GREENE STREET LETTERS: FOLLOW ME

Sunday, January 24, 2021

FOLLOW ME

Luke 5:11 / When they had brought their boats to land.....they left everything and followed Him.

John 21:19 / And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

As I sat there last night soaking in the teaching at ReCovery Church, Todd Bagley's teaching on the life Peter was boiled down to two words. Two words that were full of the unknown, but had a clear directive to them. You know the two words, and you know the individual who spoke them.
The two words...."Follow Me." The one who spoke them...."Jesus."

The divine calling out to the finite...The immortal calling out to the mortal. Two simple words..."Follow Me." Yet within these two words we find the mystery to life here, now...and the life after this one, the eternal. They both hinge on our answer to Jesus' call to "Follow Him".

Peter's life was bound on both sides, beginning and end, with this call to follow. It would define him as he stumbled through the events of his life. Sometimes he was a great man of faith. Sometimes just a man. But the call never wavered, and neither did Peter's resolve. When Peter failed, he fell upon the one who'd extended the call to follow. He confessed his weakness and moral failure, got up and headed out once more to lay hold of this call. Shouldn't I live my life like this?

To not let this world, the system, the societal influence detract me from the call that Christ has extended to me to "Follow Him." That same call has been extended to you, if you lay claim to being a believer. The call is to not give up and not let this world beat you into submission. The call isn't about conforming to the standards and belief's of this world, but rather being transformed (on the inside) by the renewing of our mind....our heart......our soul to shake off the dust of this life and "Follow Him" into the new one.

Needless to say that after Todd's teaching last night, I'll have "Peter" on my brain in the coming week. And that isn't a bad thing. Thanks for stopping by the Greene Street Letters. Come back anytime.

God on you.....

MBB

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.

Sunday, January 24, 2021

FOLLOW ME

No comments:

THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD