GREENE STREET LETTERS: Feast And Be Filled

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Feast And Be Filled

Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered,"It is written:'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

I have found myself parked in this verse most of the day.

I have read it probably more times than I can count or remember. It isn't a hard verse and contains no cryptic hidden message. It is pretty straight forward and too the point.

Jesus is speaking in reply to a request the devil has made of him.

The devil wanted Jesus to take matters into his own hands and solve the problem of the hunger that he was experiencing.

As usual, the devil was speaking on a flesh level and Jesus was living on a spiritual level. The two never meet. Have you noticed this. That flesh and spirit never seem to be on the same page or in agreement. They are at odd with one another.

Jesus' reply to the devil was delivered in this manner.

"It is written."
What Jesus was about to speak was thousands of years old and had been written in the book of Deuteronomy. It wasn't an idea that Jesus just came up with, but rather a command given by God to Moses for the people of Israel. It wasn't a suggestion or a hint or a request.....it was a command. To top it off, it had been written down for the ages.

Jesus identifies who this is for. "It is written.....man (or humanity).

Sinful, fallen, in darkness and without leading.....man.

Man shall not live....that means outside of God and his words, there is no life. No reason to exist. We find completeness in Him and total darkness and death outside of Him.

Man shall not live by bread alone.

The basic food for survival on this planet is not enough to save man. There is a greater food that has been given to mankind. The Word of God. The Manna from heaven given daily to man. It is given and all we have to do is harvest it through hearing and allowing it to mix with our faith to bring about God's plan for us.

Have you feasted on the Word of God today?

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.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Feast And Be Filled

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD