Month: May 2021

Wait for the LORD: be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

The main theme of Psalms is trust, praise, rejoicing and mercy.  This beautiful psalm has all of the above. I encourage you to read this passage and rest in its peace. 

David hungers, with single minded focus, for the company of the LORD. Waiting on the LORD is filled with a great deal to do. Despair and shame are not on the agenda. In the assurance that everything will be as God our creator/conqueror intends, then faithful patience will be a time of praise and worship. 

Waiting is also a season of working. Strength is grown, plans for victory are strategized and practiced, faith is made complete and God becomes the One True God. Waiting is essential and valuable. Don’t miss or waste this precious time with your Savior. Hunger for Him alone.

Happy Wednesday,

Gretchen 

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I Corinthians 9:22

I Corinthians chapter 9 begins with the phrase, “Am I not free?” and in verse 19 Paul continues, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible.”

We all have rights. These rights are derived from a full spectrum of sources that includes everything from the Constitution of the United States to freedom in Christ. However, a right is not a command, an entitlement or a standard to measure the most clever litigator, it is a responsibility and a conduit to spread the Gospel.

Paul was not exempt from critics among his contemporaries and the churches he began. One of the strongest criticisms he faced was the fact that he never drew the salary of a missionary, choosing instead to support himself as a tent maker. The Bible clearly provides for the support of ministerial personnel and Paul doesn’t discredit this. Rather, he refused to give anyone a reason to imply he ministered for any purpose other than the Kingdom of God. 

Christians should define their freedoms by the image of Christ that those around them must see in order to trust and believe. There are more important things than rights…….such as someone else’s eternity. 

Love,

Gretchen  

“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Matthew 8:28

Because Jesus was the Son of Man, He had the right to live among us. Because He was the Son of God, He had the power to win back the authority Adam forfeited, victory over sin!

Jesus was walking along a road with His disciples and met two men who were demon possessed. They were so violent no one could pass by. They had been banished to the tombs, somewhere desolate and isolated from human contact. The demons within these men recognized Jesus for who He was. They were also very aware that their reign of evil was already time stamped. However, it is very telling that they would rather live in a pig’s body and mind, than be exiled to their torturous destiny.

Jesus was always compassionate toward those overcome by Satan’s manipulations and bondage. The town’s people chose their income over the soul’s of two men, but Jesus had already taught the cost of following Him would take His followers down roads filled with the socially unacceptable and the unreceptive.

The state of the place or people doesn’t determine where Jesus goes. His love and compassion do. And remember, in His presence, the things that harm you flee in fear. Every man may not believe Jesus has the power, but every demon does! 

Have a great day,

Gretchen

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. Hebrews 12:22-23

Mountains are covenant reminders. God gives us visual aids to direct us in paths of righteousness.  As the final process of God’s covenant with the children of Israel, they had to walk between two mountains. From Mount Gerizim blessings of obedience were shouted, while the curse of disobedience was declared from Mount Ebal. (Joshua 8:33-34) As God’s people settled in their new home, they would look across the horizon, see the silhouette of two mountains and remember, the blessing of obedience versus the pain of disobedience.

In keeping with this covenant reminder, the writer of Hebrews speaks of Mount Sinai where the Law of God was given. This law became impossible to keep and led to judgement and condemnation. But the God of Life made a New covenant through the final sacrifice of Jesus’ blood.  

A better way has been made. Be encouraged that God seeks to create life, not destroy it. Zion, the Body of Christ, is a place of hope and celebration, not a geographical entitlement, but a state of reality in which we are perfected by Jesus’ love. You have a cheering team in Heaven that thrills at your every victory and God is making your way straight. Don’t give up on doing right and good! 

Love,

Gretchen

“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One Of God!” Luke 4:34

The Bible doesn’t say much said about demon possession before and after Jesus walked on earth, but many instances are mentioned while He was in the flesh. Satan engaged head on with God for authority and dominion over our souls. 

There will come a day when those who say they do not believe, see truth for themselves and bow to their knees also. They will recognize that which satan acknowledged, Jesus is the Holy Son of God.  

With authority, Jesus cast satan and his minions out and emancipated their victim. The winner between good and evil has been declared! Game over! Still, man has free will, therefore, satan has the capacity to harm and traumatize. Our choice determines our destiny, not fate or equal forces fighting for eternity. One word, JESUS, nullifies the devil’s work. There is life changing power on the tip of your tongue, so speak up!

Being Talkative,

Gretchen

hen the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” John 6:52

Jesus fed five thousand people with five small barley loaves and two small fishes. After this long day of ministering Jesus sent his disciples across the Sea of Galilee to ready for the next day’s work. Later, Jesus walked out on the water to join them. Some people followed Jesus for the free food and miracles, you know, dinner and a show, but Jesus begins to teach that He is the Bread of Life. He had so much more to give than earthly comfort.  

The people that were listening to Jesus knew the ancient story of manna from Heaven for the Hebrew children. In verse 49 it says, “Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.” And in verse 35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life, He who comes to me will never go hungry or thirsty.”   Jesus is expressing His connection to Heaven, the ancient covenant people and the covenant making process in which a meal is shared and the identities of the covenant partners become one.

Some Jews present were being deliberately obtuse. They knew Jesus was not being literal, but chose exaggerated drama hoping of obscure the truth and excuse their continued hunger for earthly power and personal agenda that oppressed others. Jesus came to give us everything we need to live eternally. We must choose to fill ourselves with Him and take His identity as our own. This is true communion, taking the flesh and blood of His body into our own.

Love,

Gretchen

Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? Luke 13:16 

I encourage you to read verses 10-17. It was the sabbath (Saturday, as celebrating resurrection had not begun,) and Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. A crippled woman came to Him and He immediately healed her. The synagogue pharisee was enraged! Why? Because someone sick was made well? Because Satan’s grasp was broken? Because a great victory had been won? No! Because He felt robbed of his authority. It seems miracles were only allowed on his schedule and by his power! Pretty sad.  

Jesus’ response calls attention to two things.  First, the work of the Kingdom is not work but joyful, loving service. It’s a matter of heart, not sweat. Second, people matter a lot! If you take better care of your oxen than you do your neighbor, well……………   OH! And don’t forget the flip side, God doesn’t like it when you’re neglected or abused either, so rest easy, He is loving you big!

Jesus came to set His children free from whatever ills bind them. It is not His labor, inconvenience or disgust. It is His loving choice and even more important than making stars explode gazillions of light years away, just so we have something new to wonder about every once in a while. You are very loved, so be sure to pass it around.

Love, 

Gretchen

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. I Corinthians 2:12

Corinth was not far from Athens, the center of Greek philosophy. There was an atmosphere of philosophic hierarchy parading about and it infiltrated the early church.  Paul, a scholar himself, was not impressed with man’s opinions or theologies. Truth and wisdom is from God alone, the author of all that is.  

God took dust and made man, but until He breathed His breath into him, man did not live. God put a piece of Himself, His life and spirit into each one of us. The world lays claim to all that we are, instinct, environment, but we are made in the image of our loving Creator. The things that define us most deeply, our character and soul, are His. Satan cannot claim what God has done.

Sin marred man’s image and Satan would have us bound by shame all of our lives, but as Paul teaches a church overwhelmed by everyone’s personalities and strong dynamics, it is God’s Spirit alone that is truth, love, grace, mercy and victory. Dwell in His Spirit, it is peace.

Love,

Gretchen

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13

These words are lyrics from a hymn that Paul quoted, in his letter, written while he was in Rome, under arrest awaiting martyrdom. The monster Nero burned Rome so he could build a bigger better city to his glory.  The populous suspected him, so to divert suspicion, he blamed the Christians. These new believers were mostly poor or slaves, lacking in influence and prestige. They were a perfect, marginalized people, for the scapegoat of a wicked authority.  Paul was their leader. Kill him, stop the movement. Thus, Paul writes his beloved friend, pleading with him to remain faithful no matter the circumstance and reminds Timothy that he is at peace and God is faithful.

Imagine Paul sitting alone, damp, hungry, sore from beating, knowing death was near, singing a hymn that is stuck in his head…….I am faithless, but God is faithful. He will not let me go.

Our worries, struggles, and state of mind do not define who God is or what He can do. Release your perspective, your shame, your grasp on the small things you comprehend.  Allow God to fill you with peace that passes understanding  because you are His and He will not fail you.

Have a Lovely Week,

Gretchen

“Six of the towns you give to the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.” Numbers 35:6 

Taking 3,000,000 people out of slavery in Egypt, across the Sinai Peninsula and to the edge of the Promised Land took many, many miracles and obedience to God’s sovereign authority. By miracle and God’s leading, Moses organized the Hebrew children into twelve tribes. Each clan would receive a portion of land to settle, but the tribe of Levi was charged with leading worship, caring for the Ark of the Covenant and maintaining the tabernacle. They would not be settlers but priests caring for the spiritual health of the new nation.

The Levites would need a place to live, so Moses instructed the other eleven tribes to set aside cities with land plots to herd and farm. Six of these cites were to be havens of refuge, a place for those who have made egregious mistakes, to go and live in peace, away from the danger and retribution of the offended. In these cities, only God’s judgment mattered.

If you read the entire passage of Numbers chapter 35, you see that God makes a complete separation between malicious murder and a careless act that leads to the accidental death of another. God knows the heart of man. He does not tolerate selfish disregard for human life or hatred, but gives help to those in life’s most horrendous messes.

This wonderful all knowing God has a plan for your chaos.  He sent His only Son to be our city of refuge. In this we find perfect knowledge and assessment of complete and unbiased truth. Give your broken heart and out of control life to Him. He has a place for you and it is good.

Love,

Gretchen