Bearing the Armor

I know it has been 8 days since I last posted and that is due to laziness on my part and now all of you have seen one of my bad qualities in that I am not always able to do what I say I am going to do. I have said 3 or 4 times now that I was going to try and break my record of consecutive days but I have been unable to do so. I think my goal should be to take one day at a time and to just see where God takes me. When I set my first goal of 30 days that was a challenge but every time I don't achieve a goal I just get discouraged and so I think I will just push myself everyday to go deeper and deeper into the word and see where that takes me. My mother so graciously went out and bought me 2 devotional books because I seem to have lost my other one and so tonight I am going to get started on a new one and I will work through one and then the other possibly. The book I am starting tonight is called "God's Armor Bearer." There are not specific days or a certain way to go about reading these but I think just going from front to back will be enough and will be the best way to go about this.

The first devotion is about attitude but I wrote about attitude last week. However I think that this is a whole new approach and looks at attitude from a different aspect so I will address it. We are told to have good attitudes in order to be helpful to the church and the choices we make reflect who we become. Sounds repetitive I know but just stick with me on this. Matthew 22:14 states in the NIV version, "For many are invited, but few are chosen." in other words, "Many are called, but few are chosen" It is our job to answer the call because the chosen are the ones who are able to follow what the call is on their life and live a life that is pleasing to the Lord in all aspects. Staying positive is one of the things that is very beneficial in standing strong in the Lord because when things get tough it is easy to give up on God. James 3:16 states, "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."  How true is that? I know that the sins I commit are usually out of personal gain or out of envy for others in what they have and I feel like I do not have as a Christian. Unfortunately this logic is twisted because we have everything and more in Christ and anything that is good for us here will be given to us in due time. It is hard to understand but if I could understand this and apply it, life would be 10 times easier and I would never worry about receiving what I want because I know that God will take care of me no matter what happens and he will make sure that everything good that I am supposed to receive will be provided for me. I have a bit of homework for some of you who are up to the challenge and have time. Read James 3:13-18 and post your thoughts on it. Or at least read it and see how it applies to your life and see if you can walk with God being pure and not hypocritical, bearing good fruit and being impartial. 

The book provides 2 warnings and tips for being able to have the spirit of an armor bearer. The first one is to recognize that the enemy is out to destroy the ministry that you are called to support. In my case this would be youth and Chi Alpha. I have great influence in these two areas and I know that the youth are the future of this world and the success of our country and I do not want to see them crumble before me. If Satan gets to me then he will have done a good job in affecting the youth of the next generation and that will be all on me. I am not going to sit back and let that happen. The next one in short says that we need to confess any wrong attitude we have towards our leaders or their ministry and receive forgiveness. This is due to the fact that Satan can use this to cripple a congregation or a church by using one person to express dissatisfaction with the pastor. Now if the pastor is clearly in the wrong then it is okay to point that out and question their work, Paul called out Peter in Galatians and said he was in the wrong. It is okay to restore someone but not tear someone down out of bitterness or envy.

Today I prayed to God for my friends and family and this blog before I went to bed and before I started posting and I feel so much more accomplished knowing that I gave the time to God that he deserves and I will give more time as I continue to grow but tonight was a stepping stone. I prayed for many people and remembered those that I have told that I am praying for and those that I say that I will pray for. I hope you all had a great day and last week off because I am ready to hit the word hard from here on out!

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson