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But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26 

Lot was Abraham’s nephew.  Abraham took him under his wing when his own father died a young man. Lot accompanied Abraham and Sarah as they left the land of their childhoods and traveled to Canaan and then on the Egypt. Both Abraham and Lot prospered and finally had to divide their household and go their separate ways.  As they chose their directions, Lot picked a fertile area  along the Jordan River including the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Evil was rampant in these urban areas, but Lot and his wife chose to remain and make Sodom their home. Wickedness veils itself in beauty, sin comes knocking as tremendous opportunity and debauchery appears innocent. They loved it, totally and completely, to the extent the virtue of their daughters was threatened and their very lives were balancing between life and death. When Abraham prayed for their salvation and God answered, the angels that went to rescue them had to drag them kicking and screaming out of danger at the very last minute possible. 

Lot’s wife just couldn’t let go of the life she lusted for. She looked back to the past rather than the future and she died, frozen in her desire for the lights, glamour and excitement of destruction.

This story is not about looking back or forward.  It is about wanting evil over Holiness. Your body follows the direction you face is turned.  I recommend some Sonshine.

Love,

Gretchen

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

Things from childhood echo in my head.  Mother imploring my three siblings and me to just get along is one resounding phrase.  She did not desire to remain in a constant state of kangaroo court, sorting out who was right, wrong, the offended and the offender. It was an impossible, unpleasant task. Four young children needed take it upon themselves to become active participants in peace making and keeping.

Jesus begins His Galilean ministry with the opening comments we call the ‘B’ attitudes. With this teaching Jesus turns man’s common presumption of entitlement upside down and begins to paint a perfect likeness of God.  The disciples considered this list to be as important as the Ten Commandments. The Bible equates peace with prosperity. If we want a part in a future of glorious hope, then we must invest in Godliness today.

God doesn’t play give and take, keeping score to appropriate favor/blessing.  He has a standard and boundaries that protect His supreme creation, you and me, designed in love.  Peace is not a destination, it is a life style. When our actions honor our Savior, others will follow.

Love,

Gretchen

August is the anniversary month for my blog.  Two years ago I began writing and it’s been an exciting pleasure to share each day with you. Thank you for reading. 

I have prayed and feel called to shift my direction slightly in the coming year. Monday, August 6, I will begin working my way through the Bible in chronological order.  In ministry I have discovered a struggle to keep the Story of God in historical order and while this is not necessary to victorious Christian living, so many new insights fall into place when understood from an ordered perspective.

Daily writings will still be short and sweet with occasional suggestions for further study. I hope you will join me.

The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him, but with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh; He will pursue His foes into darkness. Nahum 1:7-8

One Hundred and fifty years before Nahum, God sent Jonah to take a message of Mercy to this capitol of Assyria. This book of doom was more than just a prophecy of destruction, it was first a reminder of God’s patience and enduring love.  It is the story of second chances ignored.

Nineveh was a strong city, head of a warrior state, rich on the loot of those it conquered, built on the backs of slaves. It’s nation destroyed Israel and wreaked brutal misery on Judah. It is described as arrogant and reckless, assuming indestructible security. But when this huge city was wiped off the face of the earth, it went totally undetected until excavations in 1820 uncovered it. For 2400 years people forgot it ever existed.

In the Bible’s story, God’s mercy always stands in contrast to His judgement.  He choses FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, RESTORATION, ETERNAL HOPE!!! It is not His desire to cast anyone into darkness, a place where His light will never shine, known as hell. This final move is the consequence of rebellion and resistance to truth. It isn’t God’s choice, but man’s.

Chose wisely!

Love,

Gretchen

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Luke 15:32

These are the final comments from the parable of the Prodigal Son, a story Jesus Himself told to teach a point. I encourage you to read verses 11-32. It is an illustration of the Heavenly Father’s response to a lost soul returning home. Jesus’ objective in this verbal painting is to give encouragement when we grow discouraged over sinfulness.

Jesus’ sole purpose was to forgive.  All else He has done is a residual of this one thing, FORGIVE! He was without sin, but His heart ached for those in bondage to death’s grip. The lost brother was found and freed.  The other brother, he who never rebelled and stood loyal and faithful to his father, was resentful.  Why was this added as a dimension to this narrative? Because the attitude exists in reality and is destructive. God doesn’t need our notches to assist Him in keeping track of who deserves what.

Jesus became man so that we could become eternal. It wasn’t an even trade. When we try to keep score, we lose every time. Take the win, then take as many as you can find with you!

Happy Monday,

Gretchen

My oldest child was born in Branson, Missouri.  Keith and I had daytime employment, but we also worked nights at Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theater. We met people from all over the world and became family to our fellow cast members. Life was good. As Leah began to toddle around, some fun loving teenage boys decided to teach her how to ‘talk.’ She was a quick student and soon had a wide vocabulary of questionable words.  I fussed and fumed, but everyone else giggled and laughed, so you know who influenced her linguistic habits. 

We eventually returned to our hometown and resumed attending the church Keith and I grew up in. I loved church so much as a child and couldn’t wait to share the experience with my daughter. However, Leah hated anything that ‘touched her funny’ including, hair brushes, shoes, socks, soap…… Her wardrobe preference was cotton shorts and shirts. Getting ready for church was a misery.  One Sunday evening I insisted on an appropriate ensemble.  She was insulted and angry.  The greatest offense was the slip I made her wear under her dress.  All the way to town she expressed her displeasure as best a five year old could.  She had been punished to the ends of the earth for her dirty language so she kept it clean. Until………….

She and I stepped into the bathroom in the church fellowship area.  She went into a stall and I opened the hallway door to exit, but instead, waited. Thinking I was gone, she proceeded to give me a fiery dressing down. I stopped her colorful stream of ire and she began crying, asking me if I was going to tell her daddy. I took her to her Bible class, informing her we would continue the issue when we got home. I knew her habit must change and she knew the cost of her continued rebellion was getting more expensive. We parted with heavy hearts.

After church Leah inquired again about her dad’s knowledge of her behavior.

I replied, “The biggest issue is that your Heavenly Father heard you. You disrespected His House and His name and far worse than daddy knowing is God knowing. It’s a sin and God wants you to do better”

Leah continued, “Have you told my daddy?”

Me, “Right now I want you to think about God’s broken heart. He’s what matters most!”

Leah, very impatiently and with great sincerity, “MOM!! I’ve already talked to God about this. He’s okay! Now are you going to tell my daddy!?”

On that day I learned, when God’s Got It, I’m done.

Leah’s childish heart found forgiveness and she learned kinder adjectives and adverbs. Even when she is reminded her first words all had four letters, we celebrate she is no longer five and she and I both have come so far because of God’s grace.

Sometimes people insist on holding others in arrested development. God may forgive and forget, but their memory is much more determined, so they lead us all in reminders and stagnated, negative emotions, preventing growth and joy.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.                                                                                                                               II Corinthians 5:17

Do not clothe a new creature in your issues and bitternesses of the past. God let it go, so should you!!!!

Love,

Gretchen

P.S.  One of those precious young men that took part in Leah’s first vocabulary lessons has grown into a wonderful man with children of his own.  A little over a week ago he had a massive stroke and today is clinging to life.  Please join our family and friends in prayer for Michael Coffelt Jr.  We aren’t ready to let him go.

For the LORD gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6

The word philosophy means the love of wisdom. Wisdom is not knowledge, it is the use of what we know. Quite a lot of learning happens impassively, or involuntarily.  Seeking God in these moments grants insight and understanding and safeguards against wrongdoing. 

A proverb is a guide to practical living. Every culture and age has a collection of their own, but God granted the highest insight to Solomon, the Biblical Proverb’s author, because he chose wisdom over earthly power.  Kings came from the ends of the earth to seek his counsel and to hear him speak on everything from botany to morals.

Wisdom doesn’t happen.  It must be sought whole heartedly. Will their be test? You can bet your life on it. 

Have a Wonderful Weekend,

Gretchen

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

There is not a more intimate song of praise to our creator God.  This Psalm tells of God’s infinite knowledge of man’s soul and His universal presence in all things.

Fear, as it pertains to our relationship with God, is a profound respect, rooted in awe and wonder. We must honor and worship God alone, but the Psalmist recognizes that we also, are fearfully made, not from an assembly line of repeated parts that work together in synchrony, but each, a unique combination of God’s supreme creative power. 

We strive to become like each other.  It makes us comfortable and even in our rebellion toward some standards of acceptable behavior, we align ourselves with those of similar actions, thus getting lost once again in our alikeness. This is not all bad, as it makes the world run more smoothly most of the time. Just don’t get lost in man’s cookie cutter mentality and lose sight of how independent and original your were when God decided the world needed one of you. You were woven together with the greatest respect by the One who loves you most.

Love,

Gretchen

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:21

God is the sovereign originator of all that is. The world, designed for man, was purposefully created in a logical, ordered fashion:

           Days 1-4. Inanimate creation, light, atmosphere, land, sea, vegetation, sun, moon                 and stars.

           Day 5. Animate creation, sea creatures, land animals.

           Day 6. Man, with moral conscience, the ability to share in a variety of                                      relationships, an imagination, and a free choice.

By the word, the very breath of God, chaos, a formless void, came into perfect harmony.

God is a God of Wonder, which is the root word for wonderful……FULL OF WONDER! He delights in all that He did. Point your face toward His Heavens and rejoice in the things God calls good, and that includes yourself!

Love,

Gretchen

Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.  Daniel 5:17

While a youth, Daniel was carried away from Jerusalem and into exile by the Babylonian army. Well educated, handsome, and intelligent, Daniel became friend and advisor to King Nebuchadnezzar, a brilliant builder and administrator of the world’s greatest empire at the time.

On three occasions Daniel’s ministry caused Nebuchadnezzar to call the God of Daniel, God. Nebuchadnezzar died and Babylon was led by other kings. By the time Daniel was a very old man, Belshazzar was in power.  In an act of deep wickedness, this king brought sacred things from the temple of God and used them in an orgy type feast. God was not amused and wrote Belshazzar a message of his doom on the wall of the banquet hall. Daniel was called to interpret the message. He did, and that very night the Babylonian empire fell to Persia.

This earthly king meant to disgrace and circumvent to power and ordinances of God. In a panic, Belshazzar promised greatness and security in his kingdom if Daniel could save him and give him peace of mind. Daniel let it be known that the only place in any kingdom he was interested in was that of the One True God. Belshazzar died that night. Daniel lived and continued to lead a life that brought glory to God.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday,

Gretchen

Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. I Peter 3:4

The world is always cruel about the things we have no control over.  Think of prejudice. It is centered on skin color, geographical origin, gender, all things that were part of the original package, designed by God, when we were woven together in our mother’s womb.  But soon after the exit, it begins, the sorting of who’s who and what will be tolerated.  The knee jerk reaction is a life time of experimentation to find a skin you’re comfortable in and so perfect no one could possibly find fault, all while proving one’s higher discernment by picking others apart.  This build’s fragile families that have little chance of surviving life’s stress.

Nero’s persecution was horrendous. Peter probably wrote this letter shortly after Paul’s martyrdom. Peter teaches, the things of strength and comfort begin in the home with the two people that founded the family. When the world becomes the enemy, wives should offer loving devotion.  A countenance of hope and faith trumps the torments of the world.  Then, power of two becomes the winning majority.

Biblical tradition tells that Peter’s own wife, Concordia, was martyred in Peter’s presence shortly before his own life was taken.  Together, they stood firm and changed the world of Christianity by their character, not their earthly gathering of baubles and bows.

Love,

Gretchen