Wednesday, October 06, 2010, 8:20 a.m. – This song was in my mind when I awoke:
The Motions / Matthew West
This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life
No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life
'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"
take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
take me all the way
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Hosea 14:
My Understanding: Every time I read the words to this song, The Motions, I am moved in my spirit by the message contained within. I’ve been there before, living in that state of being where I was just going through the motions, where “just okay” was good enough, where I just went with the flow because it was easiest, and where I didn’t feel that there was anything significantly different from my life and that of people outside of Christ. I’ve also gone through times of rebellion when I turned my back on God, when I lived for my flesh instead of for God, and where I gave in to fleshly desires knowing full well that I was walking in absolute opposition to God’s will, to his word, and to his plan for my life. I know the emptiness of that kind of life; and the hopelessness of trying to find love and satisfaction (completeness) in anything other than in Almighty God and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God himself.
Many times in my life I see-sawed back and forth between total surrender to God and this life of nothingness or of living according to my flesh or of just going through the motions. Yet, God in his mercy finally brought me to a place in my life where he slew me and where I closed the door to my former way of life never to return again; and where I decided that I would follow Jesus in complete and total surrender, no turning back! And, I can tell you this life of complete surrender to Jesus Christ is the best and only place to be ever!! It has its trials and its tribulations, but all of life has that. Yet, there is such a peace and a joy within that cannot ever be found in anything this world has to offer. I would never go back!
'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"
This passage of scripture in Hosea 14 fits so well here. God is calling his people, the church of today, to return to Him in pure and absolute devotion and surrender to His will for our lives. Our sins have been our downfall. I can attest to that from personal experience. Then, God says, “Take words with you and return to the LORD.” These words must not be words just mouthed with our lips. God is not pleased with that. These words must come from our hearts and they must come from God’s Holy Spirit within us urging us and moving us to repent. They must be sincere (genuine, honest, earnest). God is not impressed with our words if they do not come from truthfulness within. He can tell the difference. If they are of truth, the words will be followed through with actions that prove the words to be true. Then, and only then, can we offer to God the “fruit of our lips,” i.e. true prayer and praise to God.
As part of these words of confession and repentance must come the acknowledgement that human beings, governments, armies, politicians, political movements, preachers, or whatever cannot save us. Many of us have looked to man to be our salvation. We may not have seen it that way, but in reality that is what we did or still do. So much of what is being taught in today’s church is man-made religion. Pastors are often required to read so many books written by men (not God-breathed) that are filled with human philosophies and schemes for how to build churches. Man-made movements have swept across Christianity here in America to where many church groups follow the teachings of man above the word of God. There are many “idols” in today’s church that come in the forms of men, programs, religious gatherings, and worldly methods to attract the world supposedly to Christ, but the world can only attract people to the world. This is not Jesus’ way of reaching people for Him.
And, then we have our own personal “gods” of people in our lives. We know they are “gods” to us when we choose pleasing them above choosing to please God; when we give in to fear of their rejection of us instead of sharing with them the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, we have our “gods” of our possessions, our “toys”, our entertainment, i.e. things that consume our time and attention and to which we give much more wholehearted devotion and praise in our speech, in our time, etc. than we give to God Almighty. That is how we know that those things have become our “gods”, as well, when we have no fear of sharing about them with our friends, when we get excited about them, when we want others to share in that joy and to partake with us to where we will tell them about our “gods” and will lead them to know our “gods”, too, so that they may take part in that same pleasure with us. In and of themselves many of these things are not wrong, but when they consume our hearts, our time, our attention and when devotion to them is over and above absolute devotion and commitment to Almighty God, then we have to examine our hearts and to see if these “things” and other people have indeed become our “gods.”
When we go through this time of heart examination before Almighty God, and we are willing to allow Him to show us any “gods” in our lives, and we are willing to give up those “gods” in order to have complete and absolute surrender to God so that he has complete control in our lives, and we repent (turn from sin and turn to God), not just with our words, but with our actions, then God promises healing, restoration, his anger turned away from us, and he promises to bless us abundantly. Then we will “shine like the stars in the universe as you (we) hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:15b-16a). And, this will be true: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (II Co. 2:14). And this: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (II Co. 2:15).
Lastly, the question is asked by God to us, “What more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me.”
Trees are often used in scripture as figures of idols or idolatry, as symbols of powerful kings and/or kingdoms, as indications of the divine influences God’s people can have on the world (vv. 5-7), and as representations of both the power and majesty of Almighty God and of his protection and care for His people. So, God is basically saying here that, instead of our idols that we have been looking to, we should be looking to Him alone as our source of life (green) and power/strength (tree) and protection (leaves) and fruitfulness. He alone should be our God and we should be his people who have within us God’s divine influence upon the world around us instead of us giving in to the worldly influence and becoming like the world.
I will conclude with this quote from Barnes’ Notes on Hosea 14:8: “This is entire conversion, to part wholly with everything which would dispute the allegiance with God, to cease to look to any created thing or being, for what is the gift of the Creator alone. So the Apostle says, "what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 2 Corinthians 6:15. This verse exhibits in few, vivid, words, converted Ephraim speaking with God, and God answering; Ephraim renouncing his sins, and God accepting him; Ephraim glorying in God's goodness, and God reminding him that he holds all from Himself.”
And finally with this: II Corinthians 6:16-18: What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
The Motions / Matthew West
This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life
No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life
'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"
take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
take me all the way
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Hosea 14:
My Understanding: Every time I read the words to this song, The Motions, I am moved in my spirit by the message contained within. I’ve been there before, living in that state of being where I was just going through the motions, where “just okay” was good enough, where I just went with the flow because it was easiest, and where I didn’t feel that there was anything significantly different from my life and that of people outside of Christ. I’ve also gone through times of rebellion when I turned my back on God, when I lived for my flesh instead of for God, and where I gave in to fleshly desires knowing full well that I was walking in absolute opposition to God’s will, to his word, and to his plan for my life. I know the emptiness of that kind of life; and the hopelessness of trying to find love and satisfaction (completeness) in anything other than in Almighty God and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God himself.
Many times in my life I see-sawed back and forth between total surrender to God and this life of nothingness or of living according to my flesh or of just going through the motions. Yet, God in his mercy finally brought me to a place in my life where he slew me and where I closed the door to my former way of life never to return again; and where I decided that I would follow Jesus in complete and total surrender, no turning back! And, I can tell you this life of complete surrender to Jesus Christ is the best and only place to be ever!! It has its trials and its tribulations, but all of life has that. Yet, there is such a peace and a joy within that cannot ever be found in anything this world has to offer. I would never go back!
'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"
This passage of scripture in Hosea 14 fits so well here. God is calling his people, the church of today, to return to Him in pure and absolute devotion and surrender to His will for our lives. Our sins have been our downfall. I can attest to that from personal experience. Then, God says, “Take words with you and return to the LORD.” These words must not be words just mouthed with our lips. God is not pleased with that. These words must come from our hearts and they must come from God’s Holy Spirit within us urging us and moving us to repent. They must be sincere (genuine, honest, earnest). God is not impressed with our words if they do not come from truthfulness within. He can tell the difference. If they are of truth, the words will be followed through with actions that prove the words to be true. Then, and only then, can we offer to God the “fruit of our lips,” i.e. true prayer and praise to God.
As part of these words of confession and repentance must come the acknowledgement that human beings, governments, armies, politicians, political movements, preachers, or whatever cannot save us. Many of us have looked to man to be our salvation. We may not have seen it that way, but in reality that is what we did or still do. So much of what is being taught in today’s church is man-made religion. Pastors are often required to read so many books written by men (not God-breathed) that are filled with human philosophies and schemes for how to build churches. Man-made movements have swept across Christianity here in America to where many church groups follow the teachings of man above the word of God. There are many “idols” in today’s church that come in the forms of men, programs, religious gatherings, and worldly methods to attract the world supposedly to Christ, but the world can only attract people to the world. This is not Jesus’ way of reaching people for Him.
And, then we have our own personal “gods” of people in our lives. We know they are “gods” to us when we choose pleasing them above choosing to please God; when we give in to fear of their rejection of us instead of sharing with them the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, we have our “gods” of our possessions, our “toys”, our entertainment, i.e. things that consume our time and attention and to which we give much more wholehearted devotion and praise in our speech, in our time, etc. than we give to God Almighty. That is how we know that those things have become our “gods”, as well, when we have no fear of sharing about them with our friends, when we get excited about them, when we want others to share in that joy and to partake with us to where we will tell them about our “gods” and will lead them to know our “gods”, too, so that they may take part in that same pleasure with us. In and of themselves many of these things are not wrong, but when they consume our hearts, our time, our attention and when devotion to them is over and above absolute devotion and commitment to Almighty God, then we have to examine our hearts and to see if these “things” and other people have indeed become our “gods.”
When we go through this time of heart examination before Almighty God, and we are willing to allow Him to show us any “gods” in our lives, and we are willing to give up those “gods” in order to have complete and absolute surrender to God so that he has complete control in our lives, and we repent (turn from sin and turn to God), not just with our words, but with our actions, then God promises healing, restoration, his anger turned away from us, and he promises to bless us abundantly. Then we will “shine like the stars in the universe as you (we) hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:15b-16a). And, this will be true: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (II Co. 2:14). And this: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (II Co. 2:15).
Lastly, the question is asked by God to us, “What more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me.”
Trees are often used in scripture as figures of idols or idolatry, as symbols of powerful kings and/or kingdoms, as indications of the divine influences God’s people can have on the world (vv. 5-7), and as representations of both the power and majesty of Almighty God and of his protection and care for His people. So, God is basically saying here that, instead of our idols that we have been looking to, we should be looking to Him alone as our source of life (green) and power/strength (tree) and protection (leaves) and fruitfulness. He alone should be our God and we should be his people who have within us God’s divine influence upon the world around us instead of us giving in to the worldly influence and becoming like the world.
I will conclude with this quote from Barnes’ Notes on Hosea 14:8: “This is entire conversion, to part wholly with everything which would dispute the allegiance with God, to cease to look to any created thing or being, for what is the gift of the Creator alone. So the Apostle says, "what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 2 Corinthians 6:15. This verse exhibits in few, vivid, words, converted Ephraim speaking with God, and God answering; Ephraim renouncing his sins, and God accepting him; Ephraim glorying in God's goodness, and God reminding him that he holds all from Himself.”
And finally with this: II Corinthians 6:16-18: What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."