Day 27

Today brought some good news but nothing to get my hopes up over. I was contacted by UNLV and they are interested in viewing a video of me playing Baseball as an evaluation as to whether to recruit me and offer me a spot on the Fall 2009 team. I am very excited to see what God has in store for me and I know that as I continue to seek him, he will reveal himself and his plan for me more and more. I also feel that I did really well on my math test last night, but I do have a music quiz in the morning tomorrow so pray for me in that area and that my studying will aid me in remembering everything that is on the quiz.  It's hard to believe that I have already made it 27 days on here and there are only 3 more after this. Time flies when you are in the word and seeking God.

So as I was going through the Bible I felt that I needed to find something that would illustrate how important it is for me to continue to stay in the word when I am done with this blog and to stand strong in the Lord. I cam across John 15:1-17. It speaks metaphorically about how we are the branches and Jesus is the vine. We are told that every bad branch that bears no fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire and in the same way, those of us who do not have a relationship with Christ and bear his fruit will be cut of from him and will be thrown into hell. He says, "remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." Pretty self explanatory, but it is imperative that I apply this to my life and not just say "Oh I know that." I know that there are times when I think I can do things by myself and get by but in reality I cannot do it on my own and I need to be humbled and brought back down. In the same way, I cannot transfer schools or get a baseball scholarship on my own, I need to let God work in me and through me and follow what he has planned. Then, I will be bearing his fruit and sharing with those what he has done for me. Which leads right into the verse that says, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." However, this does not mean that you can be faithful and bear God's fruit and then expect to get that new car when you ask for it, or that big screen TV. God might bless you with those gifts but do not take the word of God out of context when it comes to him blessing you. Everything that is given will come in accordance with the will of God and thank him for whatever he gives you. 

I am going to sort of transition into the rest of the passage as it takes on a slightly different topic however still referring to the vine and the branch. We are asked to remain in the love of Christ and we are able to do this by obeying his commands. he says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." This passage right here has been made into a song by Steven Curtis Chapman and it is called "No Greater Love" if you get a chance, try to find it and listen to it.  Jesus goes on to say that he calls us friends now since we are no longer just servants because we know our master's business. In closing he says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other" I am delighted to know that God CHOSE me. Now this does not imply pre-destination, but I believe that it is saying that God as chose EVERYONE and only those who choose to follow him, are the ones who respond to his call. Pretty much what Jesus is trying to convey here is that as long as we remain in him, everything will be alright and he will watch over us. It is when we start to separate that he is unable to reach us because of our stubbornness and we start to fall.

One last thing that I did not realize until now, the lyrics to one of my favorite song called "Alien Youth" by Skillet. I never really understood what this song meant until I was listening to it yesterday and I realized that WE are the aliens and it's time for us to land on earth and take it back. We are not going to leave until the job is done and we are going to change the world. We need to go get those souls and take back what is God's. Maybe we are freaks and aliens but it's time to pick up the slack and become the generation we are supposed to be. Here are the lyrics, take a look and see what it means to you and see if you get anything else out of it. Other than that, have a great night and God bless.

"(It's been confirmed that the aliens have landed.)  Worldwide Jesus Domination Love conquers all Rise like a chosen generation There's no stopping it all  Come on freaks let's go Come on freaks let's go Get all the freaks and lets go Yeah yeah  Chorus: We're taking over the world We're the Alien Youth We're coming for your soul We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna change the world We're the Alien Youth We're taking over, over, over Alien Youth  Get all the freaks, let's Go Get all the freaks and let's Go  Do you believe that the aliens have landed We're everywhere you go Infiltrate at the break of revolution You can't stop the revival And we're not going to leave this world alone And we're not going to leave it yeah!  CHORUS  Come on freaks let's go Get all the freaks and let's go Come on freaks let's go Get all the freaks and let's go  And we're not going to leave this world alone And we're not going to leave it yeah! And we're not going to leave this world alone And we're not going to lea, ea, ea, ea,ea,ea,ea,eave  Taken, taken, taken over the world  CHORUS"

Joseph Robinson