rob12870's Blog

1 John 5:13 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.



So this morning I woke up and went over all the stuff I should have packed for our long trip up to Schroon Lake, NY for summer camp. I needed to be sure I packed everything. I've been on a lot of trips in my life two of the longest ones were trips to Mexico and Costa Rico. Both of those trips lasted 10 days or more and they were out of the States. It's funny how joining a church can change you in ways you never thought. I mean before I started attending MABC I never traveled. I think the only time I ever left PA was on school trips when I was a kid and when My wife and I went to the beach. The one thing about traveling that can drive you crazy is having the right directions. The last thing you want to do is take a wrong turn and end up driving for hours in the wrong direction. Not that it's ever happened to me of course. You know life can be a journey, there are so many ups and downs, so many roads not traveled yet. But it's nice to know that we already have the right directions. It's nice to know that we will see Jesus in the end. I've had lots of people ask me how do you know your sure about where you will spend eternity? To which I respond because God's word tells me so. God didn't put us on this earth just to leave us guessing. He gave us a map. It's found in the pages of His book the bible. He couldn't of made the way any clearer. I know I'm going to Heaven because I believe that Jesus died for my sin. In the verse above it says that the book was writen for me so that I can know that I have eternal life. Not think I have eternal life, not asume I have eternal life, It says so that I can know. That pretty much leaves all doubt out of the picture. So if your still looking for the way in life, if you feel like you have lost all sense of direction, just look to Jesus, He has the way all laid out.



John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.



Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."



The book is a map that will guide you through the rest of your life.

God Bless,

Rob

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Godâthis is your spiritual act of worship.



Sacrifice we see it everyday in sports, athletes sacrifice there bodies for the good of the team in hoping to get a win. Parents put long hours in at work in hopes of providing a better life for there kids. People sacrifice there time around the Holidays to help in soup kitchens across the country. Just recently I started talking with a missionary in India over the Internet. His name is Yohan. When he was a child he had a life similar to mine. He ran the streets with the wrong crowd and got into Lot's of trouble. One day when he was going to the market he saw a crowd gathered on the corner and he heard a man preaching so he went over and listened to this man and great conviction fell on him. He went home to his bed room crying and asked Jesus to forgive him of everything he had done. He said that night as he slept he was awakened and heard these words "Oh my son don't fear, I am here, you were saved and all your sins are gone away. You work for me and spread the Gospel."

He went on to be a missionary in India and has seen many people come to Christ. This man has sacrificed everything to serve the living savior. But what exactly does that word sacrifice mean. The dictionary says sacrifice means the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim. Yohan found his higher claim. It was in the people he sees everyday walking the streets with no hope and no chance of ever knowing Christ unless someone was willing to sacrifice there time to share Him with them. You know it's funny how we can do things for God and walk away feeling like we really sacrificed and put our time in and that's good if our motives are right. But man when I compare my life to the things that Yohan is doing and doing everyday... I mean this guy has given up so much for the work of the Lord and me... huh, I get all bent out of shape if the slide projector doesn't work when we want to practice a drama. You know until we are willing to break out of our comfort zone and truly live out our faith regardless of what others think or say, until we are willing to act outside of church like we act when we are in church, until we are willing to speak and share the name of Jesus to the unsaved like we do the saved. Can we ever really say we are sacrificing anything?



Mark 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."



Please pray for Yohan you can check out his web site @



www.goodshepherdcare.org.



God Bless,

Rob

1 John 4:10-11This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.



Many people know that my relationship with my dad was never really good. He was never good with kids so when I was young It was easy for him to push me aside and head out with his friends to go drinking. My dad spent a lot of time at the bar and very little time at home being a dad. I wanted so much to have a relationship with my dad as a kid. I knew he loved baseball so I really tried hard to be good at it hoping that I might impress him enough or just get his attention. But it never did. I never once heard my dad say good job or I love you growing up and to this day that scar remains. I think it's one of the reasons why it was so easy for me to fall in love with God. I mean I spent most of my young life just wishing my dad would say I love you or something even close to that but he never did. But God on the other hand... man he did more than say it, He showed it when He sent His only son to die on a cross in my place, for my sins. This one act of love did more for me than my earthly father had ever done in my life time. I have forgiven my dad for not being there when I was a child and I even forgive him for not saying I love you simply because I know it's what God wants me to do. I mean if God could forgive me for all the rotton things I've ever done in my life then how could I not forgive my dad. A few years ago my dad sufferd a major stroke and now he can't walk and he can't talk. I don't think I will be hearing I love you from him anytime soon. But at least I know every morning when I get out of bed that I have a Father in heaven who loves me and gave His best for me. All I can do now is my best to live my life each day in such a way that it says I LOVE YOU BACK FATHER.



1 John 4:11 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.



To show God's love, we must love.

God Bless,

Rob

Luke 22:45-46 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."



I have worked 3rd shift now for going on 20 years. Lots of people always ask me do you like that shift? to which I always respond yeah sometimes. I mean if you have kids that are involved in sports at school then 3rd shift is the place to be. You can come home from work and get your sleep in before the madness starts. If I had to pick some things that I don't like about 3rd shift I would have to say that not always getting enough sleep or at least feeling like I never get enough sleep would be right on the top of the list. Followed closely by never eating right. Now I don't know about most people but when I don't sleep right and I don't eat right you can bet that a date with depression is on the way. I mean let's face it when your tired and hungry things get to you easier. You get moody, nervous, upset, weak, or scared faster than you would normally. Something else that can happen when you don't get enough rest is your spiritual life can take a dive. I mean let's face it, it's hard to stand strong for Christ when all you feel is down in the dumps or tired all the time. Who wants to read and pray when they feel exhausted all the time. This can lead to even more problems when you get around your unsaved friends or coworkers. Now because your spiritual life is in the tank you become more easily influenced by the people you work with and your friends. Things you believed were wrong before you now start to accept and if your not careful and realize your in a downward spiral, you can easily get pulled down to where your scraping rock bottom. How do I know this? Well did I mention that I've worked 3rd shift for 20 years. Believe me when I say I've been there. The point I'm trying to make is as Christians we need to make sure were getting enough rest and enough food to help us stay physically strong. Because being physically strong can effect how spiritually strong we are too. You may remember that it was after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness that Satan came to Him to try to tempt Him... Why? well because he was hoping to get Jesus when He was at His weakest and what did he first tempt Him with? You guessed it food.



Matthew 4:2-3 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."



Feast on real food to strengthen the body,

Feast on Gods word to strengthen the soul,

and don't forget to rest.

1Peter 1:13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."



One of the things I love about playing baseball so much is all the thinking that is done on the field. Now to a person who has never played the game it would just look like 9 guys standing there waiting for some guy to hit the ball and that's okay. But to the more serious fan or player they know that when your on the field what happens between pitches is just as important as when the ball is finally pitched. Why? well that's when a fielder is supposed to be thinking about what he's going to do if the ball is hit to him. For instance lets say you got a guy on first, you need to know how many outs there are because if there's 2 you won't want to waist your time trying for a double play. Is the guy on first fast? cause if he's not and the ball is hit to you softly you still might be able to get him out at second. If he's fast just take the sure out at first. The point is the more runners you have on base the more thinking that goes on, and each senario is changed based on outs, speed of the runners, and location of the ball when it's hit. These things and so much more go on in the heads of many of ball players who step on the field. Basically it's there way of preparing themselves for action before the action even starts. Now lets look at this verse. In it we are told to prepare our minds for action to be self controlled. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; You know we all have control issues at times. There are times on the field when it seems no matter how many times I think it through, no matter how many times I'm screaming inside "hit it here and I'll show you how I do!" that when the ball is hit to me I drop it and my best laid plans go to waist. Life can be like this. We think were getting somewhere in our walk, we think were finally walking worthy of our calling and the next thing you know were crawling in humiliation. But we can't give up! Why, because it is God who has called us and He knows were going to fall down at times. We need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and ask God for forgiveness and then continue to do the things we already know that God wants us to do. If you have friends that are leading you astray...then leave them, if your tongue is causing you to sin... then ask God to help you tame it. If the music you listen to is R rated... then turn it off, if the movies you watch are not what you should be watching... watch something else. If the pictures on the computer screen are pornographic... get that garbage off the screen. Your not living in ignorance anymore, that means you can't say to God I didn't know. If your a Christian you have His word and you have His spirit living inside of you to convict you. Those 2 things alone leave you without excuse. It's time to stop making excuses and do what you should be doing.



What are you holding on to that's keeping you from being all that you can be in Christ?



You already know how to live

the question is, do you want to live like you know?



God Bless,

Rob