GREENE STREET LETTERS: The End of Paul

Monday, November 17, 2008

The End of Paul

Apostle Paul.....writer of letters to the churches.
Not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power to salvation.
Counted everything as loss in view of the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.
Ex-con. Prison record.
Had a bounty on his head as others sought to kill him.

Yesterday I got the opportunity to attend a Bible study at Gadsden Vineyard. They meet each Sunday afternoon to study through the Bible. Todd Bagley heads up the meeting and also teaches. It is a wonderful time to gather with a few "zealot's" and feast on God's word. This group has been making their way through the book of ACTS, and yesterday they finished up.
As Todd was teaching, the very last verse of Acts caught my heart. It was speaking of Paul's final days as a prisoner in Rome. "And he kept on receiving all those who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all freedom of speech and fearless confidence, without hindrance."

The message never changes. It is about the Kingdom of God. The rule and reign of God here on earth in the hearts of his people. The ever increasing Kingdom that has no boundaries or borders. Can not be stopped by any dogma or ideology. The same today as it was when Paul taught it. The Son of man was manifested or appeared to destroy the works of the devil. Sickness, disease, demonic oppression, addiction, adultery and every other sexual sin, greed, hatred, dissention, and every form of godlessness that could be conceived in the heart of man. Jesus came to break it's power and did so by dying on a cross and rising from a borrowed tomb.

Every time someone is prayed for, the Kingdom of God is advanced. Every time someone is fed or sheltered by a believer, the Kingdom of God is advanced. Every time someone carries out any act under the direction of the Holy Spirit, no matter how small it may seem, the Kingdom of God is being advanced. God's Kingdom come, His Kingdom will be done, here on earth as it is being done in heaven. What if we truly believed this. What if we truly believed that we each have been given a mandate from heaven to be the conduit for the work of God to flow through. That we speak the words of God, we carry out the wishes of God and we do so to a lost and dying world that does not know God. What an incredible thought.

To change our little corner of this world for God.
Go for it.
Believe it.
Then walk it out.

God on you today....

mb

No comments:

Post a Comment

Looking At The World Through Cracked Lens

As ol' Paul wrote in his Corinthian letters.."We see in part and we know in part." Now what piece of this bit of wisdom do we not get? I wish to not run around acting and trying to be some sort of Biblical G00-Ru (I meant to spell it wrong). Or a sage of sages.

I simply want to be able to communicate some of what God has given to me. Why? Do I think what I get is better than what you may have received from Him? Nope. But I do think encouragement comes when we share our daily story of struggle and victory in an effort to encourage each other.

Thanks for letting me share.

Time to soldier on..

mbb

Our Statement of Faith

We believe that God is the eternal king. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in power and glory. we believe that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God's judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God's good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam's original sin. Human beings are born into sin, subject to God's judgment of death and captive to Satan's kingdom of darkness. We believe that Jesus, God's Son, was sent to this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary, fully God and fully man in one person. He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God's Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, ushering in God's kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Jesus' atoning death on the cross took God's judgment for sin which we deserved as law-breakers. Jesus' resurrection and ascent back to heaven opened the door for those who received salvation to begin a relationship with God.

Little Nets Into Deep Waters

Fishing nets were designed for one purpose only. To catch fish. Nets are no good if they stay on the boat. Nets serve no purpose if they are never used. I think maybe God sees us this way. We are all created for a purpose (by the way, the creator gets to define what our purpose is). Any other use besides the one we were created for does us no good. But when the creator places His hands upon us, casting us out into those scary, dark places with deep waters, it is then we can see the reality of our purpose. He knew there would be a catch waiting for us. I think I will be the net God has called me to be.

The Twelve Steps

As a community of people in recovery, we affirm that our higher power is Jesus Christ. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Just as God told the children of Israel He was going to give them a promised land, He has revealed to us that He desires to give us a "Promised Life." When Israel got to the promised land, God instructed them to go and in a possess it, fight for it and claim it. In recovery, the 12 Steps are the directions given to us on how to fight, possess and claim this promised life.

Monday, November 17, 2008

The End of Paul

No comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD