Emphasis on the Eternal

Wow. What a weekend! 

It felt like it was so much longer than three days. 

It was nice to be away from “it all”. 

Away from the distractions of daily life. 

Away from Physics homework. 

Away from the little details of life that bog me down. 

It was about getting closer.

Closer to God. Closer to friends. Getting to know myself better. 

There was rain, there was sun. There were octopuses (octopi?)

There was squelching in the mud and lots of laughter. 

There was running like a maniac to win the scavenger hunt, getting terribly lost in the blindfolded maze, conquering fears and jumping off of a 40 foot pole onto a trapeze. 

I love retreats like this. The feeling of being renewed and refreshed. 

The theme was reflection. 

As a Christian, I want to reflect God to others. 

But sometimes there’s great insecurities. 

I might attempt to cover them up with facades. 

Maybe I’ll fool just about everybody.

But I can’t fool God. 

He knows what and who we are deep down inside, behind all of the pretense. 

And yet, He loves us. Wow.

It was something to mull over for sure. 

David wrote in the Psalms:

You know when I sit and when I rise;
       you perceive my thoughts from afar.

 You discern my going out and my lying down;
       you are familiar with all my ways.

 Before a word is on my tongue
       you know it completely, O LORD. (Psalm 139:2-4)

Another passage that reminds me of how great God’s love is: 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

You know what? There is security in Him. When I'm immersed in the Word, serving Him, and listening to what He has to say, my insecurities vanish.

 It's cool. It's very cool. 

But there's a struggle. 

It’s SO easy to become lethargic, apathetic.

To be perfectly satisfied with the mundane.

Or to get all caught up into the day to day details of life. 

But listen to (or read) this: 

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  

(Ephesians 6:11-13)

I don’t want to live the lukewarm life!  

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ... But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

(Revelation 3:15-16,18)

Woah, there’s a lot to work on.  

It does require effort on my part. 

Lucky for me, His power is made perfect in weakness. 

It’s still an uphill battle. 

All the way. (But He's with me all the way).

Keep in mind that these light and momentary troubles we face are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

Thinking back on different "troubles" I've had, I can see that they really were momentary. 

God was so faithful and showed up in a big way when I turned to Him with my problems. 

In the moment, it was hard. The KEY is to keep looking ahead to the goal and to throw off those things that entangle. 

I'll be the first to admit that it can be terribly difficult at times. 

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart"

~a portion of Hebrews 12

Anywho, that's a clip of what went on this past weekend. 

On another note: I miss the hour that was taken. I guess that it'll be back in the fall. But still.