More to Music Than What Meets the Ears

Walking through the halls of Children's Hospital the other day, I heard the beautiful voice of a young woman singing to a patient as she strummed on her guitar. I was not able to make out the words of her song, but the melody of pure voice and guitar sounded so beautiful.

Often, music therapy students volunteer at Children's Hospital and sing to the patients or play instruments for them. It is amazing how music has the power to heal. I was reminded of how David played for Saul. (1 Samuel 16:23) Saul was tormented by a spirit, but David's harp playing brought him comfort.


Music refreshes the soul and brings peace.

However, music is more powerful than we think...

Music was originally intended to worship God. (Heb 1:6)
It is also meant to be encouraging to the church body and can be used to uplift the spirit. (Is 61:3)

Unfortunately, the enemy perverts music. We know there is more out there than just worship music. There is rock, soul, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, dubstep, you name it. Not all of these varieties give glory to God. In fact, from the ones I mentioned, NONE give glory to God. The original purpose of music was twisted by Lucifer himself. Long before the Earth was formed, Satan was the angel of music. (Ezekiel 28:12-25 Satan is referred to as the Prince/King of Tyrus) As the angel of music, Lucifer's job was to lead the angels in worship. He was heaven's worship leader. Imagine such an honor. Not to mention, he was one of the most decadent angels in heaven, until one day when he decided he wanted to be God. Satan was stripped of his title and cast into hell, along with his minions. (Luke 10:18)

This is the part where music went wrong...

Satan was no longer heaven's worship leader, nor did he care to be since he thought he should be God. In revenge, the devil took music and distorted it. Satan's music talks about sin and does not glorify God. Songs about greed, lust, passion, murder, anger, hate, and revenge do not comply with God's word. Not only do such songs have a bad message, but that message gets imprinted into the forefront of the mind. If the listener thinks he/she can listen to such music and not be affected, he/she is dead wrong.

Listening to crummy music affects your mood more than you think. Try listening to a happy song. It is hard to be angry without a reason if you are listening to happy, bouncy music. Try listening to a sad song. Even if you have no reason to be sad, this music sure can affect your mood and make you feel almost depressed! Music has a powerful influence on our attitude and behavior.

The Bible says what you store in your heart is what is going to come out (Luke 6:45). If you store music that does not glorify God, as well as other icky things, you are not going to bring forth good fruits. If you store God's word in your heart and pure, godly music, and other godly things, you will produce good fruits and abstain from sin (Psalm 119:11).

Let us only allow our ears to hear things that are pure and good (Philippians 4:8). This is pleasing to God. Do not even give ungodly music a chance. I do not think it is ironic that ungodly music can so easily get stuck in your head. Once you give in to that type of music, it is so hard to steer clear from it.

God help us to clean out our iPods and clean out our hearts. Helps us to glorify you in our hearts and in our song.

Power on Our Knees

We are strongest when we are on our knees...

Angels are unleashed for battle
Demons are conquered, giants are slain
Satan flees

Miracles happen, faith is encouraged
Our spirit is uplifted, our soul is connected
Souls are birthed into the kingdom

Tears are collected in a holy vial
Prayers go up as sweet incense
Blessings come down

We have conquered
We have won
The victory is ours
Because we are strongest on our knees
(2.26.13)

Book Review: Predestination

Predestination, part of The Little Black Book series written by Scott Petty, teaches about God's design and purpose for each individual, that we are not here by mistake.  Geared towards teenagers,this was a short, simple read at only 84 pages. The author writes with teenage lingo and is relational the his readers. Petty writes about how involved God is in nature as well as the lives and individuals. This book is straight to the point and addresses many questions teens may have. The only problem I had with the book was the author's view on free choice and salvation. Petty believes humans do not have absolute freedom. He equates absolute freedom with doing things that God does not know about. I believe we do have free choice, and just because we have free choice does not mean that God does not know about it. He gave us a choice and He already knows what our choice will be. Also Petty believes there is a select group of people "destined" to go to heaven. Petty explains that God has chosen specific people to go to heaven and He draws them to Him. On the contrary, according to the Bible (John 3:15, Acts 2:39, & 2 Peter 3:9), it is not the Lord's will that any should perish. The promise of salvation is for everyone. Everyone is called to salvation, but not everyone answers. God gave everyone a free choice, and that choice began in the garden. I have a few other concerns about the book, however, the author does well at explaining his own point of view on predestination.

No Greater Love

With Valentin's Day upon us, thoughts of flowers, chocolates, pinks and reds are rushing through our minds. Love is in the air. This can be such an exciting time of year if you have a sweetheart. The anticipation of being showered with love by your sweetie bubbles over in your heart.

However, if you're single, this may be a sad time of your. Perhaps the memory of past relationships has left a sour taste in your mouth. Maybe you have never been in a relationship and you're just longing to know what it's like to love and be loved. If you're like me, you're just waiting for the right person to come along. This is just another Valentine's Day come and gone.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Valentine's Day is a day of love. Love is not limited to marriage or dating relationships. Love can be found in family and friends. In fact, the greatest love you will ever receive will never be given to you from a boyfriend or husband. The greatest love is the love of God.

His love far exceeds any human love. In fact, God's love has it's own word because no human words can describe the love He has. This word is Agape: the Love God has for mankind.

Here's what the Bible has to say about love (paraphrased):

Love is greater than any spiritual gift. Love is greater than faith.
Love extends beyond doing good deeds.

Love is long-suffering (patient)  and kind

Love does not envy

Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up

^Love does not behave rudely

Love is not selfish

Love is not easily angered and does not think evil 

^Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth

^Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

~1 Corinthians 13

The beauty in this scripture is that it's about God and his love, for God is Love.

"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."  1 John 4:8

So go back and read 1 Corinthians 13 again, but this time replace the word "love" with "God".

The scripture holds true. God's love for you is far greater than you could ever imagine. He loves you so much He died for you long before you were ever born.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

If you're single,  please don't be sad this Valentine's Day, or any day for that matter. Take this season that you're single to reflect on the greatest love there is. Take time to appreciate the ONE who loves you most. In due time, the Lord will bring the right one into your life.

As the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

Follow this link to listen to an inspiration love song about the greatest love in the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw4VFekrI2Y