Day 47

Today I am feeling much better and feel that tomorrow I will be completely better and finally over this cold that I have had all weekend. All indications point to about an inch to 2 inches of snow tonight. I know it is not much but there will be some precipitation. I was not able to get into the word this morning and I found myself run into some trouble earlier and I gave in once again. I am definitely getting stronger but I need to protect myself better because Satan's attacks are getting trickier as I continue to seek God more and more. I think I am over thinking things and I feel that I can just be good and it will stick with me until I screw up. I need to remember that this is a daily struggle we face to stay faithful to God and I need to win everyday and let God prevail in my life. I have had coaches tell my teams that as long as we win every inning, we win the game. The same is true in our walk with God, as long as we walk with God everyday that we live, we will eventually have walked with God for the rest of our lives. I need to let the future take care of itself, sure there is concern about what I will be doing and where God will lead me but as for following God and doing his work, I need to take it one day at a time and not worry about making it to the next day not having screwed up, if I just do my best everyday, I will be able to meet goals and I will accomplish more than I could if I always look to the future. 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 states, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates"

I do not know but I used to be able to become an obedient Christian when I found a girl that I liked and I knew that she loved God, almost as if I was trying to straighten up because I figured that was the only way I would have a chance to possibly date her. But then after something happened between us, things would always change and I would just go back to being who I was. This verse tells me to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul, and will all your strength." If I can straighten up for some girl that I only "like", I think it would be in my best interest and should be easy for me to make the decision to straighten up completely for God whom I love. I would say that in a typical week, I show God that I love him about 80% of the time. Now I do not sit down and calculate everything but I would say that I do a very good job at showing him my appreciation and doing things that are pleasing to him. Of course that number should be 100% but that is what I am working towards. There are definitely some areas I should clean up in and rest assured that I am going to be making the necessary steps in order to do that. One way to start would be to take Moses' advice when he says, "These commandments I give you today are to be written upon your hearts." It is really not that hard and still I am unable to follow the simple commandments that were handed to Moses on Mt Sinai. We know that sin easily entangles and that is understandable but there are many times in which I could have avoided sin but chose not to. I am the only one who can change that and it is between me and God. It comes down to how far I am willing to go for him and how far am I willing to let myself go?

Take this  perspective in all aspects of life. How much UNCONDITIONAL love do you show your family, regardless of what they do for you, how far are you willing to go for them? or are you willing to do anything for them? The same goes for a girlfriend or a sport, or simply just a friend, your job, or school. How many times can you do something for the betterment of others which in turn would help you out? What type of sacrifices are you willing to make in order to make things work?  I know I need to make more sacrifices and maybe reaffirm some that I have already made. Sometimes it is hard to let go of sin especially if you have been attached to it for so long, but in the end you will see the purpose and ultimately see how much better off you are.

Continue doing your own reading and growing on your own time if you can and maybe share something you have learned from your own reading or how maybe something I have talked about has been working in your life. I would love to learn from others as well, this is a give and take blog. try contributing and see if it develops how much more you get out.

Hope you all have a good night, God Bless.

Joseph Robinson