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For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
I Corinthians 12:13

The early church grew quickly. The apostles, the original missionaries, were spread thin. God used the miraculous moving of the Holy Spirit in the place of unavailable manpower. Speaking in tongues is one example of God giving a power to one person when no one was available to deliver the Gospel in a manner understood by the audience. God gave Spiritual Gifts, but these gifts were soon seized upon by the unscrupulous for the purpose of perpetuating selfish hidden agendas for those seeking celebrity. Disorder, abuse and hurt resulted. Paul calls these early believers to unity rather than uniformity because so many early Christians honored some gifts above others.

In the wonder of God’s creation every human is woven together with unique qualities and abilities. Each person is very much the same but extremely different in the complexities of individuality. Such is the same for spiritual gifts. They are specific to the need of a hungry world and man’s need to serve the Kingdom of Heaven. All designed perfectly by God, for God in the image of God.

The power we draw comes from one source, the Holy Spirit. Our salvation and baptism are by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is universal and timeless. We cannot sort and rank ourselves according to man’s value because we are the Body of Christ, the Church.

To be wholly loving, transparent, lacking in prejudice and envy, and humbly willing to answer The Call in any manner is only possible through the Spirit of God. It is miraculous. So if you’re looking for a miracle, step into the center of God’s will and you will find it.

Love,

Gretchen

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. 2 John 3

John is the last surviving apostle. This letter is a personal note addressed to a woman and her children. This salutation is believed to be a disguise to protect a congregation that is under great persecution and distraction. John hopes to visit in person very soon so there is no reason to waste good papyrus, thus his words are few and succinct.

The opening comments are a call for love and truth, the basic theology of holiness. Love God, love one another, love is truth. Know truth and let it dwell in you. Truth, grace, mercy and peace exist together.

Truth is important. We base the biggest decisions of our lives on what we believe to be the truth, so believing what is fact is huge. Jesus is God’s Son, and He died for all mankind’s sins. God sets some boundaries to keeps us safe and whole, they are His commands and they are truth. Don’t be fooled by someone’s new version, or convenient rewrite, know Truth and walk in it.

Love,

Gretchen

Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to Him and revering Him. Deuteronomy 8:6

God freed His covenant nation from the bondage of an earthly authority, a Pharaoh that mistook himself for a god. This new nation traversed the wilderness and mountains of the Sinai Peninsula following God’s direction. Forty years and one generation later they are mere footsteps away from their promised and permanent home. God’s use of this time was to make the Hebrew people His, to mold them and give them an identity founded in His likeness and they became Israel. God showed them He was faithful and trustworthy. They needed nothing, God would take care of EVERYTHING. Just trust and obey, be a people fully reliant on God.

Prosperity would come with Israel’s new, sedentary culture. With these blessings came the danger of self-sufficiency. In times of trial we cry out for help and guidance, but in times of leisure, pride and self-reliance destroy our diligence and humility.

Obedience and reverence are born of our knowledge that He alone is the One True God and He is Good. He is still trustworthy and only asks that we obey and rely.

Happy Monday,

Gretchen

The Magic of Kindness

Too many years ago to remember, a Thanksgiving holiday arrived. With an entire week out of school my husband and I could make extra money delivering new school buses. So, early on Monday morning we headed for Huntington, W. Virginia. This old, industrial city sets in the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains in a valley along the Ohio River, very near both the Kentucky and Ohio state lines and is home to Marshall University.

Alone, staring out the front glass, mile after mile, typically decluttered my mind. I could think my thinks and put them in their appropriate cubbies for later access. Buses are not made for luxury, they are work horses, but new and empty they are a wonderful place to let the mental fog burn off and find peace. This trip wasn’t that. I was restless. We left our young daughters with their grandparents knowing that if something unfortunate occurred and we didn’t make it back for Turkey Day, they were with family enjoying all the festivities. I wasn’t feeling sorry for myself, I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity God provided to make Christmas gift money and even more grateful for the solitude spent in His presence. These miles didn’t do their magic. I just wanted to get home.

This was my first sojourn across the entire length of the Kentucky Interstate system. It is not a common thoroughfare. Interstate 40 goes south through Tennessee on its way to the Atlantic coast while interstate 70 takes a northerly route through major cities until it ends in Philadelphia. I’ve traveled these corridors extensively. The Bluegrass Parkway MEANDERS! When time is money you do not meander, but this route was the quickest and shortest mileage available, so our big diesel machines took a leisurely stroll over the rivers and through the woods.

As we neared Huntington late Wednesday afternoon we topped a mountain with a panoramic view of the city and Marshall U’s football stadium. I immediately recognized the scene from a movie that had recently been released staring Matthew McConaughey, We Are Marshall. The film recounted the story of the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of Marshall’s entire football team and staff. My heart clinched. It cried for this town and the families that lost so much and as always…..I defaulted to ‘What if.’ What if something so horrible happened to me? How would I go on? Oh how I just wanted to get home to my babies!

We dropped the buses and turned our tow car westward with our hearts set on pulling into our driveway early Thursday morning, but we needed food and caffeine. Denny’s had what we needed. I picked up a menu and saw all the trimmings for holiday meals and thought of people that would be eating in restaurants rather than around tables with people they loved. I secretly cried when I realized I was among those I pitied! The waitress found me with a throat so tight I couldn’t do anything but nod when she asked if I would like coffee. I felt sad for her having to deal with a mess of a customer but she was so beautifully gracious. Somehow, a feast fell before me with every trimming imaginable. Her kindness touched and warmed me. My heart was sad and cold, but she brought hospitality when she could have huffed away. This woman I will never meet again treated me to a taste of Heaven’s Glory.

Long ago I determined to trade “What if” for the “But if not” Nebuchadnezzar heard before sending three Hebrew men to their fate in a fiery furnace (Daniel 3), and I’ve come to learn that strength of faith not only grows in tests of trial and tribulation, but also in the simple kindness of those who have absolutely nothing to gain.

As Christians we expect to be the givers of grace, mercy and kindness, but this holiday, allow me to remind you; be aware of those that are extending the Hands, Feet, Eyes, Ears and Heart of Jesus to you too and remember them with gratitude.

Blessings and Peace,

Gretchen

The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4

The hours before Gethsemane..…the arrest…..the horrors of man’s prejudice and hatred at their very worst…..

Jesus has had His final meal with His dear comrades, those He has prepared to continue the work He began and will lay down His life to preserve and grow. His message is to love one another and remain in the One they will soon know as The Christ.

Remain: To stay, wait and continue on. The disciples had to stay when Jesus went. They had to sort things out and continue on their mission while waiting on their LORD’s return. BUT Jesus said, “And I will remain in you!” Jesus committed to staying. It will be in a manner yet incomprehensible to these men, BUT DON’T MISS THIS! JESUS COMMITTED TO STAYING! In the heart of man.

The focus of our thoughts should not be consumed with the absence of God in humanity, but rather the absolute presence of the promised companionship, the continuing, unbroken relationship of a staying and continuing Spirit of our Holy God.

Tis the season to be overwhelmed with needs that cannot be fulfilled alone. Jesus has remained by means of His Spirit. Feel it, access it, use it and you will bear the fruits of His Spirit!

Love,

Gretchen

For this is what the LORD says:  “ I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. Isaiah 66:12

The exiles have prayed for relief, for God to move and for their relationship with Him to be restored.  And it will be, because God answers prayer.  The faithful remnant will be saved and a final and total destruction will occur for those who align themselves with evil.

Heaven is a mysterious unknown except by faith.  We know of its existence but comprehend little of its detail. In these words and others of Isaiah 66 we learn that this whole new world God has created, Holy and free of all sin and temptation, will have nothing but peace, a peace that we cannot fathom.

The picture that Isaiah paints is of a baby, totally dependent on its mother, but adored and nurtured.  All the resources this parent has to give is doted on its child.  So is the Kingdom of Heaven.  We are like newborn babes, helpless but for our parent. Our Heavenly Father willingly and lovingly provides EVERYTHING we will ever need.  This is Heaven, but don’t forget……Jesus taught us to pray….On earth as it is in Heaven!

Have a Lovely Friday,

Gretchen

You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20

Venus was a popular deity in Corinth. Her temple was filled with Public Prostitutes, who were kept and made easily accessible with public funds! The Corinthian people were used to promiscuity and the early Corinthian church was struggling with this casual attitude toward sexual immorality. Adapting to new moral standards was difficult. Paul used a phrase, “All things are lawful” to express that faith brought about salvation, not acts. These converts threw this back at him out of context and so you find his clarification in verses 12-20. In Christ we have great freedom, but a tremendous responsibility partners with the license we are given.

Defiling our bodies compromises our relationships. The ancient Greeks believed that bodies were not important. The mind is of great value, our body is just its vessel. The two are separate. This is a fictitious thought! Our physical being cannot be separated from our spiritual person. We are one body and soul and furthermore, we are a part of the Body of Christ. What we do with our bodies directly reflects the One who bought our eternal salvation with His own blood.

We are to be tolerant of sinners who know no better, but the highest moral standard should exist among those who know that Christ paid the ultimate price for their eternal life! When we accept Jesus as our Savior and the Holy Spirit comes to live within us, our body becomes His dwelling and an earthly testament of His presence and power. Protect it, keep it clutter free and defend its purity because you are the church.

Love,

Gretchen

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:8

You cannot have peace and victory if your salvation is, ‘BY FAITH AND………’ The ‘AND’ is of worldly value.

Judiazers followed Paul from town to town. These Jewish converts believed Gentile Christians must be circumcised and follows the Jewish law, thus altering the entire theology of salvation by faith alone.

Paul had been a Jewish scholar, a Pharisee. He was a rule follower and a rule administrator to the highest degree possible, and sometimes impossible! Then Paul met Jesus, the Lamb, the Savior. He relinquished social status, a steady income and physical comforts to carry the Gospel from one end of the Roman Empire to the other. (About 10,000 miles.) He suffered three shipwrecks, eight beatings, a stoning and five imprisonments at least. He was relentless in His quest to see that others found Hope in the blood of Jesus if they would only believe.

My neighbor has a sign posted to a tree in his yard, “There is nothing here worth dying for.” The double barrel picture completes the point. Paul said it 2000 years ago and it is still true today. There’s nothing here on earth worth missing Heaven for.

Love,

Gretchen

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37

Jesus was on the move. He daily went from place to place. Multitudes followed Him, looking for the hope of a lifetime. What they found was a Love for the ages. They sought and they found. The Prince of Peace, the Son of God looked around and was touched by their diseases, heartbreaks and abuses. (vs. 35-36) His response was compassion and action.

Matthew, the Jewish turncoat who became a Roman tax collector, a self made social outcast, was touched by Jesus’ loving countenance. The most unlikely and unworthy of all men was given the highest calling, “Go in Jesus’ name and heal”! He hadn’t gotten over the miracle when he wrote this accounting. Matthew and the other eleven disciples had no GPS, no spread sheets on demographics and projected results, they just put one foot in front of the other from where they stood and they moved forward as the emissaries of the Good News.

You were dying and Jesus gave you life. The world needs what you’ve got! They are seeking, so help them! Point them in the right direction. You are called to change the world for the better one person at a time. So GO!

In the Fields,

Gretchen

The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all. Psalms 34:19

King Saul, because of his disobedience to God, has become paranoid. The object of his suspicion is David, his loyal warrior and subject. Saul determines to assassinate David and so, to save his life, David flees with nothing but the clothes on his back and runs to Achish, king of Gath. The kings servants recognize David, putting him in danger, so David pretended to be insane. The king wanted no crazy in his presence so David was spared. (I Samuel 21:10-22:1)

Following his deliverance David wrote this poem. I encourage you to read it in its entirety.

God does not give us a ‘Get out of Trouble Free’ card. In the midst of real life He gives us strength, shelter, provision and protection far beyond our understanding. David’s story is not one of perfect, uninterrupted righteousness. It is the story of a humble man under the total sovereignty of God’s authority. In every crisis David turned to God for guidance and wisdom. In victory his voice rose quickly in praise to the One from whom all grace comes and has proven more than sufficient.

Have a Lovely Monday,

Gretchen