Yes....It Is About Character

Step #6
We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.

O.k.....so I've been stuck in the whole "Character" issue after my melt down this morning.
A meltdown that was, as I believe, God's way of revealing my stinkyness. I was with someone who just didn't do things the way I wanted them to. I don't know why they couldn't see that my way was better. My way was the best. My way was the way they needed to carry out their responsibilities. But nooooo.....they had to do it their way. "O.k.....go ahead," I thought to myself. As soon as those words formed in my mind, God spoke to me.

"Michael, you're wanting to control others."
I replied, "Not really Lord, I'm just trying to help."
Of course this was a half truth, and I knew it.
Bottom line, I WAS trying to control someone. How messed up am I?
But what came out of all of this was that the problem really was me, and not the other person. 
Once more God peels a layer off of me to reveal something I need to work on.
Then as I pondered over Step #6, the whole character defect thing, it suddenly dawned on me. (Yes, Virginia, dawn comes to me quiet slowly sometimes). God is truly interested in our actions and behaviors....but God is more interested in our character.  Because out of our character comes the decisions that we use to base our actions on.  Eureka!!!

Here we have a bunch of people (Addict & church goer) who have kind of spent their energy on being good. We told them they needed to be saved. We told them that God was the answer to their problems, but we never really went into what was behind their problem. Am I slow or what?

We prodded them to be saved....
To accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior....
But we really never took it much farther than that.
Oh, we talked about the need to read the Bible....
We taught them how to pray....
We told them of the need to share their story...
But very seldom did we explain that real change comes when the Holy Spirit changes our character.
I don't know this for a fact, but I think maybe this changing over is a process that takes a while, and is usually most effective when we find ourselves in situations that require us to take action. I say that because unless our character is being changed, then we will resort to our old thinking which means we'll probably get it wrong.

I think most people probably never give any thought to their character or to any defects they may possess. Maybe we'd rather excuse them than to identify and work at changing them. I seen people whose character came out in a very bad way, through their actions, and the person used the excuse, "Well, that just the way I am....deal with it". 

Maybe we spend too much time trying to be good.....
when we should be letting the Holy Spirit grow some of His fruit in our life...
You know...
The fruit you read about in Galatians 5:22-23.....Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Back up in Verse 16 if Galatians 5, we read..."So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves."
Did you catch that?
Our doing....our behavior....our actions, come from who it is we are listening to.
If The Holy Spirit has the power to produce a new character in me, then why would I not let Him? Why would I not follow Him in my daily decision making? 

As John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, once stated...."I want to grow up before I grow old." What did he mean by that? He wanted to have the character and nature of Christ  living and guiding him in his daily life before he died.
You know what?
So do I.

God on you....
mbb

What Do I Do With This 24?

Matthew 6:25
That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life........

Matthew 6:32
These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

I've said it myself when talking with someone about their recovery.
You know what I'm talking about.
"You just need to focus on one day at a time."
We see it on bumper stickers....
Wall plaques........
Throws and pillows....
Notebooks and lapel pins....
"ONE DAY AT A TIME".
But you know what?
I can't think of any thing that is better  at describing the way we all should approach life, not just someone in addiction.

I went with a friend of mine this morning to do a "Twelve Step" call.
A mutual acquaintance had relapsed and was going off the tracks.
One bad decision led to two bad decisions, and you know the rest of the story.
Anyway, here we were, the three of us, standing outside talking over the situation.
Our relapsed buddy was all remorse and guilty, yet at the same time, he was spinning way out into the future of what all he needed to do. Never mind there was a mess to clean up today....let's get all wrapped around the axle about this weekend, as well as next week.
We quickly reminded him that his only concern was to take care of today.
Do what needed to be done to get back on the right road to recovery.
I told him that if he didn't take care of today, there would not be any "tomorrow" to worry about.

The focus should be on "What do I need to do today?"
Go to meeting? Probably...wouldn't hurt.
Place myself in a setting where I can be accountable? Well, duh? I would say that was a good start.
Do you catch what is going on here.....
All of us....
Sober or drunk, no matter what state you are in, need to focus on today.
"Did I spend time with God?" (Reading His word, listening for His voice). If not, why? Why did I neglect this valuable asset that would aid me in the journey He wants me to follow?

We discount today because of our problems, thinking that if I can simply get through this 24 hours, I'll be able to catch my breath. Well, sometimes that works. But more often than not, those things we have ignored hang around out there in the darkness waiting for tomorrow to get  here so they can rise up and bite with an even more vicious bite. Take the time to take care of your business today.....

Part of our daily "business-taking-care-of" includes watching over our heart and mind. Making sure we haven't allowed any bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness to take root. If we don't removes such character-defect-roots, we will harvest trouble at some point down the road. We do a daily inventory to make sure our lives are free from such. In fact, in Hebrews, we are admonished to not let our hearts go cold and hard to the leading of God.
Hebrews 3:15
Remember what it says (Psalm 95:7-8) "Today when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts" as Israel did whey they rebelled.
Get it?
Today....
One day at a time....
Stay focused and always be listening for God to speak to you.
You'll know it's Him because He will always instruct you to do the things you don't really want to do.
Remember....
All you have to do is take care of today.

God on you....
mbb

Mud Pies And Directions To A Healing

John 9:25
"I don't know whether he is a sinner," the man replied. "But I know this....I was blind, and now I can see."

To me this is the greatest explanation of a miracle that I have ever read.
A man who has had an experience, tells what happened about as plain as anyone ever could. He is recounting what happened to a group of religious folks who are bent on destroying Jesus. They grilled this poor fellow in an effort to trap Jesus in some sort of theological hanky-panky and juju medicine.
They questioned the method used by Jesus.
They questioned the time of day He did it.
They questioned as to whether this was even the same man that once was blind...You know that Jesus could have pulled the ol' switcheroo on them thar Pharisees. 

To me the part I love the best in this whole story is the means by which the man's blindness was healed.
Are you ready for this.....
Jesus took spit and dirt....
His spit, and if you want to get technical, His dirt since He is the author of creation. Put the two together and smeared it all over this poor fellow's eyes.
As if that wasn't bad enough, He then told the mud-covered, blind fellow to go to a particular pool (Pool of Siloam) and wash the mud off.
Get it?
Blind man....
Can't see....
Told to go somewhere.....
Not only that, the journey is to take place with him covered with mud on his eyes.
Reckon what the neighbor's thought?
Do you think maybe someone made fun of him as he tried to find his way to this pool?
But when you see the end results of the man being healed, all the other stuff seems to not matter any more does it? I think not.

So why is it we get upset or uncomfortable when God comes to us with instructions that seem to take us out of our comfort zone? Why is it we have trouble with instructions that we don't seem to understand? Or at least they don't make sense to us? "Why should I do that? That's crazy."

I know that you've probably been in meetings where ministry time breaks out, and there is an invitation to go down front to pray and receive from God. The distance between you and the front may only be 15 or 20 feet, but you just can't seem to reason it out as to why you have to go down there. "Why can't God just do what He wants to do, right here where I am seated?" Because you want God to do everything, without you having to exercise any faith what so ever. How bad do you want to be healed of all your mess? Are you willing to move out and go receive from God? Are you willing to be like the man who was covered in spit-mud? 

If you read the passage from John, no where does it mention where Jesus told the man he would be healed. He simply told him to go wash in the pool.  The last part of Verse 7 reads So the man went and washed and came back seeing. The man went and washed not knowing what would really happen, but he went anyway. He may have had an inkling that healing would come, I'm not sure because we aren't given insight into what he was thinking. But ACTION was needed to bring the healing about.

Are you willing to take ACTION the next meeting you are at, and you feel the tug of God on your heart? Are you going to be willing to step out to receive whatever it is God has for you? Or are you going to sit there in your blindness hoping for a miracle? As for me? I'm going to go after God and see what happens. I don't want to miss anything. 
Besides.....
A little mud never hurt anyone.
Especially if it brings about the healing we so desperately need.

God on you....
mbb

An Honest Conversation

Jeremiah 33:3
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and might things which you do not know.

We sat across the table from each other.
He was uncomfortable with the silence, as was I.
I wanted to say something, but I held my silence.
Then the conversation began.

"I have no problem with Step # 1."
The step that reads that we are powerless over our addiction, that our lives have become unmanageable.
"I admit that I am the problem. I know it, you know it....everyone around me knows that I am the source of all my troubles."
This was true. His history of destruction was well documented. No trouble here...he was the problem.
The conversation continued.

"I just don't know about step #2 and #3. I just don't know if I can believe in God."
Years ago this would have caused me to come undone, as I would have put on my Pharisee Robes and commence a theological tirade. But not today....not now.
Maybe I've grown wiser (I'd like to think so), but I think maybe it's a case of just being more tired and wanting to pick the battles I fight. Today, I felt that I was to listen to what this man had to say.

He went on.
"I want to believe in this God you talk about. I really do. But I don't  know how to do it."
He was just being honest.
My old religious mind reared up in an echo in my mind...."You just believe! What more do you want? You just believe. Either you do or you don't." Such logic would not work in this particular conversation. I asked him, "Why do you think you can't believe in God? Or what makes you think you are somehow different from others who believe?" His reply was simple. "I know I'm not different. I know that somehow all this God-stuff you teach is real, but I just have a block when it comes to embracing for myself."

I asked him, "Tell me, why are you so concerned about your belief in God? Have you ever experienced such a thought or feeling before?" He replied, "Never. I never gave it a thought before now." Looking at him across that table I asked, "Why do you think your having these thoughts now, when you've never had them before?" Puzzled, he replied, "I don't know."

So I carried the thought a little farther out.....
"What would you say if I told you that it might be God stirring you to consider these things?"
He looked at me as if I'd hit him between the eyes.
"God? You mean my concern with admitting I didn't know how to believe in Him was caused by His concern for me?"
"I don't  know, what do you think?" I asked.
He went back and covered all the bases that had led him to this point in his life.
Never thought about God at all.....he was too busy getting high and drunk.
No time for that God stuff.
But now, he can't seem to get it off his mind.
It reminded me of the man who came to Jesus declaring....."I believe...help my unbelief!"
I asked him, "Doesn't it make sense that if you've struggling with this step, and God is real, would He not reach out to touch you and make you aware of  His "realness?"

I asked him to tell me the first three words of step #3.
"Came to believe", he answered.
There it was...
Right there in front of Him in those three words.
"Came to believe? Doesn't that sound like a process?" I asked.
"Doesn't that sound like effort and investigation and a healthy dose of honesty?" I asked him.
"Yes, it does." 
"Why do you think they didn't just say 'we believe in a Power greater than ourselves', rather than 'we came to believe'?"
I wanted him to understand that everyone comes to Jesus because they are searching for some answers. Granted, God has stirred our hearts to do so, but we search none the less.

So I told him something that he needed to do.
"Tonight, after it gets dark, I want you to do something for me." 
"O.k." he replied."What is it?"
I told him that I wanted him to find a place where he could be by himself, and that I wanted him to explain to God all the difficulty he was having in believing. I told him that God would not be offended by his honesty. I told him to tell God that he really, really wanted to know that He was real, and ask God to speak and reveal Himself.

I told him that he would probably feel foolish but to not worry about it.
We talked a little longer, then he got up to leave.
"Thanks for taking the time."
I replied, "No...thanks for being honest enough to ask."

Isn't that what this whole strange trip we are on is all about?
Being honest enough to admit we don't know, but we're willing to look foolish and ask those questions no one else seems to want to ask?
I think maybe the answer is yes.
So I've been praying all night for God  to honor this request of a man, to know Him.
Can't wait to hear what he has to say.

God on you...
mbb

Hope In The Middle Of LIfe

Monday morning....
Most folks are getting up and heading out the door to work.
Me?
It's a piddling day. After VRC on Saturday night, and speaking at Catalyst Recovery last night (throw in a number of phone calls from people needing prayer or help (or both), and some encounters with several former clients at Walmart...my work week is over.
So Monday is a day to catch my breath and begin to lay out plans for the upcoming week.
I usually have a breakfast appointment with Jim Bentley each Monday morning. We meet at Jack's on the drive for coffee and to share a "Wimber moment"..."What's our business? And how are we doing?" A chance to catch up on what's going on in our lives. What does it seem to be that God is stirring around us? Where do we think all of this is headed? Not that we can come up with answers that are revolutionary or will change the world. Who knows we might just be able to affect our little corner of the  Kingdom for Him.

Psalm 107:27-30
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. They they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He clams the storm, so its waves are still. THEN THEY ARE GLAD BECAUSE THEY ARE QUIET; so He guides them to their desired haven.

The life of addiction is one of chaos.
One of turmoil and emotional upheaval.
Using is a way to escape the "Noise" and drama. Unfortunately, using is the primary conduit that creates the "Noise and drama."
Hard to make good choices when your life is in upheaval.
Hard to make good plans when all you can think about is running away.
It all boils down to that one moment....
That one brief period of time when the noise and chaos become too much.
When the mental and emotional pain far exceed the physical.
When there's nothing left but to cry out, and your not even sure if crying out will help.
But you do it anyway.
You open your mouth and you scream (Yes, I mean really scream) "Oh God, I can't do this any longer....if you are real please help me." 
This is the moment of release.
This is the moment when God will come to you.
Truth is, the cry to God for help is more than relief from the chaos and turmoil.
The cry of God is the realization that without Him, there is no end in sight to the pain.
There isn't any future that can be seen.
Just endless misery and pain. Such will either drive you to your knees to seek this God I write about daily.....
Or it will drive you deeper and deeper into the darkness of your using.

You will reach the point that there aren't enough drugs or alcohol to dull the senses to the pain.
God offers the only way out.
That direction to new life has a name.
That name is Jesus.
I certainly would not expend as much energy writing each day about Jesus if it were not true.
You see, I've cried out for Him.
I've been in spiritual darkness before. I understand how alluring and tempting the world can be. It will blind you to the truth of who Jesus really is. IT will dull you thinking to the truth that this Jesus will do for you what you could not do for yourself.

What's more.....
I know many, many people who have experienced freedom in Christ from their old way of living and thinking. So there must be something to this.
Believe you me, you are not so far gone that my Jesus cannot reach down and life you up and out of the mess of your life.
Not sure why I wrote this posting today.
Maybe someone out there needs to know that there is hope.
Maybe someone is teetering at the brink of destruction and believes that they are too far gone to rescue.
I simply pray that you have found the Greene Street Letters....
and have taken the message to heart.
I'm here if you need to talk....
Leave me a message and I will get in contact with you....

God on you.....
mbb

It's All About The Word

Psalm 119:61
Evil people try to drag me into sin, but I am firmly anchored to your instruction.

Are you? Are you anchored?  Fastened? Clinging to? Relying on the Word of God to give you the instruction and direction you need to move forward in your recovery?
The Bible gets such a bad rap these days (Sometimes even from people who claim to be followers of Christ.

"Well, you know....life is busy and I don't have time to sit down and read it."
Really?
From my own personal experience, I have found that I should never say that I don't have time to do something. What I should say, instead, is that I don't value it enough to take time. We pretty much will make time for the things that are important to us. The things that we find real value in, we will make sure to take time to do them.

My spiritual mentor, John Wimber, used to teach that the Bible was a practical book for living a practical life. His take was that if this were not true, then why read it. Why spend so much time studying it and looking at how Jesus approached life. I tend to fall into the category of believing the practicality of studying the scriptures. 

Psalm 119 is filled with reasons that we should spend time in the word.
V 105 - Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
In other words, God's instructions point us in the right direction we are to walk in our daily lives. Not only that, but it illuminates the way in our choices so that we can truly see that we are moving in the right direction.

V 133 - Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil.
Bottom line is that our actions (our steps) are guided and driven by the inner choices we make. The word brings clarity and peace to the choices we need to make..not  the ones we want to make. When we refuse or reject the teaching and direction of God's word, we open ourselves up to the influence of our old sin/nature which will always lead us to evil. Once given over to such a mind/heart set, we will be overcome and swamped by evil which will influence us to reject God and follow our own dark desires.

V 130 - The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.
This is my verse!!! I am one of the simple who has gained understanding from studying the scriptures. Now, this understanding that we are given isn't the collection of biblical facts and info. It is the sum wisdom collected as we study that becomes fuel for the Holy Spirit to bring to remembrance when we have a need for it. A verse that will suddenly pop into your mind when you are facing a situation or circumstance that you need help with. A verse that will suddenly come to you when you need encouragement to help you make it through your day. 

V 11 - I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
To have hidden the word means that it is placed in the inner parts of our very being. It's value is more than clever phrasing and catchy words.....The word becomes life itself. A form of communication between an Eternal God and His creation. The very thought that such a being would want to communicate with me, let alone guide me daily in my own personal life, is a bit baffling. At the same time, it lets me know that God's heart for me is to simply follow Him. I'll take that any day of the week.

Hope to see you tomorrow night at Vineyard ReCovery.
We'll be taking a look at the second encounter Jesus had in Luke chapter 5.
Meeting starts at 7 p.m.
Hope to see you there....

God on you...
mbb

Leaving It All To Follow The Call

I have been parked in Genesis 12 for a few hours and have come to a conclusion. God told Abram to leave his family, his land, everything that he knew and was comfortable with and would show him where to go. I don't care how you slice this.........realistically or metaphorically, that is a pretty scary word to receive from God. Leave everything. All your bud's and bud-ette's...all your hang outs and go. "Go where? For how long? Why? What will I find there?" That would be my way of handling it. I guess God knew best when he called Abram. The funny part is that God was serious. Why is it I do not really believe God requires the same of me? Is it because I'm not Chaldean or Hebrew? Is it because I'm not Jewish? Have I built a belief system concerning God that says, "Those things happened in the Old Testament. God doesn't do that today."

I don't think God has changed.
I don't think God's ways have changed.
Maybe we aren't listening as much as we should be.
Oh, I don't mean that God is going to uproot all of Christianity and send them on journey's all over the globe (although He does have the discretion to do so). What I do believe is at the heart of these verse in Genesis 12 is that there is a separation that is to take place between our old life and lifestyle and the new life and lifestyle God expects from us.
There is a separation that takes place through our salvation of being set aside holy unto God.
I Peter 2:9-10 reads:
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God's mercy, not you have received his mercy.

I do know this.
God gave Abram instructions.
God said that if Abram followed them and obeyed God, then there would be some pretty neat promises poured out upon Abram. What's the point? The point is that when we obey God, doing what he tells us to, then we are under the grace of God and the blessing will follow our obedience. As a wise man once told me, "Salvation is free.........blessing are dependent upon our obedience." Made sense to me.

Is God calling us to a new land. A new place in which to be fruitful and settle down? No. But I do believe He is calling us to a new "life".
A place where we can grow and mature in our faith.
A place where the quality of our prayers changes and we see God act in ways we have never seen before.
That is my word for today.....
Grow up in God! All of us.
It's time we move out of God's nursery where we have remained babes in Christ, to take our rightful place as priests in serving God.

God on you........
mb