GREENE STREET LETTERS: Do You?

Monday, June 30, 2008

Do You?

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart..........

II Corinthians 5:7
Walk by Faith and not by sight

How quick we are to talk about our trust and our faith. We may not do so in a bragging way, but it does find it's way into conversations among believers.

What is it we have had to trust God for?
Where has our walk taken us that we truly have to move by his direction and not by what our senses and feelings tell us?
Have we trusted God for our lives? Have we been in a situation where there are no answers to what we are facing, yet without God's intervention, we would not make it?

These are things that are stirring in me right now.
How easy I say I trust, when I haven't been tested to the point of falling completely on Him.
How easy I say I walk by faith when my own faith seems so shallow and empty.
I'm not asking God to put me in situations that require me to "fish or cut bait" so to speak. But I know that a time is coming when we all are going to find out whether what we truly believe is true or not.

I am not going to sit here and make bold statements about what I would or wouldn't do for God.
I talked with a young man who made the statement to me that "He wanted to die for Jesus because that would be so cool." I reminded him that living for Jesus was what He desired, not our death. Living for Jesus is so much harder than checking out to God. Really, like Peter in John 21, we are all approaching the age where we will be led around by the hand. We don't get to make the call of what we will or will not do. All we can say is, "Here am I, send me!"

There is so much in the air right now what with revival/renewal news, the oil situation, food shortages. I look to the amplified Bible for it's definition of trust; To cling to, rely on, adhere to, believe in......to us as believer's it means a rejection of the world and the way it does business and a total laying hold of God. Being found "in" Jesus, as a means of following His direction.

Trust....
Cling to....
Walk by faith....
Not just fancy words that give us hope.
Our hope is not found in words....
But rather in THE WORD.
The Christ Jesus.
As Larry Norman so aptly put it, "The world is in a mess, I wonder who began it. Don't ask me, my friend, I'm only visiting this planet.

God on you.......

mb

2 comments:

Bobby said...: The Apostle Paul said he would rather go to be with Jesus but that it was more profitable for others that he stayed. I'm glad he didn't check - out early! His life taught us how to live by faith. People are watching us. How do we respond to trials?; July 1, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Greene Street Letters said...: I fear that we are going to be scrutinized more in the near future because of events that may be headed our way. Give us grace that we may stand and bring glory to your name.
mb; July 1, 2008 at 2:47 PM

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, June 30, 2008

Do You?

2 comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD