Day 4

I want to start off by saying that I am starting to enjoy this more than I thought I would. I am inspired by what I have set out to do and already I am seeing things change not only in my life but in other people's as well.  I look forward to this time everyday and do not set aside a certain time to do it, but rather when I feel my heart is fully prepared to receive what God has for me. 

I read from the Book of Psalms today, Psalm 1 to be exact.  I have heard this many times in sermons and never really understood how it applied to me until I gave it a look tonight and saw how I have been living. In short, it says "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers" then it goes on to explain how this man takes delight in the lord and his tree bears fruit and does not wither. It goes on to describe the wicked and how they will not stand during the judgement or be in step with the righteous.

This applies to me in that there are been some times when I have been completely in the wrong, playing church, not walking at all with God except for when I would show up for church. My friends had the biggest influence on me and would drag me down. Being at school was easy because I could fit in by just being like everyone else. Sure there were some different aspects about my life, I attended church and knew about God and was occasionally living for him. My friends knew I was a Christian and would not do certain things but they also knew that I would push some limits and some wanted to see how far I would go. By the grace of God, I stayed strong and never gave into drinking, sex, and smoking/drugs. I would definitely let my tongue slip because I was on the field playing ball or because I knew that there would be no shock factor among my school friends. This was and is a very poor way to live as a representation of your faith. You either have to be all in or back out, there is no in between, I have learned that in many different ways since July. 

What I am trying to say is that I was walking in the counsel of the wicked and standing with the sinners, I was not surrounding myself with those that would build me up. We need to pray and talk with God everyday, not just when it is convenient for us, or when times are bad. We need to be faithful in the good times and the bad. Spreading the word and being a light everyday and with every opportunity given. If you fall down, let someone pick you up and encourage you. If you do not push yourself in your faith, you are going to fall and those who God does not know will be turned away and punished by eternal death in Hell. God is ready to receive us when we seek him and as Psalm 1 says, the man who bears fruit will prosper in whatever he does.

Sidenote in my bible titled "Choosing Your Friends Wisely" states " Did you choose the friends you have now, or did they choose you? What led you to start hanging out with them? Would God be excited about your choice of friends? If you have friends who make it hard for you to live life the way God wants, be willing to make a difficult sacrifice. Being in this world, but not of it means that your influence on unbelievers should be greater than their influence on you."

Briefly I will discuss this by saying that since I have been at Kansas State I have made friends in the dorm, I have been given opportunities to go out and get drunk, go to parties and meet girls, and possibly be pulled into many other things but I have done my best to surround myself with the Chi Alpha students here when possible. Not having that support would make my time here much more difficult. I have said "no" to many different people who want me to drink and they still talk to me and hang out with me, they respect me for who I am, but I have done a poor job trying to influence their decisions. It is OKAY to have non-christian friends, but make sure that you are working in them and they are not working in you. Being able to stand strong and not conform to the pressures of high school and college will help you grow as long as you seek God everyday.

Change starts with us, Hillsong United has a song called "Free" that says, "Would you believe me if I said that we are the ones who can make the change in the world today?" The answer is that we should believe this, students can make the greatest impact on their peers and with God on out side, anything is possible as long as we seek him. 

The rest of the verse ends with, "Would you believe me if I said that all of the dreams in your heart can come true today? Would you believe me if I said that life can be all that you want it to be today?" I want you to think about these two lines and if you would like to comment on them, you are more than welcome to. 

Joseph