Realization

I have come to learn a lot about life in recent weeks. I have learned that you can never take for granted a great thing. Sometimes we feel as though we are in the best situation we could possibly be in and then something happens and things take a turn for the worse. I also learned how to control emotions which was very helpful at the game today but I also knew when it was necessary to step in and provide damage control. The last thing that I can say that I have learned for sure, is the fact that nobody is allowed to be different anymore. I am beginning to realize that people do not want to listen to opinion and that valid statements are sometimes no longer well.... valid. It seems as though logic no longer has a strong place in this world and it has been replaced by ignorance and arrogance. People no longer respect the ideas of other (not that they necessarily ever have I guess), and any different characteristics lead to one being an outcast who is looked down on by society because they did not conform to what they were asked to. The standard of thinking seems to have been lowered at some point and people are no longer allowed to think on a higher level without being told that they are wrong.

We see in Joshua 1:9 that it does not matter what level that people put us on and it does not matter what is going on around us, we have been called by God to get things done. It states, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." When people stand up against us, we are not supposed to run, we are actually told to do the opposite. We are supposed to stand on the word and allow God to work no matter what obstacles are in our way. The other day I was discussing Romans 1 with a friend and we talked about how Paul planned so many trips and some of them he did not get to go on because he was either being imprisoned, beaten, or something else came up. He did not stop planning though, he made every effort to reach the different parts of the are because he had a job to do and longed to be with those people. I know that I have a job to do and I feel like I have chased God 100% but at the same time I am just not able to do everything that I should be in order to make sure that I am standing firm. We also see in Romans 1 that the people were well educated in Christ but they did not protect themselves and they fell in to sin and God turned away from them. He gave them "depraved" minds because they were mindlessly sinning and not living for him. I know that I need to answer my call and make some more changes because I do not want to be like the Romans. I want to have favor with God and I want his blessing to be with me.

You know, I fell asleep while posting this last night. I finished the first paragraph and then went down. I think it is a result of me just screwing up lately and Satan is trying to get a foothold in my life. I cannot let this happen and I will stand against it and make sure that I am getting done what God has laid on my heart and not being lazy about it. One thing I did do though was take more time to meditate on the scripture last night. I thought about all the possible applications of the verse and then posted. In my bible there is a side note call "Live the Adventure" and it states, "Reading the Bible is a great way to become familiar with who God is and what his will for you is. Memorizing Scripture is a great way to make sure that God's principles are never far from your mind. Meditating on God's Word-- thinking about it constantly, praying for God to help you understand it more clearly searching for ways to use its truth in your everyday life-- is a great way to change your heart and life forever.  I feel like this is speaking directly to me because to an extent I meditate on the scripture but I do not evaluate it as much anymore and I do not get a good look at the scripture before I start to post. I think I should gain as much understanding before I post and then just post based on what God spoke through me. I am not giving God much time to work in my life as I read and I think that is something that I need to work on because I have just recently seen that occur. It is imperative that I make this change because I am at a point in which I need to find a new gear or I will not be going anywhere. I have to make a 12 foot jump to get to the next level and there is only one way to do that and it is with God. Being strong and courageous is the only way I can accomplish this though because if I am afraid then I will never be ready to take that step.  God is with us every step of the way. I tend to walk away for a break every once in a while but I should not need a break and I am trying to push through that phase and into what he has for me at all times.

Sorry for another early morning post, I know I should not be apologizing to you but to God because it is him who I have disappointed by not doing my work properly and he is saddened that I am struggling. But as I spoke about the turnaround, it is continuing to happen and I will not go back to who I was because I have come too far and am too strong minded to let that happen. I hope you all had a great Saturday and that God continues to move in your life. I m praying for all of you and hope to hear from some of you soon.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Desire

Well, I know this does not count towards my consecutive days because it is 3 A.M. right now but last night after I finished my prayer, I fell asleep, I had been running on 4 hours of sleep and was up at 5:30 so the potential for me to crash was very high. I woke up and was almost angry but then I realized that Satan wants me to get angry and frustrated so that he can win by showing me that I failed. Instead I decided to give up an hour of sleep and make a post. Once again, it is not about a consecutive days streak, it is about allowing God to make changes in my life and as long as I take heart what I am reading and posting about then I will come out of it a different person. Yesterday I sat in a line for 5 hours in freezing temperatures so as to hold my group's spot in line for the game against KU today. We had to show up by 7:30 yesterday and have at least 3 people stay in order to hold the spot and we were allowed to leave at 6. I realized that if Christians had this devotion to wait on God and lined up to do his work, the Christian church would probably double overnight. I also thought, how far would we go if we had to wait all day in the worst conditions (snow, wind, rain, below zero temps) if we had the chance to just catch a glimpse of God's face? We should carry our devotion to the things that matter in life to a higher level than the devotion we have towards things that bring us down and help us become part of this world. 

In Colossions 3, we are told the type of devotion and desire we are to have when it comes to heaven and to God. Verses 1 and 2 state, "Since, then. you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things" I tend to direct my attention to the things I need to get done while I am here. I have so many earthly goals that I tend to push my heavenly ones aside sometimes and that is when I end up getting hurt. When we let our priorities fall and God becomes 2nd, 3rd, or 4th on our list, we tend to see that things tend to be much tougher and we have a hard time following anything that God has planned for us because we are so busy that we just tell God that we will do it later. The problem is that later comes and we tell him we will do it later. God wants me to act now, he does not want to wait for me to act. You know, if Noah had waited to build the ark then he too would have drowned in the flood. God told him what he needed to do and even though he thought God might be a little crazy, he followed him because he trusted in him and had his heart set on the heavens and what God was doing, not on the earth and what he was doing at the time. As I have said before, we cannot keep telling God "tomorrow" because tomorrow may never come. I do not apply that as well as I should and I think that falling asleep has been a wake up call to me and showed me that I need to straighten some things out and have a different routine so as to put my focus more on God and less on me.

God is preparing to do and is starting to do amazing things in me and I am having a hard time just getting to that point where I can fully let him do that. I am right on the edge and ready to explode with his love and grace but I just seem to be a little stuck right now. I am pushing to get over the edge. Please pray for me and pray that I can overcome any emotional weakness that I may be experiencing so that I can push through and jump to a new level.

I hope you all had an amazing day and I am still praying for all of you. I hope that God continues to bless you and your families and just remember that staying faithful to him can be tough but in the end it will definitely be worth it.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Turnaround

I think if I were still posting days, I would be at 93 right now. Though they have not been consecutive, God has really done amazing things for me in the past months since October. He has provided a door for me to play baseball, he has helped me get over things that I thought I would never be able to let go, and he has renewed many things in my life that I had thought might be lost forever. He has strengthened me and he has opened my eyes to his plan and given me the vision to do his work. God has worked in amazing ways and brought people into my life and has given me people to talk to and just be able to open up to. God has taught me to appreciate others and put others before me because he has instilled a new passion and has given me a heart full of more love than ever. I still have a hard time controlling things within myself but I am better than where I used to be. Changes are slowly becoming evident in me and other changes still need to be made. God has definitely brought light to the everyday struggles I face and has given me ways to avoid problems. Last summer I found myself in deep one night and God pulled me through because he had bigger plans for me. I cannot be more proud of the decision that I made that night and I give him all the glory for guiding me and showing me that I had a higher purpose. God has intended for us to experience things in a timely manner and he will never put us in a situation in which we cannot get out. He takes all our fears and bottles them up and brings us peace when everything is chaotic. He has truly blessed me!

The turnaround in my life has been one I had been waiting quite a bit for. The problem was I was waiting on God to do something and I was not set on making the changes I NEEDED to make in order to become who he wanted me to be. I could sin and think nothing of it because I felt that I was going to be okay and then I tried to blame all bad things that happened to me on the fact that I had sinned. The problem is that my lack of faithfulness was leading to destruction and was tearing down everything I had worked for. I was wasting and losing opportunities faster than ever but I decided one day that it needed to change and I do not think I have been the same person since. There are certain characteristics that are just a part of who I am but I have changed. In Psalm 30:11-12, it states, "You turned my wailing into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." This is exactly how I feel everyday when I realize what God has done for me and how different I am from the person I was 5 months ago. I was not looking for who I was because I am already who I am, I just finally found the way I was supposed to go and embraced who I was.  When I was caught in sin and not walking in step with the word, I was ignoring who I was, the turnaround came when I decided to become who I have always been but was too afraid to be. I try to take that with me everywhere I go because we do not go around looking for who we are, that is a battle that can never be won. We need to embrace who we are. 

I can say with confidence that God picked me up out of the dirt and said it is "game time." If you know me then you know that the one thing that gets me going is when game time rolls around. Blood is rushing, confidence is at a high and the nerves are just fueling the fire. It is the one time in which I feel like I am ready to go and nothing can take that joy away. The change in me has made me want to do what I can to serve the Lord and call on his name for all of my days and I am excited about that. The definition of a sackcloth is, "garments made of such cloth, worn formerly to indicate mourning" I can say that God has taken away any mourning and self pity and he has made me better and happier because of it. He gave me an opportunity and I ran with it. If you are not a Christian and think I am just some Jesus Freak or I have weird beliefs, that is fine. But ask yourself if you are passing an opportunity for happiness. You might be searching in the wrong places so why not give this a try? The only thing it can be is another disappointment, or it could be the greatest decision of you life? You will never no unless you try. "50 years from now when you look back at your life, don't you want to say you had the guts to get in the car." Yeah I know its from transformers but it is so true and I think it applies perfectly.

I am praying for all of you and hope you are continuing to seek him. Stay safe and have fun. Hope you all had a great day and I hope to talk to some of you soon.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Everything will be okay

Tonight I was able to learn some things about myself and my past. I can honestly say that I heard a sermon and actually applied it right then and there to past experiences in my life as well as what is to come in the future. God works in amazing ways and shows me that I am following exactly what he has planned for me even though I do show him or ask him if I am doing the right thing. I listen to my instincts a lot and I think that is the Spirit moving inside of me, I just need to be more open to the Spirit and let the Spirit assist me everyday. Everything that we do has a purpose, whether it is going to a church service or helping out. God will speak to us through many facets of life and he will never cease to amaze. Some of the most subtle hints to me have given me some of the best perspectives that I have ever had when it comes to learning about myself. I can honestly say I am a stronger person after tonight and I will not repeat some of the mistakes I have made in the past. God has a remedy for our broken lives and it is to mend broken hearts and to lead us to where we will be happy forever and where we will have no worry. As I opened my devotional tonight, I wanted to go elsewhere but I think that the verse I was given for the day was enough. I have used the verse before if I am not mistaken but I am taking it from a different angle and I am letting God take ahold.

Have you ever gotten to a point in which you feel like you are surrounded by trouble and nothing can seem to go your way? You feel like there is no way out and you have no clue what to do and if the problem persists, it could be life altering? Well, the disciples were in the same boat when they found out that Jesus was going to die on the cross and be the ultimate sacrifice. Everything was going fine and then they had to hit panic mode because the one person they could rely on was going to be taken from them but Jesus spoke some powerful words. John 14:1 quotes Jesus as saying "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me" the devotional I am reading has a coach that defines trouble as being in a bad situation and being troubled is having no strategy for the scenario and not being prepared to accept the consequences that will come as a result. How I see this is that God is telling us that when trouble confronts us, we need to trust in him and not let our hearts grow weary. He has everything under control and I know that even when I feel like I need a girlfriend because I am running out of time to find a girl or when I feel like I do not know where I am supposed to go next in life, I get discouraged because I feel like I am troubled and have no where to go. God brings me peace by letting me know that he has it all taken care of and in due time I will know exactly what to do. He will not bring any harm to me, he just wants me to learn to be patient and understand that his timing is his timing and my job is to have faith and trust him.

On the other end of the spectrum, think about the world that is lost and do not know God, they face trouble everyday and they are definitely troubled. Whether you know it or they know it or not, those who do not know Christ and do not know what to do are the most troubled people on Earth. See they are in trouble because time is running out and no one knows when it will all end and they are troubled because right now they have no remedy. They are running around blind looking for answers but I tend to think as Christians we tend to let blind people run around in the dark while we wear night vision goggles and wonder when things will ever change. We seem to think that everything will just naturally take its course and these people will get saved. The problem is that unless we do something, these people are never going to find peace and they are in for more trouble when they face the reality of their lifestyle when they die. I still do a poor job at reaching out to people and if this seems like a repetitive message, it is because I need to make the change and start reaching out to people and I am trying to grasp that. God has called me to do great things and I am just getting started with that and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for me next.

I hope that everyone had a great day. I will still pray for you if you need prayer and I will pray with you if you would like. Call/text me anytime if you need someone to talk to or if you want to talk about a post or whatever. Hope you all have a great night and I look forward to hearing from some of you!

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Controlling Emotions

I know that a few weeks ago I talked about not letting highs be too high and lows being too low and I know I have touched on it a few times in recent posts as well. I tend to find that I am still doing this too an extent but not as bad as I used to be. We all learn from mistakes and sometimes learning takes time. I know that there are things that I need to gradually learn as I try to make the a habit. I do not know how long it took me to work on a daily devotion everyday and actually try to focus on what I was doing. It is still hard to focus for the whole amount of time while I do this but I am getting better at it and I am slowly eliminating distractions that pop up when I begin my devotion. God would rather have my full attention or non at all. I do not get anything out of just posting mindless stuff everyday that does not come from him and it is not good for me as a Christian to say that I am doing something that he has put on my heart if I am not doing it in the right manner or if it is not pleasing to him. As far as highs and lows go, I have a different way to apply it but not necessarily in the daily walk.

It is stated in Proverbs 24:17-18, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him." I know I am guilty of this many times over and when this happens I tend to say that the person deserved what was coming to them. In reality I should be saying that the person needs to change their ways and needs someone to come and guide them. Showing them the kindness of Jesus' love. I tend to see myself do this when I hear about people who are not jerks to most people and others just tolerate it. When something happens I feel like it should have happened and maybe they will learn a lesson but i tend to get carried away. This is frowned upon in the eyes of God as it is stated in the beginning of the verse. God does not pour his wrath on people for our amusement, he does not enjoy it, instead I think it tears his heart out because he has to punish his own creation. He has established a new covenant and people are not abiding by it and they are turning away. It is the job of the church to take ahold of the opportunities we are given, unfortunately there will be those that do not listen and their time will come when they are judged and have to answer for all the things they have done. It will be a sad day when we know that we lost a friend who didn't make it to heaven. We live in a world where people only believe what they want to believe and there are quite a few who just think that being a good people and lending a helping hand is all it takes to get into heaven and they believe their friends and family have achieved that goal. DO NOT GET ME WRONG! I am not saying that your loved ones have all gone to hell because I do not know where they were at in their salvation. By no means am I judging those in which I do not know on a personal level. God is telling us here to be reserved and understand that these things must happen because we all make choices that lead to a prosperous life or a destructive life and it is not a movie that we get to watch and enjoy when the "bad" guy gets hurt, killed, arrested, etc... Keep in mind that we are supposed to be Christ-like and I know that I have a hard time with that but I am trying to do my best in order to achieve that. 

Please pray for me and continue to keep me in your prayers. I am not really struggling but I just need to keep going strong and to overcome anything that tries to hinder me and my walk. I am praying for all of you still and if you have anything specific, do not hesitate to ask. I hope you all had an amazing day and are looking forward to another day that God will (hopefully) give us tomorrow. Have a great night!

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Great God

Well, a somewhat long day is coming to an end and I am looking to a short day tomorrow filled with assignments and some reading. God is starting to open doors and sort of show me where I am headed. I know that he is in control though and I am not stressing about next year. God has given me so much that I could never have imagined. He has surrounded me with friends and family that care about me and that I care about in return because they are that amazing. He has put people in my life that have had a great impact on me and most of all, he is always there for me even when I turn away. There are times in which I wonder why I have grown distant from certain friends and then I realize that it is not really my fault. There are a good amount of times when I try to stay in contact with people and when they ignore me, I feel like it is not even worth giving them the time of day. If they come back then I will be there but until then there is not much I can do. It is the same with God, he keeps picking at you trying to let you know what is up and trying to get in contact with you but when you ignore him then he just has to sit back and wait for you to return. There becomes a point when he is not able to do anything for a person because then it would be pushing the line of free will. God does not force us to listen to him, instead he gives us a choice and we pick how we would rather live. We find that as we follow him, we are given more than we could imagine and he finds ways to bless us even though we do not really deserve it.

In Dueteronomy 4, Moses is writing to the Israelites warning them about what is going to happen as they enter the promised land and what God expects of them. In verses 5-7, Moses states, "See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them into the land you are entering and take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' What other other nation is so great as to have their Gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?" Moses is telling the people that they are being watched and that those around them will see what Christ is doing in them if they hold fast to the Lord and do not give up hope. In the same way, we are being watched today and every move we make as Christians is under an 80X microscope. If people see that we are for real and that God does take care of us, they will see that God is for real and that nothing can stop his power. I know this takes tons of work on the part of the Christian church but we need to work collectively to restore the image of Christianity. Our leaders set the example that we are supposed to follow and then it is our job to follow it. I will admit that I am shaky sometimes and I do not follow everything to a T, I am not a great representation of the Christian church and I definitely have some things I need to work on when I am in the public eye. My integrity will be on my own conscience and I will seek to do my best in living a life that is pleasing in the sight of God when I am in the public and private eye. 

On the subject of how great our God is, we see that Moses explains how the people will marvel at how God is so close to us when we call on his name in prayer. I touched on this the other day in that Jesus is our lifeline. Not only has he provided us a way to him through salvation but he is close to us as we walk around on earth. We serve an amazing God who is able to do so much and even in light of tragedy, he can bring us hope. Take the Israelites for example, they were in slavery for many many years and then God brought a leader to deliver them. This leader taught them so much in the face of adversity and lead them to a place in which they could only ever dream about. What a great God!

Hope you all had an amazing day and I continue to pray for all of you. Hope you all have a great night and I look forward to spending time on here tomorrow.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

What Speak?

As a person who likes to talk a lot, I can say from experience that sometimes I would be better off not saying things rather than saying what I think is the right thing to say. Sometimes it is stuff I just should not say and other times it is something that is hurtful to someone because I think I am helping them. I think that if I just thought before speaking, I would be a lot better off and I would not find myself in trouble so much. I have learned that expressing how you feel can be done in certain ways and sometimes you freak people out when you are too straightforward. We just have to think of the situations we are in and act accordingly. This is true because sometimes we can fall into sin  through gossip or saying something we do not mean which in turn puts us into situations that we should never have been in. For example, you tell someone that if they invite you to a party, you might go. You know that the party is not a place to be because you are going to be tempted to drink and whatnot but if you just told them that you do not drink and if there was a party with no alcohol then you would go. Maybe its that you tell that boy or girl you are with that you might be open to a more physical relationship and then later on you feel are put in a situation you do not want to be in because you opened your mouth earlier. Other times we find ourselves acting irrationally and talking back to our parents or coaches because we are not thinking before we react and speak. Maybe you said something that was meant to be a joke but you did not realize the effect that those words would have on a person. It is all about our thought process with the words we say and we can have a stronger walk if you control our tongues.

We see in Proverbs 13:3 that guarding the tongue is a staple in order to be successful. We are told. 'He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin." I know that in my 19 years, I have done a very poor job of this and everyday I find myself saying something that I wish I could have back. I do not regret saying what I have said but I know that I could have done something differently. I am definitely sorry for some of the things I have said to people and about people over the years. For example, I said something at practice one day and by the end of practice, the person who I said it about already knew and she was very upset with me. In this case, there was a misinterpretation of what I said and everything got cleared up, but had I chosen to not say anything, I would have never had to defend myself and I would not have had to work at mending a broken friendship. Everything we say has a response, good or bad and the timing and content of what is said plays a big role in how the comment or word is received. Sometimes it is not what we say about someone, it is the words spoken to them. Trying to give someone assistance when they do not want it or providing advice in which people do not want to hear can be very detrimental and lead to a bad night and possibly friendship. The only thing we can do in regards to this is to seek out God and if he is giving us words to speak to them, then we should take the signal and do what we can to help. We must be careful and make sure we are being lead by him so that we do not make the situation bad or worse.

I know that this is something I need to work on and I need to shut my mouth more and listen more. It is not bad for me to voice my opinion but there is a time and a place for it all. God has given me the gift of listening (kind of). I tend to listen and then go on for hours about how things can change and what people need to do and if it relates to me then I try to provide examples of my own experiences. I know that God uses me in special ways, I just need to be more reserved and let him take control of some situations instead of feeling like I have got it. He will help me along the way and he will not steer me or you towards failure.

I hope today was great for all of you. It was my Mom's birthday so I got to talk to her this afternoon and wish her a happy birthday. It was the first one I have not been able to spend with her so it was a little different but it is all good. I am praying for all of you and do not hesitate to ask if you need anything. 480-292-1754.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson