GREENE STREET LETTERS: Shut The Door To Old Thoughts

Friday, February 10, 2017

Shut The Door To Old Thoughts

Romans 13:14
But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don't think of ways to indulge your evil desires.

Most do not consider themselves to be evil.
Oh we may think bad things about others, and to make up for those bad thoughts, we drop money in the red pot outside of Wal-mart at Christmas in order to kind of cancel them out. We can't really be that bad.
For the most part, I think most do keep themselves in check when it comes to evil.
When we do indulge in something that we know is contrary to the Word of God, we are good at explaining it away. "Oh compared to someone who is a drug dealer, I'm not that bad. Or, "There are other things I could be doing with my money, I'm not hurting anyone."

Such thoughts as these become a red flag in my own life, when I find myself entertaining them.
When I start trying to justify what I am doing, that is coming from my own nature and not the leading of God's Holy Spirit.
I'm sure that Judas thought to himself that he really wasn't doing anything wrong when he agreed to identify Jesus. Notice the word I used? IDENTIFY! In Judas' mind, he wasn't betraying the Son of God, he was merely identifying Jesus for the guards. It is a slippery slope when we begin to rationalize and compromise the things of God.

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to man, but it ends in death
Guard your thoughts today.
Don't be mislead by your own intentions that are not in line with God's will.
(O.k. ...one more time in case you missed...here is God's will for your life....OBEY!)
So I need to spend my energy on hearing God and then doing what I am lead to do.
One last thing.
God will give you great grace to mess up if you are trying to carry out his will.
Did you catch that?
There is grace when you are truly trying to follow God.
There is no grace when you seek to carry out your own will using God's name. IT's time we learn to SHUT THE DOOR to our old thoughts. Why? Because such thoughts, when allowed to roll around in our brains, will produce old behaviors. Guard your heart...guard your mind...guard your thoughts.
Wow! If I don't guard the peace that God has given me, the enemy will come to steal it away.

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.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Shut The Door To Old Thoughts

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD