GREENE STREET LETTERS: Trading Jesus

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Trading Jesus

Matthew 26:14-15
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

I have been parked here in these verses for a week now. Last Saturday night, at VRC, God had me throw away the message I had prepared, in order to speak on these verses. You see, what we have here is a business transaction going on. A value has been ascribed to a human life (although such a life had never walked the earth before). Looking up what thirty pieces of silver would have been worth back in Jesus' day, I found out that it was roughly the equivalent of $380.00. The Son of God was only worth $380.00!!

Never in their wildest dreams could the priests ever have imagined that one of Jesus' own disciples would have been their inroad into arresting and killing Jesus. A betrayer from the midst of his very own followers. But here he was. Judas. They did not go to him, he came to the them. Right off the bat, he asked the very question that shows the state of his heart and life. "How much will you pay me?" But then, they have to come up with a sum that is proper. Too little and Judas walks away. Too much and they feel that they were being taken advantage of.

Doing some research, I came across a very interesting fact. Thirty pieces of silver was the prices usually paid to dismiss a shepherd from his job. Is that crazy or what? The Son of God....the Good Shepherd......The One who came to save that which was lost, was in an essence, being dismissed from His job. Even with this tidbit of info, I still find it inconceivable to be able to put a price on the head of Jesus.The most nefarious business transaction ever to take place.......or was it?

We (humanity) barter Jesus away ever day.
We trade the eternal promises and presence of God away every day for the baubles and trinkets that the world has to offer. We trade the eternal promises of God away for a temporary fix and relief in our life.
"Accept this Jesus as a Savior? Not while I can party and live it up."
We trade Jesus for a bottle of whiskey.
We barter Jesus for prescription pain med's.
We give the eternal truth and presence of Jesus away for a sexual encounter.
Giving no thought as to what we have done, or what price we will pay at the end of our life.

What have you traded Jesus for?
God on you....
mbb

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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, September 20, 2016

Trading Jesus

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD