Month: August 2019

No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5

Following the death of Moses, Joshua was charged with leading the nation of Israel into the promised land.  Things hadn’t been easy for Moses. It had been a long arduous trip, forty years wandering in the wilderness, not because God designed calamity, but because people are hard headed and hard hearted.  Yet, God remained true to His covenant and His promises and proved over and over He was faithful and trustworthy. Joshua’s commission was staggering, so God gifted forward the comfort and confidence he would need to see the mission through. I especially love the promise of God’s constant presence.

Loneliness is the world’s deadliest disease.  Horrible choices are made to avoid or end unwelcome solitude.  Lives alienated from hope are soon self terminated in one way or another.  Yet here we hear God’s voice to Joshua saying, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Even if you are alone, you will not fail, EVER!  I am here! 

Here’s the great news: We get the same deal Joshua got! Feeling friendless or forlorn, or crippled by life’s needs and expectations are inevitable, but if we look at Joshua’s whole story, he stepped into a state of being okay with just him and God.

What tremendous victory over the trials of this world, when we can shout, “It’s just God and me, and I’m good with that!”

Being Noisy!

Gretchen

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, written 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 the absence of need, strife or sorrow, aka, peace.

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 acknowledgement that 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. Therefore, we can set aside hostilities knowing our needs will be met by the Creator and Administrator of all things and savor life, healed from the disease of worry.

Let There Be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me!

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. Following a flogging intended to shut them up, the Apostles began rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the cross (verse 41). Then came ‘Day after day, in the temple courts…………….’

I’ve heard of praising God, ‘In the Storm.’ I’ve managed to rejoice while the thunder rolls, 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 look back 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

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.” 

No one would argue 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, cheer when the underdog triumphs, AND the drudgery of everyday life victimizes each of us from time to time.  We are a very predictable species. 

Except………

In Christ, fullness is achieved.  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 we are filled with power to overcome the ordinary responses of our human nature. Faith tears down fear, love nullifies anger, mercy wins over vengeance and grace eradicates poverty of body and soul. 

The fullness of Christ means to lose our human instinct 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

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 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.

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

When 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 often 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 think need.

God, in His great love, offers this “As the crow flies” way of life.  He already carved the path, He keeps it clear of what will hinder, tempt, distract or discourage and accents it with peace and  joy. His path is straight, safe, nurturing and nourishing, but the best part is, every step leads straight to the Throne of God.   

Happy Trails,

Gretchen

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

Sometimes there are no more words to add.  Have a wonderful day 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 personnel who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom and peace, and rightly done.  Except, this passage of scripture says nothing about the life sacrificed coming to an end.  Jesus is emboldening His disciples to love one another and 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 and objectives become shadowed by a world that needs grace.  I’ve often used the slang phrase, “Cut me some slack.”  In other words, “I need your grace, please look beyond my faults, 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, it is an act of laying down their life for the sake of mine. I don’t deserve it but need it in great proportions.  Kindness, goodness, perseverance, self-control…….these things are sacrifices that can be offered 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 soul.  He put us first.  We must lay down our lives and put others first daily…..because it really is ‘What Jesus would do!’

Love,

Gretchen

Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  Lamentations 3:22 NIV

Here is a verse packed with powerful words:

Not, meaning prohibition

Consumed, to destroy or expend by use; completely use up.

Compassions, a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another, a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

Never, at no time.

Fail, fall short of success.

I’ve restated Lamentations 3:22 with the help of dictionary.com to illustrate how much love and assurance God gives to those who put their trust in Him.

Because of the LORD’s great love, He will prohibit us from being destroyed or completely used up, for He has a strong desire to alleviate our suffering, He sympathizes with our sorrows and at no time will He fall short of success in this endeavor!

I don’t need to commentate on these impactful words, but I encourage you put these absolutes into your heart and live them as the reality they are.

Have a wonderful mid-week,

Gretchen