Month: May 2018

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail, they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

The beautiful, unassailable Jerusalem, has fallen to King Nebuchadnezzar’s army after many years of siege. God has allowed His covenant nation to be exiled to Egypt and Babylon.  Jeremiah wrote the appendage to the book of his name, sending copies of it with the captives to learn and put in their heart.  It was written in an acrostic, making memorization easier. 

In chapter three, Jeremiah laments that by choice, God no longer hears His people who have broken faith.  The God of Love, has become the God of wrath and judgement. Their sufferings were horrific. The Jewish people had become entitled and believed they were above God’s commands simply by relationship to Abraham. They were wrong and the cost of their sin was far greater than they ever imagined or wanted to pay.   

By faith we know that God is sovereign, but a greater faith gives us peace that God is Good. Although it is hard to see and even more difficult to voice, God is the God of redemption and restoration.  Jerusalem did become a great city once again, but it was there that the Jewish authority had Jesus crucified.  In this tragedy, it is once again revealed that God’s Grace and Mercy are available and sufficient. We will never be consumed by this world because God is near, He is faithful and His compassions never fail.

Have a Lovely Day,

Gretchen

In the spring of 1984 Keith and I decided we couldn’t live without each other.  We married in the winter of 1985. By the time 1986 began, we had owned and sold twenty-one vehicles! This pattern has continued throughout our 33 years of marriage. Some people complain they can’t remember where they parked.  I struggle to recall WHAT I parked! 

Before I said, “I do,” God allowed me an opportunity to see into the future. Shortly after our engagement, Keith sold his perfectly reliable truck and purchased a questionable 1967 Pontiac Firebird.  We were college students in Bethany, Oklahoma and I was confused over his decision. His response, “If I just get it to Arkansas, dad and I can fix it.” When that silly heap quit, you could see “Welcome to Arkansas” in the rearview mirror. Yes, it got us to our home state, but we were still 135 miles from his dad’s.

There was a time when each salvage yard visit, in search of a particular part, held the hope of a refurbished piece of history. However, Keith has the heart of a tinker and quickly loses interest in the details it takes to recreate a classic. As quickly as the motor hums, it’s for sale and will soon become the next guy’s dream. 

We have a dear friend that shares Keith’s love of motorized horsepower. But, where Keith is a good mechanic, Bill Frye is an artist of the highest order. Bill does NOT tinker. He is a meticulous, serious, perfectionist and his success in the sport of Late Model Dirt Track Racing reflects this.  Keith spent several years as a member of Bill Frye Motorsports. After each race, the GRT #66 was taken apart, cleaned, adjusted, oiled, logged and readied for the next day’s activities. The objective was to send the race car back onto the track better than it had ever been before. 

Bill’s standard of excellence isn’t limited to the track.  He also loves the heavy metal of yesteryear. When his hauler backs into his workplace, and he unloads a beat up old jalopy, a painstaking process to dismantle and rebuild begins. As each bolt is removed and every chip of paint is sanded off, the engineering of the past is weighed. Is it still the best option? If not, it is replaced, new and improved.  With patience and precision, the finished product becomes better than it ever was before. 

Keith likes to say, “God does to people what Bill does to cars.”  You are more than the odometer reading, the dents and the dings, or the places you’ve been. When God restores, He makes all things new. Better than ever is His specialty.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

Chasing the Wind,

Gretchen   

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Psalm 5:11

David’s most magnificent Psalms were born in his times of trouble.  He had many enemies. As a young boy he fought a giant when King Saul’s soldiers were too intimidated to defend themselves. Success and fame brought about the wrath of a jealous king who drove David away from his home, family and friends, and into hiding for many years. 

David eventually became the king he had been anointed to be when he was young. This brought a new version of adversity. He also made some pretty poor personal and moral choices in his adult years resulting in tragedy and sorrow, but in the midst of all of this, he recognized a God that loathes evil and rewards good.  David chose to give single minded devotion to this God of Holiness and love.

Because God does not tolerate wickedness, His presence is a place of security. In Him is found peace and rest, for David and for you!

Happy Weekend,

Gretchen

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9:17

In the beginning God made order out of chaos.  He created the boundaries of nature and all its inhabitants. Then sin disrupted God’s perfect creation and God let loose the destructive forces of earth. His purpose was not to annihilate mankind, but to bring about a new beginning.

Noah, the sole Godly human of his time, who lived in fellowship with God, will not perish in this universal judgement. Because he does exactly what God tells him, (Noah had never seen rain, heard thunder or had any personal reference to flooding) he is provided refuge and safety from the storm. The story of the flood is not about God’s power to destroy, but His power to save those who are obedient and faithful.

Earth’s population will never again be inundated with water, but when the wind settles, the air is crisp and clean and its safe to slash in puddles, find that rainbow and remember, God can make all things new.

Love,

Gretchen 

He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, right and just is He. Deuteronomy  32:4

The book of Deuteronomy contains the code for a divinely sanctioned theocracy.  Code is a system for communication and a means of perfect connection between God and man.  This code (sometimes referred to as law) sets a high value on human life, points to God and His love and man’s love toward one another. God’s design is for man to follow Him alone, but because of sin, man has become slave to man. 

Chapter 32 is a song composed by Moses, as a means to perpetuate God’s sovereignty on the hearts of His people for all generations and to all nations. God knows that His covenant people, will become rebellious.  The song reminds them of God’s Holiness and perfect love, but the verses and song continue to tell the consequences of treachery toward their creator. However, God is forever  in the forgiving, redeeming and restoring business.   

The One who created us knows we are not perfect.  He is aware of our weaknesses, but they are never to be our excuses because His Holiness is sufficient to sustain us and make us what we were designed to be.

Love,

Gretchen

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.  Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:4-5

When life is too hard to handle, I go to the Psalms. They are my comfort soul food.

Comfort No. 1: Looking through primitive telescopes decades ago, scientists thought they saw new, never before seen stars. Today, star gazers, with new and improved tools, recognize that they were not seeing single stars but galaxies with billions upon billions of stars. Who knew?  God did. He made them perfectly and purposely.

Comfort No. 2:  While man is still making new breakthroughs in everything from the workings of the human brain to finding new elements and ways to recycle old ones, God is already there.  He is not a teasing, taunting God that withholds insight, but allows us the marvel of discovery and in seeking we find greater wonder in God. His knowledge has no limit.

Comfort No. 3:  God is not human. God is God, man is man and there is no comparison.  God and man cannot be brought together except through confession, complete humility and total, exhaustive faith.  God will not speak, think or act like mortal man. Man constantly fights their egocentric instinct, God ALWAYS acts in your best, loving interest.

Comfort No. 4: You can never consume too many spiritual calories, so indulge!

Love,

Gretchen

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

Paul was imprisoned in Rome when he wrote the church in Colossae, a city near the border of Asia and about 100 miles from Corinth.  This church was dealing with a supposed ‘higher thinking,’ and enlightened philosophy that called for the worship of angels as heavenly mediates and strict adherence to select jewish laws, blended together with superior arrogance.

There is a glue that holds the universe perfectly together, gravity and magnetic energy.  As opposing or complimentary forces, they hold the electrons of an atom a perfect distance away from its nucleus, allowing them to connect in perfect harmony with each other, to create the elements that sustain life. Earth’s path is a specific distance from the sun and tilts a certain degree as it rotates on an axis and orbits with the other planets in our solar system. In all this magnificence, there is only one thing that matters, God.  He always was and always will be.  He is bound by neither time or space.

Only God was infinite.  When there was nothing, there was God. Then there was everything, but most importantly, He sent His Son so that a fallen, broken man can live in harmony on earth and eternally in His Peace and Majesty. Now we can be infinite too.

Love,

Gretchen

And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power? Job 26:14

Left with only the ability to breath and some free oxygen, nothing more, no man has seen more personal devastation than Job.  In the midst of his anguish, his friends try to sift through and analyze all of his motivations and deeds, trying desperately to find a reason, a place to affix blame, for his horrific calamities. Job defends his innocence and in this passage, speaks boldly of God’s creative power and sovereign authority.

From the tiniest spiral seashell to the far away galaxies of the universe, patterned the same, God leaves His personal signature on our world. This knowledge was singularly enough for Job to rest his entire wellbeing on. We place confidence in what we comprehend and feel we are entitled to, but great faith is built upon the simple acknowledgement of God’s might power and nothing more.    

When faith is gone, there is no hope.  When hope departs, life quickly follows. Job refused to release himself to this despair. If all he had was God, then that was enough. This must be our daily breath, to know and live accordingly.

Have a Blessed Monday,

Gretchen

I was a junior in high school when the missile silo in Damascus, Arkansas blew up.  My father was on the volunteer fire department and was called to spread the word, “Get your things and proceed to a safe distance away.”  It was the middle of the night when mother woke my three siblings and me from our slumber, had us quickly prepare a suitcase, reminded us we need never forget our Bibles and as we got in the car, we opened the dog pen that held our pet beagle and her puppies.  If we were unable to return in a reasonable amount of time, then momma dog must be able to get to water and forage for food. We were terrified and we cried.

This event was the culmination of all the worries I carried in my heart as a child/youth.  The cold war was ever present on the news and the horrors of the Vietnam War and returning POWs was a reminder of worlds we might never touch, but must know if we were going to be compassionate citizens of planet earth. I was a closet consumer of news. It was my secret security. To know was to be forewarned and prepared.  In addition to this, the Titan missile silos were ever present on the horizon or our night time world.  Any direction you looked you could see the red blinking lights atop the radio towers at the sites.

The concerns of my heart were sometimes incapacitating.  My mind would not turn loose of nuclear holocaust and its real and present threat.  I did not want to live in a world that looked like Hiroshima. One sleepless night my father sat beside my bed and I confessed to him how distrustful I was of everything and everyone. Why did the Russians hate us so much? What was going on in the middle east, and Great Britain was having a little fuss in the Falkland Islands that had every one in an uproar!! The world was soon going to end!!!!!………  I knew I would go to Heaven, I just didn’t want to go tomorrow. I asked him to help me find peace of mind and heart.

Over the next serval days and weeks I spent a great deal of time with dad as we refinished some furniture and built shelves and cabinets for the home our family had recently built.  These were the golden days of my young life because I began to grow and mature in my spiritual understanding of God’s character. My faith grew, but my anchor was this conversation.

         “Dad, why do people that don’t even know us, hate us?”

          “I don’t know that everyone does. Do you thing there is a young girl in the USSR                   tonight asking her father why American’s hate her, even though they don’t know               her?”

           “Probably.”

           “What should her father tell her?”

           “That we don’t.”

          “Gretchen, your mother and I are doing our part to create peace on earth because                we love you.  Do you think other parents throughout the world are also building               peace for their children too?”

           “Yes dad.”

            “Gretchen, as long as mother’s love their children, there will be people working                   harder for peace than for war.  You are going to be okay.  Fill your mind with                       good, wear yourself out doing right and love.”

Dad was correct.  I’m okay and to all the mothers under the sun, thank you for a love that promotes unity for a better world. Please never stop!

Happy Mother’s Day,

Gretchen

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Paul, the author, planned to bring the Gospel of Christ to the gentiles in Rome. He was presently in Corinth, but headed to Jerusalem with an offering for the suffering Jews who were being persecuted for their new found faith. Not sure that he would leave Jerusalem alive, he wrote this letter to the ‘capitol of the world’ explaining the nature of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.

Rome was also the capitol of depravity. These people had many gods but did not submit to anything but their own immoral pleasure. The flip side of this issue you find Jews so wrapped up in the ancient law and adhering to standards  impossible to attain. In both of these extremes, the All Mighty Power and Wonder of God’s creative character, is lost in a man centered mentality.

God owes man nothing, certainly not a verification of His existence. Still, everything about creation speaks that we are His glory, the very thing He created for and God is daily, revealing Himself, His character, in the mundane everyday rising of the sun and the setting there of. If nothing else, this is reason to believe and praise.

Love,

Gretchen

P.S. Give your ears a treat and listen to the song, How Great Thou Art.