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So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9:17

In the beginning God made order out of chaos. He created the boundaries of nature and all its inhabitants. Then sin disrupted God’s perfect creation and God let loose the destructive forces of earth. His purpose was not to annihilate mankind, but to bring about a new beginning.

Noah, the sole Godly human of his time, who lived in fellowship with God, will not perish in this universal judgement. Because he does exactly what God tells him, (Noah had never seen rain, heard thunder or had any personal reference to flooding) he is provided refuge and safety from the storm. The story of the flood is not about God’s power to destroy, but His power to save those who are obedient and faithful.

Earth’s population will never again be inundated with water, but when the wind settles, the air is crisp and clean and its safe to splash in puddles, find that rainbow and remember, God can make all things new.

Love,

Gretchen 

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.  Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. Psalm 147:4-5

When life is too hard to handle, I go to the Psalms. They are my comfort soul food.

Comfort No. 1: Looking through primitive telescopes decades ago, scientists thought they saw new, never before seen stars. Today, star gazers, with new and improved tools, recognize that they were not seeing single stars but galaxies with billions upon billions of stars. Who knew? God did. He made them perfectly and purposely.

Comfort No. 2:  While man is still making new breakthroughs in everything from the workings of the human brain to finding new elements and ways to recycle old ones, God is already there. He is not a teasing, taunting God that withholds insight, but allows us the marvel of discovery and in seeking we find greater wonder in God. His knowledge has no limit.

Comfort No. 3:  God is not human. God is God, man is man and there is no comparison. God and man cannot be brought together except through confession, complete humility and total, exhaustive faith.  God will not speak, think or act like mortal man. Man constantly fights their egocentric instinct, God ALWAYS acts in your best, loving interest.

Comfort No. 4: You can never consume too many spiritual calories, so indulge!

Love,

Gretchen

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

Paul was imprisoned in Rome when he wrote the church in Colossae, a city near the border of Asia and about 100 miles from Corinth.  This church was dealing with a supposed ‘higher thinking,’ and enlightened philosophy that called for the worship of angels as heavenly mediates and strict adherence to select jewish laws, blended together with superior arrogance.

There is a glue that holds the universe perfectly together, gravity and magnetic energy.  As opposing or complimentary forces, they hold the electrons of an atom a perfect distance away from its nucleus, allowing them to connect in perfect harmony with each other, to create the elements that sustain life. Earth’s path is a specific distance from the sun and tilts a certain degree as it rotates on an axis and orbits with the other planets in our solar system. In all this magnificence, there is only one thing that matters, God.  He always was and always will be.  He is bound by neither time or space.

Only God was infinite. When there was nothing, there was God. Then there was everything, but most importantly, He sent His Son so that a fallen, broken man can live in harmony on earth and eternally in His Peace and Majesty. Now we can be infinite too.

Love,

Gretchen

And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power? Job 26:14

Left with only the ability to breath and some free oxygen, nothing more, no man has seen more personal devastation than Job. In the midst of his anguish, his friends try to sift through and analyze all of his motivations and deeds, trying desperately to find a reason, a place to affix blame, for his horrific calamities. Job defends his innocence and in this passage, speaks boldly of God’s creative power and sovereign authority.

From the tiniest spiral seashell to the far away galaxies of the universe, patterned the same, God leaves His personal signature on our world. This knowledge was singularly enough for Job to rest his entire wellbeing on. We place confidence in what we comprehend and feel we are entitled to, but great faith is built upon the simple acknowledgement of God’s might power and nothing more.    

When faith is gone, there is no hope.  When hope departs, life quickly follows. Job refused to release himself to this despair. If all he had was God, then that was enough. This must be our daily breath, to know and live accordingly.

Have a Blessed Monday,

Gretchen

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Paul, the author, planned to bring the Gospel of Christ to the gentiles in Rome. He was presently in Corinth, but headed to Jerusalem with an offering for the suffering Jews who were being persecuted for their new found faith. Not sure that he would leave Jerusalem alive, he wrote this letter to the ‘capitol of the world’ explaining the nature of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.

Rome was also the capitol of depravity. These people had many gods but did not submit to anything but their own immoral pleasure. On the flip side of this issue you find Jews so wrapped up in the ancient law and adhering to standards impossible to attain. In both of these extremes the All Mighty Power and Wonder of God’s creative character is lost in a man centered mentality.

God owes man nothing, certainly not a verification of His existence. Still, everything about creation speaks that we are His glory, the very thing He created for and God is daily, revealing Himself, His character, in the mundane everyday rising of the sun and the setting there of. If nothing else, this is reason to believe and praise.

Love,

Gretchen

P.S. Give your ears a treat and listen to the song, How Great Thou Art.

And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. Exodus 32:20

God is faithful. He set His covenant nation free from their slave master, the pharaoh. He provided manna from Heaven and gave them water to drink. When they found themselves trapped between pharaoh’s advancing army and a body of water, God led this young nation across an ocean on dry land, followed by the demise of the enemy that pursued them. 

The time came when God called Moses, the leader of these sojourners, to worship and to receive the laws that would keep them Holy. The people in the valley grew impatient. Convincing themselves that Moses had deserted them they demanded their interim leader make a god they could touch and see.  Aaron, their interim leader, complied. While their loving God was commanding these people to have no other gods, they were creating one by their own will.

Moses returned from the mountain to find those he had such hope for dancing around a calf made out of gold. He took this idol, melted it and ground it into dust. He then sprinkled it on water and made the people drink it.  Sooooooooo…….as do all things that enter one’s body, this idol eventually made its way through the various waste systems of the Hebrew children.  Yes, their idol literally became poop!

Love the LORD, your protector, provider and lover of your soul, with all your heart and put nothing before Him. 

Love,

Gretchen

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 Thursday,

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 8:28-29 

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, authority and 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