GREENE STREET LETTERS

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

There is a world within our world. It moves and rises and falls all around us as we move through our daily lives. It brings influence to us. It protects us and gives us information that aids us in our attitude and behavior.
What is this world?
The Spirit world.
There is a battle in this world between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness ruled by the fallen angel, Lucifer.
Once a member of the Angelic legion known as Cherubim, Lucifer began to see himself in a proud and ungodly fashion. Within his own heart, he desired to usurp the place, the power and authority of God.
We read in Isaiah 14:12-15:
How you are fallen from heaven, O shinning star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, "I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will reside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High. But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.

If you noticed, Lucifer had an "I" problem.
He desired to be more than God.
IF you read Scripture, you see that Jesus defeated the plans and the power of the devil at Calvary when he surrendered his life to death. In this surrender, Jesus broke the power of the devil by being resurrected back to life. It was in this death that Jesus paid for, once and for all time, the penalty or ransom for sin. Each day that we live, we move close to the culmination of a battle that is as old as time itself. It is through the salvation that Christ offers to us that we find the power to live holy in this world and do so with a view to the ultimate life in the hereafter.

That is why, as followers of Jesus, we must realize that we have an enemy who seeks to kill and destroy us. His desire to stop us from sharing with others what Christ has done for us. But know that God has loosed His angels to guard us and has placed His Holy Spirit in us to guide us and gives us direction. We should not loose heart and become discouraged when times are hard or dark. We should rest in the knowledge that God is near and has not lost control. In other words, it doesn't matter what life looks like with my eyes, I see the truth with my faith. I Corinthians 5:7 reads: For we walk by faith and not by sight. Here in is the manner in which all believers are called to live by. A life of faith in Christ that He is who He claims to be and will do what He has promised He would do.

Take heart this day, no matter what you may be facing.
God on you.....
mb

2 comments:

emilyelizabeth said...: I am so amazed at how much God loves us and how He is always fighting on our behalf! If we could only see what all He's doing in the spiritual realm to protect and guard us we would never doubt His love for us. We may ignore His voice for awhile and go our own way, but I'm thankful He's always pursuing us. Thanks, Mike.; November 9, 2011 at 10:13 AM
Greene Street Letters said...: I get so caught up in the day to day that I loose sight sometimes of the war that rages in the spiritual all around me. God's grace gives me vision to "see" and understand the plans of the enemy.
I won't quit if you won't quit Emily!!!
God on you...
mb; November 10, 2011 at 8:16 AM

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.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

2 comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD