GREENE STREET LETTERS: Not Very Popular

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Not Very Popular

Ezra 10:11
Confess your sin to the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do what he demands. Separate yourselves from the people of the land..............

At the very center of this new life we are experiencing with Jesus, is the idea of separation.
Separation from our past.
Separation from old friends (I use the term "friends" loosely).
Separation from old places and hang outs.
We found ourselves in all of the above usually because of our addiction.
Addiction did not compel you to seek out people of integrity and honesty.
We avoided such folk like the plague.
Addiction drove us into communities of people all suffering from the same pain and misery we were experiencing. Truly misery does love company.

Now with this new relationship with Jesus and a life of sobriety, we are called to separate ourselves out of our past.
The two cannot nor will they ever be compatible.
For some of us, we felt abandoned at the thought of this separation.
But soon, we discovered that God truly did want to provide us with real life.
Psalm 18:20 reads: The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He compensated me because of my innocence. I've said it before and I'll say it again. When you begin to do business with God, you never trade down.............you always trade up. By that I mean when you surrender something to God....your life.............old ways..........old so called friends............what He gives you back in return is better than what you originally had. It really is like trading a YUGO for a LEXUS. I rest in the knowledge and assurance that God is a God who has my best interest at heart. He is totally trustworthy. So when He calls me into separation from the ways and the things of this world, I can totally trust Him that He is leading me in the right direction.

Rest in this.....
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.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Not Very Popular

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD