Thursday, September 25, 2014

Divine Glue That Holds It All Together

Hebrews 11:1-2 (The Message Bible)
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It is our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

This version of Hebrews 11 passage refers to faith as "a handle." Something that we can physically lay hold of like the handle on a suitcase. What is it we can physically touch where faith if required? How about our finances...."Whoa..wait a minute Mike! You're getting into the whole prosperity thing, aren't you?" No, actually I'm not. I'm getting into a God and a relationship with Him that extends to every facet of my life. It floods every corner of my existence and I cannot run from, hide from, nor do i wish to, Him.

Faith brings us to God,even though we may not recognize it as such. When life has you by the throat and you feel like you're about to draw your last breath, and you cry out to God. What prompted you to do so? Why now? You never have cried out before, why now? Because every person (according to scripture) has been given a measure of faith. You acted in faith, even though you may not have recognized it.

Faith in God....
That He is who He claims to be....
And will do what He promises He will do...
Is the fuel that propels us out of our addiction.
But here's the weird part.
It takes us far beyond recovery.
Most people when the come to treatment, their major hope and prayer is to break free from using. Break free from the pain and destruction that is a part of the lifestyle. the thought is, "If I could just break free from the cravings, and the using, I would be o.k.". Stop the pain. #1 goal of every addict. Just stop the pain. Stop the physical pain. Stop the mental pain. Stop the emotional pain. When the faith of the individual is brought out, uncovered and released, they soon discover that there is a new way to live that is way beyond what recovery has promised. Recovery promises freedom from drugs and alcohol. Faith in God promises a complete new way to live and move here on planet earth.

Hebrews 11:1Amplified Bible (AMP)

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]

Did you catch what is said in this version of Hebrews 11? Faith is the title deed, given to us by God, for those things...those promises...that He has for us. A title deed that stretches from today...Thursday - September 25, 2014, until we draw our last breath and cross over to be with Jesus.

Do more than believe....
Walk by faith.
Do more than hope.....
Live by faith.
Do more than exist.....
By faith, be abundant in Christ.

Faith?
Don't leave home without it.

God on you...
mb

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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.

GREENE STREET LETTERS