GREENE STREET LETTERS: Trusting God....Really Trusting God

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Trusting God....Really Trusting God

Psalm 107:20

He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.

Psalm 119:140

Your promises have been thoroughly tested. That is why I love them so much.

If this is Wednesday, then that must mean we had a Bible study at Rapha last night....and we did.

Good group...

large group....

Ready to soak up some word.

Taught from Genesis 22...God tests Abraham.
God tells him to take his son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah and offer him there as a burnt sacrifice. What? Yeah...Go kill your son Abraham.

Don't you know such a command set off all manner of bells and whistles in ol' Abraham's head. But you know what? He obeyed...He knew that God had sent Isaac as a promise to Sarah and him. Isaac was the son of promise, that through him Abraham and Sarah would have more descendents than stars in the heavens.

So what does Abraham do?
Load up the whole kit and kaboodle and head out.

All the time trusting God that His word was true.

Abraham was willing to go through with this act of killing his son because he trusted God.

We see Abraham's faith in Genesis 22:5 when he tells his servants to "Wait here...the boy and I will travel a little farther...we will worship there and then we will come right back."

As the story goes...
Abraham obeyed...
God stopped him short of plunging the knife into Isaac.

God provided a ram for the sacrifice...
God blessed Abraham for his faithfulness and trusting in the promise He had made to him.

So what is this all about?
Testing not temptation.
What is the difference between the two?

Testing is God's way of revealing our hearts so that we can see the true nature we possess. It is His way of helping us understand areas we need to be aware of that need to change. It shows us our level of faith in him. As for Abraham, I think he took the gold prize.

Temptation serves no purpose except to draw us away from obeying God.
Temptation will usually involve feeding our fleshly (or sin) nature.
IT's not a sin to be tempted...
It is a sin when we act on the temptation.

So just be aware of the two and realize the difference.

Have a great Wednesday!

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, March 7, 2018

Trusting God....Really Trusting God

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD