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A Time to Grieve

My comments today are very brief. I wish time would stand still and then turn backwards. I know God is always good, loving and kind but there are days when it’s hard to see and feel. Today is one of those days. My neighbors, my friends, my community and I will lay to rest a young life and it hurts badly.

I don’t have words so I am just going to share scripture and pray that those who are broken most will always feel God’s love and mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” John 11:33-36

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ Revelation 21:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

I selfishly ask for your prayers today and in the days to come.

Love,

Gretchen

Hunter Squires, age 16, passed away Wednesday while doing what young boys do…..loving the wind in his hair and laughing with friends on a warm summer night.

He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land-your grain, new wine and olive oil-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land He swore to your ancestors to give you. Deuteronomy 7:13

A promise of prosperity. You and your kinfolk living healthy and long on the family farm with abundantly producing fields and livestock?

Deuteronomy means ‘second law,’ but it is not a new law, rather a reaffirmation and exposition of God’s law including the Sinai Covenant with an emphasis toward a new, settled life for the children of Israel. Moses calls these people to remember that they were once slaves but are now free and experiencing all the good things God has promised them.

In times of trouble and despair it is human inclination to run straight to God and that is how it should be, but it is in our prosperity that our true character and weaknesses are revealed. We begin to applaud our own wisdom and power and soon God is just a passing acknowledgement. Moses says, “Do not forget, keep the faith and obey.” God is the source of EVERYTHING you enjoy. It isn’t a matter of taking a moment of prayer to say ‘thank you,’ it’s a matter of life habits! In prosperity live the attitude of humility and generosity you have in times of trouble. Worship, obey and follow.

Have a Great Weekend,

Gretchen

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:6

Ezekiel, son of a priest, young, vibrant, married….looking forward to a great future, and then he falls victim to corrupt political machinations beyond his control. He was among 10,000 young scholars, statesmen, soldiers and craftsmen taken from Judah into exile in Babylon.

Through a vision, Ezekiel sees God in perfect harmony and control, judging the people of Judah for their sins.  Ezekiel hears God’s call to prophesy and warn the rebellious to turn away from pagan idolatry and worship and obey the One True God.

To relinquish total autonomy to God, as Ezekiel did, is a very daunting idea, but it is the only way to the center of God’s will. Just as Ezekiel was told, so are we, “Do not be afraid!” God said it three times! He meant it then, He means it now. Follow God, obey Him and lead others in paths of righteousness.

Love,

Gretchen

P.S.  Please keep my family close to your heart today.  My mother is having a malignant tumor removed by means of a complete hysterectomy.  In addition, my beloved community needs your prayers as we lost a precious life, Hunter Squires, in an accident. We are numb, but must move forward and find love and hope.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1

There are a lot of unknowns regarding the authorship and recipient of Hebrews but some things have been uncovered by simple deduction. The audience was educated and very familiar with Judaism and the writer has deep insight to the Priesthood and Lordship of Jesus Christ. We can better see and understand God’s character through the word pictures painted by this first century preacher.

Chapter 13 teaches that love must permeate everyday life, where your foot hits the floor, where you breath your air. Love isn’t something dreamt of and never fully discovered. It is not a by product of perfect circumstances between perfect people, gifted to a deserving few. Love is a verb, its something YOU do, in your home……the office……Wal Mart check out lines……and highways posing as parking lots.

Have a LOVEly day!

Gretchen

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

David committed adultery and then murder to cover it up. He was a man after God’s heart, anointed as king by God and still fell victim to the temptations of his flesh.

This beautiful Psalm is a cry for mercy, a confession and praise for salvation that comes from a humbled heart. In verse five it turns from a focus of cleansing what was dirty, to keeping what is cleansed, pure. David never wants to displease God again.

We are born with a sinful nature, but the God that wove us together in our mother’s womb is very well aware of this and has the wisdom and power to bring us to the state where we are pleasing to Him and can live in joy and peace with ourselves.

A pure heart and a spirit of strength to withstand the pull of our free will is what God wants us to crave. Holiness is the absence of sin. There is nothing worse than what David did, yet he found life giving and life sustaining mercy and grace in the heart of God.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday,

Gretchen

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? James 2:14

Saying something doesn’t make it so. I was taught at a very young age that lip service was NOT man power. Never confuse the two. Faith falls under this sage wisdom. Verses 14-26 speaks explicitly to the subject of faith and works. I encourage you to read this passage, but for this verse, saying you believe is not the act in which you are saved and made Holy.  It is in the action of that faith you find Jesus’ redeeming power!

Faith is the catalyst from which we respond to God. From faith we become who we are, less of ourselves and more like Him.

Words are cheap and just stir the air. Actions take sacrifice and change the world.

Getting busy,

Gretchen

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. I Thessalonians 5:14

The church in the Greek city of Thessalonica was established on Paul’s second missionary journey. His stay was short, apparently less than a month, when the Jews were offended by the new converts faith in the resurrection of the man they had executed. The new christians were persecuted but the congregation flourished. Paul sends urgent instruction for the perpetuation of the Gospel, the cohesive union of believers and correct theological thinking concerning Jesus’ return and God’s judgement. Verse 14 is part of his closing admonition to these people.

Every human has struggle from time to time involving interpersonal association and all that implies. Paul calls us to discern a crisis and act in a positive way, NOT analyze, critique, or judge.

We are One Body, the Body of Christ. We simply cannot survive without each other and God doesn’t ask us to. Therefore, we must work to keep each other healthy spiritually, emotionally and physically. Growing the Kingdom means taking care of one another.
Love,

Gretchen

Bring Me Your Weary

In the spring of 2001 my 6 year old made a request. As the school year wound down, our thoughts began to revolve around delivering new school buses across the United States. We had some say in our choice of destination and so we encouraged the girls to dream of places yet seen. Melissa, having just completed first grade with an awakening to American History said, “I want to see the Statue of Liberty. She is a symbol of America’s freedom.” And so, the first opportunity to head east was taken. Our buses went to Philadelphia, we stayed the night in a hotel and got up at daylight on July 3 headed toward Jersey City, New Jersey.

The girls returned to slumber as the miles ticked by. Keith and I were marveling at the city scenes so foreign to us when we saw a torch on the horizon reaching toward Heaven. We weren’t sure it was the real deal and we didn’t want a false alarm so we waited a few more miles. As New York Harbor’s pride and joy grew larger we woke our angels. They were big eyed, starry eyed and totally awed by the magnificence of Lady Liberty’s majesty.

A few more minutes and we parked our car, bought tickets and ferried to Liberty Island. As we walked and read the markers our minds were broadened to a greater understanding of those that came before us. We returned to the ferry and continued to Ellis Island, the famous entry point of America for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses.

This historical landmark, this national monument, is beautifully staged so you walk through the grand entrance and step back in time to the reality of those that came to our nation seeking a better tomorrow. It wasn’t pretty. I became shaken, heart broken, humbled and a better person.

There was a mock unloading of cargo, and a train depot with its many terminals. Hand rails marked the lines where people were vetted for disease, criminal history, and financial prospects. You couldn’t just step off the boat, gather your things and go. Families were often separated by decisions far beyond their control, by people with a less than ethical agenda. It wasn’t the welcome wagon or the Red Cross waiting on the docks. It was a crowded city with a crowded beyond questioning other’s rights to share in what they enjoyed.

The general demographic of those who came were men of other languages and cultures seeking financial stability so they could send home for their wives and children and wives and children coming to find the husbands they hadn’t heard from in months. The common thread was a present so void of hope that an unknown future seemed like the only option rather than a gamble. Was it freedom they were reaching to grasp or was it hope?

Freedom and hope are two threads of the same tapestry. One does not exist without the other. Your hope and my hope exist because of someone else’s contribution, just as our freedom does and in turn the hope and freedom of future generations rests with us.

In the back of the museum there is an American flag, a hologram made from faces of the past. As I gazed upon it I realized I wasn’t that brave. I bowed my head in grateful adoration for the Christ that paid the price for my eternal freedom and the men and women who establish and maintain the blessings I enjoy.

This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. I John 3:16

Love,

Gretchen

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is LORD of all. Acts10:36

This is the moment Peter realizes that God shows no favoritism among mankind, there is only the believer and the unbeliever. The believer is the hope of the unbeliever.

Cornelius was a successful Roman officer, in other words, a gentile. He knew of God and was generous, noble and true. He longed to know more of Christ and share this truth with his family and friends. Read all of Acts chapter 10 to know this beautiful story of God bringing the seeker to the preacher.

Peter was a devout Jew, an apostle, disciple and now a missionary. He respected strict Jewish law, therefore he avoided all gentiles, but through three visions, God revealed to Peter that it was not law or the physical and material acts of worship that pleased Him, but a purity of heart and mind.

Prejudice is not productive. Preconceived ideas that won’t be moved hinder God’s work. The perpetuation of the Gospel in both our lives and the mission field in our own backyard, happens in the fertile soil of love.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember freedom wasn’t free. From the cross to the battle field, someone died for the blessings we enjoy.

Gretchen

Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. Exodus 4:12

Moses, a Hebrew child raised as an Egyptian prince and now a refugee in a foreign land has an encounter with God. Moses was having an identity crisis but God cleared it up in verse 11. The LORD said said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Geography, nationality, possibility…..doesn’t matter! We are His.

God is preparing Moses for a world changing mission and Moses is letting God know just how incompetent, under qualified, unprepared, frightened and confused He is. My mental picture is one of God rolling His eyes at Moses’ lack of confidence and faith as He replies. My favorite part of this verse is, “I will teach you what to say.”

We don’t know everything we need to know when we answer God’s call. It is on the job learning/training. In this manner we stay connected to the mind of Christ and His plan of salvation for the world we are given each moment in time and space.

Through faith we can, we must, do what the world deems impossible by following, trusting and depending solely on God.

I am His, and He is Mine,

Gretchen