Month: April 2024

How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. For with you is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Psalm 36:7 and 9

God is in complete contrast to fallen man. Man’s first instinct is to hate, God’s is to love. Man keeps tallies of wrongs, God extends mercy.  Man holds hurt in his heart, God choses to forget. Man seeks self preservation to extend his own life, God’s Son died to give everyone eternal life.  Man is fallible, sometimes unreliable, God is perfect and faithful. 

I have one flashlight within reaching distance of my bed, not a nightstand full. I carry only one small LED light in my purse.  A single light gives enough illumination to find my way to greater light.

In a world of “Go Big or Go Home,” the power of ‘a little’ is underestimated.  A little light, a little faith, a little love, will make a tremendous difference when added to the vast supply God, through His Son Jesus, already provides. We can be reconciled to God’s likeness through the light of a Savior that took the power of darkness away from the king of death.

Happy Weekend,

Gretchen

When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30

A statement of triumph! The long reign of sin and threat of death has ended. It is over and there is a victor. 

There are three verbs in this verse.  Jesus said, “It is finished.” The ending came because He allowed it. He bowed His head in one last act of acceptance, submission and worship and then He GAVE up His spirit, His life!  All acts of Jesus’ own will. He alone fought this battle and won!

The crucifixion was horrendous from our perspective, but from the cross there is a vista with all eternity in view. The only way for man to have the hope and joy of what Jesus saw and knew to be fact, was through the cross.  It was love’s gift!

Happy Friday!

Gretchen

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:56-57

Shortly after the birth of the church, Pentecost, there were those who replaced faith and the purity of a Risen Savior with a blend of Christianity and pagan traditions and thoughts.  Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, a city of cultural and geographical crossroads, to leave a blueprint of the true Nature of the Gospel of Christ. 

Part of logical thinking is that somehow, someway, man can create a lawful, utopian world, cloistered and controlled so closely that temptation never becomes an issue and even if it did, the environment would be so perfect, man could not possibly sin or do wrong toward their neighbor or God. If man is able to do this, then there is no need for a resurrected savior who gave us mercy and grace. The Resurrection gives life true meaning and hope for the lost and broken.

Jesus defied the laws of the grave, death and separation from God/life.  He overcame, He lives forever. Because of this fact, we too can have an existence that will never end.

Have a Wonderful Thursday,

Gretchen

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

The Philippian Church was known as one of the purest churches of the New Testament.  Luke was its pastor for six years and Paul accepted financial support from them during his vast missionary journeys, something he rarely allowed. (He supported himself as a tent maker so he could stand above reproach.)

Imprisoned in Rome but still evangelizing people while captive in Nero’s court, (how convenient) Paul had his moments of loneliness and felt his isolation profoundly. A messenger from this church brought good news and comfort, a balm to Paul’s soul.  God was doing great things. This congregation is rooted in correct theology and missional at heart. The Body of Christ is alive and well. Paul responds with the beautiful prayer and letter we read as Philippians.

The spiritual needs of Christians, old or new, pastors or lay persons, do not change through time or geography. Paul is relentless in his passion to keep the church pointed to the Throne of God while living in a world that has become a foreign land. Our strongest connection to them is that we too are living as immigrants in a world that is not our home. Our confidence in what God is doing in our lives and those around us, until His Day, is an important act of worship. Find someone that made a difference in your life and let them know. They need to hear and you need to remember.

Love,

Gretchen

This is the bread that came down from Heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. John 6:58

The miracle of feeding 5,000 people with five small barley loaves and two fish, is the only miracle told in all four Gospels. Multitudes were traveling toward Jerusalem, Passover bound. This crowd of Jews understood the story of manna from Heaven. After the Exodus of Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, they feared they would starve in the desert. God fed the young nation with manna from Heaven.

Jesus, the Man of Miracles, that ministered to the physical needs of so many, begins His final year on earth. Yes, He healed and fed bodies many times, but He came to heal souls and rescue lives from the bondage of sin and shame. 

Some of those who heard Jesus’ words lost interest when they realized He wasn’t going to set up an eternal food program on earth.  They wanted an earthly king that gave them a quality of life based on their familial connection to Abraham. They were entitled and offended when Jesus didn’t come through to their expectation.

Man cannot live without bread. He also cannot not ‘Live’ without Jesus, The Bread of Life.

Love,

Gretchen

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” I Corinthians 15:54

Paul, the author of this letter, was a Jewish scholar, a Pharisee, obsessed with interpreting and obeying the laws of Moses to the extreme. He joined those who hated and crucified Jesus, then promptly began persecuting Christians. That is, until he had an up close and personal encounter with The Risen Savior. (Acts 22:7-10)

Part of Paul’s education and practice would have been debate and reason.  In this passage Paul speaks like a litigator. If you believe this, then you must also believe this.  Not a bad pastoral strategy as he was addressing issues of false teaching, sexual immorality, social discord, you name it, they struggled with it.

The Resurrection of Jesus is the single most important event in history.  If you do not believe this one fact, then everything else is in vain, futile, hopeless. BUT!!!! If you believe nothing else but this, THEN everything changes and life is transformed into eternal living hope.

Death is no threat to those who will not die. We win, the end!

Life is Beautiful,

Gretchen