Gain the world, lose your soul.

"At least I'm (it's) not..."

Have you ever used those words to justify your actions? Ever thought what you were doing, listening to or watching was acceptable just because there are worse things out there? Ever have that feeling that maybe, just maybe you shouldn't be watching a certain movie, listening to a certain artist, or acting a certain way? If you're like me, you quickly discard the thought. You think: How silly, at least I'm not...

See that? Just because there are worse things doesn't make what we are doing right.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

I really have been convicted of this over the last few months. I thought cause I prayed a prayer that I was all set. I had my "Get out of Jail Free" card, and I could now do whatever I wanted to; as long as I wasn't murdering people or doing drugs. Funny thing about that, one little lie from my mouth and I am just as guilty and punishable by death as that guy who killed three people in one week. I was so full of self-righteousness and I didn't even notice it. Whenever that feeling of conviction would come upon me, I would just resort to my old standby: "At least I'm not..."

I have come to the glorious revelation that the ONLY things worth doing or watching or listening to in this world are those that bring honor and glory to the Lord. Everything else is garbage. It doesn't matter if everyone thinks it's cool or popular. It doesn't even matter if YOU think it's cool or popular. Chances are, anything you do for the Lord will not be popular. In fact, more often than not, you will be questioned, rejected and even mocked for the things you do to glorify the Lord.

Get used to it.

Throw out all you ever thought about the christian life being a fluffy, airheaded, care-free lifestyle that leaves you unchanged... This is real. This is where the rubber meets the road, this is where holes in your jeans appear from constant prayer and seeking the Lord. This is a battle. Stop whining that your lemonade is being spilled and pick up your Sword!

Once we get it through our heads that we have chosen the roughest road, we realize just how impossible it is to survive on our own. With arrows and swords flashing all around, and our friends dropping left and right, it's only a matter of time until we too are killed.

But there's Hope.

John 16:33

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

The Lord is able to save us. The Lord is mighty in battle. This is the same God that helped David slay a giant. The same God that gave strength to Josheb-basshebeth, who defeated 800 men at one time with just a spear. This is the same God who gave hundred of thousands of christians in other countries the strength to face terrible torture and even death.

Jesus is the the answer. We need to cry out to Him. Repent of all the times we do things that displease Him. If it's not honoring, it's dishonoring. There is no neutral ground. There is no compromise. There is no such thing as: "Well it's a secular artist, BUT IT'S NOT BAD MUSIC." This may be so, but is it honoring the Lord? Does it talk about Him mighty acts of salvation? Are they expressing the unquenchable thirst for the Lord's presence? Are they telling of the glories of heaven? Do they praise the Lord for His unfailing Love?

We cannot hold this to secular artists alone. We must filter "christian" music as well. There are just as many "christian" artists out there that are only in it for the fame and fun of standing on stage in front of sellout crowds. The bible says that signs of the last days will be evil having the appearance of Godliness. We must be careful.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

Jeremiah 2:13 (Amplified Bible) For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.

Music is only one part of our analysis of our lives. I would have to write a book in order to cover them all. Luckily,? FORTUNATELY, PROVIDENTIALLY, there already is a book. The Holy Word of God.

Don't roll your eyes at me. If you say you Love God and want to please Him in all you do, then come back here and keep reading.

The Bible is The Filter for anything we encounter in our lives.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (Amplified Bible) Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?

We MUST bring everything we do to the Lord and offer it up to Him. We must be willing to give it up if we know it's displeasing to the Lord. No matter what it is. Is it worth gaining the world, but losing our soul? Is it? IS IT??

The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.