Training camp, where do I even begin. My head is so full of new ideas and new realizations that I could honestly talk about it for hours, but I won’t won’t make you read that much. Two of the main themes we talked about were Intimacy with God and discipleship.
Starting with Intimacy with the Lord – On Day 5 during worship a guy got up on stage and said “There is nowhere safer than standing next to the most dangerous person in the world.” Life with Jesus is dangerous because its giving up everything our human nature wants to live a life surrendered to him, but life with Jesus is safe because when we give up those wants, we don’t have worries about what’s going to happen next, knowing he is in control. The definition of Intimacy: a close familiarity or friendship; closeness. A private cozy atmosphere. When we fully give our lives to Jesus we receive this safe atmosphere and this friendship stronger than any we will have on earth. I don’t know about y’all, but getting to talk to, and be best friends with the one who created everything sounds pretty exciting to me.
Before this trip I really didn’t understand the “Holy Spirit” thing or what it meant to be intimate with him. No one ever taught me and I truly didn’t even know what to ask, but now it’s simple. The Holy Spirit is our partner. Our companion. He is in us working ALL the time, even when we feel like he’s not. He’s there to convict us, to help us, and to push us. The more of him we decide to let take over, the more will spill out in those times of anger or frustration. When that person cuts you off in traffic, or when that friend abandons you, will your response be of you, or of the one inside of you? Which would you rather have respond?
Now, Discipleship. Matthew 28:19-20 says – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Now that I have grown to be a disciple of the Lord on my own, I have the authority from him to go and make more disciples, of ALL nations. We are called to go out. My mission is not to push my religion on people, but to push them towards Jesus. When our focus leaves from being all about Jesus we lose that mission he has commanded us into.
There are about a million other things I could say about what I learned, but summed up, our life is for him, the more we push into that, the more we will hear his voice and experience his goodness. From the song Reckless Love – “The overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine.” We are all chosen y’all, it’s just up to us if we decide to say yes or not.
