Month: January 2021

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Psalms 100:1-2 

The thought of the Lord is our greatest source of joy, therefore, to worship is delight. Sing loud and sing proud! It is God we’re singing to and it is He we are singing about!

The Bible speaks frequently of singing. Moses taught the people of Israel to sing as they journeyed on their way to the Promised Land. Psalm 100 was meant for use in public worship and is still today, one of the most well known and most often sung Psalm of all. 

Whatever the occasion, fear or triumph, everything drove David to the LORD and worship. Let’s follow his example and someday, our voices will rise in symphony with Davids, in eternal love and worship at the Throne of God. 

Love,

Gretchen  

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Oh! The hope and promise of God’s Word! Moses, the man of miracles, has come to the end of his journey. He has led the new Hebrew nation from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land in Canaan.  He won’t join them as they cross the Jordan River into their new home, but God has gone before them and Joshua will lead.

God’s people are living out His promise, but in real time they are doing the most difficult thing any person can do, step into the great UNKNOWN. It is terrifying. It’s called change and unless the present it unlivable, nobody signs up for it. God is not oblivious to this. Moses repeats what God has said and what he himself has witnessed and lived, “He will never leave you nor forsake you!”  God goes first!

Strength and courage originate from two givens: Solid preparation for the task at hand and confidence in success. God knows the future for those that put it in His care. He goes before us and prepares us for success!  It’s a win!  

Love,

Gretchen 

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. John 9:34

The Pharisees decide to investigate a sabbath day miracle. Jesus heals a blind man, but the synagogue authorities must determine whether it was a sin for Him to do so.  They seek the man out and ask him the details. Who healed you? How did he heal you? Where did he come from? They cast dispersions on Jesus and the man states, “I was blind, now I see.”  He continues, “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

In ancient times, birth defects or physical handicaps were thought to be the consequence of sin, either the parents or the person himself. Because of this prejudice, people cast speculation and judgement on things they knew nothing of. Physically challenged people were marginalized, abused and cast into the furthest outskirts of society.  Jesus didn’t just give this man the ability to see a blue sky, he gave him a place in the world, the entire ‘living’ package. 

Jesus extended love and compassion to a man who responded with praise and worship.  Incredibly, the Pharisees felt their authority was threatened! Their adopted policy was to place blame instead of restoring a world to the beauty God intended.

This miracle shows, the sighted can be blind to truth. In stark contrast to man’s bigotry, hatred, screwed perspective, and fumbled intentions, Jesus can always bring good out of man’s suffering. 

Happy Thursday!

Gretchen

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

Clear night skies are magnificent. The longer you look, the more distant stars come into focus, still, there are trillions not seen. Our sky is ever changing as the earth spins through days, seasons and years. We cannot comprehend where we are in the universe because we cannot pinpoint a reference.  Are we westerners? Northerners? In our vast world? Is up, up? We cannot determine, only hypothesize. 

David begins this Psalm with the total wickedness of mankind and its complete lack of fear, then turns to God’s infinite love and grace.  A sinner among sinners, David felt the power of God’s love, forgiveness and restoration in a whole and unencumbered relationship between him and his Creator. 

From the air we breath to the farthest corners of outer space, these things that were created by our Father still do not contain the depths, heights, width or breadth of His love.  Pretty amazing!

Inhaling More Deeply,

Gretchen

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

This letter, Hebrews, is addressed to the Jews, specifically those in Jerusalem. James the Overseer of the Jerusalem church has been killed. The year A.D. 66 began the Jewish revolts against Rome. The result, Jerusalem disappeared from Christian history until A.D. 326.  

To fixate is to be totally obsessed by all facets of an object of interest. The writer of Hebrews says, we must look to Jesus’ life and character as our obsession. In this, we see the perfect heart of God and His Son that fixated on God’s glory and the hope of all mankind when He endured the indignities of the cross.

The plight of the early Christians was difficult. They were embedded in strict tradition and a synagogue that looked no further than earthly power. There were many who sought to take personal advantage of “The Next Big Thing.” The world of the believer was solely dependent on faith and perseverance. This writer knows that they must run the marathon of faith, casting off the things that hinder and wear them down, keeping their focus on what they desire most, eternal life at the Throne of God. 

Traveling Lightly,

Gretchen

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for His soul? Matthew 16:26

Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for the end. Peter professes the deity of Jesus. He is the Son of God, the Messiah. Jesus shares that He must return to Jerusalem to face persecution and death, then Peter rebukes Him and Jesus acknowledges Satan’s attempt to stop His sacrifice. Finally, Jesus tells these closest friends, comrades, the cost of following Him will be their lives, from their everyday comings and goings to possible martyrdom. 

There is a constant push and pull between surviving life and keeping earthly gains in proper place. I am honor bound to pay my electric bill, so I must go to work.  My natural competitive instinct drives me to achieve, thus gaining the faith and trust of my employer, who in turn, depends more heavily on my ethic. I have done right, and now I am pulled from the very hearth I work to keep warm.  Where does maintaining life on earth become gaining the world? Adoration and power are great temptations, but they are of this world. 

It is a matter of heart. What on earth do you love more than you love God, who sends us to love our neighbor? 

Love,

Gretchen

Through Him and for His name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. Romans 1:5

Paul was called to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.  He wrote the letter we know as Romans three years before he would actually go to Rome. From Corinth, Paul was traveling to Jerusalem with benevolent funds for persecuted Jewish Christians. His personal safety was uncertain and he wanted the true, untainted Gospel, to reach the faithful of Rome.  

Christians were being viciously persecuted by unbelievers, but compounding this injustice was the insistence of converted Jews that non Jewish believers adopt the orthodox traditions of circumcision and dietary restrictions. Paul preached salvation by faith and Holiness by obedience only.  

Opinions are the reflex of our knowledge and environment.  It is impossible to exist without the perspective at the end of our own noses.  The early church dealt constantly with these issues too. Paul was relentless in his mission to bring unity to all believers through a faith that accepts mercy and grace and in love, returns it to one another other.

Have a Lovely Saturday,

Gretchen

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy name. Psalm 103:1

An inmost being?….The darkest, hidden places of my heart and mind no one knows about?….The empty place left when my soul mate left?….The secret fears of failing? ….Listing details of a soul can go on forever. Do all those place’s really need to take part in worship?

This Psalm, by David, is a reflection of God’s enduring, infinite love across a life less than perfect.

David could out sin us all……still, grace and mercy were unlimited and sufficient. What God did for him He will do for all. Let praise come from every place in your heart, mind and soul and may it express the miracle of who you are, all because God loves you.

Have a Wonderful Week’s end,

Gretchen 

“You are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

Sitting on a hillside, the Son of God begins to teach the things His followers must know if they are to remain His disciples. Be transformed and be like the One you know. Jesus’ words are found in Matthew chapters 5-7. 

Jesus is the Light of the World. Outer darkness is the space where God does not dwell. Light is life giving and sustaining. A glow gives determination and hope to the sojourner. Illumination provides clarity and truth. It is irritable because it dispels obscurity. 

God’s Glory radiates His character, predominantly, enduring love and overcoming power. We must become like Him, both radiating and reflecting the things of Heaven so a world of shadows has a hope of resplendent enlightenment. 

Simply said, “Be someone’s flashlight in the storm.”

Love,

Gretchen 

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. John 20:14

Mary Magdalene is the only woman that all three gospels place at the crucifixion. While Jesus’ friends, even those who witnessed His love and power, were fleeing in fear, Mary stood faithful.  

Miraculously healed, Mary personally experienced Jesus’ life transforming ministry.  She became part of a group of followers that traveled beside Jesus and His disciples taking care of their personal needs and contributing their financial resources. After accompanying Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb to bury Jesus, grief stricken Mary returned home to prepare perfumes, oils and spices, to give Her friend and healer the honor in death He was worthy of. So, she arose on the first day of the week and arrived at His tomb before anyone else did, finding it empty.

The theology of the resurrection was lost on those who walked with the LORD. They were willing listeners and learners, but they had no reference point of understanding, UNTIL that day.  John saw the burial cloths and instantly understood. Mary, devastated by the removal of Christ’s body, lingered near by, sobbing. She looked into the tomb again and saw two angels (verse 13). While speaking with these celestial beings she turns and sees Jesus, but does not recognize Him. He spoke. Still she wept, AND THEN HE CALLED HER NAME!

Mary’s encounter changed our world….I mean your world and mine!  Jesus chose her, she who did not know how she would survive the day without Him, to go and share the news of the risen Friend, Savior, Messiah, Healer, LORD! 

Jesus called her by name and things changed.  We often call out to Jesus, but today, invite Him to call you by name. It will change somebody’s world!

Love,

Gretchen