GREENE STREET LETTERS: Let It Be So, Lord!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Let It Be So, Lord!

Last night's festivities of our High School reunion only served to underscore truth that I hold dear to my heart.
It was wonderful to see everyone and spend time talking and sharing memories of our time together at Etowah High School, but with a lot of my former classmates, there was a real sadness to their voices and their stories. Their faces didn't reveal this sadness as they were smiles and giggles and hugs all around, but the tone of what they shared let me know that maybe life didn't turn out like they had planned. Isn't that the way it always is? We have these really big plans and ideas about what we want to do and how we want to be and then situations and circumstances seem to thwart us at every turn.

I never was good at making plans.
By that, I mean long range goals or visions of what I hoped to accomplished. I am a "today" person. Always have been. I seem to thrive in the moment and adjust myself accordingly. This behavior is central to anyone in recovery from drugs and alcohol. One day at a time. Cliche' but very true. You take care of today and if you do that successfully, then your tomorrow is set up for you to succeed.

Last night's gathering only drove home the point that we don't have much time left here on this earth. Now, I'm not trying to be morbid or a harbinger of death, I just am stating a fact. We have less time now than when we graduated back in 1969. I want my time to be spent "being" the man God created me to be and do what He desires for me to do. Simple as that. Listen today and obey today.

If the truth be known, I would like for myself the description given in the last verse of the book of Job.
It describes Job this way:
"And so he died, old and full of years."
Isn't that a great line...........Old and full of years.
He died satisfied. The events and misery of his life was replaced in the later years by the goodness of God. That is my heart's cry, that is to simply die old and full of years.
I want to see my grand children grow up, finish school and have families of their own.
I want to see my sons and daughters grow deeper in their love for God and for each other.
I want to see my wife continue to grow in the place God has her.
I tell you that I truly am the richest man on this earth.
God has blessed me beyond measure.
Thank you Lord.
mb

1 comment:

Bobby said...: You're one on the most successful men I know. May God give you your hearts desires!; August 23, 2009 at 9:23 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.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Let It Be So, Lord!

1 comment:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD