RCF College Retreat

Whoo! Wow.... that was my last college retreat as a college student....

God is so good.

I am not subject to the ways of this world. I do not live to please myself, friends, men, my bank account, or my resume. I do not live by these unspoken standards of success. How tiering would that be? To take the pill the world prescribes you?

I have a God, a King, Wonderful Counselor, and Prince of Peace who gives me freedom from these exhausting modes of life. I have a God who gives me reason to live. I have a God who loves me and delights in me. I have a God who is for me and favors me. I have a God who calls me his daughter. I am so wonderfully and fearfully made to share his love and word. I was made to offer him praises. I was made to sing his name. I am not of this world, but of heaven. He calls me to be righteous in a sinful world and he calls me to a plan far greater than my own.

I do not need to worry anymore. I do not need to be anxious. I have no reason to be nervous about what I'm going to be doing when I graduate all the way to the moment of my death bed.

I am called to something greater than being a slave to money or sex. I am called to something greater than being a slave to attention and fame. I am called to something greater than education and politics. Ask yourself, what are you living for? There it is, there is your master. You are its slave.

Because all those things I count as loss, for my greatest gain is Christ. Christ is my Lord. I serve a God who loves me back. Tell me, can money do that? Can sex do that? Can fame do that? Can those things love your soul back? Can your idols give you eternal satisfaction?

For my God....He gives me strength to go against the tide. He gives me confidence to use the talents he has uniquely instilled in me. He gives me authority to share his love. He gives me peace for all the days of my life. He pours his sweet love to me. He shows me grace when I do wrong and gives me more than a 100 chances.

While the idols of this world have the power to wreck you, my God, who has the same power, does not bring harm to us. He does not exist to wreck us like most of these idols. God is not a double-edged sword. God is love. He is not hate. God is eternal. Not finite. God is forever. Not fleeting. God is joy. Never bitter.

I don't need drugs, money, alcohol, cigarettes, men, attention, or luxuries to feel alive. I'm already alive. The Holy Spirit lives in me. His spirit rejuvenates my soul always. My greatest prayer is that all those in my life can know this love God has shown me. I want every single one of my friends and family members to receive this kind of strength, confidence, and peace. I love you guys too much to see you become jaded and beaten down by this world. Some say that's just how life is--that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But, my loved ones, what are you going to say to death when it actually knocks at your door? When you are killed, what can make you stronger?

I tell you...none, but Jesus.