The Jesus Retreat 2010: Holy Hunger
Posted By Phil R - Joined December 10, 2008
As we prepare to meet the Lord again this year, I believe fully that the Lord is (as always) more excited about meeting us there than we are about meeting Him!
This Advent, my heart has been pierced with greater longing and holy emptiness for the Lord than I can remember feeling for a long time. It's as if the lungs of my heart have been profoundly emptied and are gasping for a new breath... And it is exactly this that I believe the Lord wants to do this year; He wants us to bring to Him on the Jesus Retreat weekend, our longing for Him--our longing for EMMANUEL...our longing for SALVATION.
We will receive Him at Christmas, to be sure, but our hunger for Him must INCREASE, and it is in this mystery--in our being ever more hungry and ever more filled with grace--that we will meet Him.
Do not be afraid to bring your brokenness and your weakness--all of it--to the Lord. He is Love and Mercy itself, and He is coming to DELIVER YOU.
"Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which will be for all people. Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you...He is Christ, the Lord!" - Luke 2:10-11
5 comment(s) on this discussion
looking forward to being with all of you again this year
+M
Phil,
Holy Hunger! Yes...mmph... I have felt the Lord knocking at my door, he is eager to come in, he tells me to make space, i preach to others telling them to make space for the newborn king... and then i fall so short, i fill up the emptiness with useless clutter...
Thank you for your words, I need to hear that the emptiness creates an open space for Him, and that it is not nothingness, but an openness.
I am really looking forward to being with all of you on the retreat this year... Really:)
Since the retreat, I have been perpetually hungry - in the natural sense. All I want to do is eat. My hope is that the natural will spill over to the spiritual, though being actually hungry is not a very pleasant disposition.
Not hungry today - caught a stomach bug that is running through the family. It turns out NOT being hungry is not a very pleasant disposition as well. Anyone have any interpretation as to what this may mean?
I know exactly what you mean when you speak of that intense longing for the Lord! I have felt that desire, that sense of searching for something more for a long time. I only feel satisfied when I am in His presence, and most especially so, at the Jesus Retreat. It is like a refresher for the rest of the year. There is no other time quite like it. Things have changed a lot for me since last year's retreat, and yet I still feel as if I am searching for something more and do not know how to achieve that.In that search, I sometimes neglect to spend time with God even though that is what I want to do more than anything! I don't know that I will be able to make it to this year's retreat which really tears me apart. However, I will be praying for all of you. Please pray for me, that I may always walk towards my Lord, and will grow in my Faith despite my lack of connection with a group such as those on the Jesus Retreat. God Bless!