| View Blog
|
|
|
wow...this weekend was AMAZING! I'm soo glad I went!
The place the retreat was held at is called "Maranatha Bible Camp". It was really nice and spacious...lots of wooded areas (lots of climbing trees!! ^_^). The speaker was Randy Gariss...never heard of him before, but he was fantastic! The whole week we talked about being TRULY filled with the Holy Spirit and how that is evident in our lives as Christians. He spoke on the Fruit of the Spirit...and how they are all products of a loving servant of God. The fruit is all one thing and comes about from love and service. You can't just work on them one at a time...they appear just like real fruit...they appear after you take care of the roots...they appear with loving service. I've always thought of the Fruit of the Spirit as kinda a motivational sermon series...this really got me thinking!!
Randy also talked about how brokeness over sin is evidence of God's spirit in your life...how, when there is sin, there is a sincere brokeness as well as a change that takes place. Kinda cool, huh?
I had some serious time with God this weekend..and I realized a bunch of things. I've been really overwhelmed with some stuff and haven't had any answers...but this weekend...God showed me some things...gave me some of those answers. One of the services, Randy gave this analogy of breaking in a horse and how you don't start with "left" or "right"...but you start with "Woah"...you teach the horse how to stop when commanded and then later on...the rest kinda just falls into place. He said that a lot of times we ask for God's will..."left" or "right"...and we don't get an answer because sometimes God is saying, "Hey...back up a bit...you haven't learned 'Woah' yet." Unitl we have learned "Woah"...to be broken over our sin...to be filled with the Spirit of God, God won't show us the answer we desire because we just aren't quite ready yet. That moved me...I was up till about 2 AM crying my eyes out in a field just praying and asking for forgivness for my selfishness. I wanted my answers NOW! "Left" or "Right", but the whole time, God was saying..."Emily, you have to get over this hurdle first...you need to learn to be patient and slow down a bit and wait for MY timing... not yours." I am not the most patient of people, so that was REALLY hard for me to chew.
I can't describe the change that I went through this week...all I know is that I kinda knew that I was going to deal with some stuff...and frankly, I was afraid. I know that God's Spirit is dwelling within me...there is evidence...and I feel like I don't deserve it. I feel like I'm such a wicked sinner that I shouldn't be blessed like I am.
I met a bunch of other chrisitans from different state colleges (KU, Missouri State, Missouri Southern, etc.). But I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other Campus Christians from Pitt State...I have a new nickname now that they've given me: "Crazy Emily"...not so proud of that one.
I'm ready to get this week over with and next week...cause...FALL BREAK!!! YAY!!!! But, alas...I have to get through mid-terms first...UG! Please pray that this week will just fly right on by because...ya...back to that whole patience thing...I'm ready to go home! Well...Hope to hear from you all soon. Drop me a line sometime this week!
Emily
|
|
Posted by ravenfire911 on 2007-09-30 15:29:37 | Rating: | Views: 124
|
| |
|
|
