I Am Not My Own

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

I love these verses. Not only because they cancel out everything the world says about our body belonging to us so we can do what we want, but they also shows us how sacred our body is. Our body is a temple. The definition of a temple is an edifice or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity (God, for us Christians). A temple is also a place of  that the Holy Spirit inhabits. My body is a temple....that's a pretty sobering discovery. The Holy Spirit lives in me. In me! So....that means that it must always be kept clean, must always be cleansed, checked for cracks, leaks etc.

I am not my own. Well, that changes everything. If I was my own, I can do whatever, whenever, however with whoever, but since I was bought with a price (Jesus' blood) and now belong to Him; I have to live a life that allows Him to be able to call on me at all times...that being said I move to my next topic.

Lately, I have taken out certain things (coffee...sigh..., excess sugars, salts, etc.) from my eating habits because I have to start beating my body into shape for the dance ministry. And from my daily devotionals, God seems to agree with me. To be honest, it has to be one of the hardest things to do: to remind myself that my body is the Lord's temple and what I do or don't do (insert lack of exercise and sleep) and put into it really matters. So when I went for that run last week and my body was crying out in protest I had to recite Philippians 4:13 to myself (literally, it was that bad) to keep going.

The good thing is I'm noticing the difference already, and I am going to need the extra energy for the 6 hour rehearsals with the dance teams and that doesn't even include the hours for working on the dances and music.....which brings me to the next topic: music. I love good music; get a guitar and drums involved and I am happy, get some soca involved and you have trouble. Lol, what can I say, its the Barbadian in me. My hips just start to move. I have to admit lately I have drifted from my Christian music to secular indie bands and my old poison of choice: Maroon 5. Listening to Maroon 5 and trying to keep pure thoughts is not possible, I mean have heard their lyrics? Their lyrics give me visuals....visuals grow into desires....desires grow into opportunities.....opportunities grow into sin....sin prevents me from ministering in dance....which prevents the message that God has called me to deliver to be aborted....which puts me back at square one....which is me further back than where I need to be....which translated to delete Maroon 5 off of my Pandora.
 So, now that I am aware of what I am putting in my temple, how I am taking care of my temple, the music that I listen to that sets an atmosphere of worship, He will always be able to us me... I can't wait to get there. Be blessed.

What I'm Listening To: Carolina Liar- Show Me What I'm Looking For

It's been awhile; I know. I have been in the Poconos this past weekend with an amazing set of people (I'll talk about it more in the next post), but I want to share this song and band with you guys. I was on Pandora (God bless the person(s) who thought this up) and came across this band called Carolina Liar. As soon as the first verse and chorus played, I was seriously hooked. The song is called "Show Me What I'm Looking For". I can't begin to explain how this song was speaking to my situation at that very moment. The funny things is the band isn't a "Christian band" but the lyrics speak volumes. I posted the first and second verse as well as the chorus below:

"Wait, I'm wrong

Should have done better than this

Please, I'll be strong

I'm finding it hard to resist

So show me what I'm looking for

Save me, I'm lost

Oh Lord, I've been waiting for you

I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused

Show me what I'm looking for

Show me what I'm looking for…oh Lord

Don't let go

I've wanted this far too long

Mistakes become regrets

I've learned to love abuse

Please show me what I'm looking for"

I know.....awesome. I hope if not the song doesn't encourage someone that the words will. Be blessed.

image source: mattlewismusic.com

What Bracket Do You Fit Into?

I was reading a fellow blogger post today about genres in music. Like if you're Christian is your music automatically Christian too? I had to really think about it. There are a lot of bands out there that are Christians but they don't cater to that market per say. So what does that mean? I look at it like this: everyone can give their opinion about Christian & Secular genres; but the only thing that matters is their relationship with Christ. They will have to answer for themselves in the end, we can't speak for them. I was raised that it boils down to this: you're either a Christian or you're not. There isn't a in between. Youre life should reflect your relationship. I won't judge anyone because I would not like to be judged myself. Its up to you to decide where you stand.