Spiritual Truths

I have a creepy feeling inside of me.  Some part of God's spirit in me is predicting things and preparing my heart for things I do not know will happen.  How do I know this stuff??  Nothing in my body can tell me what I've known before it happened, and yet, somehow I knew it?
The night before Mrs. Hoffman died, I read Isaiah 57:1-2, and I prayed to God, "If you take her, keep her in heaven, because she is a wonderful woman and has done many things for You that no other woman I know has done."
A couple of hours ago, I read in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, "There is a time for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die..." ...and as I read that, I knew somehow deep inside that this, in this moment, was talking about sweet little Julia... and now.. I hear that she has passed away... How can this happen?
The words of one of my new favorite songs screams out to me at this moment, because it's message is lining perfectly with my life, every second God is in control of me.

Alive Again - Matt Maher

Yes, I can see the light before I see the sunrise, and I can feel the wind before it hits my skin... it's so weird!
If anyone tries to tell you that the Spirit does not do things inside of a person that makes them know, say, or even understand things that cannot be understood by your body's senses, they do not know God!
God works amazing wonders.
I found it hard to believe such things even when my Bible teacher tried showing us it last year.  Honestly, he spoke in "tongues"--and it was weird! No idea what he said, and walking out of that class, all of my friends were like "Wow, do you believe that stuff? I think it's kinda crazy. Well, I don't really know, but yeah it was weird. I'm not sure."
But in that class, when he spoke whatever he did, it gave me some weird calmness.. and when he translated what he said... it spoke directly to me, into my life, and what I was going through at that time. He wasn't directing it toward anyone himself, but he faced me when he spoke it too. Interesting, huh..

Ever since then, I've looked for the Spirit, and I've found it here and there, in my life, and in others.
People find it hard to believe such a thing is true. Dying on the cross and being raised to life is a little less hard to believe than this, because this is something present.

Am I making any of this up? No; I wouldn't dare make a claim this big anywhere if I was not being truthful.
Does it line up with scripture? That someone can know things beyond herself because of the Spirit?
See for yourself:

    We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
    no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him" —
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
    The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgement:
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
    that he may instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Music

One of the biggest questions Christians have been asking in regards to how much we are "In the world," is what types of music can we listen to?

It has split churches before (the Church of Christ doesn't believe in instrumental music), and it can create rifts in between relationships. Some get "persecuted" by their peers or even by adults because of types of music they listen to.

I would like to propose that what type of music you listen to does not matter. It does not matter whether music is A capella or screamo; music is music.

No, what truly matters is the message.

The message comes from the whole entire musical picture that the piece presents. It involves the words, the tone of the music, and how it affects your feelings. Usually, you can tell what the message is by the lyrics, but sometimes you need to make a personal judgement on how it affects you.

It can change with some people how music affects you. For example, I am really weak when it comes to "secular"(or "worldy") music, but my best friend does good enough with it that songs without a bad lyrical message, she can listen to without being drawn away from God. For her, it's a party mood, or it's just an innocent having fun mood with an interesting beat; but sometimes for me, it can bring back inappropriate thoughts, which can build up inside me and cause me to sin. So test yourself and make sure that what you are listening to isn't taking you away from Christ.

Now, if the message has nothing to do with Christ, then what is it about? Is it about you? Is it about loving a boy or a girl? Is it about partying when the sun goes down?

"Sin" is a part of our nature, not an act, and the middle of sin is "I". When the world revolves around you, your desires, what you want, and when you want it, that is when sin occurs. Adam and Eve fell because they thought they could do things better than their own Creator, not because they ate an apple that God didn't want them to eat. Be careful and always purge yourself of any sign of selfishness that puts you in God's throne; and that will be the determining factor for the music you choose to listen to.

As disciples of Christ, our biggest goal is to become more "Christ-like" every day. As we work towards that goal, all the other problems we face get solved. If you ask, "Well what about how we should worship?", the answer would be, "How Jesus worshiped." And if you ask, "but how should we treat sinners?", the answer is always, "How Jesus treated them." And so this is why we wear the W.W.J.D. (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets, because all of our questions are answered by how Jesus dealt with things and acted towards people. Keep all of this in mind when you are choosing your music too. "What would Jesus be listening to? Would he smile at me and sing along, or would he look at me with sad eyes full of love as he hangs on the cross? Would he be ashamed of me in front of the Father?" (No pressure, if he's accepting, you don't need to doubt it; but you do need to make a choice.)

Music has a big influence on how you treat people and on how others see you. I know I get made fun of for avoiding what we call secular music, but somewhere in their brains, they begin to understand that I do this for God, and not just because "it's a sin." Listening to music really isn't a sin. "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'." (Matt. 15:10b-11) But how far are you willing to follow Jesus? Will you settle for following with only half of your life, or will you give it your all?

I strongly believe that Jesus calls us to give it our all, or he will deny that he ever knew you (Matt. 7:21-23). Even Paul (in Galatians 2:11-14) rebuked Peter, one of the Apostles, for being two-faced. It may be impossible to truly mimic what Christ does, but that can’t stop us from trying our best!!!

So if you want to be true about your faith, be careful about what you are listening to. Be sure that nothing turns you away from God even for a moment, and love Him with all of your heart(emotion), soul(decision maker), mind(thinker), and strength(body).

~♥