Day 41

I know I am no longer running on consecutive days, but I have been reading everyday, I was just unable to post due to time constraints.  I am not going to lie, but I have not really allowed God to move through me since I have been here, but I am not giving up yet. I need to keep standing strong and make sure that I continue to have a solid walk with him before I try to shift the focus to others. I have been struggling since I have been here because I have had so much time to myself at night and stuff but I have not fallen back in. Satan is trying to pull me back but I am doing everything I can to fight back and use the tools God has given me. It is hard to keep my mind and my actions pure everyday because I am human but as a man of God, it is my duty to keep myself in check. Some days it is easier than others and some days I slip up. I think that today I made a poor effort to stand strong and I let my guard down for a bit and I gave in.  I figured a post was in order because I made it a goal and told everyone else to keep reading over the holiday, but I did not keep posting and for that I am sorry. I was not getting the daily bread that I needed to survive and I sort of gave up if you will. In no way am I giving up and reverting back to my old ways. This actually showed me how much I need to keep getting in the word and building myself up everyday.

Psalm 25 states, "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul, in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord." This is going to be my prayer for the next 12 months as I continue to seek God and make sure that I stay on the right path.

I need to forget about my past and look to the future. In him everything is made new and I can put my trust in him. I believe that everything that I am inspired to do that is good, comes from him. I know that no matter what I do, he has an unconditional love for me and I would not trade that for anything. I need to stick to my promises and stick to my vows to him and my future wife. I am going to begin loving her from this moment on because I know that she is the one that will encourage me in Christ and help me build my trust in God to be even stronger. I have so much to learn and so little time to do it in and I need to stop wasting my time on frivolous things and get back to what I am meant to do.  It is time I start listening to God more instead of just talking to him so that I am able to learn all that I am supposed to. I find it funny how we can easily listen to those who Satan brings to us, but it is so hard for us to listen to who God brings to us and to listen to him.

Youth Convention began tonight and I am about to go into prayer for the teens and leaders there that something amazing will take place in the next day and a half. I believe there is so much to be given, people just have to be willing to receive. Teenagers are the focus of the revival that is going to take place, but it starts there and spreads to everyone else. Please pray that miracles take place and that the Spirit of God moves in every session and that many lives are changed FOR GOOD as a result of this weekend. Also, my sister leaves to head home tomorrow. Please pray for a safe trip for her and that God's hand will be over her while she is back home. This is still just the beginning that there is going to be a shift in the world as we know it, so hop and board and fasten your seat belts because no one knows where God is going next!

I will pray for all of you tonight as well as myself. I feel that prayer is a big part of my success and the neglect of it is a direct result of my failures. I am doing my best to stay faithful to God and I hope that you will do the same. Please feel free to ask questions or post and I hope you had a great thanksgiving and that you have a great night.

Joseph Robinson

Day 40

Well, I guess you can say I technically cheated, but I finished my reading at 11:58 and I picked up an hour on my way back to Arizona today, but nonetheless I was able to complete my devotion today amidst all the travel and excitement of being back home and seeing my parents.  I know that my few days spent here will reap some great benefits and that things will not only change in my life here, but the lives of those around me. The new house is quite nice although I do not have a normal room, I have a den that has no doors and my futon is in here. But it is very humbling and actually makes me feel like I am in my dorm room in some ways. I can see how God has blessed my family and for that I am very grateful.

My reading came from 2nd Timothy today and it is Chapter 2:1--7 and it states, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved with civilian affairs --- he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all of this." In short, we are told once again to pass the buck to others so they can pass it on again, we are to not get caught up in the world, but to please our master. There are no shortcuts to the throne, anything that seems like a shortcut is more than likely deceiving and a lie. Then, heed what is being said because we will gain full understanding as we continue to listen to Christ.

I feel that being called to be a youth pastor will ultimately lead to me accomplishing the first thought in the verse. Then trying to live for God and not take part in the world is something that I struggle with and I imagine we all struggle with everyday, no matter what we do. The point is to what extent do we get involved with the world and what type of effort do we put in to try and avoid being a part of the world. Being an athlete, I understand what it is like to follow the rules of a game in order to perform well and to not get kicked out called out or get a penalty (to each sport its own examples). In the same way is my walk with God, there are certain rules that need to be followed in order to build a strong relationship with him and continue to stay on that path. We can please him by accomplishing these rules and abiding by them. When this verse talks about the farmer, I believe it is referring to you get out what you put in. If we seek God with an ernest heart, he will answer and provide for our needs.  We will be able to reap the first parts of the crop for ourselves and then we will distribute to him what is his and then pass on the rest to others. The last part of the verse implies that as long as I hold to what I am doing and continue to think about the things that I read, I will eventually have all my questions answered and I will continually grow in him.

Well, it is almost here, what do you have to be thankful for this thanksgiving? Feel free to post what you are thankful for and see if maybe someone is blessed by having you around? It is more than just a holiday to spend time with family, it has more meaning and maybe we will just see if we can find out what scripture says in the next few days? Hold on for the ride because it is just getting good!

I hope you all have a wonderful night and that you continue to seek God. Do not ever give up, do not ever lose hope. 

Joseph Robinson

Day 39

Well, I managed my time very poorly today. I studied quite a bit for my exam tomorrow at 8, but other than that I just sat around and pretty much did nothing.  I had no class but it is just now 11 and I am just getting around to my devotion. I definitely should have gotten to this earlier today and even now I am starting my laundry and will get a limited amount of sleep tonight before my test. God is great though and he will give me strength to get what I need to get done tomorrow. I am excited to go home and see my family and finally have some time off from school. It will definitely be good for me. Anyway, I have been growing each day and with each day I find a new meaning to life. I am encouraged each day by what people say to me and by finding new things out about God and the amazing things he can do. Staying faithful to him is one of the greatest experiences I have ever had.

So tonight, the point I am trying to make may seem like a stretch, but I think it is a valid point and applies the scripture in a way most people would not really see it.  The passage is found in 2nd Kings 19-22 and the section is titled "Healing of the Water" and it states, "The men of the city said to Elisha, 'Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.' 'Bring me a new bowl,' he said, 'and put salt into it.' So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, 'this is what the Lord says. "I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive." ' And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken." The salt has obviously been blessed by God and allows for a miracle to happen in the city. The people are able to bathe and drink it now that it has been cleansed. They are able to reap the benefits of it being clean and no longer have to be afraid of the fact that it can hurt them.  The ground is also able to provide food for the townspeople now because there is good water to put on the soil so that crops can grow. But the story goes much deeper than this, and let me explain.

When I was unsaved, I was filthy with sin and God wanted nothing to do with me until I was clean. I was unusable at the time because he was not able to work in me and help me to grow. But now that I have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus (the salt), I will no longer reap death and destruction on myself and those around me as long as I continue to sow good seeds. See, we come to the Lord and tell him that we are unclean and though there is potential, we need to be forgiven our sins and made clean. Then we can begin to embrace who we are in Christ and allow him to work in our lives. When I was a kid, I always felt left out because when I went to camp, I was never called to the ministry as a missionary or pastor. Tons of my friends were but I am not sure they were really called. I think they were just trying to impress. I do not mean to be harsh, but most of these friends have fallen away from the faith and no longer serve Christ with the same passion that they used to. I am not saying they cannot still follow that path, but it appears that they have fallen and ignored the call. Now back to me, I was just the problem child from a young age, not many people know, but I used profanity from the time I was about 7 and whenever I was not at home,, my tongue would let anything and everything come out and at home I tried to be the perfect little angel. I struggled all the time when I got on the internet and I had no way out, I wanted to give it all to God but I just would not allow myself to. Finally, I did and things were tough, I still fell from time to time and knew things still needed to change more and so I came to college and things were good but not good enough and so I decided to get into the word and I know that I have been healed and I am forgiven. I have been called into ministry as I have stated before. As for me, I am going to answer the call to youth ministry and I will no longer be unproductive for the Kingdom of God. I feel that I am in position to start a revolution in this nation and that lives will be changed. All it takes is a little faith (Hebrews 11:1), hope will carry us there as long as we are certain it can happen. Wanna go cliche? all we have to say to ourselves is, "Just Do It."

Keep praying for me as I have been praying for you. I hope that over the holiday, you will continue to find time to read and stay updated with this because if it is all you are reading out of the Bible everyday, at least it is something. My phone line and text inbox are still always open to those who want to discuss or just talk about life in general. I love to listen and would like to hear from you. I hope you all have an awesome night and I will see some of you very soon.

Joseph Robinson

Day 38

Yet another crazy day in my life. I was up at 8 (I know, harsh) and went to sunday school, church, a basketball game, and played football. All in sequence from 9-5. I wore myself out to say the least and definitely needed a little rest before I got up to spend the rest of my night diving into God's word where I could find real rest and then later to study for an exam I have on Tuesday. I can see that staying true to God has been a blessing in my life and I have a feeling it is going to be a blessing in a few more people's lives as this week goes on. You see, this is not all about me, it is about the people reading this as well. The primary focus is for me, but I hope that everyone who reads this is challenged to grow as a result of what I am saying. I am happy that many people are reading this, and I hope you continue to read it because at least I know you are listening. Most of the time, listening is the hardest thing to do because most people do not like to be told how to do things or to accept that they may be wrong or there is a better way to go about doing things. I think that these are some of the reasons as to why we tend to ignore God rather frequently, or we just ramble on so that he has no chance to say anything.

I will say right now, that I am not perfect. Everyone who has read this can attest to that. My struggle with pornography was something that pulled me down for years and forced me to cover up. But now that I have overcome that, it is important to remember the road that I am walking down and answer the life long question of "where do we go from here?" I have dealt with this question in many aspects of my life recently and I found the answer in regards to my Christian walk.  1st John 1:5-10 says, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by truth. But if we walk in the light , as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." Where do we go from here? Well, we STRIVE to be perfect. It is impossible to be completely sinless, Jesus is the only one who lived in a world with sin yet was without sin. Be careful as well, do not believe that you are without sin now that you are a Christian, we are purified but you are still a sinner that has been redeemed. There is no darkness with God so we must continue to live in the light. Satan wants to deceive us and make us believe that we are on equal status with God, but in reality we can never be on his level. We can be in his presence, but to be perfect would mean that we are God. Remember, it is said, "Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked" (Galatians 6:7). Just because we are sinners does not mean that God does not love us, in fact I believe he loves us even more because we have turned from our sinful ways and have chosen to follow him.

I tend to try to be a perfectionist and have a hard time coping with being a Christian and sinning sometimes. I know it is in my nature, but I know how much it hurts God. I believe this verse is eye opening for me because as long as we are walking with him and striving to be our best in him, we are still purified from all our sins. This does not mean go out and sin as much as possible because you are purified, it means that I can still do his work and if I screw up, I still have the forgiveness that was given to me when i first found him. Think about darkness, it is the absence of light, if you are walking with God, the will not be much (if any) darkness in your life. This is due to the fact that God is light and he provides light in our life. I know that as long as I try to do my best to live for him, I cannot be discouraged when I mess up. It will happen because as a human, it is my nature to sin, it is just being able to walk away from sin and overcoming that makes me set apart.

Continue to pray, I will be headed home in less than 40 hours. I am excited to show people how I have changed and hope that the light of God shines through me always. I hope you all have a great night and that you will be blessed.

Joseph Robinson