Love

If you could pick one thing to have for the rest of your life what would it be? What is the one thing that you love the most? Maybe it is a material item, maybe you are thinking of a person, maybe its something that you love to do. Whatever it may be, it is probably really tough decide but at the same time you know some of the things that you love the most. No, no, I am not getting at how materialistic we are, I am trying to get you think about something that you cannot live without no matter what the circumstances. You probably think I am going to talk about fighting for something if someone is trying to take it away from you or it has just run it's course. Again, you would be mistaken as to where this post is going. If I had to pick one thing to have for the rest of my life (outside of God), I would choose my future wife. Being able to have someone to talk to and share things with and someone who is your companion forever would be really great. Knowing that the special person that God designed for you was always right by your side would be so reassuring of the awesomeness of God and how much he cares for me. Someone who in spite of all the times you got into a fight and wished they would just leave, would stick by you and understand that there are differences but things will work out in the end. One of the toughest things I have found in my life is loving people in general, especially those who do not make me very happy. I wish I could control my emotions better and love people just because they are people. At some point you do have to stick up for yourself and reprimand people but when you are constantly upset with people (like me), you have nothing but bitterness in your life and in the end it just tears you apart.

If you go into your Bible and read Hosea 11, you will see exactly what I am talking about when it comes to Love. It describes about God's love for Israel from the time they were young and talks about how he delivered them and yet they still turned against him. They knew who was doing everything for them in the desert but they did not recognize it and stand in awe of him who was providing for them. The Lord threatened so many times to destroy them but He could not bring himself carry out that punishment. The passage says that they would ultimately follow the Lord and when he called, they would follow. His roar would bring them to him with fear and trembling from all corners and then he would finally settle them. In the same way, when we have wandered away from him and He calls us back to him very sternly, we should return with fear and trembling so that he can take us under his wing. We are not completely lost when we get caught up in sin, there is always hope for us to come back until we breathe our last. Do not let people dictate where you go in your everyday life, make choices for the right reasons, do not be pressured into mistakes and walk yourself into bad situations. I am not just talking about sin, this applies in finances, what you talk about, what you watch, what you listen to, the ethics of the decisions that you make every day. If people have harmed you or if things that people do bother you, do not get angry, do your best to show compassion on them and pray for a change to take place inside of them. I feel like a lot of times we are quick to criticize when really we should be blessing that person who wronged you. Yes, it is frustrating when someone cuts you off in traffic, or does something illegal, unethical, or immoral. If I will not pray for these people then who will? We are all guilty of something under one of these categories quite often and we need prayer too! Let us keep that in mind as we criticize those around us, often we are probably the ones being criticized by others and no one is willing to help the other.

I hope you all had a great day! Gearing up for the trip back to Minneapolis in just a few days and trying to get in shape and refine my skills for baseball season. Should be a fun last few days here! God is great and I'm very happy and content right now. That means it is time to grow again and not get stuck here! Praying for all of you, please keep me in your prayers!

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson