GREENE STREET LETTERS: The Gift Of Recovery

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

The Gift Of Recovery

Romans 5:3-5
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they will help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this HOPE will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Gift # 1 of recovery: HOPE
The sister to faith, hope is the glue that binds us to the promises of God. We do not hope that circumstances will turn out the way we want them to. We hope and rest in the understanding that if I daily walk according the principals I have been taught, they God will guide me accordingly.

Hope is the 2nd part of the trinity of spiritual understanding that we act out, or walk out daily.
I Corinthians 13:13- Three things will last forever---#1- faith...
#2- HOPE-----#3- Love.
These are the three cornerstones that are placed, built and established in those who turn will and life over to the care of Jesus. Three divine inward workings of the Holy Spirit, that produce incredible outward results through our changed behavior.

This hope is not something that we can produce on our own. Oh, there is a pseudo-type of hope the world affords to those who walk outside this new life of recovery. We simply hope for hope's sake. We hope that life will be fair, which it won't. We hope that life will not hit back, which it will. In these times, such hope fades and blows away with the wind of adversity.

God-hope will empower you to move forward no matter what life may throw at you. Isn't that the reality we are seeking....spiritual progress, not spiritual perfection? The measure of movement in our recovery no matter what the situation. Progress can be measured in inches....or in miles. No matter which, if movement is made, we are making progress. We haven't turned back. We haven't given up.

Receive this hope today.
Receive that which God can provide to us, that we can not produce in our own strength or ability.
Hope....
What a beautiful word, when tied to a beautiful God.

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, October 10, 2017

The Gift Of Recovery

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD