GREENE STREET LETTERS: Fruit No.# 2 --- JOY

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Fruit No.# 2 --- JOY

.....But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy.......

One of the by products of God's Holy Spirit at work in me, is joy.
Truth be known, joy is simply another shade or hue of love.
Joy is love that is excited...
Joy is love that has an exuberance for life.
Joy is a deep love and appreciation for what Christ has done for us.
An appreciation for this new way of living that we now are walking out.
We may not know all the answers.
We may not know what is out there in our future....
But there is a joy inside me because I don't have to live the same old way I was living.
Joy.....

Joy comes from knowing Christ...
Knowing who He truly is in my life....
Joy

Psalm 5:11 - But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You...let them ever shout for JOY, because you defend them. Let those also who love Your name be JOYful in You.

Psalm 16:11 - You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of JOY. At Your right hand are pleasures forever more.

Acts 2:28 - You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of JOY in Your presence.

Romans 15:13 - Now may the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

James 1:2 - My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

So, I don't look for joy in this world. By that, I mean that I do not look to society or culture to provide me with joy. The joy this world offers is fleeting, false and brings no stability to our lives. It merely teases us with false promises and feeds our old nature, seeking to draw us back into a lifestyle of destruction.

The joy I chase after was forged and birthed from the foundation of this world. Real joy is found in an individual.....Jesus Christ.
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.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Fruit No.# 2 --- JOY

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD