Thursday 30 May 2013

That's Pinteresting...

Hey!

So, this week I quit Pinterest and here's why. 

This isn't a condemning post at all, it isn't a rant about 'today's society', it isn't about trying to make you feel bad if you use the site; it's about me just wanting to explain what God is teaching me about and how this involved the website. 

Basically, a man in my church read aloud Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd. He spoke only about the first line. He was saying how he had known this Psalm practically his entire life, but he had gained new revelation from just those first 11 words...

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want."

Especially those last 6 words. 'I shall not be in want.' It provoked me to read and reread this Psalm, and a beautiful one it is too. That first line just stuck in my heart. God was saying to me that if I truly believe Him to be my everything, like I sing or pray about, if I really believe it in the nitty-gritty of everyday life, where things are messy and complicated, I actually would not be in want for anything.

God's been challenging me on it ever since, and I love it. 

What I found was that my 'browsing' of Pinterest could quite easily turn into wasted time, but most of all, it was harbouring a spirit of want in my heart. I would see something and pin it onto a board that I had neatly arranged, but with every pin what I was really doing was saying 'Oohh, I'd like that' or 'I want that' and then creating a board plastered with a variety of things, most of which whispered 'want.'

I do think the website can be utilized in a positive way though, especially for ideas of crafts or recipes or exercises and the like, however for me, I personally felt that God told me to quit the website. Having an account and spending time 'getting ideas' didn't really work for me, and this was a practical way of cutting out that spirit of want, just through obeying Him. 

So, in conclusion, if you feel you identify with what I'm saying then pray and see if it's a practical way that God can teach you things through too. If you don't feel convicted to leave it alone, then all I would like to say is that I encourage you to utilize it for ideas and inspiration and to actually do what you find (I hardly ever did any of the workouts I regularly pinned! :P) because I honestly found that it didn't take long whilst 'browsing,' to begin to feel disappointed or discouraged, unhappy or even in want of certain 'things' for myself or my life; and I believe that feeding those kinds of feelings or thought patterns can be quite dangerous.

Now,  please bask in this wondrous scripture...

C.

The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd,
[a]shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside [b]quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the [c]paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death,
fear no [e]evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You [f]have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
[g]Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will [h]dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.




Wednesday 1 May 2013

Surrender.

surrender.

So, recently I've been struck by this song by Kim Walker, (link down below!) I've heard it hundreds of times and loved it, but just recently fresh revelation has come from these lyrics. Especially these two chunks below...

All to you, I Surrender…
Everything, Every part of me.
All to you, I Surrender…
All of my dreams, All of me.


...

No turning back, I've
made up my mind.
I'm giving all of my life this time

What does it mean to surrender everything? What does it look like to 'lost in love for You'? 

These two questions were provoked by these lyrics, (it's amazing how God can reach and touch your heart through something you've heard before! There's always more to learn!)
Well, those two questions are what I'm currently embarking upon learning with God. 

I know for sure I haven't got this surrendering thing down to a T, and I'm not sure I ever will completely. I think it's an on going thing to consciously decide to do! (Atleast for me anyway!) But what I do know, is that recently I've been learning a little bit more about how to surrender more to Him each day.

Let's add some context. I've been thinking a lot recently about future plans, and how if what I'm doing at the minute is directly preparing me for those plans, and how if they're not, maybe I should change things? But then I think... maybe I shouldn't change things because that involves big decisions, (and we all know I don't really want to face those beasts in case they'are the wrong choices!)

You know those kinds of thought battlefields? The ones where you want to have a complete direct plan, that you know you can check-up on every now again and feel satisfied you're sticking to it? Those niggling thoughts that can sometimes be buzzing around too loud in your mind it is hard to silence them?


Well I certainly do. Listening and worshipping God through this song has brought me an unbelievable peace in this situation of surrendering decision making to God, it has been a release of anxiety. Knowing that when surrendering ALL of me, (including all those plans and dreams!) to God means that I can have peace in the decision making, because I know my God has my back. And I'm sure that if in surrendered obedience to Him, He wouldn't let me go so far 'off the plan' that He couldn't reach me. My lovely friend put it this way, ' I know God has a plan and I can never mess it up so badly that He can't fix it.' Wow.

In surrendering control, and trusting God it makes decision making easier! He's SO BIG. And SO LOVING! And plus, His ways are far greater than ours, it's safe to make decisions and take that leap of faith until the next one comes along. 

Ephesians 3:20-21

20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

He's got us.

Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSgn-nmBpNY

C.