Thursday, December 21, 2017

He will be their peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders. Micah 5:5

Micah was a small town prophet who was well known to kings. He lived in a time of great political and religious corruption. A contemporary of Isaiah, Micah’s three themes to the nations of both Israel and Judah were their sin, their destruction and their restoration. In addition he is the prophet that named Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Christ Child.

Samaria and Jerusalem will both be destroyed, but Micah sees a time when Jerusalem will be the religious center of the world. A Messiah would come. The numbers in this verse are not specific, but symbolize that God will provide whatever is needed to protect and triumph.

The most beautiful aspect of this prophecy is the peace that will occur in the midst of an attack. Man cannot fathom peace in a raging storm, but knows the peace that passes all understanding when God’s presence fills a space and security and assurance is no longer hope, but reality. Jesus came to give peace!

May your Thursday be Blessed,

Gretchen

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

“The virgin will conceive an give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel-which means ‘God with us.’” Matthew 1:23

From very early in the history of man, God chose Abraham’s family line to deliver His Son into the world. Two of the Gospels give us this genealogy. Matthew’s accounting is condensed, going from Abraham to Joseph. Luke goes from Mary all the way back to Adam. The bloodline of Mary shows Jesus’ connection to The House of David, the prophecy fulfilled. As Joseph’s son, Jesus is a legal heir to the promises given Abraham, He is royalty. Isaiah’s words have come to life! (7:14)

A lot is said about the virgin birth of Jesus, but there was a virgin conception first. The power and activity of the Holy Spirit brought the birth of Jesus, the incarnate God came into His own creation… This believe is a fundamental. Jesus is The Son of God, and The Son of Man. As the Son of God, He has all the power and glory of Heaven, as the Son of Man, He feels what we feel, is tempted as we are. He suffers pain, sorrow, insult and isolation and yet, brings Heaven to earth so that we may share in His inheritance and live eternally in the home He has prepared for us.

The Christmas Season is full of carols referencing Immanuel, God with us. I hope you embrace the miracle and gift that the virgin conception has given mankind.

Have a Wonderful Monday,

Gretchen

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD  has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1

Isaiah was a Messianic prophet. He knew that from the people of Israel, specifically Judah, a great blessing would come. God would fulfill His covenant with Abraham, to bless all nations.

This chosen nation is in shambles. They expected much, but gave nothing. God requires obedience but that was too tall a request. Continually defying God’s commands, turned their back on His love and crumbled their own hope. BUT there is a bridge between shame and dying and freedom and healing. It’s God Son, the Christ Child. A Redeemer and Healer is coming.

When Jesus enters His ministry, after His baptism and temptation, He goes to the synagogue as every Jewish man did. He read this passage quoting Isaiah and announced that it had been fulfilled. (Luke 4:16-21)

The greatest gift of Christmas is the power of victory that Baby brought to earth. When you see the nativity, you see Heaven and every promise God has given will be kept.

There is a Christmas tune, O Come O Come Immanuel, based on this passage from Isaiah. Enjoy it sometime today and soak in its assurance.

Love,

Gretchen

Monday, December 18, 2017

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name. Philippians 2:9

Verses 5-11 are probably a quotation from an ancient hymn.

He that drew the adoration of Heaven, came to earth a helpless baby, lived humbly, served paupers, and was given the name Jesus. His model is our call. The Prince of Heaven, relinquished all His entitlements, including His life, to personally show us the way Home.

The Philippian church was Paul’s first mission in Europe. Home to Luke, it was a medical center, Roman colony and prosperous region. This church suffered its share of persecution, but divisions in theology began to arise. Rather than remind this congregation of the fundamentals in Christian living, Paul wrote to encourage greater spiritual maturity. Live as Christ lived. Put away pride and prejudice, love and serve others without question or malice and live in accord with one another.

Jesus: A name that sets the captive free, calms the storms, heals the broken in body and soul and gives strength to the weary. It is above all others.

Happy Monday,

Gretchen

Sunday Stories, December 17, 2017

They Became Men

My dad shared his childhood with four siblings. James Bryan was sandwiched in the middle with an older sister, June, brother, Wendell, and a younger sister Betty. His father and mother were both minsters who lived simply in the service of God’s kingdom. Financial status did not denote class or dignity. They had that in vast supply, so life was rich with good. Recently the beloved big brother suffered the greatest grief known to man. Cancer took his son at much too young an age. Heaven grew a little more precious to each of us and this truth became very personal: God watched His son die too. Through this unspeakable grief we are reminded that in love, everything was gained and NOTHING was lost.

In the quiet of a morning following my cousin’s memorial, I begged my father to once again tell of the simpler days of his childhood.

In Paragould, Arkansas there is a canal, Eight Mile Slough. Deep winter froze it solid making a wonderland for the imagination of local boys that trekked the alley ways of town to its banks. The cold, mixed with every youngster’s fascination with fire, resulted in leaves, sticks and small logs being lit………in the clearing, on the ice! A quick lesson on melting speed was learned, everyone escaped a little wiser and as far as is known, no parents ever discovered the mischief of their sons.

Dad and Wendell had a common shotgun, a gift from their father. Birth order gives preference in things like shooting turns. To hear dad tell, Wendell shot, dad watched. (I’ve yet to know uncles’s perspective.) Knotholes and small tree branches were favorite targets. One afternoon Wendell shot high into the trees and from a distance the brothers heard an agonizing groan. In terror they ran home, hid the gun and awaited word on the mysterious death of a community member. Days passed, no constable came checking and no funerals were announced. Age gave way to knowing a falling shotgun shell would not hurt anyone, but a greater respect for living things had grown strong.

Like the shotgun, the brothers shared an old dilapidated bicycle someone had given the parsonage children. The bent and jagged end of the pedal shaft ripped into flesh if the rider wasn’t proficient and careful, but the greatest impediment to its use for transportation was the nearly flat, rear tire. This only slowed the boys, it didn’t stop them, and one afternoon as Wendell hopped on the seat, dad reached to squeeze the rear tire and check the air pressure. Wendell pushed forward and dad’s hand spun up under a rusty, filthy fender making a large gash across a little hand. All dad could think of was the rubbing alcohol his mindful mother would use to clean the wound and assure the health of her child. So the cut was hidden in pant pockets for days. Today dad still has a scar to remind him that all dirt isn’t dirty but he’s still lucky to be alive.

One summer night in the community of Pickens Chapel, Wendell and his friends took off with guns and lanterns to possum hunt. Bryan followed. There was a serious lack of small game, so the big boys decided it would be a lark to run ahead, put out the light, hide and wait for Bryan to cry. Instead, knowing it was his last night on earth, as he would die alone in the dark woods, dad sat down, leaned on a tree, thought of how mad his mom would be that Wendell let him die, and bravely waited for death’s peace of come. Soon the orneriness of the older boys turned to fear as they could not find the object of their joke. Under a warm blanket of stars dad learned the strength of decision, resolve and determination and in keeping with the honorable and loving character of my uncle, and I know he must have walked away bigger on the inside too.

From lighting firecrackers in the house, to sneaking off to the train station and following the circus to the fair grounds, my dad shadowed his brother every step of the way. In the stillness of our morning’s reminiscence dad looked me straight in the eye and said, “Wendell often picked me up and carried me on his back through fields of burrs, snow or mud bogs. I knew he loved me.”

Years later both of these great men became fathers and family lore tells they reverted back to the fun of their childhood clowning around with the toys meant for their sons and daughters. They took us on many adventures with lots of laughter and love. When their precious sister died at the age of fifty leaving four, young adult children, these two wonderful men stood together keeping our family closely connected and strengthened. In time their own father passed. They and their baby sister cared jointly, compassionately and civilly for their mother’s needs until, at the age of 94, she joined her husband at the Throne of God. They are amazing in their ability to be incredibly different and yet, share deeply in a common love and drive for mankind’s spiritual welfare.

Together they became men. Their escapades were many and bound them in faith, hope and love.

Gretchen

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD, You are great, and Your name is great in might. Jeremiah 10:6 (Read the entire chapter, it’s a good one!)

Babylon’s invasion of Judah resulted in many gods becoming a common, acceptable part of everyday life for the Jewish people dispersed and separated from their communities and families. Jewish craftsmen participated in the manufacture of false gods, making easy monetary gain from something insulting to God.

Things created by the hands of man are inanimate, soulless and powerless, yet we exchange our hearts and minds for these rather than worship, trust and love the One who designed us to fit perfectly in the universe He set in motion.

God is the One True God, there is none like Him. Man invests the dreams of his lifetime in wooden and paper idols that have no power except to compromise integrity and rob him of hope, peace and joy. It simply makes no logical sense.

He is not just the All Mighty God of the Ages, He is the All Mighty God of your today!

Love,

Gretchen

Friday, December 15, 2017

“And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” Matthew 16:19

Jesus must become real to His disciples. He can no longer be the man of the prophecies, certainly not the opinions of the pharisees and sadducees, or just a man of miraculous deeds, He must become the Son of God, the Messiah, their Savior.

Peter had spent two and a half years working beside Jesus serving others, healing and teaching and finally he understood and confessed that Jesus was the Heir of Heaven. This single truth is the foundation of all Christendom. Peter was not given the power to forgive sins, but through the Holy Spirit he and the other disciples delivered the means. He was the orator on the the day of Pentecost, the birth of the church for both Jew and Gentile.

Just like Peter, we must discover Jesus as our own Messiah. We rely so heavily on tradition and what other people say, but just like the twelve disciples, we must diligently seek Biblical truth and the intimate, personal Savior Jesus died to be.

Love,

Gretchen

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will turn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen. Revelation 1:7

Revelation is meant to be the book of the Bible with the most optimism, for it holds the most precious promises of God. We are protected and victorious. This book was written after the horrendous tortures of Nero that took the lives of both Paul and Peter. During the persecution of Domitian, John, a Jewish Christian (tradition indicates it is John the Apostle but there is good argument it is not) was banished to the Island of Patmos where this revelation from God was given. All that was given was meant to warn against selfish, personal agenda in the churches, apathy toward suffering and sin, and remind us of the greatest triumph imaginable for those that persevere, love and worship the Lord their God.

What we are reading is what John saw. Jesus will return and everyone will recognize Him, even those who denied His existence or divine connection. There will be no mistaking who has arrived and what His purpose is.

My heart sings knowing that on that day I will be judged in the purest of ways. My creator knows my heart, my joys, my grief, my defeats and my wins. I will not be allowed to make excuses, or inflate my intentions. It will be just me and My LORD the omnipotent, omniscient, all powerful Savior and a transparent accounting. Then I will see Him face to face and my everlasting peace will be complete.

Have a Triumphant Thursday,

Gretchen

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 (I encourage you to read verses 13-18)

God gets blamed for many things He did not do. Man was born with the urge to sin, to have his own way. We lust and that drives us to put ourselves first and hurt others, leaving scars on the beauty of the gift God granted. And if that is not enough, these sins bring death, eternal separation from God and all that is Holy and good.

God is good. He gives life, restores what is broken. He gave His Son so that we could be reborn with the power to put away our instinct to sin.

We know where to turn for help and guidance, our attitude is positive and life has value and hope when our perspective shines on the weakness of our nature and the strength of God’s overcoming power.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday,

Gretchen

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4

The beauty of the Psalms is that they have God at their center, not man. Psalm 91 is a hymn of trust. God jealously guards and protects His people.

My daughter loves chickens, and from her flock I learned that when danger approaches, chicks run to the hen, even those that are not hers, she fluffs her feathers and causally sits down as if nothing is bothering her, completely hiding the helpless beneath her wings. The chicks are as secure as if the never existed. To the predator they are invisible. God’s protection is like this!

Dwelling in the Psalms is a most comforting respite. Thousands of years ago, there were people that thought my same discouraged thoughts, felt bitter agony, feared the world they existed in, longed to see into the future, had only hope to cling to and in the midst of their struggles they found a Faithful Father. That Wonderful, LORD is still the same for each of us today.

Love,

Gretchen