GREENE STREET LETTERS: Essentials For New Life ----Part 6

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Essentials For New Life ----Part 6

Part 6
Go to the next level ----excellence

Over the past weeks, I have posted what could be referred to as "helps" in order to see this relationship with Jesus as more than a mental exercise.
When I was saved, God placed inside of me His Holy Spirit.
He was given to me to be more than something that makes me feel all fuzzy and warm whenever I hear "Just As I Am."
The Holy Spirit IS my comforter....
The Holy Spirit IS my help...
But the Holy Spirit is also my teacher, my guide and my strength.
In this relationship, I am called to grow and mature in my belief and trust in God.

I have been given the most incredible gift in the world. A transference of my very soul and being from a place of doom and destruction on an eternal level....
into a kingdom of light, peace and the presence of God.
There I will truly "know" God.
I'm not there yet....I may be looking for the "Sweet by and by"....but truth is, I'm living in the "Nasty here and now".
So while I'm here in this time and walking out this life....
I want to learn of what God expects of me.
I want to be disciplined and trusting Him at every turn with every decision I have to make.
I know that what I write may sound like a bunch of "Do's and Don't's" ....but it is so much more than that.
It isn't about keeping a bunch of rules....
It is more about falling in love with this Jesus....
You know, love will cause you do some crazy things, won't it?
You do those things not because you have to....
You do them because you want to.
The things I do for Jesus...
The life I lead in chasing this Jesus is not because I have to...
It is because I WANT TO!!!!

I like the verse from Psalm 18--
God "makes" my feet like the feet of deer so I can run on the high places.
In other words, God will direct me and equip me to do things that I normally could not do on my own. This is one of the incredible by-products of this new life with Christ.
You may have tried recovery...you may have tried to quit. You may have even had some success at it...but you always seem to return to your old ways...
God will equip you to run high above the addiction...He will grant you strength and ability that is beyond your own capability.
That is a promise....
Think on these things today....

Merry Christmas from the "B's" from Attalla
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.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Essentials For New Life ----Part 6

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD