GREENE STREET LETTERS: What A Day...

Thursday, March 10, 2011

What A Day...

Rain, Rain, Rain.
Roads were flooded going out to Rapha yesterday, and I fully expected them to be the same today but when I made my way there....water was gone.
The Pond is full....
The Creek behind the dorm is seriously rising but no water in the compound.
The Chapel is high and dry which is a miracle in and of itself.
So, God is good...
Of course God would be good if the whole place was underwater.
God is good no matter what.

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick. Who can understand it?
The longer I live, the more truth I see in this verse.
I am grateful for God saving me, but more than that, I am grateful that God placed His Holy Spirit in me to guide me and uncover me so that I do not deceive myself.
I work with men everyday who are blind.
Blind to their own deceitfulness.
Not realizing that they are moving farther and farther away from the truth each day they reject God and His offer of "REAL" life.
That is the thing that frightens me most these days.
Man's ability to deny the truth and embrace a lie.
I tell the men all the time, "IF you don't realize that you have a problem, then nothing I say will be of importance to you."

The heart is made sicker through the choices to continue in addiction.
The mind is placed in more bondage with each use, each drink, each thought that drives the user farther and farther into the darkness.
It takes the power and love of a Supernatural God to smash and move through such darkness.
I will never doubt God's power or ability, nor will I doubt the power of sin in a person's life.
I'm not saying that sin and the devil is more capable than God. No! I am simply saying that a choice has to be made by the person. That is why I spend time in prayer everyday for these men who come through our program. Praying also for those who as still "out there" using and running that God would remind them of the things they were taught while here at Rapha. Remind them of the truth that has been planted inside of them. Praying that the enemy would not come and steal it away.
It is a battle for the souls of those in addiction.
I will not give up the fight or turn back.

God is a good God!
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, March 10, 2011

What A Day...

No comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD