How I came to making these lists: 1. A long time ago I listened to Matt Chandler preach Stirring Your Affections for Jesus in which he said, "Find the things that stir your affections for Christ and saturate your life in them. Find the things that rob you of that affection and walk away from them. That’s the Christian life as easy as I can explain it for you." 2. Matthew Christopher Chang from EPIC shared with me, "If you can't think of at least 20 sins in your life off the top of your head then you are not aware of your sins enough." 3. Fighting and struggling for my joy in Christ and running about and resting well and waging war on sin all while being gracefully captivated by the question, "Will this get me more of God or will it not get me more of God?" in my minds end and heart throughout my God given day. 4. Other [deep] and heavy questions that come from asking that. 5. Being motivated to make more lists in my life for the glory of God and the final salvation of the many.
These are just some of the God glorying dominoes that fell in my life which led me to slowly and prayerfully make these lists.
Disclaimer: These are MY lists of things that steal and stir MY affections for God. They personally deal with things that happen in MY life. Laying on a couch with a girl late late at night would probably steal my affections for God and cause me to sin, whorrebly sin, but that is not something I personally do or plan to do in my life and days. So its not in my list. Get it? Therefore, I pray that you would be exhorted by these lists in order to make your own, but prayerfully and honestly. Commune with God on this. This is a matter of the heart! Be honest! Cuz if you don't be honest then you can't use these lists to wage war well and fight for your joy; all that you write will be in vain. Be as specific as you can and avoid generalizing, sugarcoating, over exaggerating, or any other beautiful eloquent lies that don't attack what needs to be attacked in light of the Gospel. This is NOT about a list of do's and dont's, this is about what will get me more of God in order to enjoy Him above all because He is what I ultimately need. He is worth it.
[List of 20 things that steal my affections for God and lead me to sin and not glorify Him]
(I have 6 Big Sins = Lust, Pride, Bitterness/Anger/Frustration, Apathy, Hero Complex, and Lazy/Idleness which can all be boiled down to IDOLATRY)
- Being home "alone" with internet/technology and other earthly trinkets for an extended period of time
- Oversleeping/sleeping pass 12 pm/sleeping over 10 hours unless it is much needed catching up on rest
- Unintentional back to back leisurely activity i.e. TV shows/board games
- Insignificant/Un[deep]/pointless "small" talks - the longer the talk the worse
- Mindless internet surfing especially on YouTube or Facebook/Unfocused and unintentional with my time
- Hearing bard theology/preaching/unbiblical teaching
- Certain part scenes/gathering places where debauchery is the goal
- "Attractive" women in unmodest clothing
- Dwelling/slumping unconfessedly and unrepentedly in a pit of sin and inactivity(post sin)
- Very vain and loud secular music/"noise"(overhearing a conversation) about temporal obsessions
- Non-fasting hunger/overeating/eating too much junk food
- Sexual immorality - masturbating, pornography, fantasy, etc.
- Being told that I am "wrong" and/or being "compared" to someone else
- Nagging - nagging that harps on my weaknesses and self nagging that only shames but doesn't help my soul
- Doing things out of obligation
- Being put on a "pedestal"/being praised
- Weird feelings like "reverse deja vu",void, amorphous emotions/feeling, etc.
- Seeing other (close)brethren struggling poorly
- Being/"feeling isolated(isolation = bad, but solitude = good for my soul)
- [DM]/[DDDT]s
How can I eliminate and/or adjust these things from/in my life with the Gospel? What is the heart of the matter behind each individual thing? What requires eliminating and what requires adjusting? What needs to be seriously and desperately done in order to wage war well on these things? Why do I still desire/want/pursue these things if it steals my affections from God and causes me to sin and thus gets me less of Him?
[List of 20 things that stir my affections for God and stuff that leads me to glorify and enjoy Him more]
- Spiritual Bengay
- Hot showers in the dark while praying on my knees
- Running about/evangelizing + gospelizing/Gospel centered conversations/CRELB/[Deep] talks + intentional dialogues/and I can go on and on because this one goes ALL OVER THE MAP and even over laps with other things on the list./loving upon others with Christ's love and meeting their needs
- Writing and CRElbing i.e. stories and love letters and Xanga blogs
- Accountability - Confessing sins and struggles: getting nitty gritty with Gospel Centered transparency
- Unreserved, unashamed, unrestricted musical worship + sermon jamming
- Hearing good sound theology/preaching/biblical teaching + preaching to myself
- Morning Worship Runs(or anytime, but morning are preferably better for my soul)(I especially enjoy sprinting up steep hills)
- Eating good food with good friends, having Good conversations while focused on our Good God
- Beautiful Awe-striking and soul moving scenery i.e. sun rays/dogs and clouds, greenness of green trees, top of the world views, starry full moon sky, etc.
- Meeting new brethren and hearing their testimonies
- Bible reading/discussion with brethren (super swedish method)
- Spontaneous/"on the spot" prayer with brethren - I especially enjoy waterfall prayer and/or putting arms over one another while praying
- Seeing/hearing other people running about, struggling well, and/or maturing in Christ
- Meditating/Memorizing/Marking up/Feasting upon God's Word
- Being a good steward of my God given time = schedule of fruitfullness + Holy Spriti led spontaneity
- Resting Well - Sabbaths, planned dates with God, sleepless nights pursuing Him, etec.
- Reading/watching/ hearing really epic stories such as mangas or movies with Gospel lenses and being [pulled]
- Apostate stories(for Holy Anguish that gets me more of God) and Martyr Stories(for Holy Ambition that gets me more of God) and good quotes/lyrics
- [Deep] Questions like constantly asking myself, "How can I do for the glory of God and the final salvation of the many? or Does this get me more of God or less of God?"/[SGCT]s
How can I saturate and fill my life with these things? Why don't I pursue these things more vigorously in my life? How exactly do these things stir my affections for God? Is it man centered feelism or doism or is it true genuine legit Gospel centered grace driven efforts/means of grace? Am I ever apathetic or indifferent to these things that would stir my affections for God and would get me more of Him to glorify and enjoy? How often and why?
I'll close with this prayer that my bestuh prehund Ben shared with me a while ago and I've been praying it ever since;
"Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there.
In Jesus' name.
Amen."
Protect, guide, sustain, and incline me to more of You whatever it costs and whatever it takes forever and always,
J.P. Fisher
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