Freedom in Christ

Lately I've been seriously convicted on my misuse of this phrase. Do I seek to justify my actions or to look more like Christ? Sadly, most of the time, it's the former rather than the latter. In Galatians 2 and Acts 15 we see Paul strongly oppose those that say men must be circumcised. Titus wasn't and yet Timothy was. Was Timothy being legalistic? Of course not! He was called to minister to the Jews and knew that being uncircumcised would hinder the Gospel. Yet Titus was called to minister among the Gentiles, so he was not. Circumcision is nothing, it is the heart God is looking at. (1 Samuel 16:7) In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul discusses eating food that has been offered to idols. The conclusion is, "Whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God." Can I say that that is my end goal? Is that the lens through which I filter all decisions? I mean everything. My jokes, my choice of movies, or pastimes. Every word that comes from my mouth. Not even close, but it should be. "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God." Galatians 2:19 The purpose of my freedom in Christ is not for me, not so I can do  whatever I want, but so I might be free to live for God instead of for the law. Do I look like a PG version of the world or do I look like Christ? What a radical difference that is! So my goal is to be more like Christ, not because I have a righteousness of my own, but because my savior died for me and deserves nothing less, because I have been crucified with Christ and it is him that lives in me.

Retreat

How often we view the word retreat as a defeat. Retreat means to lose, to not be able to stand your ground, to us. And perhaps in a way that's true, I can't handle everything I've been faced with lately on my own. My stresses, trials, convictions, and worries have been wearing on me and last night came the breaking point. Not everything I've been dealing with is even bad, but there have been many changes that have come up quickly. And not everything is even my own burden, but rather burdens my loved ones are bearing, but I feel them keenly, as if  they were my own. Everything I'd been putting of dealing with and repressing exploded and suddenly I felt so defeated and lost. The Lord knew my breaking point was coming of course, and as we speak I sit in a condo in Breckenridge with a few of my good friends on a retreat. The point of a retreat is to regroup, to build your strength back up so you can fight another day, so you aren't crushed. I've clearly been relying on my own strength and understanding to try and deal with all the curve balls life has thrown at me. I needed this weekend to spend prolonged quiet time with the Lord, to read, to listen, and to not be so busy. I've been forgetting to take the Lord with me into battle. But I want to be able to say as Paul did, that I have run the race, fought the good fight, kept the faith. On this retreat I recognize and admit how weak I am by myself. I need the Lord always. I was so discouraged because I was thinking thoughts and wrestling with things I haven't in so long. I thought, "I've had victory here! Why is this still an issue for me? Where did that victory go?!" But victory in battle doesn't mean you never guard against that attack again, it doesn't mean it will never come back, it means you know how to defeat it. I know that I need to rest in the Lord, in his promises, and in his strength. When I am weak, then I am strong. I'm so glad I hit a place where I needed to retreat, because on Monday when I head back into normal life, I am not returning alone. How foolish to ever go into battle without our armor and our defender; may we never forget where our strength and power come from! Praise the Lord that when we retreat back to him, he is always there, ready. Asking, ok, are you ready to win now?