God Is Faithful

From the moment I stepped on campus a little over a week ago, God has been faithful. Here's a quick list of the ways God has been faithful during my short time here at school:
I've met tons of really nice people
My roomate hasn't been crazy yet, besides the fact he's a sooner fan
God has put me on this floor for a reason
I've met some great guys, especially on my floor, who love Jesus
I've been to a church that knows what it means to be a community
I've gotten involved in the BCM, where I honestly feel God is telling me to get plugged into
I've had a quiet time with God every day this week for the first time since mission trip
Almost every guy on our floor came last night to the BCM

From the moment I've stepped on campus it is so prevalent that this is EXACTLY where God wants me

And I know without a doubt that God has huge plans for us this year.

So how has God been faithful recently in your life?

Things I've Noticed About College In The 4 Days I've Been Here

There are so many people here
I walk everywhere
Racquetball is legit
There are cute girls everywhere
I'm exhausted already
I still want to get a tattoo
I've developed a smugness about Texas (The state of Texas is so much more mostest awesomer than oklahoma)
It's a small world (seen people from middle school that I haven't seen in years)
It feels like camp
I get a fresh start
From what I've seen so far the Baptist Collegiate Ministry is pretty legit
The guys on my floor are awesome
My roommate is a sooner fan, who knows why
I've met guys who truly love Jesus and are intentionaly spending their time investing in me and other guys and girls they've met this week
I know this exact place is where God wants me to be

I know that God is going to do some awesome things here at osu this year and I am so eager to see his plans unfold

Matthew 4

Addiction is a tricky thing.

So is temptation.

So is the devil.

Basically, the devil sucks.

Temptation is all around us thanks to him. In fact, when you try to give something up it seems like more and more things tempt you than you realized before. At least that's the way its been for me. Especially recently after coming back from mission trip and sharing my testimony there. But temptation will find us in forms we never expected, you see the devil is sneaky like that. So what should we do when we feel tempted?
Something that has helped me recently when dealing with temptation is remembering and reading back over Matthew 4. This chapter is devoted to Jesus being tempted by the devil. The devil took him up and down a mountain and have him bread after forty days of fasting, all Jesus had to do was bow down and worship him. But Jesus held firm and if a tired and hungry Jesus can resist the devil who is offering the world to him (which is already God's anyway) then why cant I resist something so minuscule that causes me to sin?

This is where the application comes in. My application for this is a two-parter. 1: read Matthew 4. Re-reading Matthew 4 reminds me of what Jesus went through to resist the devil and gives me hope that through Him I can as well. The problem is that I can't always remember to to back and read that chapter, which brings me to numero dos. 2: write it down. Write it down in places I'll see it, i.e. desk, chair, tv, wrist, arms. The last two tend to be the most effective, cause its always with me. Does that give me the ok to get a tattoo?

Anyways those are the two ways that help me fight the devil, along with prayer, hope this helps you.


(Written from the floor of my best friend's house late at night after my last day of working and an awesome dance party with even awesomer friends)

Service

So anyone who knows me knows that service is a huge deal to me. And it is so easy for me to serve and show that servant's mentality and heart while on mission trip. But when I get home, I lose so much of what I so desperately want and strive to be. If that makes any sense whatsoever then my thought is why is it so easy to be a servant on a mission trip but hard back in the "life" or " home"? Stuff as simple as organizing a plan for passing out water to the thirsty or food for the hungry? Things I truly wanted to do and said I would do when I got back from mission trip.
(For those wondering, most people who we give water to will not have time for or want to talk, so my thought was to design a label for the water bottle that either shared the gospel or shared a few verses or even simply said "Jesus loves you" but for the past two weeks I have stared at that water bottle on the floor of my room as I pass on by.)
So what is it the fact that I'm leaving for college in a week and I'm scared out of ny mind?
Is it that I just don't know what to say about Jesus on a freaking water bottle?
Am I just too busy and too wrapped around other things right now?
Or maybe it goes back to my last post about how little effort I've put recently into my relationship with God.

I think all of these have a small say in the matter, but the last one hurts the most, cause its the biggest. Coming from a guy who loves to serve, and who wants to one day marry a girl who has a servant's heart and mind and yearns to serve her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and a guy who wants to have his first tattoo say "servant of the lord" or simply "servant", I feel like the worst servant right now. I certainly don't feel like I can say that right now about myself, because of the lack of effort.
And I'm saying all this on my phone from my best friend's living room floor that I'm staying with because I'm so sick of how quickly I came down from my mission trip high and how awful of a servant I've brought back in myself since team anywhere.

And I apologize for the rant I just went on.

But it gets me to this point: when I wake up in five hours, I go home, a place that,is comforting beyond do many levels, but also holds many temptations, and as I spend my last couple days at home, they will be spent serving, worshipping, and praising my God whose Name is above all Names and who is my Strong Tower!
Hold me accountable.

It's time to start being the servant I'm called to be.