These are the things on my mind at the close of the second day at Grace Retreat 2010.

• When God pursues you, it is because He’s looking for a mouth to speak through, to accomplish His own purposes for His own glory.
• Let us be wary about a cavalier attitude towards our calling and God’s anointing in our lives; many feel the touch of the mantle, but only a few respond to it.
• Does authority come from positions and statuses or come from the Lord? A rhetorical question but a necessary reminder. Do you find security in who you are or what you do? What a timely reality check.
• A stronghold is like a prison that keeps you in and keeps others out.
• Fear may cause us to isolate ourselves and cause a driven person who is performance-oriented to gain acceptance this way.
• A prior rejection of others may cause us to reject people even before they get a chance to reject us, as a result of our self-defence mechanisms.
• Flying a kite teaches us a lesson on letting go; but beyond that, it teaches us to relinquish control of our own power to release it to a greater power that will take the kite to places that we could never imagine we could in the limitations of our power and ability; we should let go for something greater.
• God challenged my perspective on being authentic. I used to live by, “Why should I tell you who I am? If I tell you who I am, and you don’t like who I am, that’s all I’ve got.” It was time for a paradigm shift and to trust God to protect my esteem and security, regardless of who or what I encounter.

I look forward to Wednesday. 79 to go! You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, “Blessed be Your name”. I love You, Lord. Amen.