Contributing

I think from here on out I am going to just jump between books and just use which ever devotional book I feel is fit for the day. There will be no rhyme or reason but I just think it will be good to mix it up a bit and get a different perspective on topics as well as address new ones. I realized something about myself recently. I leave myself open and vulnerable in all aspects of life. Not just when it comes to temptation and sin but also when it comes to dealing with friends and just my everyday life. I tend to want to help out a lot and I get dragged into things that take a lot out of me. I do try to stay in the word but I think a majority of the time I am not replenishing everything and I am not giving God the credit for helping me pull people through tough times. I always get the thanks and I seem to be the one who takes the credit but most of the time it is not me, I just use what God has laid on my heart and that is what makes me a good friend (I do not mean to sound conceited there but people have told me that so I am just writing what I have heard). I know I have been through some things that will allow me to help others out but in the same regard, other people have had their experiences too and they can do just as much as I can. Every single one of us has special qualities and I know that mine is talking (yes I know) when I feel comfortable around people and telling them how I feel as well as being able to assist them in the ways that I know possible. I need to keep my focus on others but my primary focus needs to be on God and when I get people through something, it is not my doing but His. Just as I talked about God given authority yesterday, I am saying that we have God given talents and if we do not give him the praise He is due when we utilize those talents, then we (I) are (am) being selfish. I cannot go on trying to carry myself through life with the occasional sprinkle of God here and there. I am going to put myself down, step up next to God and walk with him because there is no other way.

Luke 9:23 states, "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.' " I would say I have the daily devotion part down fairly well by now with the exception of a few days/weeks. I am right now utilizing free time instead of trying to squeeze God into my schedule later tonight. I will say this though, I struggle everyday with my previous addiction to pornography. With advertisements, the internet, TV, and magazines, I find myself constantly surrounded with temptation and I do a very good job at resisting. But, if I am to take up my cross and follow him, I am making a goal for myself to watch less stuff on TV that includes good looking girls, sex promotion,and pretty much anything that promotes little to no clothing. Also, I am striving to spend less time on the internet because it is when I get bored and am alone that temptation comes rearing its ugly head and I can get myself into trouble. In order for me to succeed, I need to make every effort to stay away from things that can hinder me and can tempt me. If I keep my mind pure and stay away from temptation when it is in my hands, then I can start making better decisions and not allowing myself to fall. When I stop being selfish and start to look to the desires that God has for my life and the desires of others, then I can fulfill what Luke 9:23 says and I can take up my cross and follow him. Pulling my own weight in the body is the only way to be effective and that it what I am going to start doing. I think I need to read these the day after I post and remind myself of my goals because that is one thing I have not been very good at. How can I ask you to read something that I do not even read myself? Sure they are my thoughts but they do apply to me as well. The point I am trying to make about contributions is that we need to help others and put others before us, but in order to do that, we need to be rooted in Christ and allowing him to replenish us in order for that to happen

God thought about us when he gave His only son to die for us and Jesus was unselfish when he followed the plan that God had for him and for us so that we could be saved. 3 questions to just think about and these are from my devotional book, I take no credit for them, "1. Are your contributions for your sake, or for Christ and His Body of believers? 2. When has another person put your needs before his or her own? How did you feel? 3. Are you on the side of the 'me' or of the 'we'? " Think about what others do for you and what you can do in return, they might not ask for anything because they care and they love you, but have you paid attention to them and how much they are hurting? Could you take more time to help them out? Someone may be calling out and you are too selfish to hear them. Do not waste an opportunity, because soon it will be gone.

I just remembered that i said I would address the quote from yesterday in the opening of today's post but I forgot and I do not want to go back up and act like I remembered so I am going to post it down here. the quote was, "God will never establish you as an authority until you have first learned to submit to authority."  I find this to be true because how can we lead people and tell them to follow and submit to what we say if we cannot be submissive to others and accept their thoughts (being that they are valid and scripture based)? I find that a bit arrogant and selfish because one would be saying that they are never wrong and they will not admit that they are wrong or that someone else's way is just as effective. God does not want these people working for his Kingdom and therefore would never appoint someone as an authority figure until they have shown these qualities. This does not mean that they cannot become corrupt however but initially they have shown these traits.

Hope you all are having an awesome day and I hope that you are continuing to read and be inspired by what God is doing.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson