, for the past few days I have been drawn to Daniel. Don't get me wrong, I have read the book of Daniel plenty of times but these last few days I feel like I have just been directed to certain sections, not even whole chapters. Examples? Daniel 9:1-19, Daniel 2:14-35, Daniel 9:20-27. If you are wondering why chapter 9 is separated it's because I read them on different days. There was a lot for me to unpack and personally I feel like there is still more I can look at in order to understand these sections of Daniel. I mean I studied them and prayed and realized that I always did love hearing about Daniel. Not because he held a powerful position or survived a lion's den but just because of his personality. A few years back the one consistent prayer that I had was that God move in my prayer life and that he make me a prayer warrior. Looking back at Daniel, especially today, I realized that is exactly what Daniel was.

Daniel is like my Biblical role model and here are the attributes I admire in him.

1. He's bold
2. He's faithful
3. He has a great prayer life
4. He's wise
5. He is slow to speak
6. He is unafraid

These are all qualities I have desired at one time or another and they are ones I still want. I don't think I should ever stop praying for these things even after I receive them because God will never give me more than what I need in that present moment. For me I get a lot of encouragement from Daniel. He is this guy who prays not just for himself but his entire people. He is not afraid of what other people will say or do to him, he is unabashedly himself and I feel that (especially in America) kids are taught not to be themselves but to be who media or who their friends want them to be. Everyone has to conform or be subject to harassment which is so uncool, right? Right. I don't need no Amens on that one. Whenever someone asked him a question he gave it serious thought and he prayed before giving a response and that is simply amazing to me. He is simply so faithful and I look up to him.

Don't get me wrong, I don't idolize him but I appreciate that God provided us with his story so that people like me could use it as a kind of blueprint for our lives. And I feel that everyone should have someone they aspire to be similar to in the Bible. Trust me, I know people are out there thinking "Jesus!" which is great, I try to be like Jesus too, but I want everyone to remember that Jesus was perfect. And although we can never be perfect in the same way He was we can better ourselves by following the lives of those in the Bible which is (in my opinion) why God allowed these stories to be passed down until today. There are lessons we can learn from every single story in the Scriptures, usually more than one and that is why I think that everyone should have someone, other than the Son of the Most High, as a role model that they can think to themselves, I am going be like this person today and be bold for the Lord by doing this or I am going to think before I speak or something along those lines. What do you think?

Plus, when you have a role model you won't fall as easy because you will have those traits in the back of your mind and you will feel convicted to do what is right. And there is also the fact that when you compare yourself to a spiritual and mature person in the faith it will keep you from wailing on yourself. There are days where I feel like Jeroboam II and then I have to reprimand myself and say, no child you are not like that at all! You are not a Jeroboam, you are a Daniel, a Ruth! It is a reminder to yourself of who you are. On that note, to remind myself of who I am, I write affirmations and repeat them throughout the day in my head or out loud depending on where I am. And they all start with "I Am" because that is how God started His affirmation. It is how He introduced Himself and therefore, since we are made in His image, it is how we must introduce ourselves. And saying it to yourself keeps it in your mind and it only takes 21 days for something to become habit which means your whole mindset can change in less than a month!

But back to spiritual role models...like I said, I am looking to Daniel for an example of how an imperfect person can have such a close relationship with God. I mean, in Daniel 9:20-22, Daniel isn't even done praying before God sends Gabriel (yes, that Gabriel)  to come and give Daniel the understanding he was asking for!! I want to be that tight with my Lord, Friend and God. You?

So who is your Biblical role model? Who do you look to when you want a blueprint for how to behave in a certain situation? I'm curious so please comment!! :D

And just as a note, don't just have role models. Be one.

The song today doesn't have anything to do with this actual post, I just like it  so here goes: No Nah by Jor'Dan Armstrong

And do you guys actually listen to the songs? I put my heart into choosing them (usually)! Much love.