Day 58

So I have been thinking the past few days about the effort that I put in on the baseball field and the effort I put in towards my relationship with God and sometimes this blog. I feel that if I put in about 2/5 of the effort I put in on the baseball field, I would be growing  a lot more than I am right now. Logically though, I should be putting in 2 times the effort I would put in on the baseball field in order to become stronger and better. Just knowing that judgement is before me should be motivation enough to stand strong and to seek God everyday, that and it is my calling to do great things for the Kingdom of God. Like I said the other day, embracing the situations in which we have the chance to do the right thing will help us immensely and make life so much easier. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he returned to find that some of the disciples were sleeping and he said, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." I find myself in this situation rather frequently, and it is where I am up for doing what I am told but I fall asleep and take my guard down. If I stay awake and pray and seek God, he will strengthen me. I know that I say this all the time, but my effort has been poor and I am going to step up and make the change. I have enough spirit to travel the world and preach all over, but my body is weak and the only way I can overcome that is through prayer and faith in God. 

Today's devotion is, "Looking for Direction" and the verse is one I have already used but am going to address again. It is found in Jeremiah, chapter 29 verse 11. It states, " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " It is amazing how well I know this verse and simply cannot grasp its concept everyday. I know as always that I am just in a bumpy time in my life and I will get through it with God's help. However, it does get frustrating at some points and I feel God is the one to blame but then I remember that I am the one making some poor choices that lead me down roads that I never should have gone. I know he is there to guide me but giving up control is hard because as humans we want to control our own destiny. I cannot get anything done on my own anymore and if I want him to come through for me, I need to submit everything. For example,  I was supposed to shoot a recruiting video for UNLV over Thanksgiving but it rained and I was unable to use the fields. Then over the past week it has rained twice and I was supposed to shoot today but the fields are soaking and I leave for California tomorrow with no field to use and I will only be back in Phoenix for a few days before I leave to go back to school.  I cannot understand why this has happened but in some ways I want to put it on me for making poor choices and possibly angering God. I know that this is not a very logical reason but that is what I want to assume and though it is more than likely just chance, I like to kick myself when I am done and blame my failures for why I am not able to do certain things. I have a feeling that things will turn out okay either way, but I just wish things were not so complicated all the time.

Philip James Bailey said, "Walk boldly and wisely.... There is a hand above that will help you on." What I take from this is that as long as I continue to do the work of God and walk in his ways, he will be there to push me and to help me through the tough times. He does not want us to fail and he does our best to help us, but we have to be willing to take his help.

Well, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you have spent some good time with your families. Without the birth of Jesus, there would have been no death and resurrection. While the atonement is the big kicker, the birth has just as much to do with salvation (because it also fulfilled prophecy). Hope you all have a wonderful day.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson