Month: June 2023

Then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. II Chronicles 6:27

Chronicles: An historical accounting of Israel’s experience with God before their exile. Much of the events recorded are found in other books of the Old Testament, but Chronicles gives theological perspectives for present and future generations of God’s people.

Solomon is dedicating the Temple. Israel has morphed from people of slavery, through the years of nomadic desert travel, to their promised home. They are now people of permanent residence no longer living in tents but houses. Therefore, it is appropriate that God have an earthly representation of His covenant fulfilled.

This prayer of dedication makes known the fact that God is utterly dependable and constant. He is always ready to hear and forgive those who genuinely seek Him and turn from their wrong doing.

Israel’s story is one of sin, consequence and repentance, sin, consequence and repentance. Missing in this cycle? God refusing to forgive and direct. It will never happen. No sin is too great, no secret so buried that God’s mighty power and grace cannot overcome and set things right.

Love,

Gretchen

When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement. John 16:8

These are the words of Jesus as He prepares His disciples for the events that are just hours away. Up until this point Jesus has been with the early believers in the flesh, but in order for salvation to become a reality, He must suffer an unreasonable judgement and death.

Jesus died at the hands of the unjust so that we may have perfect justice. Only He knows our mind, our agenda, the true reason for our actions. He knows the secret places of our hearts we don’t share with anyone, the places that shake our faith, break us or make us strong.

God does not see us as the world does, nor does He judge us by the world’s standards. We are safe and secure in Him, our Creator, when we lay ourselves before Him to be cleansed and made Holy. Live in the confidence of God’s unfailing and unconditional love and truth.

Happy Friday!

Gretchen

And He became more and more powerful because the LORD God Almighty was with Him. II Samuel 5:10

The story leading to this verse is the narrative of David solidifying his power as king over Israel and establishing his capital city as Jebus, the City of David later to be named Jerusalem. David chose this city because it was centrally neutral to all the tribes of Israel and was to be a ‘foundation of peace.’ When David brought the Ark of the Covenant to the city, Jerusalem became the political and religious center for the Israelite nation.

David’s path to the throne was not easy. He was a young shepherd boy when God told Samuel the prophet to trust divine guidance rather than man’s values when recognizing Israel’s next king. David became a hero after he struck down a giant with a stone and sling. He moved into the palace, became best friends with a prince, Jonathan, and was soon resented by a sinful, paranoid king. Instead of a welcomed guest, David became a haunted fugitive for the rest of King Saul’s life.

After Saul’s death there was a civil war between the descendant’s and military commanders of Saul and the people of Judah who immediately recognized David as king. Years after God chose David, he finally took his throne, but the time waiting was well spent. God’s plan was unfolding and God was at work.

When seeking and following God’s will, time is ever wasted and every moment is precious to its fullest. Don’t give up, don’t give in. Strength is growing and a beautiful life is evolving. Don’t wait for the big events for it is in the little things of each day that obedience and Holiness are allowing God to define your future.

Love,

Gretchen

“The time has come,” He said. “The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15

From Rome, Mark wrote down the things he heard Peter preach with the purpose of giving a Gentile audience the Good News. He was not eyewitness to the life of Jesus but strove to preserve and share the story of Jesus from Nazareth and His impact on those He came into contact with.

Rather than begin his story with Jesus’ birth, Mark begins with John’s prophesy and Jesus’ baptism where a voice from Heaven confirmed Jesus’s Sonship with God.

The Kingdom of God is the heart of the Good News. The Jews of Jesus’ time lived under the oppression of Rome, or the Roman kingdom. The picture these hearers were conjuring involved a person with power, status and national identity (Jewish). They were excited by the thought that their days of abuse were soon coming to an end, but the Kingdom of Heaven, or of God (they are interchangeable), would overturn the world with absolute truth, pure justice and peace using an arsenal full of love, not with a mighty army setting up an earthly reign.

The Kingdom of God is an eternal living reality, not a dusty historical episode in mankind’s past and it is at hand now and forever!

Love,

Gretchen

But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today. Deuteronomy 8:18

The Children of Israel were rescued from slavery in Egypt followed by forty years in the desert where God was the sole provider of everything it took to stay alive. Moses equates this time and place as the creation of their identity, God’s covenant people, tested, humbled and true.

God’s covenant people are transitioning into a stationary, stable home in the promised land. They will be prosperous and live in peace. Moses warns there will be great temptation to forget the role God actively played in their history with a turning toward one’s own might. Failure to remember the past will mean self-reliance and misplaced worship in the future with catastrophic results.

Today, we work hard, we study hard, we make strategic plans with an end expectation of great success or improvement of our present life’s status. We feel entitled to the harvest of our toils and to a greater extent, the rest we rightfully earned. As for those earnings…… they are ours to dispense or store at our discretion. NOT!!!!!! All glory goes to God, not man.

We cannot share credit with God. Every choice we make expresses our priority to worship and adore man or God. These choices determine everything. Chose wisely.

Have a beautiful Tuesday,

Gretchen

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Proverbs 31:10

A list of words defining noble character is as follows: Benevolent, bounteous, dignified, gracious, honorable, high-minded, humane, reputable, and virtuous.

The 22 verses from Proverbs 31:10-31 are an acrostic poem. Each verse begins with a new letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (My classmates and I were encouraged to write similar poems in elementary school, in honor of Mother’s Day.)

Noble character, a character of trustworthiness, strong work ethic and commitment to the responsibilities required to create a haven of peace and refreshment for those entrusted to her, is the quality of great value emphasized in this passage

While keeping dishes done and clothes on hangers may be part of a trustworthy work ethic, it is NOT the point of a woman’s value to her family. The proverbs of wisdom, gifted to us in God’s Holy Word, point directly to the perfect place in God’s heart and will. It does NOT say, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Godliness is the point even when someone steps on a Lego.

Happy Tuesday,

Gretchen

He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land-your grain, new wine and olive oil-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land He swore to your ancestors to give you. Deuteronomy 7:13

A promise of prosperity. You and your kinfolk living healthy and long on the family farm with abundantly producing fields and livestock?

Deuteronomy means ‘second law,’ but it is not a new law, rather a reaffirmation and exposition of God’s law including the Sinai Covenant with an emphasis toward a new, settled life for the children of Israel. Moses calls these people to remember that they were once slaves but are now free and experiencing all the good things God has promised them.

In times of trouble and despair it is human inclination to run straight to God and that is how it should be, but it is in our prosperity that our true character and weaknesses are revealed. We begin to applaud our own wisdom and power and soon God is just a passing acknowledgement. Moses says, “Do not forget, keep the faith and obey.” God is the source of EVERYTHING you enjoy. It isn’t a matter of taking a moment of prayer to say ‘thank you,’ it’s a matter of life habits! In prosperity live the attitude of humility and generosity you have in times of trouble. Worship, obey and follow.

Have a Great Weekend,

Gretchen

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:6

Ezekiel, son of a priest, young, vibrant, married….looking forward to a great future, and then he falls victim to corrupt political machinations beyond his control. He was among 10,000 young scholars, statesmen, soldiers and craftsmen taken from Judah into exile in Babylon.

Through a vision, Ezekiel sees God in perfect harmony and control, judging the people of Judah for their sins.  Ezekiel hears God’s call to prophesy and warn the rebellious to turn away from pagan idolatry and worship and obey the One True God.

To relinquish total autonomy to God, as Ezekiel did, is a very daunting idea, but it is the only way to the center of God’s will. Just as Ezekiel was told, so are we, “Do not be afraid!” God said it three times! He meant it then, He means it now. Follow God, obey Him and lead others in paths of righteousness.

Love,

Gretchen

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1

There are a lot of unknowns regarding the authorship and recipient of Hebrews but some things have been uncovered by simple deduction. The audience was educated and very familiar with Judaism and the writer has deep insight to the Priesthood and Lordship of Jesus Christ. We can better see and understand God’s character through the word pictures painted by this first century preacher.

Chapter 13 teaches that love must permeate everyday life, where your foot hits the floor, where you breath your air. Love isn’t something dreamt of and never fully discovered. It is not a by-product of perfect circumstances between perfect people, gifted to a deserving few. Love is a verb, it’s something YOU do, in your home……the office……Wal Mart checkout lines……and highways posing as parking lots.

Have a LOVEly day!

Gretchen

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

David committed adultery and then murder to cover it up. He was a man after God’s heart, anointed as king by God and still fell victim to the temptations of his flesh.

This beautiful Psalm is a cry for mercy, a confession and praise for salvation that comes from a humbled heart. In verse five it turns from a focus of cleansing what was dirty, to keeping what is cleansed, pure. David never wants to displease God again.

We are born with a sinful nature, but the God that wove us together in our mother’s womb is very well aware of this and has the wisdom and power to bring us to the state where we are pleasing to Him and can live in joy and peace with ourselves.

A pure heart and a spirit of strength to withstand the pull of our free will is what God wants us to crave. Holiness is the absence of sin. There is nothing worse than what David did, yet he found life giving and life sustaining mercy and grace in the heart of God.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday,

Gretchen