Month: March 2019

Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be My people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:20 (Ezekiel 8-11) 

Ezekiel is transported to Jerusalem via a rapture. As he walks the streets of Judah’s magnificent city and into the Temple built by Solomon, for the exclusive glory of God, he sees a state transgression that is worse than any of the surrounding pagan peoples. God commands that all the faithful be marked for they will be spared judgement. He is preparing to remove His presence from this once, Holy place. When done, all hope is gone and Ezekiel is transported back to his home where he gives a report to the elders. 

The Temple is now an empty shell. The heart and soul of the City of David has departed, there is no turning back.

In my studies I read, I must understand the prophecies and meaning of Ezekiel if I am to understand John’s revelation.  More obvious than ever, I see that hell is simply the absence of God. When death comes, free choice is a foregone option. God will not coexist with sin, so the sinner will be abandoned to a place that God is not and He will not enter that place to rescue you when you discover how awful it is going to be for all eternity. Please understand this! There is no hope, nor will there ever be, in this singular place in the universe God refuses to be.

The Temple is now just another pile of rocks because God is not there. Don’t be that place and do not confine yourself to hell for all eternity. Fill yourself with Holiness, be the dwelling place of the King of Kings.

Passionately Pleading!

Gretchen

The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. “They they will know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 7:27 (Ezekiel 1-7) 

Ezekiel was part of the ‘Great Deportation’ that took 10,000 statesmen, craftsmen and soldiers from Judah into Babylonia. He was in his late twenties, training for the priesthood with a wife and children. All seemed lost. And then! When he was thirty, the age a priest begins work and also the age John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries, God gave him a vision. He saw sin in all its blackness contrasted with God, all-knowing, all-seeing, ever present and Glorified!

With meticulous attention to precise dates and vivid symbolism, Ezekiel brings a message of personal accountability. Sin must be seen as it is, devastatingly destructive, and God is to be Sovereign over all things, yet a Kind and Good Friend. Ezekiel’s mission was one of great sacrifice. He lived in personal famine to illustrate the consequence of rejecting God. He shaved himself bald to give living evidence of the grief and shame God felt over Israel and Judah.

First came the judgement that had been promised. It was horrible, but just. The people of Judah had filled the Temple with prostitution, secret animal worship and false gods. Second, a renewal was begun. In captivity the covenant people lost their entitlement and were humbled. From this point they began to see and become what God designed them to be.

Some individuals became the best versions of themselves (Ezekiel, Daniel, Baruch….) and others became the worst. It is a free choice. Choose God’s version, it is a perfect fit in any circumstance.

Love,

Gretchen

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (Jeremiah 23, 27-29, 50-51)

Jeremiah is told to send letters to the exiles, those who were carried off in the first round of deportations.  The false prophets were still telling the people all was well, Jerusalem was safe and their captivity would be short lived. They were not speaking the Word of the Lord, and for Hananiah, the prophet who boldly broke the yoke Jeremiah wore to illustrate a peaceful submission to Babylonia, he met a quick death and eternal separation from God.

The prediction of Babylon’s final downfall was told in chapters 50 and 51.  This book was to be read publicly, then taken to the Euphrates and sunk as a demonstration of how Babylon itself would sink rather than rise.  For all its powerful splendor, this magnificent empire lasted less than 100 years.

God’s message to the displaced people of Judah is to settle in for the long haul.  The exile would be seventy years. Build homes, grow gardens and eat from the harvest, marry and procreate, and pray for their communities and neighbors because they all succeed together or fail as one.

God demanded that these people chose peace and prayer for one another. It would once again set them apart. In the midst of injustice, discomfort and an incredibly uncertain future there is the promise that God has not given up, He won’t forget nor become disinterested.  He has a plan and it is good.

In prayer you will find a plan and a peace that passes all understanding.

Love,

Gretchen

I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jeremiah 24:7(II Kings 24, Jeremiah 24, 48-49)

Jehoiakim, Judah’s king, must have had a death wish. He burned the scroll, God’s Word, dictated by Jeremiah to the scribe Baruch. Judah was also being harassed on all sides by enemies on their borders. Jehoiakim was destined to live in constant conflict. If that wasn’t enough, he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzer by refusing to pay his taxes. As the Babylonian army approached, Jeoiakim suddenly died. His son Jehoiachin became king and did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He was taken captive when he surrendered Jerusalem and Nebuchadnezzar set up a puppet king, Zedekiah, the third son of king Josiah. He would be Judah’s last king.

Jeremiah is extremely concerned that false prophets are still saying all is well, even though it clearly isn’t. He took the opportunity to prophesy against all those who have oppressed God’s covenant people. The list includes Ammon, Edom, Syria, Hazor, Elam and Moab, and as predicted, Nebuchadnezzar conquered these nations. He then turns his energies on those masquerading as the voice of God. Then, the LORD gave Jeremiah a vision, a hope for the future. The good figs in chapter 24 were the best people, those carried into captivity, including Daniel and Ezekiel, who would remain faithful. For them, God is shaping the future.

Out of the worst possible scenario, came the absolute best possible outcome. They would return and from this land would come a Savior, Christ the LORD, Emmanuel, King of Kings. Don’t micro-manage God. Let Him shape the future.

Love,

Gretchen

This has been a week of exile and this blog is my story in real time, not a whimsical reflection of the past.  It is full of the pronoun ‘I’ and for that, please accept my apology. There is a center of the universe and it certainly isn’t me, but I can’t give this testimony without its presence. The combination of a nasty flu virus and my chosen Lent fast isolated me from contact with life beyond my front door.

I have a strong propensity to seek security in being informed by means of a constant diet of news broadcasts. (Seriously! I get digital news updates from Ireland in my email!) It isn’t healthy. I know it distracts from my peace and rest in God’s absolute, sovereign authority over all things and in particular, the intimate lives of those who trust and obey. For this reason I chose to forgo any broadcast media during this Lenten season. I relinquished the remote control and gave God, and prayer, the place in my mind recently vacated by world crisis and current events. I was also stricken with the flu, so, as I reclined on my couch with heavy arms and legs, my physical world offered nothing to rescue my idle mind. Then! I remembered, my favorites list on youtube.

Many years ago, before Spotify and iheart radio, I created music folders on youtube. The selections were various secular and religious pieces, both traditional and contemporary, associated with particular memories. The altar call sung when I gave my heart to Jesus is on the playlist, along with the anthem that accompanied my daughter to the altar to meet her groom. In the deafening silence of my fevered misery, I returned to my tried and true .com.

Easter is by far, my favorite holiday. It is all about love with no expectation of return. As Advent is to Christmas, Lent is to Easter, a time of preparation and encounter with the Creator that became the Savior. My first Lent fast occurred when I was in college. A friend invited me to join her in a time of personal sacrifice to privately focus on worship and petition. I gave up sweets and coffee while working in a bakery. It was brutal! But, each time I mindlessly reached for a pastry, I stopped and turned my heart to the Throne of God.  A new clarity, strength and determination to serve the LORD fell on my soul.

In forty-eight plus hours of quiet exile, rhythms and tunes took me back to a time of simple faith that didn’t seem like much at the time, but turned out to be everything I ever hoped for.  Revival came as I praised and worshiped an unchanging, loving and good, God who has proven more that faithful and generous with His love and provision.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.                   Psalm 51:12

Love you all, and I’ll be back to the antics of someone’s past, next week.

Blessings,

Gretchen

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel 1:8  (Daniel 1-2)

While king Jehoiakim was creating problems for Jeremiah, Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar had already begun removing people into exile. Among these early captives was a young man, of noble blood, and three of his friends.  They were handsome and noticeably brilliant, therefore, they were chosen to be trained for the king’s court. One of the perks was a lavish diet of gourmet foods sacrificed to the gods of Babylon. Daniel and company gently requested the right to a better way.

Many years ago, God made a covenant with Israel. The laws that were part of this great commitment and promise set a chosen nation apart from the rest of the world.  It was not a thing of prejudice or entitlement, but a conduit for God to reach out, in love and blessing, through this Holy people.  Daniel, as young and frightened as he probably was, refused to compromise his devotion to these laws of The One True God.

Throughout his lifetime, Daniel remained Holy, and because of this faithfulness, he ministered to an idolatrous king, Nebuchadnezzar, who amidst all the idolatry of Babylon, acknowledged Daniel’s God as The God.

Being set apart isn’t a quest to be better, it’s doing what’s right to be available and ready for what God asks.

Happy Weekend!

So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. Jeremiah 36:32 (Jeremiah 25, 35-36, 45)

The first captives have been taken from Judah into Babylon. God tells Jeremiah that the captivity will last 70 years then Babylon will be punished. He then command Jeremiah to write down all that He said, so the ages will know God’s sovereign authority. Jeremiah employs the services of the scribe, Baruch. After several months of hard word, Jeremiah, who was banded from the temple, sent Baruch to read God’s word. King Jehoiakim reacted by burning the scroll piece by piece. He intended to put an end to God’s inconvenient and uncomfortable truth. He failed.

The plight of Jeremiah and Baruch seems bleak, but God promises to protect them from harm.

God continues to seek man. Even when all seems lost, God is reaching out. One burned scroll at the hand of a wicked king did not stop God’s work of grace. The singular, most amazing thing about God’s grace is His persistence and long suffering. We are a loved creation, when our Creator has become our Savior, again and again and again. God’s not giving up, don’t you either!

Love,

Gretchen

This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the window, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 (II Kings 23-24, II Chronicles 35:20-27, 36, Jeremiah 22, 26, 46 and 47)

Josiah had cleaned all of Judah and Samaria of the temples and false prophets of Baal. A revival and return to worship occurred. But, there was unrest all around Judah as three world powers fought for dominance. Nineveh fell, bringing Assyria to its knees. Babylon, the new empire, had to contend with Assyrian outliers as well as a rising Egypt to the west. Josiah, out of an act of loyalty to Assyria, but contrary to Jeremiah’s recommendation, went into battle against Neco, Pharaoh of Egypt, and was mortally wounded.  Judah’s most faithful king was gone and Judah’s fate was sealed.  Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and finally Zeddekiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. This was the end of the temporal kingdom of Judah, but from this seed came the Christ, the everlasting Savior and King.

Jeremiah has been to the gates of hell, faced his doubts and fears, and walked away the victor. He now has the fortitude to endure whatever God has in store. Josiah was Jeremiah’s advocate and with him dead and buried, Jeremiah is in jeopardy again. He declares that killing him will not silence God and some of the elders stepped forward in his defense. He survived, but his contemporary Uriah was martyred.

God will not tolerate misrule and corruption. Jeremiah, like Jesus, suffered persecution by those who claimed to know God intimately. God knows the purity of man’s heart and will judge accordingly. Be watchful of wrongly placed loyalties, reckless reactions and scripture-less theologies. Be holy, kind and if all else fails…..love. In this you will never go wrong.

Love,

Gretchen

This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the window, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 (II Kings 23-24, II Chronicles 35:20-27, 36, Jeremiah 22, 26, 46 and 47)

Josiah had cleaned all of Judah and Samaria of the temples and false prophets of Baal. A revival and return to worship occurred. But, there was unrest all around Judah as three world powers fought for dominance. Nineveh fell, bringing Assyria to its knees. Babylon, the new empire, had to contend with Assyrian outliers as well as a rising Egypt to the west. Josiah, out of an act of loyalty to Assyria, but contrary to Jeremiah’s recommendation, went into battle against Neco, Pharaoh of Egypt, and was mortally wounded.  Judah’s most faithful king was gone and Judah’s fate was sealed.  Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and finally Zeddekiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. This was the end of the temporal kingdom of Judah, but from this seed came the Christ, the everlasting Savior and King.

Jeremiah has been to the gates of hell, faced his doubts and fears, and walked away the victor. He now has the fortitude to endure whatever God has in store. Josiah was Jeremiah’s advocate and with him dead and buried, Jeremiah is in jeopardy again. He declares that killing him will not silence God and some of the elders stepped forward in his defense. He survived, but his contemporary Uriah was martyred.

God will not tolerate misrule and corruption. Jeremiah, like Jesus, suffered persecution by those who claimed to know God intimately. God knows the purity of man’s heart and will judge accordingly. Be watchful of wrongly placed loyalties, reckless reactions and scripture-less theologies. Be holy, kind and if all else fails…..love. In this you will never go wrong.

Love,

Gretchen

“Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” Jeremiah 20:13

God sends Jeremiah to the potter’s house where Jeremiah witnesses the power of the craftman/creator to change the outcome of a marred vessel. Jeremiah is sent with this illustration and the message that God has the ability to alter the destiny of Judah. Following this, Jeremiah takes a valuable, beautiful vase and shatters it before the leaders of Jerusalem. In this act, he announces Jerusalem’s ruin.

There is a continual counter campaign among the false prophets and again, Jeremiah’s wellbeing is threatened. In fact, he is put in stocks, a wooden frame that holds the body in a distorted, painful pose. Jeremiah is fed up with his pitiful life and God’s incomplete purpose. He lashes out in anger as he is publicly ridiculed and scorned. THEN! His sorrow becomes joy as he realizes his Hope is in the LORD alone. His pity party becomes a cathedral of praise.

God’s relationship to man should be like that of the clay in the potter’s hands. His will, the pressure or gentle nudge of His palm, determines what we become, even when it is nothing like we imagined. In God alone we are perfected for His divine purpose, so spin without abandon, in the Master’s hand.

Love,

Gretchen