School started a few weeks ago, and I’m sure that everyone
is wondering how my life is by now. In a
word: Fantastic. I can’t stress how much I love living in Simi
Valley; there’s just so much life here and so much to do. Don’t believe me? How about you look up Milton, PA, on Google
Maps then compare it to Simi Valley, CA.
Trust me, there’s lot’s to do here.
The people here are killer. I’ve
met mostly solid dudes and ladies while I’ve been out here and began making
some good friendships. It always takes
me a while to lose that initial shyness that usually accompanies meeting a lot
of new people all at once, but I’m working on it. Classes are also going very well. It’s a hefty work load—I’m not going to
lie—but it’s so worth it. All the
reading we’re doing is so packed full of Scripture and great Truths. It’s only been a few weeks and I feel like my
head is going to explode with all that I’m trying to take in and
understand. If you’re reading this and
you’re also the type that likes to pray for people, send praises and thanks up
to God for all that He is doing in my life.
I’ve truly been blessed in multiple, huge ways. God is so, so good. As far as actual requests go, pray for a
job. I’m struggling mentally without a
job, and I realize that sounds weird to say but it’s true. I’ve had a steady job since high school, and
even on days where I was lazy I would still be productive when I went in to
work. Since I have no job now, I’m
struggling to feel productive and am feeling very lazy and, frankly, like a
loser. Prayer would be appreciated in
this area.
That’s my school update, but here’s what I really wanted to
write about. I forsook my One-Year Bible
the other day and am not going to pick it back up any time soon. I have been feeling very dry lately,
spiritually speaking, as far as my personal devotions go because I have been
reading the One-Year Bible just for the sake of reading it and not getting into
any serious studies. With that said, I
decided to start a serious in-depth study of the book of Romans, and within the
few days that I’ve been setting aside time for it, I’ve only gone through the
first verse! I feel like God is pouring
out so much desired Truth into my life through the first verse alone.
Romans 1:1 says, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to
be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” That’s it.
Nothing more. What stood out to
me in this verse was the phrase “set apart”.
I was reading the Barnhouse Romans commentary along with this verse and
it stressed the importance of being set apart for something instead of just being set apart. As Christians there are a lot of sinful
things that we need to vacuum out of our lives.
In essence, there’s s small “don’t list” that we have to follow—things
that delve into the sinful realm. A lot
of times, though, we focus on getting those things out of our lives and not
necessarily replacing them with anything.
We focus on not lying, not looking at pornography, not lusting,
stealing, murdering, and getting drunk, but we focus on those things to the
point that we forget to fill ourselves with something better. If we focus on not sinning and not focus on
filling ourselves with good, we’ll end up empty. We may have “righteous” acts of faith and
service, but what are those even without Christ?
The challenge is this:
Focus more on Christ than the sin.
Focus on putting good in to change the bad inside. Personally, I need to be focusing more on
getting to know Christ better and studying his Word and Truth rather than not
sinning. The more I know Christ and
fully understand His detest of sin and become better acquainted with His heart,
then that will affect how I treat the sin in my life. If I hate sin as Christ hates sin, then the
grip that sin has on my life will be loosened.
Today, instead of focusing on the mountain to be faced,
focus on the man who already conquered that mountain—Jesus.
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