New Teaching: II Peter 1:3-15 / Great and Precious Promises

 

Be sure to check out audio messages to the right of this posting. Talking about the simple fact that God has given us everything we need to lead a godly life.

Thanks...

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VERSE OF THE DAY: REV. 1:1

 

Revelation 1:1 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond servant John.

The book of books, so to speak. Revelation (according to Dr. J. Vernon McGee) is the great hub where all the prophetic verses in Scripture come together. If you ask anyone to tell you what the book is about, you will receive a myriad of answers. Last Days.........The Great Tribulation......The Anti-Christ....The 2nd Coming. And to some degree each answer would be correct. But to me, these are secondary answers that keep our minds occupied with what we perceive to be a mystery.

The truth is, the book of Revelation is exactly that - A Revelation. But it is the subject of the book that I love. It is the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST. We get to see Jesus as He is today. We get to see our High Priest operating from that office. We get to see both Lion and Lamb nature of Christ. We are given a glimpse into heaven and see Christ as Lord and Savior.

Read Chapter 5 and you get to see Christ as the only worthy enough in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, to reach out and take a scroll that has been sealed. No one else was capable of doing this. But it is the heart, character and the way Jesus obeyed His Father during His life here on earth that revealed the worth of Him. 

I need a daily revelation of Christ in my life.

I need to keep my attention and my focus on Him through prayer (and listening for His voice as He speaks back to me) through study of His Scripture. By hearing those who have been called to teach share messages. By applying to my life, what God is telling me. Hearing = Application, simple as that. As we grow in Christ, the Revelation deepens and our desire to know Him better grows deeper.

Think on these things, and have a wonderful Sunday.

God on you..

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INVENTORY YOUR LIFE AND GET RID OF THE NASTINESS

 

Psalm 139:23-24 - Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Think about these words that David wrote. Asking God to search his heart and the reveal any wrong that may be there. Basically what David is proclaiming is what I refer to as the "World's Most Dangerous prayer"...."God! Don't let me get away with anything. Uncover me at every turn. Expose me when my heart runs to darkness and I turn from following you."

This is the heart of a true follower of Christ. To realize that we must be held accountable daily. That within each of us lies the potential of turning and walking back to our old ways, old thoughts and old habits. This very thought is what keeps me moving forward daily with Christ. Asking Him to reveal my own heart so that I may empty myself of everything that displeases Him. More than just emptying myself, I ask that He replace all the junky stuff I tote around in my heart with all the good things He has for me. Change of heart, change of character, deeper trust and faith in Him.

Would you pray that prayer today? Would you really mean what you pray? Asking God to uncover you. Yet this uncovering by God is the ultimate act of love on His part. Being uncovered means that we have an opportunity to repent and turn from our wicked ways. A chance to have a clean heart and pure hands that only God can provide.

Think on this today!

God on you

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CLAIRTY OF THOUGHT

 

Psalm 139:17
How precious also are Your thought to me, o God! How great is the sum of them!

Step # 2 of the Twelve Steps
Came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, who could restore us to sanity.

The illusion and false reality of being able to discern correctly and make good decisions is running full tilt in a person who is addicted.
The substance is in control and actually alters the chemistry of the brain.
Throw in a dark heart that is being directed by our sin nature, and you've got a dangerous combination.
I can't count the number of people who have shared with me unspeakable things they have done when high or drunk. Things they never would ever have imagined themselves participating in. But the high took away their moral compass and threw it to the floor to be smashed into a million pieces.
Under the influence, the rule of thumb is "Do what seems right in your own eyes."  Just like the last verse in Judges, which carries a tone of impending doom. "In those days Israel had no king, so every man did what was right in their own eyes."

When addiction is up and running, any thought or inclination about God is quickly pushed to the rear. Why? Because we view God through our own lack of moral character. Where do we get the idea that we are terrible, bad people? By measuring ourselves by our behavior. I must be a horrible person, look at all the horrible things I have done. IF there was a formula to show this, it would be the following:

Person = Performance + What others opinion of me

In other words, who I am as an individual....my self worth and my self esteem, is defined by what I've done. Throw into this volatile mess the idea of always being conscious of the perception that others around you are always thinking about you, based on your past behavior, and that is a dangerous combination. Should behavior and thought process in a person with an addictive behavior produces guilt and shame. These two toxic emotions are the fuel that drive the addict to seek out comfort in their drug of choice. 

The entire complex attitude and behavior of addiction really is very simple, if you view it with knowledge of God and His heart to heal.

God never created anyone to be an addict. Such behavior comes from having a broken relationship with Jesus. Living in such spiritual darkness is found in II Corinthians 4:4 ---Whose minds the god (devil) of this age has blinded, those who do not believe.

God's heart is that you be freed from the bondage of the the devil and this addiction that has defined your life. Truth is, those who are under the rule and reign of Satan live on a predetermined path for their life. One that ends in spiritual death as well as physical.  No matter what your background is...no matter what race you may be....no matter what socio-economic background you may come from.....educated or uneducated....the end result and the path taken is the same.  Ephesians 2:1-2 reads: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (the devil) who now works in the sons of disobedience.

In all of this madness we call addiction, one simple truth exists. You are always on God's heart. His thought toward you outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore. And it isn't until you turn will and life over to His care, that your spirit, body and soul, not to mention your mind, can be restored to sanity. Sanity that lets you make sound decisions. Sanity that produces good judgment. Now that's a promise from God. I think you could take that one to the bank, don't you?

God on you.....

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New To The Greene Street Letters

 

Just Added to the Greene Street Letters ~ if you look to the right side of this page, you'll see a new section where we are going to post audio messages from our Saturday Night Meeting @ The ReCovery Church on Broad Street.

We are going to phase out the live-stream from Saturday night. New udiomessages will be loaded each week, and I will post a notification on our Facebook page to let you know when new ones are available. You should be able to either listen now, or download to listen at a later date.

Thanks for allowing me to share...
Keep on Keepin' on...

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THE SCREAMING ME-ME'S

 

Psalm 51:15-17
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it.
You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken spirit and a contrite heart----
These, O God, You will not despise.

Isn't it crazy all the things you did while you were drunk or high?
Things you screamed out loud for everyone to hear.....
Songs you thought you could sing but weren't very good at it.
Dancing and gyrating all over creation under the influence of whatever the drug du'jour was.

But let a little sobriety come into our life, and we clam up.
We have nothing to say...
Nothing to share.
Especially in a meeting (church or otherwise such as A.A. or Celebrate Recovery).
We become a silent witness for Jesus....
Secret Agents for the Lord......Double "O" Nothings.
Now I've been out at Rapha during football season.
I've have felt the very foundation of my office shake because someones team scored a touchdown. Screaming and yelling...jumping and shouting....over a football game.
Is that wrong? No. It's fun to let off a little steam and cut loose a bit.
But you know what?
It seems to me that what Jesus has done for us should bring out a little more demonstration of gratitude that it usually does.

Bible says we are to be filled with the Spirit and not drunk on wine.
Alcohol has a tendency to lower your inhibitions....
Would it not make sense that the Spirit of God in us would do the same....
Lower those inhibiting behaviors the devil is trying to stick us with.
I can hear him now (the devil).....
"Sit down and shut up. Don't you dare say a word and embarrass yourself."
What do we do? We sit down in rows of chairs or pews...and never show any response to the incredible gift God has poured out in us.

In the verses in Psalm 51....it sounds like David is a bit inhibited himself.
He is praying and asking God to open his lips so he can get all up into shouting praises to God.
Try it....
While your driving, just cut loose shouting out a whole bunch of "Thank You"s to Jesus.
Give a couple of "Whoo-hoo's" for the Lord.
My favorite is actually an old Sly and Family Stone song....." I want to thank You for letting me be myself....again!!!" Gratitude to Jesus. IT doesn't get any better than this.

In Psalm 51, you have a man, David, who is very much in touch with all the stinky-ness of his life.
In fact, he has just been uncovered in some really nasty sin. But David understands that God loves him enough to uncover David and not let him get away with anything. The need to repent and be restored won out over the need to hide the sin and hopelessly believe a lie that you may have, in fact, gotten away with it. Not David! He was quick to deal with his sin and then let the praise party begin. 

Just like the Psalm reads....the beginning of praises begin with a broken heart and spirit that is 
Contrite. What does "contrite" mean? Contrition or contriteness (from the Latin contritus 'ground to pieces', i.e. crushed by guilt) is sincere and complete remorse for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be contrite.  Crushed by guilt? Ground to pieces....believe it or not, this is a good place for praises to start. Realizing that we can't do anything but mess up....and God can do everything. "You know what? I think I'll just do me a little praising all up in the house."

Don't let the enemy steal your praises.
Let them flow from you daily....
Praise God from whom all blessing flow. Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above the heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen!!!!

God on you...
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RAINY DAY RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

Romans 6:2
"How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

I find myself trying to justify or at least explain why we still sin after being saved.
I'm not sure that there is any justification.
I hear people say, "Well, I'm not perfect." I would agree. None are, not even me.
But yet God says, "Be perfect as I am perfect."
This tells me that there is a standard to strive for and I am not excluded from this call simply because I am human.
If we never strive for it, through the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we will never move forward. We will be forever caught in the cycle of sin.

Verse 6 reads: We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Sin is no longer my master.
Sin no longer fills my thoughts and desires.
Sin no longer dictates to me what I do or do not do.
But I still have a nature that wants to sin.
This is where I am to walk or live my life according to the Spirit of God and not the nature of my old self.
The Holy Spirit enables me to rise above the calling of my flesh.
To deny the darkness it so readily wants to embrace.
The Holy Spirit is the one wooing me and drawing me to Jesus and new life.

Part of our problem is that we live in a society that dictates that we feed every whim and desire that we have. In other words, society has and is programing itself to sin.
Nothing is sacred.
Anything goes as long as it fulfills a desire or whim that you have.
Deny yourself nothing. That is the battle cry of America.
The land of opportunity (to sin).
Unfortunately what this creates is a false sense of the power of sin.
We believe that sin has more power to enslave us than God has to free us.

Romans 6:12 reads:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

It's all a question of "Who are you listening to?"
Your soulish nature?
Or the voice of the Holy Spirit?

Hebrews 10:22
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Do you have need of repentance?
Do you need to spend time with God?
Don't delay.

God on you......
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