GREENE STREET LETTERS: "Bless Me...Bless Me!"

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

"Bless Me...Bless Me!"

Excuse me if I don't buy into the line that

some people teach

about what it means to be

a Christian.

I turn on my T.V. and see so many people teaching and preaching

about the incredible life that comes with being saved.

Now don't get me wrong.
I'm not saying that being a Christian isn't the greatest.

It is!

Man! I have been on the ride of a lifetime over the last

39 years.

But the ride has ups and downs.

In and outs.
Over and unders.

If you listened to the guys and guy-ettes on T.V.

you'd think that every one who is a Christian is the following:

1.) Rich (that's with hard cash)

2.) Beautiful (on the outside)

3.) Never had problems again

4.) Everyone had great relationships with everyone they knew

5.) They lived a life of what is commonly referred to as "mountain top experiences"

If you chose to follow this Jesus, then you will

never be depressed or gloomy or tired or want to give up and quit.

Well! Truth is .......

that view is a bunch of hooey.

Here again, please catch what I'm trying to say here.

Life as a believer is the greatest.
It is the greatest because when the wheels come off....
when your own dog bites you....
when your check bounces...

when people make fun of you because you are some sort of "holy joe"..

when everything happens at once and you are clueless....

Jesus is there to get you through.

Sometimes there is a bonus and He takes you out of the trouble.

But no matter which---through or out...

You come away wiser and full of faith because of the trouble.

Here is one of my most favorite passages in scripture.

II Corinthians 4:8-9

We are hard pressed on every side by troubles,

but we are not crushed and broken.
We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit.

We are hunted down, but God never abandons us.
We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

Did you catch that?

All the stuff that happens....stuff we simply refer to as life?

Hard pressed...that means pressure and stress and worry and doubt and fear.

Perplexed? That means we don't have any answers to our problems.

In the past, I would have cut and run back to my old ways and habits in order

to escape having to deal with such things.

I'm older and wiser now. Not that I have arrived, I haven't.
I'm still learning.
Till the day I draw my last breath or Jesus comes to take us home...

I will be learning.

Happy New Year.

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.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

"Bless Me...Bless Me!"

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD