Working toward the goal

I have been wondering for months and months about the things that I do that please God in my everyday life and there are plenty of things that reflect God in my life but there are still some areas I need to work on. One thing I have discussed with my girlfriend, Chelsi, is that no matter what, God needs to always be the focus when things are good and when things are bad. Even when we feel like we have it all figured out, God needs to be the center of our relationship because without him we are nothing. We cannot do stuff that is not pleasing to God not just because we feel like we want his blessing and so we should please him, but also because we want to and it is the right thing to do. We have discussed that it is not just enough to go to church every Sunday, whether it is together or separate. We have to be in the word individually and together and we must pray individually as well as together because everything we have between us and everything we are as individuals comes only from him. We do not want to act like we are living for God to please everyone who wonders if we are good bible-believing as well as FOLLOWING Christians. We want to be just as Christ was in reaching out to the world and living a life worthy of the calling he has placed upon our lives. We have individually had pasts that we are not proud of but we have discussed the fact that we need to leave them behind us and work for the glory of God and use our pasts to help people who struggle with similar things (mainly teens). Recognizing that God needs to be the focus not only in a relationship but also individually in your life is a major step but it is just the first step, he actually needs to become the focus 100% of the time. When you have God being the focus and you are living your life for him, you will see the benefits of it, no doubt. Just be careful that you do not think you can do it on your own or that you are bigger than temptation by yourself because that is when you tend to fall and Satan tries to grab ahold of you.

I finally got my devotional book back that I lost last December and I do not remember where I left off but I turned to Day 12 and found this verse which is something that me and Chelsi have discussed from other passages but this one gives pretty clear instructions for us. Ecclesiastes 2:26 states, "To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God." I do not know about you, but I do not want to work my whole life only to find that everything I have ever done was all for nothing and that it was just so someone else could benefit because they lived a life that was pleasing to God. Obviously we want to do things for the benefit of others but when you have been working and storing up, you do not want to have it taken away because you were not faithful or you did not follow what you were supposed to. It is one thing to have something stolen from you, but to have your master take something from you because you were not obedient is enough to make anyone want to please and follow him because they do not want to see all their hard work taken from them. If we just take time to acknowledge God and give him his due, then we do not have anything to worry about, he will take care of us. We cannot expect a huge house with the most expensive cars, but he will take care of our needs because we remained faithful to him, in his timing everything will work out and we need to constantly to remind ourselves of that. We tend to get caught up with what we want and when we want it, but God is trying to tell us to just be patient and to see that he has something for us but we can be stubborn and close our ears because our plan is SO much better. In the end we feel empty and then we turn to God and we are surprised when we see what he has for us. It is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact that God will provide given the circumstances, all he asks for is what he is due, nothing less, nothing more, he demands so little of us when we look at the big picture but we tend to think that he has this giant laundry list of things for us to do. I know that when I turn to God, my life runs at a much easier pace and even though I have not swerved off the path too much recently, I need to make sure that I stay on the straight road that leads to the narrow gate and that I do not deviate from it.

That being said, keep seeking him no matter what and do not be discouraged if you hit a bump in the road because God is ALWAYS there just waiting for you to listen to him. I am praying for all of you and praying that people will start reading again. It killed me everyday that I did not post but for some reason I just could not do it and for that I am sorry but I hope I can get this going again and can expand the reading group even bigger than before. Tell your friends who might be saved or unsaved, if you think that there is a day they REALLY need to read, recommend it to them or send them the day in a message or e-mail but spread the Word, that is all I am doing and if you can, you should do the same.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson