Month: July 2018

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  Psalm 20:7

For today’s devotional we are going to link two ideas together for spiritual renewal and encouragement: Faith and common sense.

This worship Psalm was used as David was preparing for battle. Jerusalem gathered to pray and praise before the nation’s military met their approaching foe. As he and his forces prepared appropriately to engage in battle, they also asked for God’s blessing and protection.  God answered and Israel was the victor.

David was a warrior king.  He amassed and led a trained, outfitted and formidable army.  This is common sense from the man a nation relied on for security and continued prosperity. However, David knew he could have all the world’s resources if he sought them, but they were irrelevant without the will of the LORD our God.  How do you access God’s power and will? Faith.

Common sense says, prepare. There are things you must do, things you will need. Act accordingly. But, when life gets real and all the preparation in the world isn’t enough, add faith. It is time to step aside and let God be God. He is not upstaging you, selfishly controlling your outcomes or invalidating your efforts to be ready.  He is doing what you cannot……He’s being God!

Love,

Gretchen

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven. Hebrews 1:3 

Many Jews who came to believe Jesus was the Messiah felt that soon, Jerusalem would become capitol of the world.  Rome would crumble and Jesus would reign.  Where they had been oppressed, they would rule. It didn’t turn out that way!  It is believed that Paul wrote this letter from Rome, but did not attach his name to it, because he had become very unpopular. His message of perseverance and servitude was not well received by believers, and to those who would not repent!? Well, he had a lot to say about their present and future state.  No matter who did the writing, Hebrews is a letter to Jews, connecting Levitical Law to prophecy and prophecy to Jesus, the Son of God. It is the foundational footing for Christianity, therefore, it defines some very important facts that Christian’s then and today must anchor their faith to.

Jesus became the spotless Lamb who’s blood was spilled for a final sacrifice/atonement.  Prior to the crucifixion, priests made animal sacrifices for repentance of their sin. The process was specific, elaborate and important to covenant keeping, until Jesus died and rose again.  At that moment, death no longer had any hold on this world and the need for temple rituals became unnecessary.  But, God’s covenant people got hung up between traditions of the Old Law and the freedoms of the New. Which did God mean? Both, first one and then the other, but not together. 

Surviving life can feel impossible, certainly defeating. The Christians of Jerusalem came to know horrible persecution from all sides and eventually, their city of hope was completely destroyed. There could be no temple rituals because the temple was a pile of rubble. But, there was no need.  Access to God’s Throne is as near as the speaking of His name in reverent welcome. It was His breath that brought life to Adam, and it is His breath, the power of His Word, that brings eternal life once again, because Jesus, God’s Son, is alive and He is preparing your place in Heaven.

Hallelujah!

Gretchen

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28

I would have the one problem in the world that the LORD can’t figure out and fix……..I am the singular person on the planet that God has truly forgotten………I did it! I exhausted every patience and grace from He who promised to be infinite in all things……….

Do you ever share similar thoughts? The exiled people of Isaiah’s time, who were guilty of violating God’s covenant law because they were entitle and rebellious, have lost every thing at the hands of the Assyrian empire and they were thinking some hopeless thinks. They have been uprooted from their homeland and taken into slavery or relocated to strange lands. Disheartened and shattered they are aware it was their own sin that created their trouble, BUT God has sent word, He still loves. Not only does He hold the power to keep His promises, He begins to speak of an eternal Hope that will change the world permanently.

Our sins cost much this side of Heaven, but they are not a death sentence if we humble ourselves to God’s authority and forgiveness. Sin separates us from God, shame hobbles salvation’s joy. Fear halts progress, a stubborn heart does all satan’s work for Him.  And in the blink of an eye, or the pulse of a heartbeat, God brings life where all was thought to be dead. He has not forgotten, He is not confused and He has not quit loving. He is being God and that’s all you need.

Praying for your strength this Monday,

Gretchen

In the fall of my freshman year of college I had a summary over assigned reading due every Monday at 5:00 p.m. Each week I began writing at 4:00 p.m., then rushed across campus to turn in my haphazardly completed paper. But one autumn afternoon everything didn’t go as planned so it was 5 minutes after 5 when I arrived in the religion department just as Dr. Hahn was locking his door. I smiled, handed him my work and said, “Glad I caught you.”  Without saying a word he looked at his watch, tore my paper in two, handed the halves back to me, said, “Five o’clock means five o’clock,” and walked away. It stung badly, but I never turned anything in late again! I regret that I had to be taught to the point of offensiveness.

Years later, Keith and I bought a gorgeous red Camaro. The payment was high, the insurance steep, but it was a beauty.  We were way too hip for a minivan even though we had an infant. It turned out, the car’s cost went way beyond dollars. Its two doors were heavy objects that would sag overtime if I used them to hoist me or a child’s carrier in and out of the back seat. I endured rainy days with water dripping down my back as I buckled my baby in behind the cool low riding bucket seats. Each time I walked through gravel or mud I worried about the wear and tear on the vehicle’s interior, and we won’t even discuss the crisis of an upside down bottle as I went scrambling to catch it before milk or formula soaked into the upholstery. I made sixty payments and resented most of them. When we sold it, I was thrilled to see it go. To this day I won’t buy boxed macaroni because I associate it with this season of life. I regret the moments of true goodness I missed at the expense of lookin’ good going down the road.

We have a friend that has excelled tremendously as a dirt track racer, but long before we knew him, he had aspirations of racing on asphalt and knows that with his ability and connections he would have made the big league. It didn’t happen because, as a young man he began drinking and when he should have been heading toward his potential, an addiction had other ideas. He has often commented, “I would have been there if I hadn’t begun to drink.”  He has regrets and he wants you to know, he was wrong.

I have heard people say, “I refuse to look back in sorrow.”  I am not one of them. I made devastating, life-altering mistakes that cost me far more than my resources could accommodate.  That’s where Grace and Mercy became my miracle. But as I turn both directions and reflect, I see the hope I had, and know I have hope for tomorrow too.

Returning or recovering from profound disappointment in one’s self or another has a simple start. Say no and mean it. For some, “No,” is the starting point of consideration or negotiation. It is not. It is the end. When you say it, expect people to heed and when it is said to you, cease and desist. Think how different your life would be if this simple rule had been the norm. “No, I won’t, it’s not right and it won’t get me where I want to go.” It’s a the most important choice you will ever make and the most important lesson you will ever teach.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled upright and Godly lives in this present age.   

Titus 2:11-12

Happy Summer Time,

Gretchen

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as sliver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors. I Peter 1:18

How has silver and gold perished in my presence? Let me count the ways.  I have spent these precious metals on needs and wants, I have lost them in couch cushions, bartering has been an optional use and yes, the most valuable things on this earth have gone to rot through my personal neglect. At the end of the day, there is nothing except things with a beating heart, that are really worth my time and energy. It wasn’t silver, gold or any other inanimate element that was used to pay the price for eternal peace. It was a pulsing, breathing life, Jesus the Lamb of God.

The missionary Paul planted the early churches, but they were the result of much work and nurturing.  Peter, a disciple and very close friend of Jesus, also worked to guide and strengthen the new converts after Pentecost. They suffered much persecution, but the best and the very worst things of this world are irrelevant in the face of God’s everlasting love. 

Both Paul and Peter had face to face encounters with the One True God.  They were also martyred.  They had to chose, eternal life over eternal death when one or the other was seconds away.  Their lives tell their story, they didn’t perish, but the things of this world will, so don’t perish with them.

Love,

Gretchen

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

Transgression is defined as the violation of a law or command….. sin. Sin separates us from God because God will not cohabitant with evil and wrong doing.  There is an antidote to this death sentence. Mercy: The forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy or other person in one’s power, with compassion, pity or benevolence. Grace is unmerited favor or goodwill.

Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus is focused on character. Man is sinful and rebellious, but God is love. There is only one reason man has a hope of life over death, light instead of darkness and that is because God is love. All we have originates from this simple foundation.

The early church in Ephesus was distracted by cultural and ethnic diversity among their numbers.  They sometimes acted inappropriately and lost their vision, but God didn’t pack up and leave, He stayed with Light shining on Truth. His supply of mercy was and is infinite.

We have a staying, seeing things through, kind of God.  We have full access to all His resources of love, perseverance, endurance and forgiveness toward ourselves and others.

Love,

Gretchen

He will oppose and will exult himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. II Thessalonians 2:4-5

The church at Thessalonica was planted on Paul’s second missionary journey, but he was there only about three weeks before he was run out by Jewish leaders. The letters he sent to this church are some of his earliest writings and were written some twenty years after the resurrection.  In his short stay, Paul preached of Jesus’ second coming, but there was some confusion and unfinished teaching. The understanding of life after death was very primitive and these early christians were concerned about those among them that died before Jesus returned.

For the persecuted, those who lost their families and jobs because they chose to follow Christ, the hope of a quick end to suffering was reason to celebrate, but as the weeks, months and years passed by, it grew harder to cling to a religion unlike everything they had ever been taught. Paul bolsters their perseverance by telling of the things to come and what to expect from the evil one who wishes to rob the gifts of God’s great love. Satan will unleash every power and resource in his arsenal to destroy peace and hope.

Until the Lord returns and ends satan’s existence for all eternity, we are vulnerable to his wicked ploy to ruin all that God has created and given us.  But! Just as free will brings us to humble ourselves to forgiveness and salvation, it also lends us strength and resolve to stand firm in the face of fear and temptation. Righteousness until we see Jesus is a choice.

Love,

Gretchen

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance. Psalm 33:12

Those that worship the LORD are under His protection.  This Psalm is a song of praise.

This verse is used often as a call to national Holiness. That would indeed be a utopia, but the nation in this verse refers to Israel, God’s covenant nation, and when they turned to and followed God, miracles happened.  Tragically, it was never a lasting trend.

The word ‘nation’ is a collective noun, many parts making a whole.  Grammatically it is singular, but is obviously made of multiple pieces. As part of a ‘nation’ it is easy to give up hope for the future when righteousness is not the common objective, but that is a distraction brought to you by the one that longs to see you (and me) fail, one by discouraged one.

If ‘nation’ is collective, then each one of us has a part. Live righteously, encourage others with love and kindness, live as a witness to hope, not despair. Your assurance is in God’s everlasting Kingship, so worship, even if you must do it alone. It will make a difference to the whole.

Happy 4th!

Gretchen

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly  slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and LORD.  Jude 1:4

Jude, the younger brother of Jesus, became a believer after the resurrection. Late in his life he was going to pen a letter of testimony to salvation when he heard of some people causing confusion in the church.  These disrupters had no desire for truth. They sought to argue, create division, question God’s authority and use grace as a free license and justification to chase the pleasures and lusts of this world.

Jude refers back to the history of the Jewish people to remind his readers of the consequences that await those who defy God’s Holiness. Judgement will not be a day of glory for those who allow sin to infiltrate and twist the Word, or Breath of God.

It is not the message that is hard to discern, it is the choice of the hearer to hear. God is peace,  not confusion. 

Happy Tuesday,

Gretchen

But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Mark 9:34

The brothers, James and John, were returning from the Transfiguration where they encountered the irrefutable deity of Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God. But they still had many questions about the Old Testament Law and Prophecy in relation to this Man of miracles.

Jesus’ time on earth was nearing its end and so He begins to turn His teaching away from the masses and to the disciples that have followed Him and shared in His ministry.  There is much for them to learn in regards to how the world should be when His mortal presence is gone. Jesus begins to speak of His death, but this further confuses James and John who have known nothing but Jewish Law and hierarchy all their lives. If Jesus is to be their Messiah, their King, then life should become more secure, not uncertain.

The brothers were trying to figure things out.  Every culture, society and family has a social order, so they would expect this new world order to have one too and they wanted their rightful place. But Jesus came to serve man, to save humanity, by pouring Himself out completely for each one of us.  Anyone that wants a part of God’s Kingdom must do likewise and others must come first.

Have a Great Holiday Monday,

Gretchen