GREENE STREET LETTERS: Grati-fabulous-tude

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Grati-fabulous-tude

The day? Saturday.
The Time? 4:25 a.m.
The date? February 4, 2017.
My age? 65 years old.
My attitude? Grateful.

Gratitude that comes from not what I have, own, or possess.
Gratitude for simply being alive.
Not existing and going through the motions, but gratitude for being given this gift we called life.
I see way too many people, walking around, heads down, no sign of emotion on their face. They seem to almost like zombies. Whoa....maybe the zombie apocalypse has already happened!!!

I know life is hard...
It's hard even when you have a relationship with Jesus...
But imagine how hard it is when you trying to fly through it solo.
Being guided by your own decisions...
Being influenced by your wrong desires and wants.
That makes for a plane crash of Biblical proportions.
Now, repeat this crash over and over...
Day after day, crashing and burning...
One of two things happen in this repetition.
1.) You crash so many times, your heart and head tell you that this is normal, and that you should not expect it to change.
Or....
2.) You finally wake up and that little voice inside your head tells you that there has to be a better way to live. Said voice directs you to pursue Jesus.
I tend to fall on the second one rather than the first.

So I choose to be grateful this morning.
Is my life here on earth perfect? Nope.
Is my life free from pain and suffering? Nope.
Do I walk around everyday with a golden ticket given to me by God because I chose to surrender will and life over to His care? Nope.
But I do possess something that I didn't have prior to turning my life over to Him.
And what would that be?
Direction...
Purpose....
And gratitude. Grateful today for where I am in life. Grateful today for who God has made me. Grateful today for family and friends.
And most importantly....
Grateful that He has seen fit to give me another 24 hours to experience His love and mercy on this side of heaven.

Find your gratitude today...
Find it, and exercise it in spite of the lemons that life throws at you.
Thanks for stopping by the Greene Street Letters...
Until tomorrow....

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.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Grati-fabulous-tude

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD