skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Daily Summary: Just a warning and a quick note since I am here in Hawaii my blogs will definitely not be as long or anything. Okay so last night Phil were hanging out all night playing ping pong and some video games and then it got pretty late so we decided to stay up the whole night and not even go to bed. I figured I would fall asleep on the plane for the most part and it wouldn’t be to bad. So we indeed stayed up for a full 24 hours and we were over excited for our trip. Both of us have been looking forward to the trip for a long time now and we can’t believe it is finally here. Well around 5AM I got in the shower and cleaned up for the plane ride. Phil and I both bought some sweet $4 Hawaiian shirts that looked pretty ridiculous but we were definitely just having some fun. Well after getting ready we got on the bus around 6AM then headed for the airport. Everyone was pretty excited and really eager to get going. Everything was going really smooth and we went right through airport security without a problem. Then when we finally got on the plane and got going. Before we even took off I already fell asleep and I stayed that way for just about the whole time while in the air. It was one of the most uncomfortable sleep I have ever experienced but it was definitely worth it. After we finally landed we got off the plane and headed to our hotel. It isn’t the nicest hotel but it is kind of in the same area where I stayed last time so I am really familiar with everything so I got to show some people around so that was definitely really cool. For the remainder of the night we just walked around and had a blast. A couple of the guys were in a food eating contest and my buddy Kevin came in second place but we had a lot of fun cheering him on. Like I said things are going to be real shorter since I am un able to really sit down and spend decent time on the computer but my thoughts are still expressed throughout the day.
Daily Reading: Romans 12:1-2
Wow these are some powerful words. What came to me when I first read the passage is if whether or not I sacrifice my body in order to serve Christ. There are many things in life that seem like that they are great things and make us happy but may not be something that shines God’s light in the most appropriate way. So as Christians we need to be able to sacrifice the things in our life that may be meaningless. After reading this verse I began to fall in love with the book of Romans I never realized how much this book would really have an impact on me. I think we all need to be able to take time to read the books that we are not to familiar with instead of sticking to the ones we know best. It will only broaden our minds more and more each time we read.
Daily Prayer:
Dear God,
I thank You for today and I thank You that we got to Hawaii no problem and had time to hang out and check out some things that I haven’t seen in a while. I pray that for the rest of this trip You will help us have a great time and fill my mind full of memories that will last a life time. I pray for all of the things that I have been praying for every single day. Including my dream girl Lord. Please help me to be patient in the process of finding her. I pray for my friends and family God if they are going through any kind of trouble, please help them in whatever they need. I also would now like to pray for my team. There may be some guys that don’t really know You all that well God and don’t set the right example for our school. Please lay a hand on them and let me be the one to say something to them and encourage them in positive ways. Give me the courage and the words I need Father. I pray that You will help me some how find the time to continue to write on a daily basis while here in Hawaii and I pray that You will help us to have fun for the remainder of the trip. I love You in Your name
AMEN.
OKAY SO I AM IN HAWAII FOR BASEBALL AND I AM NOT SURE IF I WILL BE ABLE TO GO ONLINE IN ORDER TO POST MY BLOGS. ALTHOUGH I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO POST THEM I WILL STILL BE WRITING EVERY SINGLE DAY. ONCE I HAVE INTERNET CONNECTION I WILL POST EVERY SINGLE ONE IN ORDER. I HOPE THAT GOD IS MOVING IN YOUR LIFE.
VINNIE FAYARD
Daily Summary: Today was defiantly one bust day. After waking up from a somewhat weird dream I woke up took a shower then went to breakfast. After breakfast I went and read some more of Amos with my buddy Kurt. I continue to get a lot out of reading with him and I love it. After that I went back to the room, grabbed my keys, then headed out to the photo store in Fullerton. Since I am missing a whole crap load of class next week I am going to have to take about 4 rolls of film and use them all in Hawaii. It is going to be tough trying to get them all the way I want but there is a lot I need to do so I can stay caught up. I honestly can't wait for Hawaii it is going to be a great experience and I hope that we win all of our games and rebound from yesterday's games. After going to the photo place I met my mom and went to lunch. We talked about my game yesterday and how proud she was for me and then we just couldn't stop talking about God. There isn't a better conversation you can have with someone you love then talking to them about God. It was so awesome just sharing views and what parts of the Bible and people of the Bible had the most impact on us. We are still trying to figure out the whole cow thing where God called the women cows in Amos 4. After having a wonderful lunch with her I came back and went to practice. Today was super short all we did was hit for the whole practice then we were done. I had a lot of fun at practice it seemed like everyone put yesterday's game behind them and just kept moving on forward. After practice I worked out for about 45 minuets then went to dinner. I wasn't hungry at all I just wanted something to drink. I was pretty dehydrated throughout the day. After dinner Phil and I played a bunch of ping pong he actually beat me today finally! Ha it was a lot of fun, my roommate and I are really beginning to understand each other and becoming closer as friends then ever. It is so awesome having a roommate like him and I am super blessed by God along with a million other things that HE has given me. Well after ping pong I showered up and got to my daily reading then Phil and I went out to get some stuff for Hawaii. He wanted a hawain shirt and I wanted to get something for breakfast in the morning. We are leaving at 6 AM so that means I have to be up by 5. I will definitely be sleeping on the plane. After doing all the that I finished up packing then we basically will be hanging out for the rest of the night playing video games and ping pong most likely. We are so stoked for tomorrow!
Daily Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Thanks for Josh for recommending this awesome verse tonight! Timing is very important in our world today. It seems as if everyone is rushing around always trying to be somewhere at sometime. That is how I believe our life seems to go by so fast. I believe if we truly have a set time where we talk to God every single day then our day will not only always seem useful but it will help us be better Christians. The secret to peace with God is to discover, accept, and appreciate God's perfect timing. like I have said before God's timing is always perfect even when He seems to be catastrophically late. In life most of us just want, want, and want things from God. Which is totally acceptable but God knows exactly what He is doing and always has a plan. We need to be able to cancel the things out that we may want with the things that we need. When it seems like times are tough in life and we ask God for help and it seems like He is taking some time to answer your prayer there is an easy way to think positive about the situation. Think of the situation as an opportunity to become closer to God. Maybe in the time waiting God want you to become closer to Him by praying more. Going through tough situations only makes you stronger as a person and builds perseverance as James 1 would say. In basic context God has a plan for all and His timing is always perfect. He would never give us anything He personally can't handle. Therefore if God can handle it we can handle it as well as long as we have His overall help. Trust in God with all Your heart and all your soul. We should never lean on our own understanding but on God's understanding. With the last part of the verse where it says "There is a time to love and a time to hate. The word hate may not sound like such a Biblical expression but the fact is that we should never actually hate anyone. What we should hate is the things that those people do. We should hate the fact that God is being hated and people, children, and any other kind of God's creation is being mistreated.
Daily Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for an awesome day today. Thank You for the wonderful time I had with mom and the fact that we couldn't stop talking about how You were moving in our lives. I also like to thank You for building up my roommates and I's relationship with each other and I pray that You will help it continue to grow. I pray that with tomorrow everything will go smoothly through security and everything while going to Hawaii. I pray for my shoulder and wrists and other things heal. Please help us not only to have fun but to play good as well. I pray that our flight is safe God and that if I don't sit next to someone I know that I will find someone interesting to talk to about You Lord. I pray also that there will somehow be a way where I can get online to be able to post my writings Lord. I pray that my experience in seeing Your beautiful creations will be amazing. I now would like to pray for any of my friends or family that may be going through a rough time. Please help them to come to You with their problems and for them to Trust You through the whole situation. I pray God that You will not only help me but help others as well in being able to understand how truly perfect Your timing is. Please also let us no that there is in fact a time for everything and that anything can happen on any given day. Good or bad God help us all to praise You. I pray for my friends and family that don't know You God. I pray that You will help them to somehow find Your light and please use me in doing that Lord. I pray that You will continue to help me develop new friendships and for me to grow in the ones that I have. I pray for my dream girl God that there will be someone in my life forever who I can talk about with You and praise about the wonders You are doing in our lives. Please help me to be patient in the process and know that Your timing is right. I pray now for the churches I am apart of or have been apart of Lord. Many of them are struggling financially. Please help them to fix these problems God along with all of America's economy. I pray God for the girls who came in asking for money for their friends tuition. Please bless them with the money they need to help this friend out and I praise You for putting the thoughts into those girls hearts for them to take the time to do something for their friend. I pray for all of the people here at school God. help us all to make a difference in someones life and to really shine Your name. Help us to have a Christ-like attitude and for others outside of school to see You through us Father. I pray for my frustration, anger, and sexual temptations God along with any other earthly pleasure. Please keep me from them so I will not be tempted in anyway to go against Your word. I pray for the unspoken and forgotten prayers God. Please help them to come to me so I may pray for them. I pray for these things in Your wonderful name.
AMEN.
Daily Summary: Well being so anxious about today I really didn't get all that much sleep last night. But I still managed to wake up nice and refreshed for the morning. I went to breakfast with Phill and then went to class. Class was totally boring and I just kept thinking about today and praying that God will take the nerves out and for everything to go as planned. I believe my English class is going to be this way all year and it is going to be real hard to stay focused during the boring lectures. For example today was first grade stuff and we learned how to put commas in sentences. It is hard to believe sometimes that I am in college. After class I usually go to chapel but today I went back to the room and did my daily reading only because I am not going to really have all that much time since I have class then I go straight to the game. I chose the daily verse on Bible Gateway. I usually try to look at that one every day and if it applies to what is going on currently in my life and today's it was so I chose it. Anyways the game finally came up and we got out there and everything. I have been praying so hard for God to take the nerves out of my mind and to help me focus and I actually started today. I wasn't really expecting to do so but I was in the line up and I was stoked and nervous at the same time. I tried my best to push it all out of the way and play as hard as I can. I ended up going 0 for 1 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. We also ended loosing the game which was super disappointing but we didn't hit as a team very well at all. I am still glad that we got the kinks out and the nerves as well and we should definitely be ready to go for the next game. After the game I talked to my parents for a while and they were all real proud of me and it was nice to see them. I then went to dinner played a few games of ping pong and then got ready for another exciting 3 hour class of photography tonight. Hopefully it will be pretty interesting and not to boring. We will see thought. I don't think I am going to be really doing anything for the rest of the night either. I am pretty tired and I have a lot to do tomorrow. Then I am off to Hawaii on Saturday! I'm stoked. Alright well if anything goes down I'll definitely update but other then that. Good night.
Daily Reading: Mark 9:34-35
Jesus here is talking to His disciples about who would be the greatest. The disciples were caught up in their constant struggle for personal success and were ashamed of it once Jesus asked what they were arguing about. Now it isn't wrong for believers to be ambitious and everything the only thing that would be wrong if it pushes aside obedience and service, that is when it becomes sin. Pride or insecurity can cause us to overvalue position and prestige. In Gods kingdom, such motives are destructive. The only safe ambition is directed toward Christ's kingdom, not on out own advancement. We must renounce pride and status seeking. They are Satan's tool not Christ. Serving others is real leadership. Jesus described leadership from a new perspective. Instead of using people, we are to serve them. Jesus mission was to serve others and to give his life away. A real leader has a servant's heart. Servant leaders appreciate others worth and really that they're not above any job. If you see something that needs to be done, don't wait to be asked: take the initiative and do it like a faithful servant. Don't approach life expecting high positions, honors, and special privileges, Look instead for ways to help others. When reading something like this I instantly think about what I always think about, baseball. Me being a freshman in college playing on a team that consist of mostly seniors it is tough to really comprehend the fact that I am a youngster and I probably am not going to be treated the best. It is so hard to accept this fact but without the experience of being young then when I get older I will never grow past the frustration. It is hard to explain but it works the same way when first starting a career. Most of the time we will start at a low position and work our but off in order to receive a promotion. If we instantly receive the promotion without having to work for anything then we will expect everything to be given to us and there will be no work ethic in the future. We will also feel more accomplished and be able to recognize and have a heart for those that are now below you and you will be able to be their mentor and help them through the things you went through. So therefore Jesus said it right when saying we should have the hearts of servants in our work. In order for us to be first we must be last.
Daily Prayer:
Dear God,
I thank You for today in giving me the opportunity to start and I pray that I will soon get another chance to do so. I thank You for keeping our heads up after a tough loss today. I thank You for keeping us all from injury and everything. I pray that in the next game we will be able to hit better and win some games Lord. Next I would like to thank You for getting some nerves out of my mind and playing to the best of my ability. I pray God that You will give us a safe trip to Hawaii and not only play well but to have fun why we are there. I pray that no one gets into any type of trouble or gets hurt. Next Lord I would like to pray for some remarks that I make that aren't very Christian like. I know they are wrong yet I still continue to do them maybe only to get a laugh or something please keep me from not only saying these types of things but thinking them as well. I pray that with that You will help me strive to have a more Christ-like attitude and help people to see You through me. I pray that if there is anything going on in friends or families lives that they may be struggling in or if they may have problems that You will be the person they go to. For the ones that don't know You God please help them to some how find your light. Please use me in the process Lord. I pray now for me to be able to get rid of any kind of frustration and anger please help me to be mellow at things that may seem difficult. Help me not to worry God and to trust in what You have planned for me. Please also keep me away from any kind of sexual temptation and help me to bounce my eyes God. I pray also that You will help me find that dream girl I always seem to be talking about Lord. Help me to be patient in the process in finding her and help me to know when the times is right. I pray God for my friends please help me to make new friends here at school and outside of school Lord and to grow in the relationships I have now. Please help me to always be myself and set the example God. I pray that You will continue to give me the strength to write this blog every single day. It has now been over 4 weeks and I can't believe how much I have accomplished already. I love You so much God and I thank You just for life itself and the fact that You have given me everything a young man can dream of. I owe it all to You. I pray for the unspoken prayers and thoughts Lord. Please help them to come to me so that I may pray for them. I love You so much.
AMEN.
Daily Summary: I just wanted to start out with the fact that the blogs/ writings are probably going to be getting shorter and more straight to the point. Only because it takes over an hour almost 2 hours to fully complete the blog and I don't really have that much free time during the day with school and everything. Also it also may be really hard to be able to do the writings in Hawaii. I will definitely keep up with them but I am not sure if I will be able to post them up online until I get back. Anyways this morning it was real tough to get out of bed. I stayed up a little longer then I probably should of last night by I just didn't feel like going to bed. After I forced myself up I got ready and went to breakfast with my buddy Kurt once again. We read through the next two chapters of Amos and God is expressing His disappointment to Israel. In chapter four we were astonished to see that God calls the women of Israel cows! We had no idea that this was said in the Bible so it was really interesting to find that out. I guess if a women relates to a rebellious Israelite then I will be able to call her a cow. Ha well anyways after breakfast we went to chapel. It wasn't the best chapel I went to but it was still alright. The concept of how the Holy Spirit moves in us was the main point of the message. After chapel I just went back to my room and had some alone time before practice. I got some homework done and shopped around for some photo supplies. I needed some film to take pictures in Hawaii. I can't believe I'm leaving in only a few days! Crazy stuff. After that I went to lunch and played some ping pong with my roommate Phil. It is so much fun beating him time and time again. Ha jk. While I was at lunch I saw my friend Garret my best friend who is no longer attending the school. He was back to pick up some stuff and it was really nice to see he him one last time before he takes off back home. He said there is still hope that he might be coming back next year which would be totally awesome! I am still planning on going to see him sometime maybe this summer. After that I went to practice, today was supposed to be a pretty short day but it ended up being decently long. We just hit and did a little bit of drills nothing to big or anything like that. I am just pretty excited about our first game tomorrow and I can't wait for it to be here. After practice i went straight to dinner came back and showered then went to class. As I walked in I found out that there was a bunch of people that I new in the class and it seems like it is going to be a lot of fun and a great experience throughout the semester. After class I just came back to the room finished up some homework for tomorrow then headed to bed for a good night sleep. Today was definitely awesome day and I am still pretty intrigued at the fact God called the women of Israel cows. Good night y'all.
Daily Reading: John 11:25-26
Hear Jesus says some pretty powerful words about who He really is and how we should do everything to follow Him. Jesus has power over life and death as well as power to forgive sins. This is because He is the Creator of life. He who is life can surely restore life. Whoever believes in Christ has a spiritual life that death cannot conquer or diminish in anyway. When we realize his power and how wonderful His offer to us really is, how can we help but not commit our lives to Him! No matter what we may be apart of God should always be involved and apart of our lives. If there is anything that we ever want to succeed in He should be the one we go to because HE IS THE WAY! If there is anything that we aren't to sure about doing or if we have to make some kind of big decision then we should go to Him first because HE IS THE TRUTH! He is also of course our life and we would be dead without Him. When we not only believe in Him but have a loving relationship then we are promised eternal life in every single way. Death is something that many people fear because they don't know what is going to happen after that. I believe everyone thinks about this constantly and almost do anything to forget about it. Truth is that they might be avoiding the fact that there is a God out there and they just don't want to take the time to commit to something like that and change their lifestyle. What they don't know is that the God they may be thinking about will help them out in the troubling process of recommitting their life. That is why He has created a Church body which is your family who will be by your side every step of the way. Now us Christians should never fear death if any thing we should be looking forward to it so that we will be able to get out of this corrupted earth and be somewhere where there is no things such as sadness, anger, depression, frustration, or any kind of earthly sin. No money to worry about or anything just complete happiness and peace! It is our job to go out there and show other people God's word and Truth so that they too will be able to enjoy not only what would be a great experience but a great life! Do you believe?
Daily Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father. I Thank You for another wonderful day and keeping Your grace around me. I truly felt You throughout he day and I was able to watch my actions so I would be able to act more like You. I thank You also for getting me through every single day of practice since school has started. I have barely had any days off and I thank You for the strength You gave me to get through it all. Now as our first game of the season is tomorrow please help us to come out strong and really achieve what we have been working so hard for. I pray that You will also help us to have fun in doing so and that if we win or loose we will still praise You God. I pray that if I get an opportunity to play tomorrow that You will take the nerves out of me and help me to play to the best of my ability God. I pray for the sickness Tex has Lord that You will heal him God and for anyone else that may be getting sick. I pray for our Hawaii trip that You will not only keep us safe, and help us in playing the games but to help us to have fun as well. I pray now God for my friends and family that may have struggles or may be going through a rough time. Please help them to seek You for help and to also praise You when things are good. I pray also for the ones that don't know You God. Please give them the chance to find You Lord and please use me in the process. With that I pray that You will help me stay positive and have a Christ-like attitude. Help people to be able to see You through me Jesus. I pray that in whatever kind of mood I may be in that I will look to You without even thinking. For I know that you timing is always perfect even when it seems as though you are super late. I pray now for the churches I am or was apart of. They are going through some financial difficulties and need money in order to stay a float. I pray also for any struggling business God that You will somehow turn our struggling economy around and put everyone back on their feet. I pray for our new President. Please help in with the decisions he needs to make and help him to make the right ones. I pray now God for help in finding a dream girl of my own. I pray that You will help me be patient in the process God. Please help me to say away form earthly pleasures and sexual temptation. I also pray God that You will help me control my anger and frustration. I pray also for the injuries and pain I experience in my body. Please put Your hands on them so they will be healed. I pray now God that You will help me be the person not that I want to be but what You want me to be. There is so many different things I may want my body to maybe look like or something like that but the truth is. You made me this way and I should use every inch of it to serve You God. So I thank You for the way You have made me. I pray for the unspoken and forgotten prayers God that You will help them come to me so I may pray for them. I pray for all of these things in your wonderful name.
AMEN.
Daily Summary: I woke up this morning pretty tired but anxious to begin class. I tried to fall asleep a little earlier but that didn't work out. All well. My first class went pretty good, it seems like it is somewhat difficult but the teacher is real sweet and I'm sure she will help us out whenever we need anything. After class I went to chapel. Tuesday chapels are a little different then other chapel's only because there for the graduate students at Talbot so hymnals are sang and the message is a little longer. It was about how important having and developing a personal testimony really is. I was really drawn to the words of the speaker and everything especially with the set of verses he used. I liked them so much I decided to do my daily reading on them. They are in the book of Titus which is another book that I am really not to familiar of. Anyways I really enjoyed the message overall and it really fired me up for the day. After that I went straight to my intro to mass media class. I was really looking forward to this class because it is part of my major and I really want to take it seriously. Most of the people in the class are film majors but the teacher and the people are all really cool and it seems like I will definitely enjoy this class during the remainder of the semester. After that class I went to lunch then headed back to the room. Hawkins came in and asked me to go hit and since I was struggling in that area I decided to take up the opportunity and go for it. I had some things to do but I thought I would do it later. So after we played a few games of ping pong we went and hit then waited for practice to start. Today was another inter squad game and it went well for the most part but again I didn't hit all that well. I was 1 for 5 but I did manage to hit a home run out of that. I guess a blind squirll finds a nut once a year. After not doing so well at the plate it kind of ruined my good day and I was frustrated for a while. I called my mom after practice and she tried her best making me feel better by telling me to talk to God. She also explained the fact at how many times I have talked about the way to deal with frustration and how to look at things in a positive perceptive. She definitely made me think of how I should practice what I preach. Shoot thanks mom. After I got done talking with my mom I jumped in the shower and ate something quick and then wandered around looking for my night class. It was somewhere on campus but they failed to put it on the Biola map. Just another great way to deal with frustration get lost! Nah it didn't really bother me all that much I left early and eventually found it and got there on time. It was another class I was looking forward to because it was part of my photography minor. The class looks like it is going to be difficult but definitely a lot of fun. The down side to it is that I have to pay for my own supplies. I had no idea that this is how it was going to be because in high school everything was provided for you. I mean I have a camera and everything but I now need to by all my film, paper, developer, and a whole list of all this other stuff. It is going to cost upwards of at least $200 and I don't know how I am going to get the money but I will definitely keep it all in prayer and hopefully it will all work out. After class I just relaxed for the rest of the night, played some ping pong and ate some fruit. Tomorrow is a pretty simple day I don't have class till 6 but I still kind of have a lot to do. Today was awesome and I hope tomorrow will be the same.
Daily Reading: Titus 3:1-7
Doing good. After reading the first part of the set of verses the thoughts that came to mind was being a person that can hold someone accountable for their actions. This is especially good for a new believer or someone that wants to keep their life on the right path. This has helped me out so many times over the summer when I first really started to live every part of me for the Lord. It is so nice for someone to always be by your side when something goes wrong in your life. I also love being able to be accountable for other friends as well. Right now my buddy Kurt and I are keeping each other accountable by reading the Bible together once a day when ever we get a chance. It is so cool to be able to do that together. Also my mom keeps me accountable so that I keep up with my blog and have a positive attitude every single day when I write. The next part of the verses what came to mind right away was the song Amazing Grace. The words "He saved a wretch like me" and "I once was lost but now I am found" came to mind almost instantly. The fact that I used to be involved in some stupid stuff and I was the one who claimed to be a Christian but then went out and did stuff that wasn't very Christian like. Yet when I needed God most He was right there when I needed Him. One thing I got out of the Chapel form yesterday was the words. "God always has perfect timing, even when He appears to be Catrastiphically late." This is so true when we wait for things and ask God for help with things He just won't instantly do it. We have to work to get better and believe in what we ask Him then He will give us opportunities for us to become a better person or get better at the things we may be struggling in. We move from a life full of sin to one where we are led by God's Holy Spirit. All our sins, not merely some, are washed away.We have renewal by the Holy Spirit and he continually renews our hears. None of this occurs because we earned it or deserved it. We only received this wonderful power and grace because it is simply a gift by God. God is always there for us when we need Him. Just trust in Him and believe in the things that you pray to Him for and they will come as long as it is God's desire. If God doesn't want my arm to heal or doesn't want me to get better in baseball then I will have to deal with that and think POSITIVELY and know that God has a plan and he has never done anything that has lead to being bad and He isn't about to start that now.
Daily Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for today. I thank you for the words You gave the man who spoke in chapel today. Please help me to take the time to write my personal testimony so that I may share it with others. I also pray Lord for the frustration while playing baseball. It is so hard to cancle out this frustration and it can ruin a good day in the matter of seconds. Help me to keep talking to You throughout the game and to help me think positive. I also pray Lord that You will help me in the words and actions to show others to do good. I also pray for others to help me out when I need some guidance. Please help me to good things with a positive attitude no matter what I am doing or where I am at. I now pray for my photo class that is going to cost me a decent amount of money. Please help me come up with the money some how and for me to do well in the class. I pray for all of my new classes God. Please help me to do my best in each and every single one of them. With the struggles I may have because of traveling and baseball God please help me to manage my schedule so that I may not miss to much class. I pray that with baseball we will have a wonderful time in Hawaii and a wonderful season. I pray that we all play to the best of our ability and that you keep us bonded as a team and free from injury. I pray for the pain in my shoulder Lord please relieve me from the pain. I pray for my friends and family God. Please help them with whatever problems they may have God. I pray for the ones that don't know You God that in some way they will find the light. Please use me in their search and give me the words and actions necessary to do so. I pray that You will give me a Christ-like attitude every second of the day and people will be able to see You through me. I pray for any other kind of frustration and anger that I have had through the last couple of days help me instead of becoming frustrated and getting angry to just go to You. There are times where the frustration builds up so much God that it is so hard for me to look to you for help. Give me the strength I need to get past that and to seek You. Please help me to be able to sleep through the night tonight and for me to wake up nice and refreshed. Please relive the muscle tightness I have and help me to be comfortable. God help me to be more open and alive in my blog and readings Lord. Help me to take everything seriously and not do them just to get it done. I truly see Your works through this experience God and I thank You for that. Thank You for all of the stuff You have done so far in my life and the things You have gotten me through. Nothing puts on a smile more then that. Gosh I love You so much. I would like to pray now for that lovely dream girl I have been talking about for a while. Please help me to be patient in the process in finding her God. I pray also for the Churches that I am apart of or I have been apart of. They are struggling in financial ways please provide them somehow with the cash flow they need. I pray also God for our whole countries financial problems please help us turn everything around and get America up and going again. I pray for the new president. Please help Him with the decisions that need to be made and help them to be wise. I pray for all of the unspoken prayers and forgotten thoughts. I pray that You bring them to me so that I may pray for them. I pray for all of these things in You wonderful name.
AMEN.
Daily Summary: I woke up this morning much better then I have in a while. Although I woke up a few times during the night and when my roommates alarm went off around 7:00AM I still managed to fall back asleep just like I prayed for the night before. Eventually I got up around 8:30 or so and jumped in the shower. My friend Kurt and I planned the night before that we were going to go to breakfast and read the Bible together. He asked me about a week ago if we could do that more often and I was really excited that he did. Well we went to breakfast and read a few chapters of the book of Amos. I had never read Amos all that much before so it was really interesting to me and it was also very new. Basically it was about God judging Judah and Israel for the horrible sins they were committing. God had done so much for them and time and time again they went against Him and forgot about what He had done. It is horrible to think of what they have did but the thing is we do it to God almost every single day. It is a shame to think about it but it's true. Anyways it was really great to read with Kurt and I hope to continue reading with him everyday. After breakfast and reading we went to chapel. My roommate and I have a bet going on that whoever gets done with our chapels first has to buy the other roommate Taco Bell. So I am going to go to as much as I can in the beginning of the semester. After walking up to the gym we realized that it was a free chapel and everyone got credit so we thought about just not going. Then as we were debating my friend Luke came up and basically dragged us in there. I am really glad he did because it was an awesome chapel and an awesome message. The theme of the speech was When God Doesn't Make Sense. It was really cool to hear all of the great words of The speaker. One thing is said that really appealed to me was God's timing is perfect even when He appears to be catastrophically late. This is so true. My mom also brought this to my attention the other day when we were talking about everything happens for a reason and God has a plan. So when instead of thinking negative during certain situations I should always be looking on the bright side of it. For example when I sit in traffic I tend to get a little frustrated and annoyed with my surroundings. Instead of getting annoyed I should think about what God may be keeping me from. Maybe from an accident or something like that. Literally anything could happen, now I probably won't ever enjoy the experience of traffic but thinking about it in a positive gesture can really help the situation. Well after sitting through an awesome chapel . I went and got my parking sticker so that way I wouldn't get a ticket. Then I just came back to the room and chilled for a little bit then Phill and I went to lunch. Lunch wasn't t bad today but there wasn't to much healthy stuff so that kind of stunk. After lunch I came back to the room once again and kind of just sat around up until practice began. We had another inter squad game scheduled so i was looking forward to it. It went alright for the most part. I only had one hit today and walked but I still had a lot of fun. It was also really cold at practice for the first time ever. I enjoyed it. After practice I took a shower ate some dinner then totally dominated my roommate at a few games of ping pong. For the remainder of the night I just kind of laid back and relaxed and prepared myself for the first day of school tomorrow. Shoot half of me can't wait but the other half of me isn't looking to forward to it only because it is school and it isn't really all that fun. With writing once again I find it harder to do so with having everyone back here at school. I think I am going to have to try and find a nice quite place to really sit down and finish my blog that way there are no distractions around me. To cap off the night I am going to work out withmy roommate Phil and then hitting the sheets pretty early because I have to wake up at 7. See YA!
Daily Reading: James 2:14
Today I asked my roommate Phillip what his favorite verse was and I decided that I would to today's study on that. These are to really intense questions that we not only must ask others but we should ask ourselves. When someone claims to have faith, what he or she may have is intellectual assent, agreement with a set of Christian teachings and as such it would be incomplete faith. True faith transforms our conduct as well as our thoughts. If our lives remain unchanged we don't truly believe in the truths we claim to believe. We as Christians really need to shout out to the world in what we believe in and share to others who Christ really is. Having faith alone isn't going to save us but doing acts of Christ will. We can not just earn our salvation by serving and obeying God. But such actions show that our commitment to God is real. Deeds of loving service are not a substitute for but rather a verification of, our faith in Christ. After reading something like this I reflected on some things that I have done just for Him and no one else. The list wasn't as long as it should be. Sometimes I saw myself doing stuff with the Church such as going places or participating in events and I thought to myself was I doing those things to serve God, or was I doing it just to be with my friends. What I should do is volunteer right away without hesitation and do it only for God and no one else. There are so many different ways we can serve God and do these sort of deeds. It is up to us to really commit and find these deeds. It really could be anything as long as it glorifies and is for God. Don't just say Your a Christian. BE A CHRISTIAN! Faith without works can't save you from the consequences here and now of your spiritual slothfulness. Saying your a Christian to everyone then going out to party and drinking or having sex and things like that will get you know where but hell. In Revelation Chapter 3 Jesus is talking about being a lukewarm Christian. Jesus was talking to the Church of Laodicea that there deeds were either hot or cold and that because they are lukewarm He will spit them out of His mouth. I don't know about You but I would definitely would not want to be considered a lukewarm Christian when I first see Jesus.
Daily Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for another cool day today and the feeling of winter. I also thank You for letting me get the things done that needed to be done. Along with having a pretty good practice. God I pray for my injuries. My shoulder is still hurting and I pray that You will use Your power to heal my arm Lord. I pray for this baseball season coming up God. Please help us all to play to the best of our ability and come out with a winning record. Please help us to play with a positive attitude and to all refrain from any kind of injury or trouble. I pray that in Hawaii that You not only get us their safely but to also have a good time and win the games we play Lord. I pray for the strength and the opportunities to separate faith and deeds God. Please help me to be a Christian and have a Christ-like attitude and to grow in my relationship with You. Help others to be able to see You through me. Help me God also to find a quite place where I can do write this journal on time and give my best thoughts with out any kind of distraction. I pray now God for the strength in being able to get through this whole year with writing these blogs. It is becoming more and more difficult every single day. Please knock Satan out of my thoughts and make him stop distracting me and telling me that it is okay if I don't write and don't serve You. I pray for my friends and family that may be going through any type of problems God. Please help them in whatever they may need. I pray for the ones that don't know You God. Please help them to some how find Your light and please use me in that process God. I pray now once again for my dream girl. Please help me to find her Lord and for me to be patient in the process. Please help me refrain from judging others and help me to be friends with everyone no matter what they look like or how they act. Help me also in baseball not to get frustrated with myself and give me the strength so I can work to get better. Please help me to keep up my eating and dieting habits Lord. I thank You for the sleep You gave me last night and please help me to get a good night sleep tonight. I pray tomorrow as it is my first day of classes please help these classes to go well and please help me to get good grades in these classes and work my hardest. Help me to make it to as much classes as possible. Keep me away from earthly desires God. Keep me away from sexual temptation. Help me not to get filled with anger and to take it out on other people. I pray for all of the things that i may have missed and not thought of. Please help them to come to me so that I may pray for them. I pray these things in Your wonderful Name.
AMEN.
It Happens Trust Me.
Daily Summary: After I finally got to Corona just before midnight it was awesome to lay down in my own bed. My bed doesn't compare to the dorm room beds I love it and miss it so much. I had to stay up later then I wanted to because I was a little threatened that my house was going to get toilet papered. But I eventually fell asleep and woke up around 8:30. I thought I would be a Little more refreshed waking up but I was still tired and I have been throughout the whole day. My dad made me some blueberry pancakes and we just talked after he laughed at how my hair looked. At least what is left of my hair. Later on I got in the shower then waited for my mom to pick me up to go to church. For some reason I wasn't to thrilled on going to church today I don't know what it was. My mom said she was going to be at my dad's soon so I waited outside for her expecting for her to show up in about 5 minuets. I ended up waiting for almost a half hour for her. Now at first it didn't really irritate me but I think the fact that I was still super tired for some reason it kind of did. I tried my absolute best to keep all the frustration in and everything. I have got to say that before I was writing this blog I definitely would of made it ruin my day and took it out on everyone in my family. I didn't do that whatsoever today. I prayed and just really though about the things I was about to say before I said them. It is amazing what God can do with just a little bit of prayer. The mood kind of carried on through church up until lunch before I opened up to my mom about how I was feeling and then we prayed together. Right after that I felt completely better and I was having fun and everything with the family. All I needed to do was open up to her and everything was alright. No big deal. Anyways Church was awesome today! It was so inspiring to hear the words of Pastor Mike Hannah. It is was real funny because it seems like whatever I am struggling in or what I am thinking about that is what the message seems to be about. He talked about committing certain promises to God and about asking Him for strength and things like that. Right away it made me think of my blog. It is still hard to think that I have actually have made it this far and it is going to be even harder making it through the entire year! There has been many times already where I definitely didn't feel like taking the time to really write my thoughts down and everything but I keep on pushing myself to the limit. I think about all the positive affects it has on me and on others. The thing that gets me most is I see my relationship with my Jesus growing. I was so deeply inspired by the message today and it definitely made me never want to quite what I am doing here. I love God. Like what I said earlier I went to lunch with the family, my step dad Ron had to do some business stuff so he wasn't able to make it but it was cool that just my mom, the kids and I could go out. We went to Farmer Boy's and it was delicious. After being stuffed from lunch, we went back to the house and I found myself a luggage that I may be able to bring on the plane with me in order to save $60 I really hope it works out. Then my mom and I went grocery shopping. I got some more fruit for the dorm room this week and everything. I later on got dropped off back at my dad's house then just sat and hung out for a while before heading back down to Biola. I was going to stay the night once again but I just wanted to get back so I am able to make chapel in the morning. I can't believe school starts tomorrow! It has gone by so fast but I am so ready. Although I don't have a class until Tuesday morning. Well to cap off the night and after getting back to the dorms we sort of rearranged some things in the room because we got ourselves a tv and an xbox. We definitely won't be getting to much homework done haha. During the remainder of the night, I kept looking back at my life and thinking of all of the things I have been through and done. I wasn't thinking of anything bad really I just thought of how much I have really grown up. I have been all over the country due to baseball and have had so many accomplishments. I owe it all to God, I realized that I have never really thanked Him for all of these wonderful things He has done in my life. It wasn't for Him then none of them would of happened. Shoot it was kind of random but I thought that I had to throw all of that in here some how. Anyways I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow and I need to get a lot of things done! Time for bed.
Daily Reading: Psalm 1
When first reading Psalm one I was really intrigued to the first sentence. This first verse has applied to my life in so many ways I don’t no where to begin. Through the last 3 years when moving in with my dad and changing schools, I felt that I was the only Christian around. Before high school began I made a vow that no matter where my faith was or how much I would want to fit in with the crowd I would never fall into bad habits. Although faced with drinking and drugs many times I stood strong to my decision and never once even tried anything like that through the years and I am still going strong today. This verse makes me smile when saying “Blessed is the man” and shows how God does not judge people on the basis of race, sex, or anything. It shows that those who obey God’s will are blessed and God’s wisdom guides our lives. I feel like these verses are telling me that when I sit down and read the Bible I am keeping myself away from all the bad habits that are among us. Reading Gods word gives me two choices where I can choose to act wisely or poorly, God will lead me to the right path if I follow his law. It will also build a solid foundation around me that is protected by the Holy Spirit where there it will be unnecessary to disobey his law. With really cracking down on the scripture the verse really jumped out at me and I all of a sudden started talking to God about all the stuff that was bothering me. I have a problem where I often hold things inside for a while until I could find someone who is willing to sit down and talk with me. During this thought process I realized that I haven't really been going to God for help in these issues. There were many things in my life that I was doing and I knew that they were wrong but basically just ignored them. I found myself repenting all of the sin that I had in me, everything that I didn’t like that was going on in my life I began talking about it with God. I asked for guidance and for the strength to overcome these obstacles and to keep everything I do righteous and by his law. I thanked God for all He has done in my life, I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn't for his everlasting love. It seems almost every single day with this reading I am some how convicted of some new sin that I never realized was going on in my life. It is so sad that I really hold a burden on them and just straight up ignore what I am doing wrong. I feel like I am totally rejecting God in doing all of this. Of course I see myself changing for the good through the process of these writings but it also hurts me when I read when I realize all of the terrible stuff I really do. It may not seem like bad stuff at first but the fact that what I do hurts God is where it gets me. One thing I need to really work on is having a positive out look on everything. I also need to not worry about little things and just trust God that He will always do good for me. There is so much more of these things, things that I can't even list. I really need to talk out loud to my Father more often. Shoot.Daily Prayer:Dear Lord,I thank You for today God. I thank You for the whether You are bringing to southern California and making it feel like it is somewhat winter. I would like to also thank You for helping me control my frustration today and looking to You for help. Thank You also for helping me in letting out my feelings to my mom instead of holding them back inside of me and making them worse. I thank You that I got to make a short trip home before season starts and everything. I won't be able to really visit that much at all so it was great to see the family. I pray that with school coming up tomorrow please help me to get through the school year being able to get good grades and most of all learn the things that are going on in class. Help me not to forget the useful information once the class is finished. I pray that with baseball Lord I am still able to keep up on homework and things like that and not fall to far behind. I pray that with baseball season it will all go well and we will have a wonderful winning season. I pray that we all play to the best of our ability and also refrain from injury. I pray that our trip to Hawaii will not only be fun but will also be successful. God next I would like to pray for the mood I am in. For some reason I am really sad, it is probably because of how tired I am. Please help me snap out of this mood and get a wonderful night sleep tonight. I pray that if I am awakened from sleep for any kind of reason please give me the ability to fall back asleep without having to get up. I now pray for my family and friends God. If there are any kind of struggles or problems they may be going through please help them in whatever they may need. For the ones that don't know You God please help them to somehow find Your light and please use me in that process. I pray as I am struggling with being able to keep up with this blog. It is a huge commitment and it is something that I try my best to do good on. Please give me the strength to really get through it God and also help me to find the verses I need in order to build my relationship with You God. I pray for the physical pain in my body. Please help me to be comfortable and for my shoulder to heal. I pray that You will help me in finding and making more friends Lord. Please help me to find better things to do instead of sitting around in my dorm room all day doing nothing. I pray God for my dream girl, Lord please help me to find her when the time is right and please help me to be patient in the process. Please also keep me from judging others Lord based on appearance or anything like that. Help me to be able to talk and hang out with anyone and just share Your love with them. Help people to be able to see You through me God. Help me to have a Christ-like attitude no matter where I am at or anything God. Please help me to not come up with lame excuses help me to just straight up be honest to everyone. Please Lord keep me from any type of sexual sin father. It is so easy to get caught up in earthly pleasures but please Father keep me a way and give me the strength I need to block it all out. Please keep me from getting annoyed with my parents and others Lord. Help me an my room ates to get along all semester. Please help me to keep my patience when there is something going on that I don't like around me. Help me to stand up for what I believe in and not be ashamed of who I am. I pray for all of the unspoken prayers and missed thoughts Lord. Please help them come to me so that I may pray for them. I pray for all for these things in Your glorious name.AMEN.
Daily Summary: Wow, last night's sleep was awesome I slept through the whole night and I would of slept even longer but my friend Chad called me from the team asking how the field looked from the weather. I still felt awake and refreshed more then usual. It is amazing how praying for the little things makes such a difference. Everything still looked pretty wet on the field and I thought we were definitely going to be okay to play but a few minuets later I got a phone call from Hawkins saying that the game was canceled. I was real disappointed and really didn
't know what I was going to do with myself because I was really looking forward to hanging out with my family and everything after the game. Since it was only 8:00 by then I just sat around and waited up for lunch to roll around 11:00. I met some of the guys there and we talked and hung out blah blah nothing really to interesting. As I was coming back I realized that today was the day that everyone was moving back in since classes start this week. I just got my books in and I am ready for class to start I can't believe that I actually am but I will be taking some fun classes. It was really cool to see all the old faces I haven't seen in over a month especially the guys on the floor. Later on I pla
yed some ping pong with my buddy Calen from the team for a while then came back up rested and watched some Nip Tuck. I did this for a while and got more bored as time went on. Eventually I went back down and played some more ping pong with Calen then went to dinner. After that I went over to some of the guys house for a little freshman initiation thing I wasn't to sure what to expect but I new it wasn't going to be pretty. It ended up being a load of fun, although everything we did was quite embarrassing. It was really cool though to have everyone laugh and to make a total fool out of myself. At least I wasn't the only one. At the end we all got our heads completely buzzed to a size "0" Now I definitely didn't look as bad as my roommate Phill but it is still a scary site to look at. Afterwards we just kind of hung out with the guys over at their house and then called it a night. It was a great day although a majority of it was pretty boring. I ended up going back home tonight so I could see my parents one last time before going to Hawaii and also to pick up a few things for the trip. Tomorrow I will just be going to Church and hanging out. Most likely getting made fun of because of my bald head. By the way it is a little short today only because I really didn't do all that much. I am not getting lazy! I promise.
Daily Reading: Galatians 6:1-5
The basic structure to these verses explains that we should do good to all people. Anyone that we know that may be caught up in sin we should use are spiritual gifts to restore them the bet way we can but we must be careful because while we are doing this we may also be tempted with the sin they are committing. Carrying each other's burdens is fulfilling the law of Christ. If we walk around giving people the impression that we are perfect and nothing is ever wrong with us then we are deceived. I have seen a lot of this kind of act growing up and I have also been in that same situation. Acting like someone we aren't will only cause more problems in the long run. Cracking down and finding who we are in Christ is the only way to really fix this problem and he we always have his arms wide open. When we do our very best we always feel good about the results. There is no need to compare ourselves with others. Everyone makes comparisons for many reasons. Some point out others flaws in order to feel better about themselves. Others simply want reassurance that they are doing well. When we are tempted to compare, look at Jesus Christ. His example will inspire you to do our very best and his loving acceptance will comfort us when we fall short of our expectations. No Christian should ever think that he or she is totally in dependant and doesn't need help from others. No one should also feel excused from the task of helping others. The body of Christ (the Church) functions only when the members work together for common good. Humbly and gently we should always be ready to help the person that is in need for help. We never know when we may need this type of help and therefore when we help others we should e treated the same way we treated them. Sometimes even a simple prayer can change a persons life. Time and time again, I sit and church and see so many people walk up when the pastor declares and altar call. I get the goosebumps for every single one of them. In my experience in doing that I felt relieved and like all the weight was lifted off my shoulders. I can't express how happy I am for each and every single one of those people. No matter what they may be going up there for, each and every single one of them is an answer to prayer. The comfort of the people that they talk to and the fact that they are automatically excepted for who they are and forgiven for everything they have done in the past is amazing. No one forgives like Christ forgives us. I have to ask for some type of forgiveness each and every day. There are also times where I forget about my sins because I am so ashamed of what I did. I need to be able to take everything to God no matter what the circumstance may be. The guy died for me I mean come on the least I can do is talk to Him and be honest with Him about everything. I love Jesus He is the Man.
Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank You for this wonderful day. Although I got my game canceled, had nothing to really do, and got completely humiliated, You still managed to keep a smile on my face and let me have some fun. I pray today that I can really crack down and not be ashamed of my Faith. I pray that I will loudly shout Your name and set the example to others that may not know You. There are some people around me that go to this school but maybe don't follow You like they should. Please put a hand on them God and also use me to talk to them and share with them what You are really about. I pray this also for my friends and family that don't know You Lord. Use me in any way possible. For the friends and family that do know You God that may have problems please bless them and give them the people they need in order to talk with them and really vent. I pray for the Churches that I am or may have been apart of that You will bless them with the money they have and keep them going through this financially tough time. I pray for all of the businesses going under God that You some how flip this economy back upwards so that more people can work and not loose their jobs. I pray now for the frustration and anger that sometimes comes upon me. Keep my eyes focused on You God so that nothing little bothers me and help me to understand that everything happens for a reason. God please keep me from any kind of sexual temptation and desire. Keep me away from any kind of earthly pleasure God. Help me to be mature and humble in the things and acts that I do. Help me to turn small things into fun. I pray that You will keep blessing me with friends and the things I need father. I pray that You will bring the right dream girl to me father and help me to be patient in the process. I pray for the physical pain that I am enduring right now. Especially my shoulder. Help for them to heal so that I may play baseball to the bet of my ability. I pray also for this upcoming season Lord. Please help us all to have fun all year and bring us to victory. Keep our team close and help everyone to get along. Keep us also from any type of injury. I pray that You will make our trip out to Hawaii both safe and fun Lord. Help all of our packages and things to get there without any kind of trouble. Please also to help me keep up my diet as I become more and more tempted to eat unhealthy each and every day. I pray for all of the unspoken prayers Lord. Please them to come to me so that I may pray for them. I pray these things in Your name.
AMEN.
Day Summary: To cap off last night I ended up hanging out with my friend Katie Owen. I also hung out with two of her friends and we all decided to go ice blocking. I wasn't really down for it at first because it was only 8:30 and sneaking somewhere might get us in trouble. I went ahead and did it anyway and it was a lot of fun. We jumped over a fence at the local golf course and slid down hills on big pieces of ice. It was lot of fun and it was also very painful when I fell. Anyways it was good to get out and have a good time especially since I won't be around all that much when season starts along with school. This morning wasn't the best of mornings that I have had. I couldn't fall asleep till pretty late last night and for some reason this morning I woke up at 5:50. I have no idea why, I was having a really cool dream then I all of a sudden just woke up. Usually when this happens I can fall back asleep but this morning was different. I kept sneezing and each time I did it woke me up even more. So I ended up with only about 6 hours of sleep through the night and that isn't good especially since I have practice and probably a long night ahead of me. I tried to look on the bright side to the situation by being able to go to breakfast this morning. I got ready walked outside and realized that it was raining! I was pretty stoked to see some rain and cold weather here in California because it isn't necessary to feel like summer in the middle of January. After breakfast I walked back and kinda just sat around the room doing not much of anything. I set up a cup on the towel curtain and tried to make a ping pong ball in it. It is actually quite harder then it seemed to be and I have only made one in out of about 100. Well after that I did something useful I got an application together to turn in for a scholarship through my dad's work, At&T. Money for school next year is going to be rough and I need all I can get. So I am going to have to really crack down and find some extra money so that I won't be having to pay back loans for 30 years. Then later on Hawkins came in, stole a piece of fruit, and then asked if I wanted to play some ping pong. I did in fact go down and played with him and then we went to go work out. I got a good work out in today and it is something that I definitely needed. I felt real good today and felt like I got a lot done. While we were lifting Hawkins called the coach and found out that today's practice was canceled! It was poring all morning and it was kind of expected. Today is the first day practice has ever been canceled since I have been here. It was kind of cool but I was kind of looking forward to practice today. Well hopfully the rain will hold up tomorrow so we can be able to play our alumni game. Well after lifting I went to lunch and sat with my buddy Nick. The guy who loves it when I put his name in here. Anyways after that I really didn't know what to do with myself since I usually go to practice right after lunch. I kind of just sat around cleaned up the room and watched some NipTuck. I was trying to find a good movie to watch but no one is really around on the floor so I had no luck. I took a little nap as well since I got no sleep last night. After that I got cleaned up and then met my friend Emily (Em-head) and we went to her fathers restaurant Tony Romas it was pretty good food and I really enjoyed chilling and talking with her. I felt kind of bad because there really wasn't to much to do afterwards but we still managed to have a good rest of the night. I headed back up to my room around 9:15 to get ready for bed and call it a night. Today was super relaxing and tomorrow should definitely be fun. The Alumni game, seeing all the family, then baseball dinner thing afterwards. I can't wait. Hawaii is only one week away!!
Daily Reading: 1 Timothy 6:17-18
I searched today for a verse in where it talks about God providing for us. There are many things in life that become stressful because it always seems like we give more then we receive. One thing that is a problem around the world is having enough money to go around. Now I definitely wasn't raised in a rich family and didn't have all that much money growing up and I still don't. Although I am under these circumstances I still have everything I need. Sometimes I think I have to much. Yet I still cringe every morning when I receive a text message of my backing account letting me know that I have less then $10 in it. I have realized a long time ago that money isn't everything. If I had money I would probably go out spending it so it is best that I don't have any. Now there are still somethings that I need God to provide me with. Some of them I pray for every day but I am in no rush. One thing that I haven't really spent to much time praying about is the money for school. Biola is about 34,000 dollars a year to stay on campus and to have a meal plan but doesn't include books. It is worth every penny but my family and I have to be able to have pennies to be able for them to be worth it. That may have not made sense but the fact is that we may be short coming up in the next few years. God has provided me with so much in order to go to this wonderful school. A very high baseball scholarship, a great amount of money given to me by the government, and other grants and things. It is amazing to think of all the ways he has provided for me. If it wasn't for all of this I wouldn't be able to attend this school. In God providing these things for me I need to be able to use this all in wise ways. For instance, I need to take my schooling seriously and need to make the best out of every opportunity I get. I also need to work hard in baseball so that my scholarship stays up to the amount I first received. Now to the set of verses. Ephesus was a wealthy city, and the Ephesian church probably had many wealthy members. Paul advised Timothy to deal with any potential problems by teaching that having riches carries great responsibilities. If you have been blessed with wealth, then thank the Lord. Don't be proud and don't trust in your money. Use your money to do good. Be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share. No matter how much money you have, your life should demonstrate that God controls the wealth that he has placed under you care. AMEN! Shoot, Paul couldn't have explained this better. This verse meaning doesn't just have to focus on the money that God has provided to anyone but everything God has provided to us. We should use everything He has given us to out advantage by using it in a way to shine His light. If I am here getting a legit Christan education for less then 1/5 of the price and I don't go out and use it what good is it? Therefore I need to use everything God has given to me and not waist any of it. With the things and money I may need later on I need to be able to trust God that He will provide me with the things I need and others as well. When I receive these things I won't be foolish and with God's help use it all in the wisest way possible. I love it when god uses me and others to show the true meaning of life. I can't express enough of how much I love Him. As long as I trust and believe in Him there is nothing ever to worry about in life. No big deal.
Daily Prayer:
Oh God,
I surrender to You Lord Jesus. I thank You so much for all You have provided me with. I pray that with these things please help me to use them all wisely and not put them to waste. I pray for my school Lord. Please help me to somehow come up up with the money I need to be able to pay for the necessary things. I pray also Lord for the Church in which my mom's family attends. They are low on money God and they need all of the financial support they can get. I also pray for Calvary Church the one which I grew up in God, please bless them as well and provide them with the things they need as they are too going through some financial difficulties. Next Lord please help me to not be selfish with the things I have God. Help me to share with others and to not even think before I do so. I pray to you now Lord for my frustration and anger, it haunts me almost every single day and I can't stand it. I am catching myself better every time I do it but it still takes a toll on me. Help me to just calm down and realize that it all really isn't a big deal and everything is going to be okay. I also pray Lord that I am tempted to go off my diet and eat unhealthy things. Please help me stick to what I want to accomplish and stay away from the bad foods. I pray God that You will give me a Christ-like attitude in everything I do and that people will be able to see You through me. Keep me from evil temptations and give me the desire to desire You Lord. I am becoming real lazy in my writings it seems like more and more each day. Please help me to stay focused and to realize who and what I am doing it for. I pray for the pains in my body please heal my shoulder especially God so that I may be able to throw. I pray for this upcoming baseball season please help us all to play to the best of our ability and to play together as a team. Please keep us all from serious injury Lord. I pray that You will keep the weather dry tomorrow so that we may play our alumni game. I pray also for our Hawaii trip that we can all have fun and the trip will be stress free. I pray also that I can find some type of Internet connection so I may continue to write this blog. Now I would like to pray for my friends and family. I pray that if they have any kind of problem for You to help them Lord. Help them to trust and seek You in all that they do. I pray especially for the ones that don't know You God. Help them to some how find a way to see the Truth. Please use me in whatever way possible to show and teach them God. I pray again for my dream girl Lord. Show her to me when You are ready and please help me to be patient in the process of finding her. God help me also to not shut people out based on appearance or anything. In other words help me not to judge anyone and help me to love everyone equally. Now God I pray for all of the things that I may have not though of tonight that I am missing. I pray that You will bring the thoughts back into my head so I may pray for them. Please help me to get a good night sleep tonight as tonight was rough. I pray for these things in Your wonderful name.
AMEN.
Daily Summary: Now last night after practice was one of the more lazy nights that I have had since I have been here. I literally did nothing besides go to eat. I got in bed and watched Generate on the computer till about 9 then I came down and charged my computer and was just messing around on some sites. The message was on abortion and Pastor Tony did a great job in explaining everything like always. It kind of felt nice just doing nothing for a night and just kind of relaxing. Eventually I went to bed I don't know what time but it was definitely earlier then normal. I woke up super sore this morning from working out. It's going to be an uncomfortable day at practice. My whole upper body hurts pretty bad. All well it's definitely worth it. I then did the usual cereal eating then I got into the word. It fascinates me to hear the good things that God is doing in not only in my life but in others. Yesterday my mom called me super excited about something. She was telling me how much my little brother has really been touched by what I write here. Her and my brother Jacob sit down and read one every single night before they go to bed. She told me that Jacob told her that he wants to work on the tough things he is going through too and also want to ask me some questions when I come home. My mom said that Jacob has already been changing his attitude and is trying his best to not become frustrated at things. This is truly an answer to prayer I pray for my family and friends every single night how they would come to know Christ better and look to Him for their problems. This is truly an answer to prayer and I am so happy to see God moving in my little brothers life. I spend about 2 good hours a day on this thing and if that two hours gets 1 person to change their life or is some how affected by what I write. Then it is definitely worth every second. Even if it doesn't affect anyone else it definitely effects me and the way I run my life. I thank You God for the miraculous things You are doing! Well after thinking about all of that I took a shower then cleaned up my dirty room. I haven't cleaned it all week and it is about time that I did. I get used to it by living by myself. But my roommates are moving back in this weekend and my alone time is running out. I can't believe school is already starting on Monday. These 5 weeks have literally flown by big time. I don't have class on Mondays so I get an extra day, it is my way of cheating the system. Well anyways after cleaning I headed down to lunch. Then I went back to my room played some ping pong with Hawkins then went to practice. Today was yet again another inter squad game. It was a lot of fun and I went 2 for 5 but lined out to both the third basemen and the center fielder. I am seeing the ball much better then I have been lately and it is working out well. Thank God. After practice we all got our gear for the season. If you play a sport you know that getting new gear and uniforms is better then any Christmas or birthday present. It took a long time to get it all since all the seniors and everyone was first but I still managed to get a pair of pants that fit me and everything so it was all good. After that I went to dinner ate then came back to my room ya know took a shower and everything. Then my mom called me and I talked to her for a while. I was kind of stressed about a few things going on so I vented and what not and afterwards I totally felt better about everything and realize that I shouldn't worry about anything and just put my problems in God's hands I can't express that enough. Soon after that I was checking my facebook and my great friend Garrett posted a video. Garrett was one of my first good friends here at Biola and we have so many memories together and I love him so much. Now Garrett is from Washington and was already thinking about not coming back after this year because of some things and how much he missed home. I tried my best to convince him to not do such a thing because I would miss him so much. Basically the video said that he won't be returning THIS semester. He is coming back to pick up his things then he is out. I couldn't believe it but I realized that how much he has really prayed about this decision and how he put it in God's hands. I am going to miss Garrett so much. He is an awesome man of God and I can't wait to see what God has in store for him. I promised myself that I am going to save up and go see him sometime in Washington and it is something that I am definitely going to be doing sometime before my college life is over. This is going to be a long time before I am going to get over the fact that he isn't going to be here anymore. I LOVE YOU BUDDY! Well after that sad stuff I basically just relaxed for the rest of the night. I might be hanging out with my friend Katie Owen later on. She just got back from her home in Kansas City, Missouri and she is stoked to be back. I again am pretty tired so I will be going to bed at a decent hour.
Daily Reading: Proverbs 6:20-26
We should obey our father and mother for this is one of God’s Laws and here it is stated that it is always available. These words are valuable to a young person so that his young mind can be trained into doing things in a God-like way and stay away from sexual sin. Once that the words of wisdom are in your life they will become permanent and cause protection, guidance, and counsel wherever we are. It is absolutely outlawed that we lust towards a women even if she encourages attention by going along with your glance because it is wrong for her as well. These verses apply to me in a great way. Although I would get annoyed with her words of wisdom they stuck in my mind and heart and if I were tempted to do something wrong then instantly her words would pop in my head and I would refrain from doing the sinful act. Sexual sin is hard growing up as a teenager and without the right guidance it can lead to a whole lot of trouble. I am very fortunate of my mother and I thank God for her every day and that she is the reason why I am not involved in sexual sin. This verse also makes me realize that when I become older and ready to marry a women that it is going to be unnecessary for me to even think about another women in a sexual manner. It states this many times in the book of Proverbs and throughout the Bible which makes it clear that this is one thing that God will judge us on to the max. Now we don't have to blind ourselves from every beautiful women or girl that walks by us. It is fine to acknowledge a beautiful creation that God has made but when we take the second glance that is when it becomes a sin. Sexual temptation and sin is one sin that truly affects a person's behavior for the rest of their life. It is also one that hurts God in a horrible way. In 1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul says that every sin that we commit is done outside of the body but whoever sins sexually sins against our own body. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit , who is in us, and that we have received from God. We aren't on our own so we should be honoring God with our body. God created sex to be a beautiful and essential ingredient of marriage, but sexual (sex outside of marriage) always hurts someone. It hurts God because it shows that we prefer following out own desires instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit. It hurts theirs because it violates the commitment so necessary to a relationship. It can often bring disease to our bodies and it deeply affects our personalities which respond in anguish when we harm ourselves physically and spiritually. Many people say they have the right to do what every they want with their own bodies. Although they think that this is freedom, they are really enslaved to their own desires. When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit fills and lives in us. Therefore we no longer own our own bodies. Therefore when we sin against our own body we are sinning against the Holy Spirit which lives in us. If I lived in a house in which I rented and someone else owned I would obviously take care of everything so that I won't have to pay for any kind of damage. This is the same thought that God owns my body and I am using it to live my life. If I engage in sexual sin and damage my body which he owns I will have to pay the ultimate price which is death. See Revelation 6-8.
Daily Prayer:
Dear God,
I thank You for this great cool day and a break from the heat. God as I read and learned more about sexual sin please help me to try my best to flee from any kind of sexual temptation and for me not sin against You. Help me to cherish the body You have given me. Lord I pray for anyone that this may be a problem to especially the ones that are close to me. Please help them to flee from any sort of sexual temptation and to realize how much their body really means to You. God I pray now for my awesome friend Garrett. He lives for You God and I pray that in the wise decision he has made to not be returning to Biola for it to turn out for the best. I pray that you will guide him towards the right path and to help him decide what he can do to serve You. Next Lord I would like to pray for baseball. There are some days where I become stressed about little things please help me to get over it and realize that there are bigger problems in life. With the problems I do have please help me to get through them by trusting in You Jesus. I pray for the pains that I encounter while playing the game. My shoulder hurts so bad Lord please do what You can into healing it. I pray for the other small pains for them to also be relieved. I pray for the upcoming season that if I am to get any kind of opportunity to play for me to make the best of it and play to the best of my ability. I pray this also for all of the other players as well. Please help to have a winning season and to make it as far as possible. I also pray for the Hawaii trip that we are taking in about a week. Please help all that to go well and for us to get there and home safely. I know it may seem weird but please help me to find an Internet connection out there so I may keep up with the blogs. Next God I would like to pray for my friends and family that are going through a rough time please help to look to you for the answers they need. For the ones that may not believers please help them to some how find You God. Help me to be able to talk to them or just plant a seed by having a Christ-like attitude. Help others to see You through me Jesus. Help me to be able to deal with my frustrations and anger better God. Help me with the little things in life that I usually ignore. Please fill me with peace and joy. Keep me from worrying. God I pray for my dream girl. Help me to be patient in finding her Lord. I pray for the unspoken and forgotten prayers that You will help them to come to me so I may pray for them. I pray for these things in Your wonderful name.
AMEN.
