GREENE STREET LETTERS: What Kind Of Love Is This?

Monday, July 10, 2017

What Kind Of Love Is This?

What mystery is this that has invaded my heart...my mind...my life?
How could I ever wrap my brain around this eternal truth that will not go away?
The very thought that a God that is beyond description could ever love a person like me is this mystery I speak of.
Love...
When I think of this word as being associated with God's feelings and view toward humanity it is beyond my comprehension. Must be some kind of love.

A God who loves those who despise Him....
A God who created the ultimate rescue plan to save a world headed to complete and utter destruction....
A world that lives to devise new ways to hate God every day...
A world that relishes its appetite for those things that break God's heart.
A world that even goes as far as denying His existence could never be deserving of this pure love that God possesses....
God loves in spite of this.

God didn't just love...
We read in John 3:16 that He SO loved the world...
He loved (and continues to do so) the world with purpose.
And this pure, eternal love is still as powerful today as it was at beginning of time itself.
He loves the down and out...
He loves the rich and famous...
From the lowest of the low to the very ones who occupy the top spots of society, culture and government...
Doesn't matter to God....
He flings a net of forgiveness and salvation across time and humanity to catch those who answer His call to be saved.
God loves....

We are all born as image-bearers of this incredible God...
But sin has warped and distorted this truth, to the point that we no longer can see or realize the truth of this statement....we are created in His image.
God's love seeks to remove the damage and destruction of our sin...
So that we stand free and clear, cleansed by the washing of His Holy Spirit within us.
I'm just crazy enough to believe this...
So even though I turned will and life over to His care years ago, I still marvel at the very thought of Him loving me.

As the song states..."What kind of love is this?"
Some day I will be able to fully understand when I stand in front of the One who died for me.
Me! A sinner in need of a Savior...
He paid a price that was meant for me...
He gave himself so that I could have relationship....real relationship with Him.
How can I not chase after Him?
How can I not cry out "I love you!" with each breath I take?

What kind of love is this?
The kind that my Jesus possesses..

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.

Monday, July 10, 2017

What Kind Of Love Is This?

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD