It happens, we aren't close to perfect and when we do relapse it is an opportunity to come back stronger in faith. Remember, Daily discipline is a sure way to be on guard and prepared for what is to come. This is a war, ready yourselves with the words of eternal life.

When listening to Gene Getz talk about his book "The measure of a Man" he mentioned how our lives as Christians, should be like cosmetics to the Gospel. What do cosmetics do? They make something look good. When people see the way we Christians live they should be attracted like a bug to light, we ought to draw them in with our lifestyle. Our lives ought to be cosmetics to the Gospel. 

Like a coat we no longer need at the end of a season, hang your sin up on your cross. Relinquish (leave behind) your sin. Please, allow the Spirit of God to show you what further there is to relinquish. 

Gene talks about 2 Timothy 2:23 "Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, forbearing, 25 Correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."

From "Men in the arena Podcast - Episode 255"

What gives you hope? How do you set your mind on God's promise?

I want to help you, brothers and sisters, I want to be a helping voice that keeps you from death. Jesus knows what you need to do so see him and ask. 

I feel that I have had a heart change and Jesus has kept me from failing for a while now. It is amazing to defeat sin and it is encouraging to know that it is possible. Since I have made huge changes, my wife has also chosen to make huge changes. I am more excited about our marriage than I have ever been. My wife is the most supportive person I have ever met. She is a light in my life and sacrifices her flesh every day to enable a stronger marriage. I never thought my marriage would be like this because it is so radically different. Thanks to God for uplifting our marriage from the depths of despair. It is still hard to admit for some reason but, I feel more dependent on my wife than I ever have. She has sacrificed much to enable my current situation. I am grateful for this but a part of me is afraid to rely on another person to that extent. 

With what is going on in my life this season, I finally understand and have the opportunity to live out that classic saying. "What do you expect to come out when you squeeze an orange? Orange Juice! What do you expect to come out when you squeeze a Christian? Jesus!"

This is very hard but possible if we turn to Jesus each day of our life. Doing this devotional and podcast allow me to turn to Jesus each day and I love it! I have to give up a lot of my time and spend it with Jesus. I realized that if I don't put Jesus in then how can I expect Jesus out? I can't! I was tired of not putting Jesus in and getting absolute garbage out! 

Jesus is real, Jesus does work if we apply it correctly and the Bible helps explain what Jesus wants. In 2 Corinthians, Paul explains how only following the bible or the law will kill and Jesus told us to believe he is King and when we have faith he will send the Holy Spirit to bring us the remembrance of who he is. Remembrance is defined as the ability to remember or the act of recalling to mind. The law can tell us some of what Jesus did and what his disciples thought of him and that is great but that alone won't save us. Giving our lives to Jesus and keeping his commandments and truly living for Him will grant us the power of the Holy Spirit and that is how we are given life as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6. Without the Holy Spirit, we can't do the things that Jesus wants us to live out. It is not about going to church each week and reading the bible and reciting the bible as much as possible. It is about being Spirit-led!

Spend your time with the Lord when you want to, and when you don't want to be still and undistracted and search for Jesus. It has to be something you want. I hope this episode encourages someone to want to see Jesus and discover something amazing as a result. 

I love doing this podcast and it has brought up the idea of having episodes where I talk about the Christian music I listen to. There are many days when a specific song is in my head and it encourages me to live the day or a moment for Jesus. I want to promote these Christian artists and reflect on the ways where their lyrics helped me be a little more faithful. 

Not sure if or when I would do this but It is something I think would be fun to do. I will do Oswald's devotional every day until it's finished but some days a devotional may not resonate with me and having something else to put out here would be a way to keep me engaged in my brain and soul. 

What do you think?

As far as today's devotional, I feel it was hitting on the point that we have no choice but to serve with absolute loyalty to Our Lord's commission. 

If you are in ministry your self I would love to talk with you about your story and how you take advantage of the opportunity you see. 

I listened to an old podcast that had Patrick Morley on to talk about a book he released at the time called "The Christian Man". In that podcast, Patrick talks about work and I thought It would make sense to mention it here because Oswald brings up the way work can interfere with our purpose as a Christian. I always had a tough time doing the usual tasks of jobs I had. Being empathetic with the customer, keeping the client relationship personal and many other things annoyed me. With the corporations I worked for, we needed to do certain things to serve the customers and it was all about money. At non-profits, I have worked for the ethical guidelines that seemed good but conflicted with things a Christian ought to do. As I have been allowing Jesus to take me to another career I am so pumped to have a job where my Christian belief can be my work ethic. 

Patrick has a quote in that book that says "If what you do is who you are, then who are you when you don't do what you do anymore?" Patrick touches on how men can find their identity in their work. So if that work is not centered on Jesus and doing the ministry work, isn't it ultimately a distraction from who Jesus wants us to be? In the book, Patrick says "God wants us to go find some unredeemed corner and claim it for the glory of Christ." For me, I see personal training being my unredeemed corner. Working out makes my heart beat fast and puts a smile on my face. 

If this speaks to you, reach out to me on Twitter so we can chat! 

The podcast I got this from was Men in the Arena Podcast, episode 245.

In what ways do you feel united with God?

In my case, I am stepping away from my aspirations to be in a certain career. Jesus says that he will bring the Counselor to those who believe. The Spirit of truth has been guiding me into all the truth. Oswald has helped me realize God's unfailing love for me by guiding me through scripture. Now that I know I am Loved and I Love Him, I feel ready to Feed those who are hungry. This commission to feed His sheep will be difficult and lifelong but I am inspired. I feel united because of the influence which has been in my life, knowing it is not my own. I have been influenced by the Holy Spirit many times in conversation with people recently. Many have seemed to be drawn to me to speak about the Lord and I have been encouraged to start conversations with random people about Jesus.

I am pumped to be doing this. It has helped me find a way to process the events I experience. It is my time to spend being guided by the holy spirit on the next steps I am to take. Even if this podcast has no listeners, I will continue doing it because It has given me a way to interpret life. I won't give up the time I spend here for anything else. If you spend your time listening to this, thanks. It means a lot that you would give your time to listen to what I have to say. I want to encourage you more by having a conversation with you. Reach out to me on Twitter @billofthoughts. If this has made an impact on you please let me know how. It would be motivating to me to know that someone has felt inspired by this channel. 

Are you spending each day devoted to Jesus?

Reading through John today was huge for me. I felt like I read through it for the first time and picked up on many things that the Almighty does. I do not want my common sense ideas and goals to compete with God's plans. I love how Oswald touches on the sense of duty and how it's not a sin however, it is still a wrong place to be since it hinders our understanding of what Jesus wants. I feel like I am currently breaking out of a cycle of duty in my life and in the process of abandoning that, I am trusting in the Lord to provide. My common sense duty has led me to a reliance on the Almighty to provide so that Is what I will pray for. 

Are you finding yourself defending your common sense ideas in this season of life?

Disciples - "Rabbi, eat"

Jesus      - "I have food to eat of which you do not know"

I love this exchange in John4:31 because I would Imagine the disciples left to get food expecting Jesus was hungry for the food just as they were since they were all traveling together. It seems that Jesus got so fired up from his conversation with the woman at the well that he blasts the disciples with the truth. They get back and see Jesus there and simply want him to eat and gather strength but he said, No!

Jesus      - "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives the wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

Its as if Jesus set the whole scene up, knowing that the woman would be there and his disciples would get food that someone else prepared. Its as if all along he would not eat but, teach everyone a lesson.

I have lost about 20 pounds in the last month and a half. Before I lost the weight, I knew I could lost some weight but not 20+ lbs. and I still could lose some more. The reason I wanted to lose weight was so I could get pictures together for my personal training website. Around the same time I had recently started Oswald's devotional and in the past I have done different fasting styles as a way to manage my weight. This time I used my fasting time to be hungry for the Lord. So I totally felt it when Jesus said "My food is to do the will of him who sent me". As I fast I discover there are so many more ways to be fed and they are better than actual food because they feed my soul. It it seeking His will and accomplishing Gods work that truly feeds me.