Does it matter to our God what we do? What we think about? How we act? Does He have guidelines for our entertainment habits?
Anyone reading my blog, likely already knows that I study Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible. If any other Scripture in the Bible is contrary to Torah then I'm missing something, I'm reading it through the wrong "lenses". The Bible can NOT contradict itself....EVER. If it seems like it does then there is something wrong with how I'm interpreting it. Okay, now back to the questions....
Exodus 19:5-7
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My [a]own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Philippians 4:8
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is [a]lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, [b]dwell on these things.
In Exodus it tells us that if we belong to Him, we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation! Doesn't that mean we should be seeking to be undefiled and holy? We choose what goes into our minds, life or death. Maybe some of you remember that really old Gaither album LIFE, there was a song on there called Input/Output.
Rarely are we forced against our will to watch a movie or read a book that shows life contrary to how YHVH wants us to live. The fact is that Torah (as well as apostle Paul) teaches that we are to focus on loving and serving our God by keeping His commandments and learning how He wants us to live. In fact, Yahshua told us in Matt 22:37 He told him, "`You are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.' 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, `You are to love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot."CJB
So, how then do we love YHVH with all our being? Here are some words straight from Yahshua's mouth.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands; 16 and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever." CJB
So what exactly are His commands? Keeping in mind that Yahshua is God's perfect son, even while being God Himself....so that brings us back to Matt 22:37-40, the most important commandments....notice that verse 40 says that ALL the Torah and Prophets fall into place under these two commandments. He was simply listing the two main ones. So in Torah we find a list of at least 613 mizvot (commandments), not all apply to everyone, there are some for women that have nothing to do with men and some for Levites that don't apply to everyone....and if you read them all, you will notice that they are not hard...they just go into more detail than the 10 commandments that most of us grew up memorizing.
So this brings me back to the question. Does God care about our entertainment decisions? Does He care about how we live our lives? Does He care about what we fill our minds with?
YES! He cares about everything we do. All I've read in Scripture tells me that He gave us the Torah, because He DOES care about what we do, and therefore gives us guidelines to follow. They are not hard to follow, IF we want to please Him with our whole being. IF we are willing to die to our selfish desires. IF we love Him enough to forsake all else.
Now having said that, I feel compelled to tell you that I fall short....a lot. I started watching The X-Files a month ago...and now I feel convicted, it's a waste of time.
I am constantly having to change and live my life according to HIS standards, not my own. It's a battle everyday, to make the right choices. To die to self, and serve Him. To die to self, and serve my family. To die to self, and serve others.
Philippians 2:
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Let us keep HIS words in our hearts and minds, so that it becomes easier and easier to obey Him and not our selfish desires. I want everything I do to reflect Him...oh I have a long way to go. But it is my desire to please Him and show Him how much I love Him in my obedience.
In Exodus it tells us that if we belong to Him, we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation! Doesn't that mean we should be seeking to be undefiled and holy? We choose what goes into our minds, life or death. Maybe some of you remember that really old Gaither album LIFE, there was a song on there called Input/Output.
Input, Output, what goes in is what goes out,
Input, Output, that is what it's all about
Input, Output, life is a computer (something, can't think of the word!!)
Input, Output, daily you must choose.
Let the Bible be your daily feed, It's got all the DATA you need!
Rid your mind of sinful bytes, then you should turn out allllright! (or something like that)
Rarely are we forced against our will to watch a movie or read a book that shows life contrary to how YHVH wants us to live. The fact is that Torah (as well as apostle Paul) teaches that we are to focus on loving and serving our God by keeping His commandments and learning how He wants us to live. In fact, Yahshua told us in Matt 22:37 He told him, "`You are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.' 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, `You are to love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot."CJB
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands; 16 and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever." CJB
So what exactly are His commands? Keeping in mind that Yahshua is God's perfect son, even while being God Himself....so that brings us back to Matt 22:37-40, the most important commandments....notice that verse 40 says that ALL the Torah and Prophets fall into place under these two commandments. He was simply listing the two main ones. So in Torah we find a list of at least 613 mizvot (commandments), not all apply to everyone, there are some for women that have nothing to do with men and some for Levites that don't apply to everyone....and if you read them all, you will notice that they are not hard...they just go into more detail than the 10 commandments that most of us grew up memorizing.
So this brings me back to the question. Does God care about our entertainment decisions? Does He care about how we live our lives? Does He care about what we fill our minds with?
YES! He cares about everything we do. All I've read in Scripture tells me that He gave us the Torah, because He DOES care about what we do, and therefore gives us guidelines to follow. They are not hard to follow, IF we want to please Him with our whole being. IF we are willing to die to our selfish desires. IF we love Him enough to forsake all else.
Now having said that, I feel compelled to tell you that I fall short....a lot. I started watching The X-Files a month ago...and now I feel convicted, it's a waste of time.
I am constantly having to change and live my life according to HIS standards, not my own. It's a battle everyday, to make the right choices. To die to self, and serve Him. To die to self, and serve my family. To die to self, and serve others.
Philippians 2:
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Let us keep HIS words in our hearts and minds, so that it becomes easier and easier to obey Him and not our selfish desires. I want everything I do to reflect Him...oh I have a long way to go. But it is my desire to please Him and show Him how much I love Him in my obedience.
