Day 11

I have to say that this is definitely something I enjoy doing everyday, everyday I think about what God has planned for me to read and how it is going to affect my life. My prayer to him is just me begging him to continue to reveal himself to me and show me the way. I am able to accomplish anything with him by my side and cannot wait to see what this next year brings. There is only so much we can do by ourselves to grow and then we have to turn it over to God and have hi take complete control

I would not say i have been getting arrogant lately but i have been feeling that I am better than most people at certain things and I tend to try to flaunt that a little more than I should. I am trying to bring myself back down and God directed me right to where I needed to be tonight as I was searching for a passage to break down for myself. He brought me to the Book of Job, Chapter 1 verses 20-22. 

These verses state "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' In all this, Job did not sin y charging God with wrongdoing." A little background to what lead to this if you do not know, is that one day Satan asked God if he could put Job to the test because he was so faithful to God. God obliged under one condition in that Satan could not hurt Job.  As the day progressed, Job found out that he lost all his livestock, his camels, and all of his children were killed. Job continued to praise God because he knows that he was blessed by God but he was still faithful to God because he knew that everything that was taken from him was the Lord's.  You see, we need to continue to praise God even when a storm hits in our lives. When finances are low, when a family member dies, when our house burns down, when our car is stolen, or when we just need a pick me up, God wants us to praise him and stay faithful. It is easy to stay true to God when you are constantly being blessed, but the true test comes when you feel like you have lost so much or everything. 

I found that when I was doing well in Baseball, it was much easier to love God because I knew it was him that was giving me the ability to play and perform at the level in which I did. Sure I put in the work at practice and was the first to show up as well as the last to leave, but I still received every drop of talent from my creator. While this is good to understand, I have found that I tend to boast and compare myself by saying I am better than this guy or that I can do this better than him. All that I can do is go out on the field and be who God created me to be, if i have what it takes to perform better than the other guy, than someone will see and give me an opportunity. If I try to outperform someone and leave God behind, I will not reap the benefits and will make a fool of myself. Being humble and being grateful for all that God has given me is essential for me to succeed. This applies in all aspects of life. You will continue to do well as long as you work hard and ask God to give you knowledge and help you achieve your goals. If it is meant to be than God will make it happen. I cannot take all the credit for saying that I understood this all on my own. Just as this devotional is a learning process, a girl I met over the summer helped me realize this last Friday. She has taught me so much in the 3 months that I have known her and she has been a blessing to me. It is truly amazing how God moves and brings unexpected things into your life. 

What I want people to take from this is just to continue to seek God and stay humble. Thank God when you eat that next meal or when you get a bonus on your paycheck. Be grateful when a parent or family member does something nice for you and return the favor in showing them love. Brighten someone's day by saying hi or doing something nice for a person you do not normally talk to. You will feel so rewarded even if they don't return the favor.

My next challenge is for you to attend a church service if you do not normally go to church. I am not saying you need to regularly attend but go to a church and sit in on a service. See if the people are friendly or if they even notice you. How do they welcome visitors? Take a friend along if you would like so you do not have to go alone. If you are unsure where to go, give me a call or leave a comment with some questions. I know where there are churches in most areas and I'll even take time to research and find some in the area if i do not know of any. Also, my phone and prayer line are still open, feel free to contact me anytime. I know you think I am a busy college student but when one is faithful to God, he will make sure you have time for everything that is worth your time.

God Bless,

Joseph