The Very Last Words Given

Revelation 22:21
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.....

Grace.....
Saved by Grace....
Amazing Grace.....
Grace, grace....wonderful grace....
James Ryles defines it as "The empowering presence of God, in my life, that enables me to be who I was created to be, and to do what I have been called to do."
Yet this word......."GRACE" is the very last thing mentioned in the Bible to those who are followers of Jesus. John the revelator writes that the grace of Jesus be with all believers.
These words are more than a flowery way to end the Scriptures. They are more than the closing of the book of Revelation. They are the very heart and soul of what I need to walk in this world today.

For too long I have carried on a love affair with Jesus and the world. My affections bounced back and forth from one to the other. I could worship like no ones business and then turn around and be strangely drawn to the baubles and shiny things the world has to offer. It was the grace of God that opened my heart to the truth and declared that I should love either Him or the world but not both. No, I haven't lost my mind, and I am not suggesting that we all move off to a mountain top, wearing brown robes and sandals, to grow a garden of organic vegetables. I am merely saying that we have to live in this fallen world and the only way to do so without being tainted or destroyed is to embrace this grace that God pours out so freely.

In recovery, we use the phrase..."It's about spiritual progress...not spiritual perfection.'  The mind of some one coming out of addiction is an "All or nothing" way of viewing recovery. It has to happen right now, this instant. They don't see or understand that it is a day to day walking out of the will of God in this new life that enables them to be free of the pull and tug of drugs and alcohol. It takes the presence of God, that would be God's grace, to start this journey and to stay the course.

Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God.

Recovery is the result of a "heart change". It is the grace of God that opens my eyes to the reality of the life I have been living. It is the grace of God that points the way to Jesus as the only means of salvation from my addiction. It is the grace of God that empowers me, through the Holy Spirit who lives in me, to move daily in this new spiritual experience that frees me from the prison of darkness and gloom I have been living in. Jesus is my Higher Power, but it is His grace, given to me, that enables me to have this new life.

No wonder John Newton penned the words..........Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. T'was blind but now I see.
These wonderful words are at the center of every salvation that takes place. Jesus found me in my 'lost-ness". He searched out and then reached out to retrieve me from the sure death that sin had judged me with and found guilty. I could not see even though my eyes were open. Deep inside, in my innermost being, I knew I was wretched and in need of a savior, but my heart wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Even in this, Jesus never gave up on me. I finally reached the place that the Scriptures refers to as being in Spiritual Poverty (Matthew 5:3). The Message Bible states Matthew 5:3 as Blessed are you when you are at the end of your rope...for there is less of you and more of Him. This is the place where the wonderful grace of God meets you.
Have you experienced the grace of God today?
Food for thought.
God on you...
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Mercy....What A Wonderful Word.

Mercy.........God giving to me something that I don't deserve..........
Mercy.........God keeping from me something I do deserves.............

The mercy of God is not to be looked upon as the all supernatural power that God alone possesses to clean up our messes. There are some who would base the goodness and mercy of God solely upon the fact that He would come and clean up all the destruction they have brought upon themselves through their addiction. I don't think God moves in this fashion, though He does help us move through and beyond all the destruction we have caused.

First off, what is God offering to me that I don't deserve to have? Salvation! I really don't deserve this. In fact, one particular evening i was at the end of my rope, so to speak, and I lashed out at God in a moment of frustration claiming..."You're not fair!" I never will forget the answer that came back so suddenly that it caught me by surprise. "Your right! I'm not fair. If I was fair, you'd be in hell and I'd never would have had to send my Son to die for your sins." Needless to say I got the point.

I think one point that we sometimes fail to see concerning God's mercy is this..."No matter how terrible things may seem at the moment, they are never as terrible as they could be. Now I don't say this to make light of anyone current lot in life. I'm merely stating that God could remove His hand totally from a situation and allow the enemy to have free reign in our lives.

I am particularly taken with the book of Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah during one of dark times of Jerusalem's history. Because of the people's sins, God has brought judgement to them in the form of the Babylonian Army. Jerusalem has fallen and the people have been taken away into captivity. There in the streets, sitting among the rubble and destruction, Jeremiah, broken and weeping, pens these words....."Through the LORDS's mercies we are not consumed. Because His compassions fail not They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him." (Lamentations 3: 22-24)

Did you catch that? NO matter what is going on in your life........no matter what situation you may be facing......it is because of the Lord's great mercy that you are not consumed. The devil and all the forces of hell cannot defeat or sway the mercies of the Lord. No matter what "addiction" says to you in our mind, it will not win. Addiction cannot hold on to you in the face of God's mercy and grace. I know these words sound "religious" and that you may be reading them with a skeptical view, but know beyond all measure if you will cry out to God, He will respond with great mercy to free you and set you on a path to a different way of living. You do not have to be a slave to the needle, or the bottle, or the pill, or what ever it is you take to escape your pain and darkness.

I like the last part of the Scripture from Lamentations....."The LORD is my portion...therefore I will hope in Him." I lay hold of God because He has laid hold of me. He is my portion....not what He can do for me.......not what I may expect from Him. God alone is the sufficiency for my life. There isn't much I could attest to in this life, but the one thing I have come to know is that having God as your portion....as food for your soul.....as the all indwelling one in my life through my salvation is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, my wife and my family. For that I am grateful beyond measure this morning. It is because of Him that I type a posting in this blog every day. I can't tell you the times I have come to this computer with nothing to say. Almost dreading sitting down to face this because I was empty. I would bow my head and say, "Lord, if you want to say something this morning, I am ready to type it out." I know that I don't have any great insight into life. I'm not a philosopher or a great thinker. But what I know....I know with my heart and I will continue to say it till the day I draw my last breath. God love you and wants to take you out of all the darkness and pain you have brought on yourself through your sin. What love this God possesses.... Turn to Him today....

God on you...
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Change...It's All About Being Changed.

Matthew 10:7-8
"Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!"

Let's talk about what I don't know.
I don't understand how addiction works. I can't tell you why some people seemed to have a "Bent" toward using and some don't. I don't understand how the Twelve Steps work...I know it truly relies on the HIGHER POWER that you turn to. In my case, that HIGHER POWER is Jesus the Christ.

Some folks don't like this mixture of what they call "religion" and "recovery". But how do you separate the healing that needs to take place in the life of an addict from someones disdain for religion? Well, the first thing you have to do is experience the truth of who Jesus is in your own life. Somehow we've gotten in our heads that recovery is simply me realigning the way I think when, in fact, it is a "vital spiritual experience" that changes my very character. Character change first begins in the heart and not the mind. I remember years ago, in a galaxy far, far away.....er...sorry bout that. Anyway, years ago when I was a pagan, cussing was no big deal for me. I was good at it. It really didn't matter who was around either....I would let it fly. Even in this state, it would come to my mind that I really needed to quit speaking like this, so I would make up my mind to refrain from my colorful language. It didn't work. First little thing that came along to upset my proverbial apple cart and the words would fly. I would be ashamed and once again vow to change my ways. Then I met Jesus. You know what? The moment I was saved, I lost all desire to use curse words. I didn't have to watch myself, or think about not using them. It was gone. I just never cursed anymore. God had done for me something I could not do for myself.

Recovery is about allowing Jesus to heal you and grow you. It isn't about a "zammo-whammo Instant change." It's about spiritual progress as you grow daily in your walk with Jesus. It's about learning how to live all over again. Appreciating the small things that you gain in your sobriety. I love seeing this change take place in the lives of the men who come through Rapha. To hear them talk about getting up early and getting a cup of coffee...standing out back near the creek watching the sun come up and listening to the sounds of the morning. To hear the joy they felt in this very small thing of greeting the day. That is power that Jesus brings to a life that has worked the first three steps. The power of restoration and healing.

Romans 15;13
So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow with hope through the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Today is the day for you to be healed!
God on you....
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Drinking Some Tea....Catching Some Rays.....

Yep! That's what I'm doing. I'm on "Staycation". Taking a few days off to rest and do some work around the house. Vicki is off and ,today being the fourth of July, she'll being working her grilling magic on some ribs. I will continue to post the Greene Street Letter ech day, but it will be at a later time. I'm trying to sleep in and get my beauty rest. Of course at my age, I probably need a beauty "coma". 

Until tomorrow.....
God on you.....
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Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Read All About It!

I love this chapter from the book of Isaiah....Chapter 61. It is like a breath of fresh air on a hot summers day ( I think you might be able to relate to that symbol since our weather has been, how would you say.....HOT!).
It's like getting the best news when you've been battered and beaten around by life. There's a knock at your door and you open it to be met by a Western Union man who is delivering a telegram. Good news! Good news that reaffirms your belief's and sets you in a stable place emotionally and spiritually.

When I read Isaiah 61, it's as though God has layed out the plans for His Son, Jesus, and the Kingdom that is coming. Don't you know that the Devil hates such verses that fill the Scripture. Don't you know it just makes him work even harder to destroy God's creation. After all, the Devil knows that he can't defeat God, so the next best thing is to destroy as many people as he can. Keep them from receiving this "good news."

It's weird in that this so call "Good News" is coming to us even as I type this. That is, the promise of Power to change that God gives to us when we surrender will and life over to His care (Step # 3). Yet there is more to this promise. We will, at some point, be gathered together to be with Jesus and there in His presence our lives will change to an even greater degree. According to Scripture, there will be no more pain or sorrow, death or tears. Such things will fade away like a mist. It's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around this part of God's word, but I believe by faith that God will indeed do what He has promised to do.

So what is this good news?
ISAIAH 61
V.1 - The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me because the LORD has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

Notice how the verse begins....
God has deemed this action to take place. He isn't listed as just "LORD"....He is the Sovereign Lord. He has released His Spirit to be the agent of change and life to this fallen world.

The word SPIRIT is defined in Strongs Concordance as wind; by resemblance breath, that is, a sensible (or even violent) exhalation. In other words, God has released into a world of sin, the third part of the God-head, His Holy Spirit. The giver of life and the one who is capable of seeing this task to completion. The Holy Spirit has been delivered upon Jesus to carry out the mandate of God's Kingdom (See Luke 4:18-19). This same Holy Spirit is given to each believer at the time of their salvation to enable and empower them to break free from sin/addiction.

What better "Good News" could someone in bondage to addiction receive than to hear..."You don't have to live like this any more. There is a way out." What better news could someone who is emotionally spent and without hope receive than...."I have been sent to comfort and bind up your broken heart. To give you hope and set you on a path to life." Only this Holy Spirit, given by God to us, can fling wide the doors of addiction that have locked us away from a future. What greater bondage could someone be in than to be able to see "real life" going on all around them, yet never be able to be a part of it because of sin/addiction. It took a power greater than ourselves to unlock the door of our prison and proclaim our freedom. Like the Big Book says....God did for me what I could not do for myself.

If read on down in Isaiah 61, you'll come to verse 4 which speaks to me of the process of recovery.
"The will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed. They will revive them, though they have been empty for many generations.
 
The process of the Twelve Steps is to rebuild our lives. Under the power and guidance of God's Holy Spirit, we move through the steps repairing and rebuilding the broken down places in our lives. Making amends and having a change of character are all part of the process that takes us out of the sin/addiction prison and puts us squarely in the will of God.
Now I'm telling you if that isn't GOOD NEWS, then nothing is.


Think on these things....
God on you....
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Psalm 78 : 4-7
We will not hide these truths from our children, but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did. For he issued his decree to Jacob: He gave his law to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generations might know them----even the children not yet born---that they in turn might teach their children.
So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.

I guess one of my most favorite times each week, is when we finish the Saturday night meeting at Rapha. The equipment has been put away. People have asked and received prayer for various reasons. The room has emptied out and all that remains is my friend Wayne and me.
Each week we spend time remembering what God has done over the past 14 years in our meetings and in our lives. I think I can honestly say that God has allowed us to see and be a part of more than most folks see in a lifetime.

After the meeting on Saturday night, a young man came up to tell me that he had experienced God in a way that he never had before. He was almost out of breath, telling me of how during the prayer, God had come to him. He really did not have the language to explain what had happened, but it impacted him greatly. In other words, God was no longer just words on a page...and Jesus was now more than just a name given to God in the flesh. This Savior had indeed come to this person and brought him to a place where decisions are going to have to be made. I think the decision will come a little easire after this encounter with God.

I remember the first man who was saved at Rapha after I started teaching a Bible study. I referred to my class as "GOD-101". A kind of introduction to God and the Bible. It happened on January 28, 1999. We were meeting in the chow hall, of all places, and the group that day seemed tuned in to what was being taught. At the end of the lesson, I began to share about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus, and how the power he brought to our lives was the key to moving us out of addiction. I began to pray over the men when I noticed a young man had begun crying. Tears streaming down his face, I asked him..."Do you want to be saved?" He replied that he did, but there was something inside of him that was telling him not to listen and that he should kill me. Demon! The prayers quickly turned to deliverance to break the hold of the oppression and bondage over this young man. After a time of prayer, the demonic hold was broken and the young man gave his life and heart to Jesus.  I will never forget that day and what happened to that young man. His entire countenance was changed.....his face softened and his voice became soft and had a gentle tone to it. Young man's name was Brandon. He was the the first of many that God has saved at Rapha.

In one respect, part of my heart's desire is to see this up coming generation fall in love with Jesus. That they have a renewal / revival of their own that would cause their hearts to burn for Jesus. My time in the sun, so to speak, is over. My job now is to make sure that they know about Jesus and the healing that takes place in salvation. To see that they become students of God's word and that they learn how to worship. I must make sure that they understand that worship is a lifestyle and not just a time of music and praise. How I live my life affects the way I see worship. How I live my life affects the way I do worship. I want this generation to loose their love for the things of this world and fall madly in love with Jesus.
Who could ask for anything more?

God on you......
Have a great Monday...........it's the last one of the week.
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I Might...I Might Not...I'm Not Sure

Judges 2:10
After that generations died, another generation grew up who did not acknowlege the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

Judges 3:7
......they forgot about the LORD, their God.

Judges 21:25
In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.


Call me foolish...Call me out of touch......(Call me Ismael....sorry. I was having a Moby Dick moment).
Seems to me that history does in fact repeat itself. We might not want to acknowledge this view, but I think all we have to do is look around to see what happens when a people remove God from their collective consciousness. Things tend to go South really quick and turn into a nation that has no moral compass. What does this have to do with Recovery or Addiction? Well, I am coming from the view point and belief that the key to recovery is the need to be healed. Healed spiritually, by a Power greater than ourselves. Healed mentally, by a Power who can restore us to sanity. And healed physcially, by a Power that has the ability and authority to do such a work. In my 14+ years of being in a recovery setting, I have seen only one Power who could pull off all three. That Power would be Jesus Christ.

As much as I love the Twelve Steps....the true change in a persons life who is struggling with addiction is found in a person, not a program. That person would be Jesus Christ. It is the infusion of God's Holy Spirit in me through the saving work that Christ offered to me as a result of His death and resurrection that opens the door to my healing. The Twelve Steps is an outline or form that I follow to keep me focused on the task at hand. Just as God gave Israel a "Promised Land" to live in, He has given to me a "Promised life" to occupy. But, like Israel, I have to own this life, fight for this life, and remove all the strongholds the enemy tries to put up to stop me from moving forward with Jesus. It is a battle, but a battle well worth the fight.

Because it is a battle that is fought on many different fronts and in the lives of those who are giving themselves to Jesus, we are called to be in community with like minded people. That is the importance of getting connected with meetings and with a good church. To surround yourselves with people who are in the middle of the battle like yourself. Sharing your stories and your struggles. Receiving prayer and praying for others as you sharpen each other with your victories and counsol each other in your defeats. It's all about the community. That is why the very first word of Step # 1 is  "WE"...not "I" or "Me". WE!

I really don't know who stops by this blog to read it. I don't know what you may be struggling with today in your personal life. But I do want you to know this. I pray over each posting each day that God would come to you, right where you are. That He would come with POWER and offer to you what you need for that moment and that day.
Know that God loves you................and so do I.

God on you.....
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