Two Important Questions

As learned from a pastor who has been a huge driving force in growing in my love for Christ, there are two questions that have begun to help grow me and push me towards holiness by making me cut the crap of the games i play and honestly look at my heart: "What stirs your affections for Jesus Christ?" and "What robs you of your affections for Jesus Christ?".

Obviously being immersed in the Word and prayer will be there for #1 and blatant sin will always rob us ... but as taught by the same pastor, most of the time what robs us is morally neutral things (things most people wouldn't state as immoral) ... They take a bit of courage for me to recognize and register and I think this list changes faster than I comprehend at the moment. But anyway ... it helps for me to write it out and I'd encourage everyone to do the same. In no way does doing these things or abstaining from these things automatically make me more holy or anything, nor will anyone's lists look exactly the same. But I believe by warring to surround ourselves with what stirs us up for Christ and declare war against the things that rob us of it, it would only "better position ourselves under the waterfall of grace."

1) What stirs my affections for Jesus Christ:
-late nights where I'm the only one awake and it's totally quiet. This is usually when I get my best studying done.
-music and movies that have a lot of angst and portray the brokenness of man in an honest and simple/understandable way.
-listening to "embracing accusation" by shane and shane ... it's a brutal/beautiful reminder of who I am and what Christ has done despite knowing who I am.
-listening to sermons by matt chandler, along with a few others
-long walks by myself in locations I'm at often ... when no one else is awake and about ... where I reflect and audibly pray.
-taking a step back from whatever I'm doing and observing people. Usually the eyes tell a lot of different stories and it fires me up to keep going.
-Reminiscing the past ... reading old journal entries, looking at old pictures, visiting old familiar places
-Small everyday discomforts ... Initially I'll complain/question why I do them sometimes but eventually it helps remind me that my citizenship, my home is in heaven and not here.
-good food with friends and/or family. this will involve meat and soda most of the time ...
-late night chats with brothers in Christ ... about Christ.
-Driving by myself
-Traveling
-Reading in general

2) What robs me of my affections for Jesus Christ:
-hours of facebook, youtube, blog sites, clutchfans, etc. These things can be good outlets for the other category as well but I'll find myself going "what did I just do the last 3 hours!?"
-basketball
-Watching television shows regularly
-Playing video games for extended amounts of time
-Not getting enough rest (paradoxical in ways with my late nights)
-Retreating myself/fleeing from community ... they lead to self-pity.
-drumming ... I find myself thinking too much about technique more than the God I'm playing for. Like a lot of the things on this list, this is subtle, making it more dangerous
-constant comparing myself to others
-lying in bed too long (oversleeping or just resting there for too long)
-lack of any plan for intentional time management
-putting things under the scope of religion rather than Jesus.
-blogging too much ... ha
-Apathy towards everyday word choice
-Hours of empty conversations (esp. with believers)
-Letting the name of Jesus be used more in context of jokes than in worship and awe.

*I'll try to update this after 6 month intervals ... But something tells me I'll have already felt this to be outdated soon.*

What stirs your affections for Jesus Christ?

What robs you of those affections?