At What Cost?

Today I finished up my first week (3 days of classes) and as a result, somehow earned a 3-day weekend. God is already working in my life this semester and I am excited to see what he has in store for the next 101 days that this semester holds. I keep diving into my course work not because stuff is due or because I do not want to be overwhelmed later on, but because the stuff I am reading is so good. Usually when I buy textbooks, I see them as a waste of time but some of the books I have will be the start of a library that will help me not only through my college years but as I seek to continue to grow in Christ throughout the course of my life. God knew exactly what he was planning when I made the decision to come to NCU and the fact that it is being unveiled this second semester is no surprise. He wanted me to overcome the struggle of being unsure of where I was and he was hoping I would see what his plan was as a result. I am so thankful that he is faithful even when I am not and I could never have been this successful without him.

As I was reading a book called classical devotions, I was reading what it meant to be a disciple and as I moved along through the passage, I found out what I have been doing wrong all this time. I have been focused on what I feel I cannot give up in order to gain whatever it is I am looking for from Christ, instead of looking at what it is costing me to not be giving things up and walking with Jesus. I think when people realize what they are missing out on by not staying faithful to God, then they can begin to see that changes need to be made because the cost of not being is God is far greater than the cost of following his will, his calling, and his commands. This is something I will be working on over the next few weeks and will continue to talk about as I go through what is hopefully a strong transition period.

I hope you are all doing well, and continue to pray not only for those around you, but for those in Haiti and other disaster stricken countries.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

No Will

I have begun reading for some of my classes this semester and most of the work I have this semester pertains to lots and lots of reading. I figured it would just be busy work in regards to reading and that I would just have some useless information that I needed to retain until a test so that I could do very well on it and then remember bits and pieces that were important for the rest of my life. Then I ran into a book called Celebration of Discipline. I only read two chapters tonight (only 13 in the book), but I was amazed by the stuff I read. For the most part, it covers the different spiritual disciplines and gives you a different perspective on how to achieve them (if you have not already) or on how shape them so that you are following them using biblical principles more or less. I noticed one thing in the reading that stood out to me and I will address it more later on, but this particular idea got me thinking about how I live my life for God and what motivates me to keep from sinning and what is my source of strength when it comes to overcoming sin and temptation. I must say that I am very excited to read this book and see how it impacts me over the next 102 days that are left in the semester. I believe that God is stirring something up, not only in me but on this campus because big changes are going to be happening and I feel it.

The principle that really stood out to me from the book was the idea that when some people try not to sin, they simply will themselves not to sin and if they are successful, they then attribute their "willpower" to the accomplishment. What the author is saying here is that people "will worship" in that they worship the will of themselves instead of worshiping God for his strength and his will to be made perfect in them. We might ask God for strength to overcome sin but sometimes we like to give ourselves a pat on the back when we do "good." This is a misconception that in the author's eyes makes sin grow stronger in your life. You keep giving yourself this false sense of hope that you can overcome it because one time you did not feel like sinning but then the next time, you give in and get upset. I agree with the author because when God is directing your life and his will for your life is being revealed, then you will continue to overcome because God will be sufficient for your needs. We cannot deny the fact that God is perfect and he is the only one who can make us perfect. We were born without sin but we are fallible and thus became sinners and through his grace we are made perfect.

I hope you all had a good time reading this and I hope all is well with you. Please let me know if you have anything you would like for me to pray with or for you about.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Spirit

Well, I made it through the first day of classes and do not feel that my MWF classes will be too overwhelming in my attempt at 19 credit hours but I know that I will still have to work hard to do as well as I would like in all of my classes. Chapel was good and I know that God has something special to do in me over the next 113 days that we have in this semester. We serve an awesome God and he is able to do more than we could imagine and if we chase after his heart, we will see the benefits of it. One class that I think I will find to be interesting is Spiritual Formation. In that class, we have to attend a church that is not of our denomination and then we have to write about our experience. We also have to attend 7 one hour prayer meetings throughout the semester so that we can try to grow in our prayer life. I am interested in how God is going to speak to me through that class and I know he has something special lined up for me. I have been spending time with some of the new recruits for baseball and they are some good kids. They are hopefully looking to grow in Christ and as athletes and I pray that God gives me the strength and help to motivate me to be there as a leader for them on and off the field.

Short and simple tonight, Galatians 5:16 states, "So I say, live by the Spirit , and you will not gratify the of the sinful nature." There is not much to explain here in that it is a pretty straightforward passage but I cannot stress enough that God will open up doors for you and give you strength to overcome anything that you think is bringing you down. Do not give up on God because he will always be your source of strength, even when you feel like you have nothing left. Continue to seek him and his guidance and you will not be disappointed because he is all that you need.

Hope you all are doing well and that these are benefitting you.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Falling Back

Well, I am just about all settled in back at school where there is tons of snow on the ground and it is rather cold, but I am ready to start the new semester. I have a new roommate and our baseball team has done a little bit of "remodeling" but both of those things excite me and I am ready to experience the spring. I do not know what my classes will hold or what the baseball season will hold, but I am trying to remain optimistic about it all and battle it head on. By far this year and been the toughest on me out of all my years actually in school but I think that just has to do with stress of trying to be too perfect in every aspect of my life. I believe it should be encouraged to strive for excellence at all times but I think that there is a limit that needs to be established so that one does not burn themselves out in an effort to be perfect. I know that there is so much more to life than just work and being perfect and I want to lie life to the fullest for Christ so as to not be distracted by worldly things.

I want you to know that just as I stated the other night, you are in control of whether or not you backslide. Christ empowers us to overcome the temptation that we face, and that is scriptural... We also see in Galatians 4:8-9 that what Christ has to offer is by far more supreme than what the world can do for us and that we should overcome the flesh so as not to fall. These verses state, "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves by nature to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God--or are rather known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved all over again?" Satan tries to pull us back in anyway he can and it is foolish for those of us who have tasted the goodness of God, to turn back to what we "want." We have a choice and what we deem to be more important to us will take priority. Whether it is what God wants for us, or what we want for us. We must continue to win this battle because it is a struggle that will never go away and until you overcome it, you will continue to feel inadequate because Satan wants control over you.

I hope you are all doing well, and I hope to hear from some of you soon.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Going Back

Well, tonight is my last night in Phoenix/Gilbert until at least April and I have a long road ahead of me. Some might say I am crazy but I might try to tackle a 19 credit hour semester, play baseball, and have a 10 hour a week work study. I know that God has so much in store for me and this semester I know that by seeking him more and really jumping into the spirit, I will reap so many benefits. God works in mysterious ways and sometimes it just sends a chill down your spine when you know God is moving in and around you. Chelsi and I have made it all the way to the book of Galatians by reading 2 chapters a night which means we have just a little way to go to be done with the New Testament. We have not seen too many benefits from reading the same verses every night but we know that things take time and by trying to make God the center focus of who we are separately and in our relationship, we know that we will greatly benefit from our bible study together. If there is one thing I have learned over the last semester, it is that God wants us to always stay happy. Sure Christ wept and he was overwhelmed but deep down he knew that the weight he was about to bare was going to make him happy when it was all over. He had joy in the fact that he had to endure the cross for those that he loves so dearly. If we remain positive, then we will see God truly start to move even when we are facing our darkest hour. I have heard a few sermons on fasting over the last few weeks and I think that the darkest hour and staying positive, relates to being weak while fasting and trusting that God can use your weakness to make his power perfect as Paul stated in 2nd Corinthians. We tend to think that some concepts only apply to one thing (and some do) but there are cases in which biblical principles apply in many areas, we have to continue to grow in the knowledge of God to understand all of this though and that is why we have his word and are able to speak to him directly.

I feel that what I have said, though brief, will really bring people to think about their life and I want to do that occasionally because this blog is not just about me, it is about US. WE take the journey, not just me.

I hope you all are doing well and hope to hear from some of you soon.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

The Bottom

I was thinking today that there are times when we have so much sin in our lives and yet we still consider ourselves to be "good christians." We could be finding ourselves in situations everyday that we could avoid but somehow we always find ourselves back fighting temptation. Obviously we are going to face adversity in our walk and we will be tempted but when there is something that is dragging you down and you let it continue to get a foothold, you have more than just sin in your life, you have a problem. I will not lie, I have been in that point a few times in my life. You just get to a point where you feel like "it just does not matter anymore, I am so far in with sin that it cannot get any worse." This also is a lie from the pit of hell and from Satan's very lips just like when he tells you that you are not good enough for God. You can never be so involved with sin that you just do not care about sinning anymore, God is always pulling at your heart and that is what tells you that what you are doing is wrong. It is not a matter of how much sin am I willing to allow in my life but a matter of when will I decide to make things right and run away from what is pulling me away from the one I love. Satan uses anything he can to pull us away from the ones we love. Whether it be through affairs, gambling, alcohol, video games, work, avoidance... the list goes on and on. God wants us to see that when we are at the bottom and we recognize that we have a problem that we want to fix it but we are just not willing to let go, that he is there and can pull us through. Sometimes it takes for us to realize that our sin is not just hurting us but it is hurting others and that what we think makes us happy, in the end only leaves us feeling guilty (as you should).

What I am trying to say is this, do not let sin become so dominant in your life that everytime you sin, you wish you had not. I know you will always feel this way when you sin but when you know what is right and you keep telling yourself what is right and then you sin anyway, you know that it is going to be painful to remember that when you stand before God. If you know what to do, then do it!!! I have a problem with this when it comes to my spiritual walk and I want God to be first in my life. I want God to reign supreme and have control over me. When he crushes Satan in the end, those who are lost will have no ruler so to speak because he is serving the same punishment that they are. He is just the one who brought them all down and he thinks he has power. Satan is no ruler, he is a deceiver and he wants you to think that just one more time will not hurt, but let me tell you that one more time turns into a few and then a few turns into a lot and that a lot turns into a habit and habits are hard to break. If you start out with good habits and you do not stray from those, then your good habits will be dominant but once you start to stray and you have tasted that worldly desire, you will want more because that is the human nature. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that the Christian should not (notice I did not say will) give in to the desire of the flesh. I believe this is represented in 2nd Corinthians 13:5 which states, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you -- unless, of course, you fail the test."

Keep pushing through and know that when you are at the bottom and sin is climbing all over you, there is an escape clause and it is Christ. Continue to seek him and his guidance and he will be thankful and reward you because of your faithfulness.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson