GREENE STREET LETTERS: Urban Renewal On A Personal Biblical Scale

Monday, November 11, 2013

Urban Renewal On A Personal Biblical Scale

Genesis 1.....
The Beginning....
The arrangement of a divine mind and the power to create everything from nothing.
"In the beginning God created........."

Genesis 1 gives us a glimpse into the nature and character of God as we read down the list of how the creation took place.
God is all about movement.
God is always about arrangement.
Sin is about chaos and randomness.
Sin is about destruction and de-volution.

In Chapter 1, we see a chaotic scene as the cosmos explodes on the scene.
And no where was there more chaos than on this planet. Look at how the Bible describes earth.
1.) without form
2.) void, or empty
3.) covered in darkness.
It was not capable of sustaining any form of life. That is until God began to move and arrange the chaos. Verse 2 of Genesis 1 tells us that "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." In other words, all restoration begins with God's presence covering it. It is no different today.

In a life that has been defined by addiction, the Spirit of God hovers over that individual.
Why? Because the Spirit is the one who awakens us to the fact that there is a Power greater than ourselves who can restore (get it....arrange the chaos of our life and bring order to it) us to sanity. Sanity being the ability to make sound decisions.

Part of the recovery/restoration process involves taking care of the problems we have created through our using. Taking care of legal issues. Making financial restitution. Mending broken relationships. Are all a part of the chaos that has been created because of our rebellion toward God. Slowly and with great purpose, if we allow Him, God will aid us in rebuilding the chaos we have brought upon ourselves. It is a process that we must go through but, like the Genesis account, at every step of the way we will hear God put His stamp of approval by saying, "It is good."

Genesis 1:1 opens up with an incredible "10-word" statement, and closes with a seal of approval in Verse 31. "The God saw everything He had made, and indeed it was very good." What falls under "everything?" Everything.
Why continue in the swirling darkness and chaos of addiction?
Why not let God work a Genesis-event in your life?

God on you......
mb

No comments:

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 11, 2013

Urban Renewal On A Personal Biblical Scale

No comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD