GREENE STREET LETTERS: New Week To Chase Him

Monday, June 1, 2009

New Week To Chase Him

I will arise and give thanks to you Lord my God.
And Your name I will bless with my whole heart.
You have shown mercy....
You have shown mercy to me....
I give thanks to you Lord.

This Vineyard Worship song was the very first thought I had this morning. As I was opening my eyes and beginning to stir, these words came up. How wonderful to arise giving thanks to God. Not loaded down with emotional baggage or spiritual darkness, but with the words of praise floating in my mind and spirit. No matter what the day brings........God has shown mercy to me.
No matter what CNN or FOX tells us, God is in control and has a remnant of believers. We cry out to Him to heal our land. No matter how bad we think things can get, God has shown and continues to show us mercy.
Mercy?
What is mercy?
Mercy is God giving me what I don't deserve and keeping from me that which I do deserve.
Not being grateful to God keeps one from seeing and experiencing mercy.
We, as humans, tend to let "life" and the situations we face dictate our responses, both physical and emotional. We have a bent toward reacting to what we face rather than finding the blessing and mercy of God in whatever circumstance comes our way.

I love the words of Hebrews 4:14-16
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain MERCY an find grace to help in time of need.

Let those words soak into your spirit today.
God on you.........
mb

1 comment:

Bobby said...: Grace and Mercy...my two favorite words. Make that three...I like forgiveness too.; June 1, 2009 at 9:25 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 1, 2009

New Week To Chase Him

1 comment:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD