Footholds

Every so often, you let a habit grow and grow on you and then it becomes a problem. Some people call it an addiction and usually an addiction would be something you just cannot live without. I would not say that I have addictions to anything whether it be media or some sin in my life, but I do struggle with some things that tend to be a problem for me and they need to be brought under control. Only I can control my thoughts and the things that come out of my mouth and when you say things that do not reflect a firm lifestyle in Christ, then you become a hypocrite. I do not want to carry this label and I will say that I have my struggles, overcoming them is tough and I need to continue to work at using God's power to overcome certain things. I put effort into many areas of my life but this is one area that I really struggle. As I continue to go through my days, I get frustrated that I do not always stand firm and I end up letting things become a huge problem. I let Satan get a foothold and I have a hard time pushing him back out. The same routine gets old and I need to keep looking for fresh things from God. I know I am not the only one who struggles with it. I know there are non-christians who feel the same way when they keep doing stuff but end up with similar results every time. One of the biggest roadblocks is trying to make the necessary changes in order to correct things and keep them that way. We all find trouble in different ways in life and we have to find a way to fix things before they get out of control.

Hebrews 2:1-3 states, "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received it's just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him." Therefore, we must take action because of the salvation that has been given to us. We do not have to suffer for the sinful acts that we have committed in our life because as this verse says, we should receive our just punishment but we have a chance to make things right because of the price that Jesus paid for us. Our life without Christ would be nothing because there would be no hope and without hope, we would have no purpose for living. I believe that people still have a Christian conscience in their heart even if it is deep down because we are God's from the beginning and THEN we fall away. We have Christ ingrained in us but whether he is dominant is our choice. You cannot give the devil a foothold if you want to win. Just like you do not reveal your game plan before a football or basketball game other wise you will most likely get beaten.

I hope and pray that those of you reading this will take it to heart and understand the meaning behind it. I believe that God has powerful things he wants to do in ALL of our lives and we have to provide him with the opportunity and atmosphere to do it.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

What do to?

Busy, busy... Long day of school, baseball, working out, and homework and I am just about to go to bed. I am going to spend a few minutes with God after I am done with this and then I will be getting my rest to prepare for another long day tomorrow. I must say though, I am blessed that God has provided me with all that he has and I know that I would not be bale to get through some of my days without him. Sure I might not always be where I should be at with him but I know that he still cares about me and I need to do my best to show my love for him. I sometimes just sit around and say, "If I could just eliminate this one thing from my life, I would have no problem serving God to the fullest and I would just be such a good Christian." I find myself in this situation a lot but for some reason I will not change that one thing. Call it apathy, selfishness, whatever... but for some reason I am just content with letting that one thing pull me down constantly. Now I know that there is never just one thing that people struggle with but let us just say that this is a "main" problem in my life. The things that could get categorized as lesser problems seem to be just that, lesser problems, until we have to deal with them and then they get pushed to the forefront. Some of these might include jealousy, anger, honesty, obedience, etc. The truth is that these can be just as detrimental as that "main" thing, I just feel that the main thing prevents me from taking care of some of the lesser problems. Over the past few weeks, I feel like I have done a better job at taking care of the lesser problems and I have spent more time on the small stuff. I definitely have improved in some of the areas I just mentioned but now I have to tackle the "beast."

As I look to overcome this, I need to recognize the problem, and then I need to develop a plan to overcome it. If I fail at first, I need to be persistent in eliminating it because it will just continue to cause me problems. The goal is not to keep falling down when we have problems but if we do, hopefully, someday we will overcome it and realize that we have been foolish. Now I am not justifying continuing to live the way you are but some people just take time to mature in their faith because they are not ready to take that step for whatever reason. I encourage you to find out what is holding you back and determine if it can be changed as soon as possible! Titus 3:3-8 says, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God out savior appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy, He saved is through the washing of the rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." I will leave you with that verse so that you can meditate on it and pray about it. I think God is speaking to us who are in a comatose state spiritually and we need to snap out of it.

I hope you are all doing well, please feel free to contact me and discuss issues with me or just post a comment and let me know how you are doing. I will continue to pray for God to speak to those of you who read and for his blessings to be upon you.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson

Lost

I spend so much time thinking about things everyday and I wonder if I just changed some of my thoughts, how much easier my day would be. Also, I could just eliminate some of my thoughts and keep things from being so hectic and I would just be more relaxed all together. I try so hard to be perfect and instead I just end up falling. I think it would be better to just not worry about what I am not supposed to do and just focus on what I am supposed to do. This is a huge problem for me because when I think about what I am not supposed to do, it gets me thinking about doing it. If I were to just avoid the thought of certain things, then I could be more successful in avoiding those things. Picturing yourself doing something right or overcoming temptation of any sort will increase the likelihood of following through with your decision. God empowers us to overcome temptation and when we allow him to continue to work, we see exactly what it is that he has for us. In the end, we ultimately have to use the strength that God gives us so that we can stand strong and let the spirit guide us throughout our day.

It says in Titus 1:15-16, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good." Let us not get caught up in being with the corrupted because these are harsh words that Paul uses but they are very realistic words. We should not just claim to know God, but we should have relationship with him and grow in him everyday. As we continue to get closer to him, he will reveal himself to us more and more and Satan's attempts to bring us down will become more frequent, but God protects those whom he loves and he will make it possible for you to overcome what Satan has in store for you, but you have to make the choice to stick with your first love which is Christ. "Let us not grow weary in doing good..."

If you would like to talk or have any comments, please post or get ahold of me via cell phone/text message. Hope you are all doing well and I will continue to keep you in my prayers.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson