Cornerstone Bible Institute - So many lessons learned. So many dear friends met. So many escapades. So much scenery. So much laughter. So much encouragement. So many memories flooding my brain.
Let's start with the lessons learned. What did I learn in the 9 months that I spent in South Dakota?
1. I learned about God's forgiveness. I learned that when I sin/mess up I don't have to ASK God for forgiveness and then continue to grovel in my guilt for the next week, waiting for the guilt to go away and for God to grant the forgiveness. Instead, I confess to God (calling sin what God calls sin) and then THANK God for the forgiveness that He has already granted me at the cross. Understanding this has changed the victory I've been able to experience in my walk with the Lord. (Titus 3:5) "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."
2. I learned about God's GRACE. I learned that I need God's grace just as much for my walk as I needed it for my stand. I received God's grace at salvation because of Christ and this freed me from the PENALTY of sin. Now, as a child of God, because of Christ AND as I yield to the Holy Spirit (Romans 6), I can also be freed from the POWER of sin. This has shown me the importance of walking in the Spirit (a term I'd never understood before) and has made Romans chapter 6 one of my favorites. From it I learned that walking in the Spirit is KNOWING (that sin doesn't have to boss me around), RECKONING (understanding my position in Christ to be true), YIELDING (my members as instruments of righteousness unto God.)
3. I learned that sometimes the most important lessons that God wants us to learn are not necessarily going to come from reading books, listening to sermons, or trying to be "oober spiritual" etc., but rather through simply living life. God has taught me a lot through the people He has brought into my life, through the circumstance He's led me through and the decisions He's helped me to make. His Word should be constantly before us (for if it's not, how easily we stray!), but He has also put us exactly where we are at this very minute, with struggles and victories, to teach us more about Himself.
While those three things are what stand out the most in my mind when I think about lessons learned, there were many other lessons as well....about how to teach a class, how to interpret the Bible, how to cram for tests, how to live graciously with others who have different preferences (and they learned vice versa), how to shoot my first gun, how to accept the fact that jackelopes are a figment of the imagination, how to ride a four-wheeler, how to memorize maps, how to write a tract, verses to keep at my fingertips, etc., etc., etc.
Ok, that's all for now...Next post I'll share with you about some of the dear friends met.
