Category: Uncategorized

Do not be misled; “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33

Corinth was a town on a cross roads of culture. Commerce to and from Rome came through Corinth giving it wealth, but also an extremely diverse mix of pagan religions that involved every perversion imaginable. The twenty-first century hasn’t reinvented sin. Paul saw it all and wrote God’s message to these people who embraced salvation but struggled with sin’s unrelenting temptation.

Sin engages our whole being. Therefore, it is important to guard against the things and people that engage our emotions, attitudes, natural lusts and casual behavior negatively. Holiness is not something good people achieve and others fail at miserably. Holiness is a choice to live with the heart of Jesus and just like salvation, it is available to each one of us.

Friends, relationships and life habits matter. Chose with the heart of Jesus.

Love,

Gretchen

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. I Corinthians 15:14

I Corinthians chapter 15 is incredibly important to sound theology. Read it, digest it and live it.

Our belief, our faith is totally dependent on this one fact: Jesus died, was buried and rose again. If He did not, then neither will we. If He did, then such is our future too.

Have a Marvelous Monday!

Gretchen

A Woman of Conviction

When you marry you get a great many things you never saw coming. Some good, some not so much, but each thing and person becomes part of your evolution.
When I married Keith, Beverly Rooney, his mother, was part of the package. This essay is not about our relationship. It is about the things I saw her live that forever changed the way I think, love and behave.

I met Beverly Rooney when I was twelve. I became a frequent recipient of her hospitality. She managed a humble home. Her yard was noisy with three rambunctious sons and their friends. The driveway was perpetually full of vehicles in various stages of repair and her phone seemed to ring continuously with neighbors seeking comfort and assurance, because Beverly was a nurse, an LPN, and she had a gift for gentleness and healing. Her house wasn’t a showcase, her lawn wasn’t manicured but her table was full and laughter filled the air.

Beverly had an incredibly difficult childhood that included poverty and neglect. She didn’t equate the significance of this, she just survived. Her father was drafted into the Army, serving in Europe during World War II. Her mother joined the work force and Beverly became a surrogate homemaker. When she should have been playing ‘house’ she was keeping house.

I gained a higher family security clearance when I married Beverly’s son. I saw some things and seeing is knowing. Beverly worked endless hours. She left home before the sun rose, returning long after dark. She left breakfast on the stove, fed some livestock, but without fail, spent time in her Bible and devotionals before driving away to her day’s labors.

Each summer Beverly’s bountiful garden was shared among family and friends. In the winter, she kept an overnight bag packed in case the weather turned. She was prepared to stay at the hospital and serve when others couldn’t.

A day came when Beverly’s elderly, invalid father had to be placed into an extended care facility. As a veteran in an era of failed VA services, there was no expectation of quality comfort care. In response, each evening when Beverly clocked out at the hospital, she drove twenty-five additional miles in the opposite direction from home to give her father a warm bath, a warm meal and a warm human connection.

I was aware that this father had been an abusive alcoholic, leaving his wife and children destitute and disgraced. It bothered me to see Beverly drive herself to exhaustion for one such as he. So, unable to keep the opinions of my youth to myself I said, “I don’t know why any alcoholic father deserves the loyalty of his child.” Beverly didn’t scold, she just quietly said, “I knew him before the war. He came back broken and sick. I don’t blame him.” Okay……I continued, “Why do you kill yourself for a man that didn’t care for you?” Her gentle voice explained, “When I see Jesus, He won’t ask me how my dad treated me, He’ll ask me how I treated my dad. He commanded, Honor your father. And I will.”

That shut me up and changed me forever. When I see my Savior’s face He will not ask me how everything went down here or if everyone played nicely…….I also will account for how I treated others.

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35.

My mother-in-law wasn’t perfect, but she was a woman of exceptional integrity and conviction I know that on the day that swallowed her children in incredible sorrow, she stood before her LORD and He said, “Well done my beautiful child, come and rest in Me.”

Gretchen

Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness, because of my enemies, make Your way straight before me. Psalms 5:8

There is right and there is wrong. This song of praise asks guidance for remaining Holy. The writer does not plead, “Make MY way straight and clear.” Instead he humbly begs, “Make Your way straight before me.”

The road to God’s Throne is not hard to find, but must be sought. God does not tease or torment with vague clues and intrigue. Ask and you will find. It’s just that easy.

Love,

Gretchen

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – He wants to please his commanding officer. II Timothy 2:4

The ideology of military is sacrifice for the greater good. Wise, discerning leadership is the key to successful strategy in order to achieve this goal because it begets the confidence of its soldiers who are willing to put their lives aside for the security of others. A good soldier dedicates him/herself to discipline, endurance and most of all, focus.

Paul, the author of these words, is directing his fellow missionary Timothy to persevere and not let the small stuff become the big stuff, thus distracting him and his ministry from the pure Gospel. God is kind, not quarrelsome, a tolerant and gentle teacher to those who need discipline.

We are soldiers of the cross. It is we who go to battle against evil for those who are defenseless. Our commander is all knowing, wise and loving. His purpose…..THE ONLY GOOD.

May You Have Sonshine Today,

Gretchen

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have trusted to Him for that day. II Timothy 1:12

Alone in prison except for Luke, Paul writes this last letter to Timothy. Death is imminent and soon, yet he is encouraging those he loves to carry on the mission they began. Paul has no regrets, fully understanding the cost of following Christ is life given in sacrifice.

Paul as a child of God, a sinner saved by grace, has unlimited trust in his Father. These words are beautiful spoken alone in two sentences, yet their poignancy takes on a powerful dimension when understood in their entire context.

In Paul’s final words of encouragement, he relates his unconditional thankfulness and confidence in the God that designed Grace before time began and provided it for him and all mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our everything, just as Paul’s, is in Christ alone.

Happy Thursday,

Gretchen

Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

In chains awaiting execution, Paul sends a letter to the first church he established. He has been beaten, stoned, hounded by mobs, but in all these trials he found the secret of contentment in all circumstances…..rejoice.

Sneezing, coughing, even giggling is a reflex, but rejoicing is a choice. It doesn’t happen by accident and is the antidote to defeat. We must rejoice. Especially when we don’t feel like it.

Some synonyms of rejoice are delight, celebrate, revel and triumph. These behaviors are the evidence of our faith, the secret of our success. Rejoice in all things because our hope is in the LORD.

Blessings,

Gretchen

“I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then suddenly the LORD you are seeking will come to His temple; the Messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” Says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3:1

Malachi shows in chapter 2 that our attitude toward God’s Holiness and Sovereignty is reflected in our actions toward each other and sometimes, good things happen to bad people. Steadfast faith is stretched when simple reasoning becomes complex disillusionment.

One promise in the Biblical narrative that gives eternal hope is the assurance of justice. Those who have committed evil and refused to subject themselves to God’s authority will be dealt with appropriately and those who have been faithful will receive their reward.

Waiting is hard, specially in times of trial and despair. Hope seems impossible to grasp and cling to, yet hope is all that’s left. God has not forgotten you. He hears the cry of your heart and everything that is happening is a part of your journey to His throne and victory over sin.

Love,

Gretchen

May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. II Samuel 2:6

Saul, Israel’s first king, anointed by God, has been killed in battle along with his son Jonathan. (The details of Saul’s death are better explained in I Sam. 31.) Jonathan and David shared a deep and committed friendship that reached beyond politics and traditions. When David heard of their deaths he was deeply grieved.

David was to be Israel’s next king, chosen by God’s authority rather than man’s heritage. God told David to take his household and go to Hebron where he will be anointed and begin his reign. The words above are spoken in a message sent to the men that showed proper respect to Saul and Jonathan, giving them a proper burial and dignity in death.

David was often the victim of Saul’s ruthless treatment, but before he takes the throne he chooses to lead Israel in traditional mourning, thus putting love, mercy and compassion above entitlement.

David, a man after God’s heart. Love, mercy, compassion………the things God gives, the things He expects us to share with others.

Happy Monday!

Gretchen

The Great Conundrum

The first distinguishable words out of my children’s mouths were, “No.” And “Why?”

“Yes,” or “Mother, I see and respect your point,” would have been grand but, all I got was monosyllabic defiance and quandary.

The self-actualization of one’s child means the end of life as you knew it. The power of “No,” combined with the urge to find one’s place in a huge, unknown world and get everyone sorted out as to who’s in charge and whose comfort takes priority is very tricky early development for both parent and child.

As a mother I said, “Because I said so,” more often than I should have, but I knew my child’s well being depended on my absolute authority. Free thinking was not encouraged when I was trying to get everyone headed out the door or manage healthy eating and sleeping habits. I realized early that there must be a balance between my way, and their input into family harmony and dynamics. Yet, a terror lingered in my heart. By saying ‘yes’ I would cripple my child’s spiritual being because they must fear me in order to fear God.

I wasn’t wrong, but just as my child matured, so did I. Joshua 24:15 says, “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua was nearing the end of his life and leadership of the new nation of Israel. He was telling his friends and family, with great authority, exactly what he was going to do. He drew them to the realization that their choices were their own, along with the consequences they brought.

This passage gives tremendous insight and freedom in balancing the yeses and noes of others. Joshua made up his mind and the negative actions of someone else would not influence his faith. He shows great strength and trust that His God could do for everyone what He had done for him.

Then there was, “Why?”

I, like most, have a great fear of being wrong. This fear motivated me strongly to be a life long learner pursuing both knowledge and wisdom. When a little person that shares my DNA came along and began questioning everything from the color of the sky to “Do fish know they are wet?” I was frustrated and a bit overwhelmed. If I couldn’t even settle the simple things in life, how would I ever lead this little soul to a great and thriving faith?

If God chuckles I’m sure my worries and woes humor Him often, but He remains faithful. He actually loves the word, ‘Why?’ It is the beginning of knowledge and knowledge sought from God is the beginning of wisdom.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

God is not threatened by our inquiries. He has the answers. He honors our seeking. He will withhold nothing and transform us to His perfect purpose.

So, as frustrating as ‘No’ and ‘Why’ are as parents, remember, they are the foundational blocks of great faith.

Love,

Gretchen