Month: August 2016

Just get in the car!

When I was a small child my secret love was a world far beyond my front porch. My favorite book was an atlas or an encyclopedia. No I wasn’t a prodigy, I sat up late into the night looking at pictures. Despite all my passions for distant places, my life was very stationary. Ordinary people didn’t globe trot as readily as they do today. So I imagined, read books and hoped (without much faith) that someday I would chase the wind to the four corners of the planet.
Years went by and I met a boy. There was a great attraction. Attraction became love, love became marriage. Marriage became adventure and adventure became our lifetime.
WE GO! When people ask us where we’ve been, an appropriate answer is, “Everywhere.” Going is what we do best, but there have been times in our adventure that going was not an option. Sometimes managing family, home and employment meant remaining at our postal address for longer periods of time than was desirable. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my little house and the walls that hold all my joys and sorrows, but there is no better feeling than pulling out of the driveway knowing before you return the world will be smaller and hearts will be bigger.
There came a summer break when responsibility required that the Rooney family of four stay put. It wasn’t miserable, but we all got itchy feet. The beginning of school was fast approaching when my husband Keith came in the house one evening and said, “Pack some bags, when the sun comes up tomorrow we’re heading out.” There was great excitement with myself and our daughters but we were not without our inquires. I wanted to know if we needed clothes for warmth or swimsuits and sunscreen. How many days would we be gone and how far would we travel? Child number one wanted to know if she needed her hairbrush and would there be a Wal Mart stop along the way. Our youngest was most concerned with the question of weekly allowance when she wasn’t actually doing chores.
These responses are typical of our roles within the family unit and our basic personalities and impulses. Keith became very impatient when the questions didn’t stop the next morning. He had everything planned for quality family time. He just asked that we get in the car and trust him. He was worthy of our trust, he had successfully led us thousands of miles but we wanted assurances before we made a total commitment to fun.
This story led us to Southeast Missouri, and places off the beaten path that Keith had always wanted to visit. We went to Elephant Rocks and marveled at nature’s sculpture with only wind and rain for tools. Our journey continued to Johnson’s Shut-in, God’s own water slide. It was wonderful, or in other words, FULL of WONDER and has become one of my favorite family togethers.
As I reflect on this story I think how often God asks us to, “Just get in the car.” We drag things down asking for highlighted roadmaps and bulleted itineraries. The plan God has for us is prosperous and will always lead to His glory. My childhood dreams have come true in the perfection of God’s wisdom and timing so I can say with enthusiasm, “Put your face to the Son and buckle up because it’s going to be great!”

But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Today’s scripture is taken from the prophesy of Isaiah 700 years before the Son of God became the Son of Man. If I said nothing else, this fact alone speaks volumes about God’s plan to redeem mankind. However, peace is mentioned and if there is one ideal my heart yearns for, it is peace.

Peace is simply, the absence of strife and struggle; laying aside hostility. Every relationship on the face of the earth has some dynamic of peace or lack there of. In the promise of a redeeming Savior we find the word peace and the acknowledgement that to achieve this, someone had to make a sacrifice. Through Christ’s torture and death we are reconciled to God and that’s the biggie, but we are left with time here on earth in a discordant world. God didn’t just provide a victor over death, He afforded a means for us to live in harmony with each other and reside in a global community with confidence that God is in charge, always has been, always will be.

Have a great weekend!

Gretchen

Day after day, in the temple court and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. Acts 5:42

In addition to this verse I encourage you to read Acts 5:17-41. The Apostles were suffering extreme injustice and persecution for their evangelical work. Yet, no threat of abuse or loss of life was worth losing the promise of eternal life. Verse 41 tells that following a flogging intended to shut them up, the Apostles began rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the cross. Then came ‘Day after day, in the temple courts…………….’

I’ve heard of praising God, ‘In the Storm,’ I’ve even managed to praise Him in the storm, but these men were praising God FOR the storm.

It takes great maturity and faith to look back across life’s journey and be thankful for the tempest that nearly took us out. Yes, it is crucial that we praise God in the storm for this is the only way to survive and grow, but it is huge when we can reflect and see that the cross we were bearing was leading another to the cross of Calvary.

As the Apostles did, be faithful, grateful and very vocal knowing it will be worth it throughout all eternity.

Love,

Gretchen

 

And in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over
every power and authority. Colossians 2:10 NIV

I should really back this devotional up to verse 8 which states, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

There is no argument that humans across the globe share similar patterns of behavior. We tend to act and react the same way in response to stimuli. We cry over a sad story, we cheer when the underdog triumphs over unsurmountable odds, AND we all get bogged down in the drudgery of everyday life. We are a very predictable species.

Except………

In Christ’s fullness you break the barriers of ordinary, habitual and frustratingly destructive conduct. In Christ you become all you are meant to be! You are no longer commanded by predictable human nature. Christ has every power in Heaven and earth and through Christ you are filled with that same power to overcome the ordinary responses of human nature. Faith tears down fear, love nullifies anger, mercy wins over vengeance and grace irradiates poverty of body and soul.

The fulness of Christ means to lose our human nature and take the nature of Christ. It’s a total makeover, totally free and totally worth it!

Love,

Gretchen

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” John 3:5 NIV

It is never appropriate to pull one verse away from its context and give it independent meaning. This verse is an extreme example. Read John 3:1-21 and experience the story of Nicodemus, a pharisee, a prominent powerful Jewish leader, coming to Jesus in the dark of night seeking answers.

Jesus did not scold Nicodemus like a naughty child for lurking about in secret but neither did He laud him for his status. He simply explained God’s love, God’s plan and God’s redeeming hope. The beautiful words of John 3:16 were first uttered to this struggling seeker.

Jesus gave Nicodemus what He gives us all, the offer of salvation from a world that will kill us and redemption from the hater that thinks he owns us. The choice is ours, no one else’s. Just remember, you are worth the great price that was paid for you and instead of bondage you receive perfect, unfathomable freedom!

In His Great Love,

Gretchen

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 NIV

Meek is an adjective that has been totally flipped by the English language. It is a positive descriptive word but a self absorbed world that demands its own way has devalued meekness to the point that it brings shame. By human standards meekness denotes someone who is easily maneuvered against their will while never daring to protest, an easy target that no one ever dreams of becoming. Yet, Jesus states in His Sermon on the Mount, meekness as a very desirable characteristic in achieving favor on earth.

What’s the real deal with meekness then? Meekness begets kindness, practices forbearance, depends on faithfulness, exercises gentleness and self-control and reaps love and joy. Isn’t ‘Meek’ a beautiful ideal?

Meekness is not weakness, it’s strength under perfect control.

Blessings,

Gretchen

In all Your ways submit to Him, and he will make you paths straight. Proverbs 3:6 NIV

When I am traveling and I ask my Garmin GPS to search for the nearest Walmart, it gives me directions that include time and distance through city streets and traffic but it also offers an ‘As the crow flies’ milage. I find myself envious of the crow. Oh to have a straight passage, uninterrupted with mundane clutter and disturbances, straight to the place that holds all things I need materially.

God in His great love offers us this “As the crow flies” way of life. He has already planned the route, He keeps it clear of what will hinder, tempt, distract or discourage us from the joy of our journey with Him and those He has given us along the way. His path is straight, safe, nurturing and nourishing, but the best part is that every step leads straight to the Throne of God.

Happy Trails,

Gretchen

The first time I realized my home was profoundly different from most was as a teenager during the Cold War. Minute Man missile silos in the near country side were a continuos reminder of world affairs and I worried constantly about peace on earth, goodwill toward men. That there were people on the face of the earth prejudiced toward me simply because I was an American was never far from my mind. Yes, I stayed distressed without ceasing! My dad commented that if I couldn’t think of anything real to worry about I invented something. I’m glad my parents had enough wisdom and personal strength to see me through these age appropriate worries without having me institutionalized or treated for extreme paranoia.

Dad was patient and wise. He realized I was on a journey to knowing God as my source of strength and assurance and sat beside my bed one sleepless night discussing the greatest concerns of my life: Friday night activities, facial blemishes, stylish fashions and the biggie….. Did the opposite sex find me acceptable? Exceptional? Or revolting? In the course of our conversation we graduated to discerning what the worries of fourteen year old Russian girls, or Chinese girls were. I began to realize that adolescent girls worldwide spend most of their creative energy and mental space on boys, social acceptance and daydreams of happily ever after, rather than the nuclear destruction of me.

In the following years as I became a wife and mother I again felt overwhelmed by the social and political status of the world. I had a toddler when the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed killing 168 people, including many pre-school children. The terror of Sept. 11, 2001 brought the world to a stop and my mother’s heart felt cold and afraid. As I processed each of these events and many others I returned to that night of crisis when dad taught me that with the exception of a very few extremely evil beings we are all the same world wide with much the same objective, peace. I am comforted that the issues of greatest concern to every mother in the world is the well being of her children. Therefore, there is hope and great possibility of dialogue on world peace or the lack thereof.

Loving a physically and emotionally hungry world is a priority to many people, not just me. I’m not in this alone and never will be. The essence of God is this, He sent His Son, the Prince of Peace to settle the battle between good and evil. The declaration that “Love Never Fails” (I Cor. 13:8) isn’t just a warm fuzzy, but a promise worthy of guiding our every action. It’s 100% guaranteed to win……..… Actually, it already did!

Blessings,
Gretchen

Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.   1 John 4:8

Sometimes there are no more words to add. Have a wonderful weekend and know, you are loved, you are cherished and you have great value because God gave His Son so that sin (yours or anyone else’s) cannot hold you captive.

Love,

Gretchen

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 NIV

This verse is commonly used to memorialize civil servants and military that have paid the ultimate price for our freedom and peace, and rightly done. Except, this passage of scripture says nothing about the life given coming to an end. Jesus is emboldening His disciples to love one another, to make love their priority however long life will last.

To lay down our lives for others is to set ourselves aside and put others first, to love others so much that our own feelings, emotions, objectives become shadowed by a world that needs our grace. I’ve often used the slang phrase, “Cut me some slack.” In other words, “I need your grace, please look beyond my carnal instinct and behavior and forgive me.” I need the grace of my family, colleagues and friends daily. When they set aside their natural reaction to my mistakes or misspoken words and return kindness and camaraderie, they have set aside their life for the sake of mine. They put me first when I don’t deserve it but need it in great proportions. Kindness, goodness, perseverance, self-control…….these things are sacrifices that we can offer in our daily walk and the world really could use it.

Christ loves us so much that His comforts, His very life meant nothing in the battle for our eternal life. He put us first. We must lay down our lives for our friends and put them first daily.