James 4:1 (NLT) “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?”
Quarrels and fights – other translations say wars, conflict, fightings, discord, feuds – from where do they originate? According to James they come from our own evil desires within us. These evil desires are at war within us.
What are they at war with?
The phrase “at war” is interesting in the original language. It means “1. to make a military expedition, to lead soldiers to war or to battle (spoken of a commander).” That is an interesting implication of the evil desires within us (lust, murder, covet – see James 4:2) are on a military expedition – actively leading the charge within us.
The phrase “at war” also means “2. to do military duty, be on active service, be a soldier. 3. to fight” Again, I find this every interesting and eye opening. I didn’t think much of the evil desires within me as alive and active. I never considered them “on active service”
My daughter has a friend who just got out of boot camp with the United States Marine Corp. He is a Marine. He is receiving training to be ready to do his military duty and his selected occupational, vocational, job in the Marine Corp.
Our evil desires are at war with everything God desires for us. Our evil desires are at war with our status quo. It is at war with our position, place, prominence, self perception, our possessions, etc.
I want more _________ (stuff) – so I plan and connive how get more of it
I want his car! (or boat, or house, or job, or _______) – the seed of jealousy is planted and watered
I want peace and rest – so I clamor and rant about what I fear
I want fellowship – so I do whatever I must to get others to like me
I want to be respected – so I give unsolicited advice
I want to be built up – so I tear others down
I want someone else’s position – so I sabotage their character
Everything is rooted in jealousy, comparison, lust and covetousness (James 4:2). Every thing is rooted in pride. It all starts with the thought, the seed, that gets planted. If we continue to dwell on those envious thoughts, those jealous thoughts, they get watered. Remember James 1:15 – “…when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
Paul wrote about this very conundrum in Romans.
Romans 7:21-25 (NKJV) 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
But you can’t stop reading there. That’s the end of Romans 7. The good news is in Romans 8. Here is the good news. Here is what the “evil soldiers” warring in my body don’t know. They war in vein.
Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Jesus already won the war.
Check back in a few days – there will be more on James 4 – specifically how to deal with this. What winning these skirmishes looks like…
On most Saturday mornings of late, I meet with my buddies to open The Word and discuss what we’d been studying the previous week. This week’s topic was “Holiness.”
“What does it mean to be holy?” This is the question we were basing our study and ensuing conversation on. I had spent some time during the week scouring my bible program and had pulled some pretty interesting (to me) ideas, definitions, and scriptures on the word “holy” and “holiness”… but it wasn’t until we began sharing and discussing for a half hour or so, that one of my friends made a comment similar to, “… sometimes we forget who we are…” The implication being we forget who we are in Christ. This thought stayed in the forefront of my mind as we began going down a particular thread of discussion.
Leviticus 11:44-45 For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 45 For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (emphasis added)
Leviticus 20:7-8 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy (emphasis added). for I am the LORD your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
These were verses that kicked off our discussion and the week’s study. Interestingly enough, both passages use “consecrate” and one uses “sanctifies.” Both of those words are very, very similar to the word “holiness” – from the New Bible Dictionary:
“Sanctification is one of several possible English translations of qdš, hagios and their cognates. See *HOLINESS for usage. Context alone determines whether the translation should be holy, holiness, holy one, saints, consecrate, consecration, sanctify or sanctification. Even in individual passages translators do not always agree. Its broad meaning is the process by which an entity is brought into relationship with or attains the likeness of the holy.”
I began to wonder if God was declaring part of his name – who he is – when he said “… for I am holy.” What if when God identifies himself as “… the LORD who sanctifies you,” he was in fact restating his holiness (see the definition of sanctification again). What if he was stating it, like we state our names?
Then, like a flood, connections, ideas, and thoughts hit me – saturating my mind like an overfilled sponge. I simply could not write fast enough in my journal or quite explain my thoughts to my buddies during our discussion. This is my exploration of those connections and thoughts…
First picture of Megan, Jordan, and Nick as "Shoemakers"
In December 2004, my wife and I adopted 3 kids from Penza, Russia. This doubled our children overnight. The Russian kids were from two different orphanages – one ten year-old boy from Orphanage #3 and a brother and sister, ages 15 and 14 respectively, from Orphanage #1 – yes, they were quite creative with the names of the Orphanages in Penza. On our adoption date, I remember sitting in the courtroom, waiting for the finality of what was more than a year in the making: filling out paperwork, filing paperwork, authorizing paperwork, and re-working, re-filing, re-authorizing paperwork. It all culminated when the Judge declared that our adoption was complete and that these three children were mine and Dawn’s. They were declared to be Shoemakers. My now embellished memory is the Judge striking his gavel on the desk transferring my name, ‘Shoemaker’, to those unrelated, orphaned kids. With that single declaration, they forever became part of my family, my heritage, my namesakes, and became Shoemakers…
Isn’t the transference of my name, Shoemaker, to those children in the courtroom that day, exactly what happens when we become “adopted” into God’s family through Jesus Christ?
We are adopted into God’s family as children of God. God who? God with many names, one of which is Holy.
Galatians 4:4-7 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Romans 8:15-16“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
“I am Holy,” God declares (Lev 11:45) and “... the LORD who sanctifies you…” (Lev 20:8). “You are my child!” God declares as he strikes down his gavel. Forever, we are “Holy” because we are God’s… just as Nick, Megan, and Jordan are “Shoemakers” and no longer Mordashov. Mordashova, or Savenkov.
We are holy and there is nothing we can do to change it. You may be saying, “God is very specific about what holy actions and characteristics are in Scripture.” I agree 100%. I believe God puts those in there to teach us what it means to be Holy, not to define the requirements to attain holiness.
Over the first year (and beyond), we had to teach Nick, Megan, and Jordan what it meant to be a “Shoemaker.” I wrote a letter and translated it into Russian very early in our parenting them that explained what carrying my name meant. What behavior was acceptable and what what not. What I began to teach them was drastically different than what they had learned in the orphanages where they grew up. It was not an easy process. Nick and Megan had spent 10 years in the orphanages, from ages 5 and 4 through ages 15 and 14. There was a lot of behavior and attitude and character to work on and it took time. There were many occasions they did not exhibit what was “Shoemaker” approved. Whenever they exhibited those characteristics, actions, words, or attitudes that were not congruent with being a “Shoemaker”, it didn’t make them any less a Shoemaker – it just meant there was still more work and learning to do. It was, and is, a continual process of changing to be WHAT THEY ARE… SHOEMAKERS.
Is that any different in our lives with respect to holiness? God calls us – and better yet – DECLARES us to be holy. In Genesis 1, God says “… let there be light…” and spoke light into being where it did not exist. In Leviticus 11:45 God says “… you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” What if God is declaring holiness into our lives and speaking holiness into being where it did not exist? I believe He is declaring us holy – because we are his and he is holy. It’s our responsibility to learn what that practically looks like.
Remember our definition of sanctification? It basically means “holiness.” The last line and main idea of sanctification (holiness) is “… the process by which an entity is brought into relationship with or attains the likeness of the holy.” How are we brought into that likeness? We read it in Gal 4:6 & 7 “… God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts… therefore you are no longer a slave but a son…”
God puts his Spirit in us. This enables us to live – AND CHANGE – to “… attain the likeness of the holy.” This is a permanent thing – just like my kids will forever be a Shoemaker – we will forever be God’s and therefore holy.
Ephesians 1:13-14 ” In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.“
So where does that leave me? I simply have to receive that I am who He says I am. Easy to say, not so easy in practice. Leads to a whole other discussion of who I’m listening to… but that’s another post.
II Cor 10:3-5 (NIV) “3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
This verse is all about how differently we “war” that the world does. We war over our thought life… we war with our mind. I’ve heard too often people chide that Christianity is a crutch for people who can’t think for themselves. I’ve heard it said that faith is where people turn when they can’t think or reason. Clearly, people who say this haven’t read the scriptures as the Bible is full of context and richness on just how “thinky” our faith is.
Phil 4:8 – “… think on these things…”
Rom 12:2 – “…renew your mind..”
II Cor 10:5 – “… take captive every thought…”
Col 3:2 – “.. set your mind on things above..”
And that’s just of the top of my head… I’m sure the list is fairly substantial. Anyone who has read the New Testament, can’t possibly think that Paul believed his faith to be a crutch and that Paul wasn’t an intellectual…
I just read chapter 2 of John Maxwell’s “Thinking For A Change” where he dissects the affects of good thinking. Good thinking changes your beliefs which changes your expectations, which changes your attitude which changes your behavior, which changes your performance, which changes your life. Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book “Who Switched Off My Brain” presents the scientific evidence behind and the practical application of Romans 12:2 “renewing your mind.”
11 Cor 10:5 in The Message version is really enlightening to see this passage from another angle: “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”
“… every loose thought and emotion and impulse..”… where do those come from? The mind.
John 15:2-3 (NLT) He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.
I’ve often taken this passage in the context of being an “unfruitful” person being cut off. If I’m not exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), if I’m not being fruitful in my gifts and call of the Lord (Rom 12:4-8), etc. But what if what gets cut off and pruned isn’t people, but attitudes, pride, fear and other influences of my thinking and understanding?
Jesus said that he didn’t come to abolish the law but to complete it. What does that look like?
Jesus’ teachings clarified and redefined what mankind had made of the Law – a bunch of rules and regulations that were not motivated by anything other than fear and pride.
Jesus changed the attitudes and motivation. The motivation behind his teaching is out of love for Him, love for God, and love for others – based and rooted in relationship.
What attitudes, perceptions, and influences need to be cut off of my life because they don’t bear fruit?
What motivations need to be pruned in order to be more fruitful?
Interesting day today. I just finished reading Caroline Leaf’s book, Who Switched Off My Brain?, which is an amazing and fascinating study on how we detox our toxic thought life and how our brain works in general. Dr. Leaf goes to our church and her premise verse in this book is
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
This is one of the foundational scriptures I started this experiment with. Dr. Leaf’s book is a layman’s explanation of the science behind how we can actually renew our minds – our thoughts, our memories, our recollections. The book is a fairly easy read – I read it in 2 days – most of the read was while we were driving to Destin, FL for our vacation – thanks Honey for driving for so many hours!
Once we got here, I started another book that I’ve had for years and read many moons ago. It’s a book by John Maxwell, entitled Thinking For A Change. By coincidence (…uh… yeah…..right….) one of his foundational verses is:
Phil 4:8 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy —meditate on these things.
It’s amazing – this is the other verse I started this experiment with. I am excited to see what God is going to speak over the days off on my vacation.
I love when God coordinates things like this… It excites me to know he thinks about the little details of my life and drops in those little unexpected surprises. A very good friend of mine calls them “God kisses”…
Thank you Lord for caring about the little details…
I’ve been in St. Louis the last two days on business. We had a big custom demo to deliver today to a potentially large customer. The room had about 12-15 people in it of many nationalities and I expect it was likely a big salad bowl of beliefs. I didn’t ask, but I would guess there were Muslims, Buddhists, possibly a Hindu or two, and then I expect a big mix of “Protestant” faiths… probably had an atheist and an agnostic thrown in amongst the crowd.
As I began to dwell on the reality of the physical office building and conference room and that God’s presence fills up every inch of space there, I wondered why more people don’t see, know, and relate with God.
It was a similar experience on the flight home. I’ve flown enough over the years that I get to board early, and I sat in row 10 and watched almost everyone board that plane – it is one of my favorite things to do on a flight is to watch every person board… weird, I know… I guarantee there were all kinds of faiths and non-faiths alike on that flight… even more than I listed above. And yet, the TRUTH is this – God’s presence filled every cavity, overhead, cabin, seat-back, snack cart and square inch of that 757 including the luggage compartment and the air around the plane as we flew from St. Louis to Dallas. Think about it… that plane flew through the presence of God from takeoff to touchdown – and yet, how many people had no idea. Many of them don’t know, don’t acknowledge, or worse, don’t care that The God of the universe, The Creator of every living thing, is “in da house” and is right up in every one of our faces – all the time – every moment of every day – every day of our lifetime – close enough to feel the breath we breath and be tickled by our eyelashes when we blink… yet we sit there unaware… How are we so ignorant of the truth? How am I so ignorant of the truth of His presence?
I shudder to think of how many flights I’ve flown and been in one of those categories – didn’t know, didn’t acknowledge, didn’t care… I cringe at how many days I’ve been on this planet and walked utterly oblivious to Him – either intentionally or in ignorance. Thank you Lord for your mercy, your unfailing love, and your consistent, gentle presence always in my present – even when I wasn’t aware.
This contemplation has progressed to wonder why many I – and likely many in the Church – associate the presence of God with some sort of one-at-a-time experiences or “special and infrequent event”. How many times have I said, “The presence of God was really powerful today”, or “God really showed up today in worship”…. really?
Today my question is: When did God’s presence leave? I didn’t hear an announcement… “Attention, God has left the building…. repeat, God has left the building.” (Yes, that was an Elvis throwback for those old enough to remember…)
David wrote it best…
Psalms 1395 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! 7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave,* you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
Paul said it similarly in Romans
Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I’ve been guilty of this. I am currently more often than not guilty of this. I think my theology might be askew to assume that God’s presence “comes and goes”. I believe it was true in the Old Testament as there are numerous examples of God’s presence coming and going. But the Scripture is fairly clear that after Jesus’ resurrection and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit – that He was here to stay. I’ve not found where the Holy Spirit bugged out.
I’m sure I think this way because of the Church culture and mindset in which I grew up and live in.
Take, for example, the lyrics of a LONG TIME FAVORITE worship song… One I have lead many times.
I`m here to meet with you
Come and meet with me
I`m here to find you,
reveal yourself to me
As I wait, you make me strong
As I long, draw me to your arms
As I stand and sing your praise
You come, you come and you fill this place
Won`t you come, Won`t you come and fill this place
"MEET WITH ME" BY TEN SHEKEL SHIRT
Did you catch the lyrics… “won’t you come, won’t you come and fill this place?”
Didn’t we already establish that God’s presence is everywhere, all the time, every day of our lives?
To where is He going to come… or go for that matter? Is He or is He not Omnipresent?
Yes, I’ve had a major shift in my perspective and understanding and ultimately my Theology. Instead of viewing God presence as “come and go,” as my current theology-view is, I think it to be more accurate to say ” I CHOOSE to recognize and live in His ever-present presence” or “I CHOOSE to ignore His ever-present presence”.
Psalms 46:1 (NIV) God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Regardless of what I CHOOSE – the TRUTH is that His Presence is still present and is always everywhere…
I’m choosing to live in His present presence…. Lord, open the eyes of my heart to always recognize and see your Presence in my present.
This is why I love running! God has my complete attention.
During my run tonight, I was talking to Papa and just praying for His presence and more of Him when he reminded me of the passage in Romans 8:38-39 (yes, I had to look up the reference when I got home!)
Rom 8:38-39 (ESV) 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here are His words to me: “I am everywhere, all the time. I am omni-present, all the time. There is no mountain too high, no ocean too deep, no desert too wide, no star too far that I am not there. You cannot escape My Presence. You don’t need my Presence to come to you, you need the eyes of your heart opened to recognized that YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE!”
WOW! I was immediately reminded of Ephesians 1 (yes, I knew this reference because I attempted to memorize this chapter once) when Paul prayed for the “... eyes of their hearts to be opened…” to know the hope of His calling.
That may be old news to some of you, but my soul awakened with those life-giving words from my Abba!
Run on, soul…. run on!
…Running After Papa
** Post Script **
It’s 11:15 and has been a couple of hours since my run and epiphany. As I finished a book I’m reading, (The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning) the end of the book has 19 devotionals (which I’ll be doing of the next few weeks).
The first devotional’s reading is all of Psalms 139. I’ve included a few verses that literally made me giggle and God’s craftiness and timing – given the events and revelation during my run tonight (a few hours previous)…
Psalm 139:7-12 (NLT) 7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
God cracks me up. His timing is impeccable. I guess this was my great revelation today… I can never escape the presence of God. He is everywhere, regardless of whether or not I realize, acknowledge, or feel his presence – He is here! *** Post Post Script *** – June 18, 2011
While running today what God spoke a couple of days ago is absolutely changing my worldview, my faith-view, and quite possibly some portion of my theology… more to come in a separate post… Unbelievable!
Well, The Great Experiment starts today. If you didn’t read last week’s post, then you may not know about my next 30 days. It’s worth a quick gander…
Based on Rom 12:2 and Phil 4:8, I am intentionally soaking and immersing myself in “…whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy…” I am choosing to fill my mind with those things and meditate on those things.
This means that for the next 30 days, I am purposing to avoid all public media, news, television shows, movies, newspapers… etc. Instead, I am going to specifically focus on every free moment to seek His face, breathe His Presence, and rest in His Arms through the Word, worship, reading and writing and any other avenue He places before me.
Phil 4:8 will be my mind’s guide for the next 30 days.
I am not sure where it will lead, but I am sure of His promise – that I will be transformed. As the New Century Version puts it: “… Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect…”
All I really want, is to want more of Him. That’s my only goal. That’s my only request of Him is to come out of this with a renewed passion for Him.
I plan to update the website daily – documenting my journey…
I’m considering a month long experiment – this morning in my quiet time I so enjoyed my extended time on the back porch with just a cup of coffee and the scripture, that I became disgusted with myself.
I realized that I am so lazy and waste so much time. I remember a time – and not too long ago – when I passionately pursued my relationship with the Lord. Where did that go? How did I get to here?
Through some recent experiences and observations that have been placed before me, I have spent a bit of time reflecting and getting really honest with myself… Frankly, that can be a really scary place. In that introspection, I didn’t like what I saw. When I peel off the sanguine exterior and the professional demeanor, I have come to realize just how true the old saying “… you are what you eat…” is in my life. Ha ha… not because I’ve become a cup of coffee or anything, but because of what my life has become… self absorbed, stressful, angry, and negative. Those characteristics are NOT what I am nor what I want to be. As a result of them, I’ve found myself more distanced from my family and friends and find myself a little lonely.
Those who know me, may not yet see it because mostly it stays on the inside, just simmering like a big pot of chili on low heat on the back eye of the stove. But I know it’s there. I know it wouldn’t take much for the pot to boil over and splatter that hot chili all over my kitchen and potentially on my family and friends.
How did it I get here? Fear. Mistrust. Judgement. Anger. Pride. These are my demons I battle regularly. They seem to have the most impact when my life is hectic and God get’s pushed out of my schedule so I can watch TV. There.. how’s that for being real? The idiot box is the prime source of everything negative, fearful, judgmental and self absorbing. The other biggest source other people. So many people are fearful, mistrusting, judgmental, angry, and self-absorbed… just like me.
This morning, I honestly and actually turned my own stomach.
So in my time with Daddy this morning, this little idea sprouted in my head… (I’m fairly sure I know where it came from… see James 1:17)
I’ve been captivated for the last several weeks on
Philippians 4:8 (The Message) Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
What would it look like if for 30 days, I intentionally chose to eliminate every form of extraneous, non-best, input and influence from my life? What if (where I have control) I replace every worldly noise clamoring for my attention with something that kept my attention and focus on the Lord? What would that look like?
What if I renewed my mind with the God’s word in every way, shape, and form I could find?
Romans 12:2 (New King James Version) 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
What if I bathed myself in that which was true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy?
What if I was intentional about not wasting any time and for 30 days specifically focused on ONE THING… SOMETHING SPECIFIC… – be it passion for Him, creativity, patience, wisdom, humility, mercy, etc. – for the next 30 days?
What if I consumed everything I could get from God with every spare moment?
I don’t know what it will look like, but I’m pretty excited about the journey. Our pastor this morning quoted that God’s word is a “lamp unto my feet” (Psalms 119:105) and is meant to reveal the next step.
I wonder where my next step will be?
I will keep you posted on the journey…. It starts soon….
Rom 1:20 (New Living Translation) For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
I was on a flight to Chicago this week and was thumbing through my iPod listening to random songs and I played Orianthi’s “According to You”.
I think this ended up on my iPod because of one of my kids adding songs to collections. Orianthi has played with Prince, Carrie Underwood, Eric Clapton and others and was Michael Jackson’s lead guitarist at the ripe old age of 24 or so. She’s obviously very talented and was named as one of the top 12 Female electric guitarists in 2009 (age 24).
Anyway, I’ve heard this song several times before and I like the song – it’s catchy, got a good tune, and some great guitar work. I don’t know Orianthi’s beliefs or faith or eternal destiny, but I would by no means put this song on any Christian radar – which is exactly the point.
The song is from a girl’s perspective comparing one boy to another – one who is degrading, hateful, and insulting vs. one who is encouraging, loving and accepting. The opening lyrics say “According to you, I’m stupid, I’m useless, I can’t do anything right…” When I heard these lyrics THIS time, I immediately thought “How many times do I say those same words over myself … ‘I’m so stupid!’… ‘Shoemaker, you idiot!’… etc.” Isn’t this exactly what our enemy – who is degrading, hateful, and insulting – wants us to speak over ourselves and the ones we love?
About that time, the chorus kicked in and I nearly broke down in tears in seat 21E on my flight to Chicago. The chorus says, “But according to him, I’m beautiful, incredible, he can’t get me out of his head…” and I heard the Lord express that those were the words of his heart that “I’m beautiful, incredible, and He can’t get me out of his head…”
Wow! It was completely overwhelming. To think that the Creator of the universe, the one who died for me, thinks I’m beautiful, thinks I’m incredible and that He is continually thinking of me…. ME! God is thinking about me!
Jer 29:11 (NKJV) 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Ps 40:5 (NKJV) 5 Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Ps 139:17-18 (NKJV) 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
I have to say that this encounter through an everyday song has stirred my heart and captured my thoughts for the last few days… thinking of Him thinking of me…. Overwhelming…
I encourage you to listen to the video (even if you don’t like pop) and hear the words (with My little edits of a capital letter or two) “According to Him, I’m beautiful, incredible, He can’t get me out of his head…”
I think this topic of “God in the everyday” will be a common one…
15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. (Romans 2:15 NLT)
I’ve been contemplating (on and off again) the role of the mind in our transformation. I’ve written about it a few times on this site about the mind being the control center and such. I recently heard a teaching that the “gates of hell” could possibly be the mind itself.
I think this verse lends itself to confirming the importance of the mind. All too often, we’re asked as Christians to turn off our mind in order to walk in Faith. I don’t believe that accurate. I believe God built into the DNA of mankind His truth. This passage adds credence to that thought.
I’m still processing it. It certainly adds weight for me to “renew my mind” (Rom 12:2).
