GREENE STREET LETTERS: Hope

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Hope

I Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

Sin / addiction offers false hope.
A hope that will leave you dead and dry.
God offers hope that is alive.
Hope that changes as life changes around you, and in you.
Sin / addiction lies.
It gets down into the very core of who you are as a creation of God and fills you with half truth's which is no truth at all.
God is the giver of real life. Life based in the moment and reality of this time and space.

Sin / addiction fills your soul with empty promises.
Promises it never intends to keep.
God never lies.
He will always speak the truth to you and to me.
Sin / addiction does not want me to listen to this truth, but when God speaks it to us....we can rest in the assurance that whatever He tells us is a way to life...real life.

Sin / addiction wants to separate you from other people.
If it isn't successful in doing that, then it will place you with like-minded people who are also living in the darkness of lies.
Together, you will feed off of each other's misery. The lie becomes bigger and more cemented into your very being.
Any promise that God makes is countered by sin / addiction with the thought...."That may be true what God is saying...but look at your life. Look at your past. why do you think you will ever be any different?" Sin / addiction will beat you without mercy. God pursues you because He IS mercy. God's desire is to give you something that you do not deserve.....an abundant life with Him now....and eternal life with Him when we die. God's desire is also to keep from you something you do deserve. Something you have earned according to Romans 6:23---For the wages of sin is death (not of the physical nature, for we all die.But what some refer to as the "2nd" death or eternal separation from God)but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are you hopeless this morning?
Did you stumble upon this blog by accident?
I don't think so.
I think maybe you were lead here, not aware that God was behind the leading.
He is as close as a prayer to you.
You may be telling yourself that you don't know how to pray.
Well...if you can talk...you can pray.
Skip the religious stuff you're use to hearing when others pray.
God's desire is an honest dialogue between you and Him.
Tell Him what's really going on in your life. Not because He doesn't know, but because it is all part of the healing process when we confess to Him.

God on you...
mb

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Bro. Mike i didnt stumble cross this blog...i googled it cuz i remember you telling us(guys at rapha) about it. You probably dont remember me...its been ten years since i left rapha...and i will remain anonymous right now...but you changed my life by exposing me to the truth. Ive never forgotten most of what God spoke through you. These words in this blog are so true its refreshing to tead. Even as i live in Ohio now... through this blog my day is blessed already. Love you brother... may GOD bless you and yours, and the new class at rapha; July 31, 2014 at 9:04 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.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Hope

1 comment:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD