College and Jesus
One of the things about college is you have so many expectations to meet. Where your college books become like your Bible, and your papers become like the prayers you should be praying, and homework in general becomes like a religion. It's very hard to keep Jesus in the equation. You vow to get up early and read your Bible and pray, but you've stayed up till 3 or 4 in the morning and need sleep before it's time to leave for your classes. It's very easy to become consumed with it all. You don't have time to participate in church activities as much, or hang with your friends as much...your life becomes school work.
I don't have a solution for this. I struggle just as much to stay hid in His Word and Satan knows it and attacks start coming right after another building up on the already stress that exists from school work, and nagging parents, and things you know you need to do....then we blow up. Sometimes at the wrong person. But I know the Word holds everything, solutions, stress reliever, comfort, acceptance, approval, love...etc. etc. So as a college kid myself, I'm still learning how to balance school and Jesus, I know when I don't read my Bible for a few days I feel awful, we become malnutrition-ed. We are Christians with an eating disorder it seems.
Sometimes, however, we sometimes try to be like people we aspire to be like who can get up at 4 and 5 in the morning and pray and read their Bible, and think if we don't do that we're awful Christians. But which is worse, reading a quick verse or two or none at all? It is true as we are more mature in the faith we need more than a verse we want the appetizer, main course, and dessert (the best part!). I went and got a pocket sized Bible that I keep in my bookbag. I come across it several times a day but never seem to get around to read in it much. But at least it reminds me of who I am, and who I want to be.
I don't think there is a such thing as an awful Christian. God loves us even when we've been bad. We can disappoint Him, but His grace is new everyday, and we need to learn from Our Heavenly Father. We need to be taught His grace, and love. We need to sit in His presence and experience His stillness and quietness and unload. As we were learning Sunday Nights at my church, let God give you an oil rub down, healing wounds, and just let Him love on us. Do you realize that's what we say no to when we fail to bring God into our day? And Satan says, "Look, ole' stupid sheep Allison has failed to look to Shepherd Jesus today, she's so stupid she'll forget who she is.....HEY Allison! Come over here!" I'm so guilty of it many days in a row. But our Shepherd is not stupid and he forgets not who His sheep are, and He comes after us stupid sheep. It's amazing. Grace and love. We can't forget His voice, John 10 says that the sheep hear His voice, and know it and follow Him. The only way we know His voice is by staying hid in His Word, and keeping our hearts hidden in His truth. So fellow college students, don't forget what His voice sounds like. I can't forget either. Don't let Satan keep attacking you openly. We have to make it a point to read the Bible. I believe if we put God first in our lives, everything else i.e. papers, homework, reading, and outlines will all fall into place as it should.
Dear Heavenly Father, place your hand of protection on us college kids. Teach us grace and love. Keep giving us the desire to be in your Word steadfastly. Thank you for loving us even when we stray from you. Remind us that you are our everything, and you never expect us to do things that we aren't able to do. Protect our minds, it is my prayer that in my own life I flesh out Romans 12:1-2 daily renewing my mind and reflecting you in me. Remind us who we are; we are your children, we have your name written on our lives, help us to act like it. I pray that my reactions and our reactions to things would please you...we fail so many days in the way we react to things. Remind us to go to your Word and build our reactions on you, and in our Worship to you. Satan, we bind you in all our relationships, you shall not pass the line into our relationships, in our lives, in our schooling, our church, our children's lives, our marriages. We do not serve you Satan. Father, teach us to love the way you love us, pour out your fire to flow through our lives. Break our hearts, for the people who are far from you. Send us out into our schools to proclaim who you are. Send us out into our church and show our fellow brothers and sisters that we desire you, and are present in the church ready to carry out the will of the Father. Thank you for Jesus, thank you that we can call you daddy. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for repentance, that we may receive your forgiveness. May our tongues and thoughts bow to you, Father. Make us sorrowful, convict us of the things we do wrong. And as we wake up renewed by you, may we strive to be better and better in our choices, and in how we perceive you in our lives. We love you, Father, lead us and guide us through this day. We surrender our all to you. Do what you will. In your great Name, Jesus! Amen.
I don't have a solution for this. I struggle just as much to stay hid in His Word and Satan knows it and attacks start coming right after another building up on the already stress that exists from school work, and nagging parents, and things you know you need to do....then we blow up. Sometimes at the wrong person. But I know the Word holds everything, solutions, stress reliever, comfort, acceptance, approval, love...etc. etc. So as a college kid myself, I'm still learning how to balance school and Jesus, I know when I don't read my Bible for a few days I feel awful, we become malnutrition-ed. We are Christians with an eating disorder it seems.
Sometimes, however, we sometimes try to be like people we aspire to be like who can get up at 4 and 5 in the morning and pray and read their Bible, and think if we don't do that we're awful Christians. But which is worse, reading a quick verse or two or none at all? It is true as we are more mature in the faith we need more than a verse we want the appetizer, main course, and dessert (the best part!). I went and got a pocket sized Bible that I keep in my bookbag. I come across it several times a day but never seem to get around to read in it much. But at least it reminds me of who I am, and who I want to be.
I don't think there is a such thing as an awful Christian. God loves us even when we've been bad. We can disappoint Him, but His grace is new everyday, and we need to learn from Our Heavenly Father. We need to be taught His grace, and love. We need to sit in His presence and experience His stillness and quietness and unload. As we were learning Sunday Nights at my church, let God give you an oil rub down, healing wounds, and just let Him love on us. Do you realize that's what we say no to when we fail to bring God into our day? And Satan says, "Look, ole' stupid sheep Allison has failed to look to Shepherd Jesus today, she's so stupid she'll forget who she is.....HEY Allison! Come over here!" I'm so guilty of it many days in a row. But our Shepherd is not stupid and he forgets not who His sheep are, and He comes after us stupid sheep. It's amazing. Grace and love. We can't forget His voice, John 10 says that the sheep hear His voice, and know it and follow Him. The only way we know His voice is by staying hid in His Word, and keeping our hearts hidden in His truth. So fellow college students, don't forget what His voice sounds like. I can't forget either. Don't let Satan keep attacking you openly. We have to make it a point to read the Bible. I believe if we put God first in our lives, everything else i.e. papers, homework, reading, and outlines will all fall into place as it should.
Dear Heavenly Father, place your hand of protection on us college kids. Teach us grace and love. Keep giving us the desire to be in your Word steadfastly. Thank you for loving us even when we stray from you. Remind us that you are our everything, and you never expect us to do things that we aren't able to do. Protect our minds, it is my prayer that in my own life I flesh out Romans 12:1-2 daily renewing my mind and reflecting you in me. Remind us who we are; we are your children, we have your name written on our lives, help us to act like it. I pray that my reactions and our reactions to things would please you...we fail so many days in the way we react to things. Remind us to go to your Word and build our reactions on you, and in our Worship to you. Satan, we bind you in all our relationships, you shall not pass the line into our relationships, in our lives, in our schooling, our church, our children's lives, our marriages. We do not serve you Satan. Father, teach us to love the way you love us, pour out your fire to flow through our lives. Break our hearts, for the people who are far from you. Send us out into our schools to proclaim who you are. Send us out into our church and show our fellow brothers and sisters that we desire you, and are present in the church ready to carry out the will of the Father. Thank you for Jesus, thank you that we can call you daddy. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for repentance, that we may receive your forgiveness. May our tongues and thoughts bow to you, Father. Make us sorrowful, convict us of the things we do wrong. And as we wake up renewed by you, may we strive to be better and better in our choices, and in how we perceive you in our lives. We love you, Father, lead us and guide us through this day. We surrender our all to you. Do what you will. In your great Name, Jesus! Amen.
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