GREENE STREET LETTERS: Beyond The Veil

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Beyond The Veil

I don't know that I am right in what I am about to write.
According to Scripture we know that there is a life beyond this life.
In order to understand it, we have come up with boundaries and concepts to help us understand and make sense of it all.
We know that death is the transport from this life to the next. We know that death allows one type of life to end while another begins.
We call it "passing over", as if to walk through a curtain or move from one room to another.
Our faith and our belief in Jesus has given us hope and trust that enables us to turn loose of those we love who have died.
We grieve for them because we remain on this side of the transformation.
We are locked here in our flesh with all our emotions and memories, while those who have died (if they are believers) are now in the presence of Jesus.
What we believe to be true, they now know as truth.

Psalm 116:15 reads: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
What an incredible thought.We grieve when a loved one dies, but God has a different reaction. He rejoices that another one of His children has entered His eternal presence. Death is not the end, but a new beginning.

I don't know that I will truly understand death until I taste it myself. It's not something I fear and at the same time, not something I am eager to experience. It is a fact of life here on this side of eternity. We are born ---we live our lives---we die. But the more I read in the Bible, the more comfort I take not only for myself, but for those I love. I realize that my humanness is the part that grieves when we loose someone we love but at the same time, the spirit inside me reassures me that this is only temporary separation.
At some point, I will be reunited with those I love who lived their lives for Jesus, He being their Lord and Savior.
What a comfort......
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.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Beyond The Veil

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD