GREENE STREET LETTERS: Reign Down Upon Us!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Reign Down Upon Us!

Matthew 3:11

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.:

Is your church on fire? Is there evidence of the Holy Spirit in your midst? In the verse from Matthew, John the baptizer makes the statement that the one following him (Jesus) is mightier. Not just in authority but in power. Jesus was coming on to the scene and everything would be brought under subjection of his authority. Even to the point that He allowed mankind to lay hands on Him and be delivered up to death. Silly us, we thought it was our idea to crucify Jesus. We were simply playing out the part that opened the door for justification/ reconciliation/ salvation/regeneration.

What do you suppose is being played out in our lives today that has God's hand on it. We perceive it to be of our own design and thought, but truly the hand of God works through every situation and circumstance.

Fire. What is the evidence of fire? Light. I don't think there is a fire that does not give off light. SO where there is the fire of God there is the illumination from God that follows. Illumination always leads us into truth as it was written in John 16. "When the comforter comes, he will lead us into all truth." This is where change takes place. We are face to face with the truth of ourselves. We either embrace this truth or we turn our backs and reject God.
When Fire meets oxygen, there is an increase in the rate of combustion. When the Fire of God meets the sinful flesh of man, there is an increase to the consumption that takes place as the flesh is done away with.

I always think of the Romans 12:1 passage where we are called to be "living sacrifices". In my mind I picture someone crawling up on an altar and a fire being lit underneath them. As the flames grow hotter and higher, they begin to burn away the flesh. As the flesh falls from us into the flames, it causes the flames to grow hotter and higher. As we allow God's Holy Spirit to work in us, he burns away everything that is not from him, leaving only the eternal things in place.

Don't run from God's Holy Spirit. Embrace the work that is we are being lead into.

God on you...

1 comment:

Bobby said...: No one could accuse you of preaching "Cheap Grace"! You sound like God is serious about dealing with our sins!; November 28, 2008 at 6:55 PM

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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.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Reign Down Upon Us!

1 comment:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD