Keep trusting in the Lord.

Wow. Sometimes I feel like a worthless Biology/Pre-Medicine student. From the world's perspective I probably am. Had a solid GPA following my freshman year but totally "blew it" Fall term 2007. Not able to pass my two hardest classes. Faced with the reality that, from a worldy perspective, my chances of getting into medical school are pretty slim......But you know what, this isn't how things really are. You see, God doesn't "grade" my standing spiritually based on my standing academically. He looks at my heart. Therefore only when I fail to be faithful to Him do I fail. If I comprimise being who Christ has called me to be for what this wicked world has to offer, then and only then have I truly failed. This isn't to say that good grades and strong standing and Christ can't go hand in hand. However, it is to say that our standing in Christ should take strong precedence over where one stands academically. Academics are just a tool. Personally, I feel that the Lord is leading me to be a missionary doctor. This is what my heart longs to do. I want to bring glory and honor to our Savior by being used as an effective witness tool for Him. This is all that I want. People can go on and rush and push and try to get their "prominent" standing in medicine if they want to. My focus is in a different direction. When I approach death, if the Lord tarries, I only want to be able to take complete joy in the fact that the Lord delivered me from the death and eternal punishment that was due me and used my life in a way that brings glory and honor to Him. I love the Lord. There is nothing I want more than to honor and glorify Him through my life. Everything else is just a means to this end. If med school works out, fabulous. If it doesn't, fabulous just the same. I must remember my foremost calling on this earth, to honor and glorify the Lord through a heart that loves Him more deeply than anything else. Because the fact of the matter is, if I forget this truth it truly is a worthless life that I or any other Pre-Med major, no matter what the level of academic standing, lives. May God be glorified through my life! In Christ, Josh

When life gets tough, trust in the Lord and stay faithful to Him...

Trials can throw the toughest blows at a Christian sometimes. But the comfort is, every true Christian must and will go through these times. One should really be down if he finds life easy and life in this world to be ultimately satisfying. This is a sign that something is very wrong. As James 1:2-3 (NASB) says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."Therefore, we see that these trials are actually meant to test our faith. If we are not tested in this way we lose our endurance. So the very things that seem to hurt us the most as Christians actually draw us closer to Christ and strengthen our faith and trust in Him. What a tremendous blessing this is! In Christ, Josh

Only by His grace...

If I take a moment to reflect on what the Lord has done in my life over the years, I should be, and definitely strive to be, very thankful to Him. The Lord has changed the desires of my heart to be focused on Him, though I definitely struggle with this at times. I think where my biggest struggle is is trying to find a balance of being who the Lord calls me to be without having legalistic tendencies or lean to far the other way and fall into sin. What I'm beggining to realize is that, for me anyway, I would much rather be on the side of being "conservative". I've tried the last couple of weeks to be more open and talkative and stuff with people in general, but more specefically at the college here. What I'm realizing though is that temptations and sin and sin struggles seem to be more of a problem for me if I try to do this. I would much rather not express my "Christian liberty" than to lean to heavily on this statement and not be as effective of a messenger for my Savior. This is where it really becomes a challenge though. I don't want to seclude myself or not be very talkative. But I feel like the more that I talk, about blah-blah stuff, the more chance there is that I could ruin my testimony in Christ. I came across a verse in Proverbs that reads as follows," In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise." (Proverbs 10:19, NKJV). To me, this seems to imply that the more that I talk about things that don't seem to serve any spiritual encouragement or pertain to the tings of Christ, the greater the chance is that that conversation can turn into sin. Now I definitely believe that there is room to talk about other stuff (I like to talk about football:), but I don't think that it should dominate our conversations (my Dad told me this and I agree with him). So I guess that this is where I stand on the matter. All I know is that when this short life comes to an end, I want to have served the Lord in the best way that he sees fit. Now this cannot come at all from my own merit (I sometimes realize this, but too soon forget), but all I can do is pray that He will keep me focused on what really matters in this life and stay in His Word for guidance on how to do this. And that's all that He expects from me :) With every morsel of energy that the Lord gives me, I want to serve Him. And my heart longs with such heavy anticipation being in heaven with the Lord. But, for now anyways, he wants me here. May he grant me the grace to stand strong in Him and never back down from that which He has called me to. Forever in Him, Josh Gilbert