retreat

Yesterday I spent the day and night on a personal silent retreat in the cold and snowy North Carolina Mountains. It was a great experience. I had some solid time to sit and meditate on the amazing hope and promises that we have in Christ. Honestly, I was blown away by the reality of what God has given us in and through Jesus. For a good couple hours I sat in awe over what God has given us. Below are some of the passages I was mediating on. Think about the implications of these passages. If they are true, Jesus has done for us more than we can possibly imagine. The gift and grace God has given us through Jesus is insane.

Galatians 3:26-29 “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ Jesus have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Galatians 4:6-7 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”

Romans 8:15-17 “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Romans 8:29-32 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things”

Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Colossians 2:9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ…”

Colossians 3:1,3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,… For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:22 “For in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 “All things are yours… all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”

John 14:20 "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

And the list goes on and on. What Jesus has done for us is amazing… Jesus’ death and resurrection has provided a way for people to be forgiven and come into an eternal relationship with God. This relationship is not just a creation Creator relationship, it's a Father son/daughter relationship. God becomes our Father; we become his sons and daughters, born anew of his Spirit. Because of this we actually become the heirs of all that is God’s! All of heaven and earth will be ours in Christ. This is crazy...

I was looking over the mountains of North Carolina thinking, in Christ these are mine. My Father is the owner of it all; someday he is going to give it to me and to all who are in Christ! Talk about security. Talk about hope. Talk about confidence. What is there to worry about when you know that one day you will inherit eternity? What is there to fear? Jesus has allowed us to be heirs of everything. So much of our worldly system revolves around making ourselves secure or protecting ourselves. Who has to make themselves secure when you’ve been given God as your Father? Who has to worry when the Creator of the universe is on your side? Who has to care what others think of you when God says “you’re my child”? What great security and peace. What great hope.

As I stood looking over the mountains, I couldn't stop thinking about how blessed I am to know the hope that is in Jesus. I wish everyone could know the hope, peace and joy that are in God. There is nothing else in the world like it.

May peace and joy fill your hearts through the knowledge of the hope Christ has given us. Amen.