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Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Psalms 100:1-2

The thought of the Lord is our greatest source of joy, therefore, to worship is delight.  Sing loud and sing proud! It is God we’re singing too and it is He we are singing about!

The Bible speaks frequently of singing. Moses taught the people of Israel to sing as they journeyed on their way to the Promised Land. Psalm 100 was meant for use in public worship and is still today, one of the most well known and most often sung Psalm of all.

Whatever the occasion, fear or triumph, everything drove David to the LORD and worship. Let’s follow his example and someday, our voices will rise in symphony with Davids, in eternal love and worship at the Throne of God.

Love,

Gretchen 

Toothpaste and Facebook

Many years ago our youngest daughter set up my husband’s Facebook account.  Melissa is well known for her quick wit and subtle orneriness. She did not disappoint when engineering the social media presence of her dad.  When setting up his profile, she left me and her older sister out of the family. Several months later on the eve of my ministerial ordination in the Church of the Nazarene, she returned to daddy’s profile and made an update. Keith’s timeline announced that he and Gretchen Rooney had just married with the revelation that we were proud parents of new daughter Leah!  Congratulations poured in.

Our close circle of friends, including those present 20 something years earlier when we exchanged our vows, got quite a laugh. It was indeed funny. However, character is important and true to my nature of intense response, I agonized over new found friends and people across media that knew our Christian testimony and might question the validity of Christ’s presence in our life. Like tooth paste, that update couldn’t be put back in the tube.

I am not a fluent user of social media, but I love my few accounts. I savor the funny things your children do, yummy recipes and cool crafts. I pray when asked, and anxiously wait for news when tragedy strikes. Then there is this. Sometimes I cringe and think, “I don’t think I’d have told that.”

The human brain can think millions of ‘thinks’ daily. Maturity grants the ability to rapidly sift and sort, categorize and dispose of or use each impulse. BUT! Every thing that passes through every human mind does not need to come out of every moving mouth, or these days, finger tips. There needs to be a filtering process that occurs, because your news feed is a great indicator of your true heart and mind and like that line of cleaning cream on the bristles of your tooth brush, it can’t be undone.

Recently, Keith’s Facebook account again caused a stir when he reposted someone else’s testimony.  A life once bound by addiction and the dysfunctions that accompany those choices, found grace and freedom from sin.  Keith was deeply moved and rejoiced in their salvation. So he shared it…..without preempting it with a comment.  It appeared in his newsfeed as his very own.  Immediately, people began commenting. Several friends were astounded that he had kept his struggles hidden so well. Realizing his mistake and unable to discretely clarify, Keith removed the story, because it misrepresented his character. This story wasn’t going back in the tube either.

I can go back through my life’s story, or just my media archives, and see the blueprint of my character. I have sinned. The worst consequence is the hurt I’ve caused others.  Their pain hangs in the halls of my mind like portraits in a museum. Things I’ve done are like Colgate squeezed from a tube.

There is much room for shame and regret in the world of toothpaste impulses, social media blunders and interpersonal relationships ruined by sin. Except, God doesn’t work like an oral hygiene product. He sees us through the lens of His perfect creation. Isaiah 60 reveals that no matter the depth of man’s debauchery, God knows our original perfection, pre-sin, and has a plan of restoration.  He is love, He is good.

Protect your character like you do your credit score.  Both are important, but always remember, God chooses to see the best possible scenario and has a plan for its fulfillment.

With Minty Fresh Breath and Much Love,

Gretchen

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Oh! The hope and promise of God’s Word!  Moses, the man of miracles, has come to the end of his journey. He has led the new Hebrew nation from slavery of Egypt to the Promised Land in Canaan.  He won’t join them as they cross the Jordan River into their new home, but God has gone before them and Joshua will lead.

God’s people are living out His promise, but in real time they are doing the most difficult thing any person can do, step into the great UNKNOWN. It is terrifying.  It’s call change and unless the present it unlivable, nobody signs up for it. God is not oblivious to this. Moses repeats what God has said and what he himself has witnessed and lived, “He will never leave you nor forsake you!”  God goes first!

Strength and courage originate from two givens: Solid preparation for the task at hand and confidence in success.  God knows the future for those that put it in His care. He goes before us and prepares us for success!  It’s a win! 

Love,

Gretchen

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. John 9:34

The Pharisees decide to investigate a sabbath day miracle.  Jesus heals a blind man, but the synagogue authorities must determine whether it was a sin for Him to do so.  They seek the man out and ask him to repeat the details. Who healed you? How did he heal you? Where did he come from? They cast dispersions on Jesus. The man replies, “I was blind, now I see.”  He continues, “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

In ancient times, birth defects or physical handicaps were thought to be the consequence of sin, either the parent’s or the person himself. Because of this prejudice, people cast speculation and judgement on things they knew nothing of.  Physically challenged people were marginalized, abused and cast into the furthest outskirts of society.  Jesus didn’t just give this man the ability to see a blue sky, he gave him a place in the world, the entire ‘living’ package.

Jesus extended love and compassion to a man who responded with praise and worship.  Incredibly, the Pharisees felt their authority was threatened! Their adopted policy was to place blame instead of restoring a world to the beauty God intended.

This miracle shows, the sighted can be blind to truth. In stark contrast to man’s bigotry, hatred, screwed perspective, and fumbled intentions, Jesus can always bring good out of man’s suffering.

Happy Friday!

Gretchen

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

Clear night skies are magnificent. The longer you look, the more distant stars come into focus, still, there are trillions not seen.  Our sky is ever changing as the earth spins through days, seasons and years. We cannot comprehend where we are in the universe because we cannot pinpoint a reference.  Are we westerners? Northerners? In our vast world? Is up, up? We cannot determine, only hypothesize.

David begins this Psalm with the total wickedness of mankind and its complete lack of fear, then turns to God’s infinite love and grace.  A sinner among sinners, David felt the power of God’s love, forgiveness and restoration in a whole and unencumbered relationship between him and his Creator.

From the air we breath to the farthest corners of outer space, these things that were created by our Father still do not contain the depths, heights, width or breadth of His love.  Pretty amazing!

Inhaling More Deeply,

Gretchen

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

This letter,Hebrews, is addressed to the Jews, specifically those in Jerusalem. James the Overseer of the Jerusalem church has been killed. The year A.D. 66 began the Jewish revolts against Rome.  The result, Jerusalem disappeared from Christian history until A.D. 326. 

To fixate is to be totally obsessed by all facets of an object of interest.  The writer of Hebrews says, we must look to Jesus’ life and character as our obsession. In this, we see the perfect heart of God and His Son that fixated on God’s glory and the hope of all mankind when He endured the indignities of the cross.

The plight of the early Christians was difficult.  They were embedded in strict tradition and a synagogue that looked no further than earthly power. There were many who sought to take personal advantage of “The Next Big Thing.” The world of the believer was solely dependent on faith and perseverance.  This writer knows that they must run the marathon of faith, casting off the things that hinder and wear them down, keeping their focus on what they desire most, eternal life at the Throne of God.

Traveling Lightly,

Gretchen

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for His soul? Matthew 16:26

Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for the end.  Peter professes the deity of Jesus. He is the Son of God, the Messiah. Jesus shares that He must return to Jerusalem to face persecution and death, then Peter rebukes Him and Jesus acknowledges Satan’s attempt to stop His sacrifice. Finally, Jesus tells these closest friends, comrades, the cost of following Him will be their lives, from their everyday comings and goings to possible martyrdom.

There is a constance push and pull between surviving life and keeping earthly gains in proper place. I am honor bound to pay my electric bill, so I must go to work.  My natural competitive instinct drives me to achieve, thus gaining the faith and trust of my employer who in turn, depends more heavily on my ethic. I have done right, and now I am pulled from the very hearth I work to keep warm.  Where does maintaining life on earth become gaining the world? Adoration and power are great temptations, but they are of this world.

It is a matter of heart. What on earth do you love more than you love your neighbor?

Love,

Gretchen

Through Him and for His name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. Romans 1:5

Paul was called to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.  He wrote the letter we know as Romans three years before he would actually go to Rome. From Corinth, Paul was traveling to Jerusalem with benevolent funds for persecuted Jewish Christians. His personal safety was uncertain and he wanted the true, untainted Gospel to reach the faithful of Rome. 

Christians were being viciously persecuted by unbelievers, but compounding this injustice was the insistence of converted Jews that non Jewish believers adopt the orthodox traditions of circumcision and dietary restrictions. Paul preaches salvation by faith and Holiness by obedience only. 

Opinions are the reflex of our knowledge and environment.  It is impossible to exist without the perspective at the end of our own noses.  The early church dealt constantly with these issues too. Paul was relentless in his mission to bring unity to all believers through a faith that accepts mercy and grace and in love, returns it to one another other.

Have a Lovely MLK Holiday,

Gretchen

The Folly of Equal and Fair

Years ago I taught a student with diabetes.  He had a daily regimen of blood sugar checks and insulin shots. Though difficult, this child never complained and met each day with smiles and optimism. As I like to say, “He carried extra sunshine in his pocket so he could share.” His classmates often expressed concern that pain and discomfort awaited when friend X stepped outside with the nurse, but they understood without this health support, X would become extremely sick and possibly die.  No, teachers don’t broadcast this info, children’s inquisitiveness causes them to seek answers to unknowns. Its actually very hard to hide reality from a child.

A ruckus erupted one afternoon when a small toy was excavated from the playground sandbox. The little guy that unearthed the treasure wanted to keep it, another child insisted it was their lost belonging.  I do not possess the wisdom of Solomon or the discernment it took to judge accurately….. and it was Friday afternoon…..and I just wanted to get on with Science….. and we have rules about bringing toys/distractions from home….. and so……I said, “I will just put it away until I figure out what to do.”  Both children burst out, “That’s NOT FAIR!!!”  And thats when I burst out, “Well it’s not fair that ‘X’ has to get a shot all the time. Let’s line up. We’ll all go get a shot and be fair!”

This was a huge teacher fail, magnified the next week when the school nurse came to the door and asked me to take my class to her office so she could do required vision and hearing screenings.  The flames of panic swept across the classroom as my students concluded that in all fairness, everyone would begin their daily shots.  At that moment, we learned that fairness is as far fetched as the Easter Bunny.

The most prevalent given in humanity is inequality.  I am the second child, but the oldest daughter. Some days I was out ranked by an older brother, other days I did the out ranking because I was the oldest sister. (The possibility of bullying is strongly probable, but that is a blog for another day.)  Even within my loving family, inequality existed and fairness was difficult to achieve. The objective was not to treat everyone the same, but to provided all we needed to the highest degree of generosity possible.

The ultimate injustice was a sinless man, Jesus, accused, found guilty and executed for the transgressions you and I commit. Why did He submit Himself to this? Because our only equality is our sinfulness and need of grace. The question of fair was never discussed between Jesus and His father. I’m sure of it!

God’s Word, His model and His relationship to man show He alone is able to exact perfect justice (fairness and equality). John 13:16 states, “Very truly I tell you no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”  Verse 13 says, “LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!!”

The body of Christ is the living, active being on earth, that is called to reflect the perfection of God. Jesus taught us to pray,   “On earth as it is in Heaven.” If we are going to say it, ask it, wish for it, then we must do it. Mankind is not equal, we are diverse.  Equality is a gift we give one another because we are all sinners saved by Grace.  Practice equality, LOVE ONE ANOTHER and fairness will become irrelevant.

Love,

Gretchen

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy name. Psalm 103:1

An inmost being?….The darkest, hidden places of my heart and mind no one knows about?….The empty place left when my soul mate left?….The secret fears of failing? ….Listing details of a soul can go on forever. Do all those place’s really need to take part in worship?

This Psalm by David is a reflection of God’s enduring, infinite love across a life less than perfect, but entrusted to God’s love and care.

David could out sin us all……still, grace and mercy were unlimited and sufficient. What God did for him He will do for all. Let praise come from every place in your heart, mind and soul and may it express the miracle of who you are, all because God loves you.

Have a Wonderful Week’s end,

Gretchen