GREENE STREET LETTERS: Good Thursday Morning

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Good Thursday Morning

Sleepy this morning. Yesterday was a whirlwind as I was off but had many appointments to keep.
The weather is definitely "Alabama". Hot and humid. Sticky and miserable. Yet even in this, I thanked God for His love and presence. I always, in a jokingly way, tell the guys when they complain about how hot it is, to think about hell. That will cool you off.

Interesting thing in my reading this morning.
I Timothy 1:2 - To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul has written many letters to many different churches and people, yet here in I Timothy, we have the only time that Paul used the word "mercy" in one of the introduction in his letters.
Mercy.
Mercy is God giving us what we don't deserve and keeping from us that which we do deserve.
What is it I don't deserve? Eternal life with Him. Salvation. Reconciliation. All of those are thing that God, from a heart of love, pours out on those who receive him. What is it I do deserve? Easy........hell! I earned it. I worked for it before I met Jesus. Hell was to be my reward for the sin I committed. But here again, God paid my price for me to redeem me into the Kingdom of heaven.
The richness of God's mercy. It has substance beyond that which I can comprehend. Mercy that elevates me to life with God. Mercy that was given to grow me, stretch me and make me into the man God wants me to be. Hebrews says that I find grace at the Mercy seat or throne of God. Think on it. God who will ultimately come to judge the world for their sin, sits on a throne of mercy that is made available to me. I can come before Him with my prayers and petitions. What mercy that is! My life isn't a series of random events that unravel and unfold, but rather is directed by the hand of God and through it all...................Mercy is poured out to me.

Think on God's mercy today. I mean really ponder it. How would your life have turned out had God not shown you mercy? Where would you be today if not for God's mercy?
Then thank God for mercy. Be grateful today. No matter what you state in this life, no matter what your circumstances, they could be worse. Be grateful today.

God on you.......
mb

No comments:

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.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Good Thursday Morning

No comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD