GREENE STREET LETTERS: All You Need Is Love

Saturday, June 12, 2010

All You Need Is Love

"Beatles said all you need is love and then they broke up."
"What the world needs now....is love....sweet love."
"Love love me do."
"Love is a many splendored thing."

There is love.....
and then there is LOVE.
God love....
Unconditional.
I understand the idea of unconditional love, but find myself wanting to put conditions on the love I want to give to others.
Or I start off unconditionally loving but something goes "Kaflooey" and the unconditional stuff flies out the window. This is followed closely by a lot of "Oh God, oh God" prayers.

I Corinthians 13:1 reads:
If I can speak in the tongues of men and (even) of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God's love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
From this passage, I see that even my best intentions or personal character means nothing unless I possess the ability to love. Not love as the world deems necessary, but diving love that comes from above and changes everything it comes in contact with. This isn't pipe dream thinking, it is a truth I have learned over the years. When you reach out to love in the name of Jesus, people are either drawn to you or they run away from you. No one.........I mean no one hangs around and stays the same. Love changes people.

V.2 reads:
And if I have prophetic powers (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have (sufficient) faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God's love in me) I am nothing ( a useless nobody)

Did you catch that? If I don't have God's love in me, I am nothing. Zero! Bupkus! Zilch!
Maybe we ought to spend more time on learning to love the way God loves.
With an eye on bringing the integrity of the Kingdom to our corner of planet earth.
To not be driven by the sweet, flowing platitudes of empty hearts as men speak to us about the nobility of humanity. Maybe we need to get our hands dirty loving on people the way Jesus did.
I'm not talking about "doing something".........I'm talking about living something.LOVE!

I want to learn how to love.
At times I think I'm pretty good at it.
Then something happens and all my "humanity" leaks out in glorious living color for all the world to see. When this happens, I truly realize how far I have to go.
Maybe today, I'll love the way Jesus does.
I certainly hope so.

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.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

All You Need Is Love

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD