Monday, December 5, 2016

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9

You may have noticed two references for the same verse. It is not a mistake. These words are found in both gospels, however, the setting for each is slightly different. Two men, telling the words of Jesus with slightly different verses before and after, delivering a powerful message.

This very familiar verse is quoted, memorized and sometimes misused like a spiritual American Express. Just ask, and it’s on the way. In Matthew’s gospel the scripture is found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Jesus concludes His words on seeking with “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” (vs. 12 The Golden rule) The accumulation of material goods is not the promise these words deliver. Rather, as children of God we can afford to be incredibly generous because we have a loving Father that will abundantly provide for all our needs…… Remember, where He dwells they use gold bars for paving stones.

Luke narrates Jesus teaching His followers to pray. His words conclude with “How much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.!” Again, God will provide our needs, but always pray because praying begets spiritual strength, brings power and accesses the Glories of Heaven so that the faithful can share.

Ask, seek……God doesn’t play petty games so of course you will find…….plenty to share.

Love,

Gretchen

Sunday Stories, December 4, 2016

A Thomas Kinkade Kinda Day

As a public school teacher the weather forecast is a very important part of my morning. There is a constant struggle with the seasons, temperature and precipitation. I find myself mentally preparing for the worst in order to achieve the best.

There is so much to consider in the child/weather formula. A stormy morning brings an awareness of children standing at a bus stop with lightening approaching. Bundling up for cold means extra time stowing coats and gloves to begin the day and allowing minutes for finding missing mittens when preparing to return home. In and out of buildings is a challenge when the young delight in rain dancing but grown-ups respect the importance of warm and dry. A windy day means a very important note to parents might take flight, never to be seen again, or worse, travel beneath bus tires and become a terrible hazard. Weather is an ever changing variable. I don’t appreciate change!

As I list my climate concerns, I remind myself of the wonder of childhood. Children take delight in all things. When it rains they marvel at how it hits their face, how it sounds, how high it splashes and the polka-dot patterns it leaves on  their jacket. When autumn leaves fall, children are keenly aware of the whispering breeze that set them waltzing. Feet shuffling through a leaf drift or stomping dry flora to crumbs is a symphony. Snow is the most amazing phenomenon on earth! It’s fluffy rain and blankets the world in pristine perfection. It’s as versatile as play dough, but self cleaning so as not to ruin the carpet! Children bask in the heat of sunshine too. More than just birds and bees experience giddy exuberance on a warm cloudless day.

I can wax poetic at length, but three days after a good ‘frog choker,’ all those little shoes that dried while being worn on little feet, begin to smell like a gym locker. Consecutive days of inside recess means every child has developed a strategy to enhance their odds of winning Candy Land.… Fun’s over. Bah Humbug!

One gray, drizzly morning I was going through my beauty rituals. A gentle tone from my phone meant a text message waited attention. The glowing screen said, “Good morning mommy, how are you?” I replied to my daughter away at college, “Yuck! It’s an inside recess day!” Moments later she responded, “Don’t be sad, pretend you’re in a Thomas Kinkade painting.”

Melissa, my daughter, held the promise of a beautiful new day. I was jealous of her mind and heart so free to feel the good. I suddenly realized, the wrinkles on my face might tell the age of my body, but the choice to see the world with childlike wonder was and always would be mine. I stepped out of my house and into that dreary day with a new spirit. Later, while walking my students across an alley from one building to another, they stopped as one child called, “Look at the rainbow.” I looked up. They looked down. In the middle of the street a school bus left a drop of oil. Now there was a circle of color where water and petrol met and refused to mix. Long moments passed as they marveled in the miracle of a rainbow in the road.

See the ugly and inconvenient, or see good. It’s a choice.

This holiday season I encourage you to choose a Christmas card state of mind. Reside in a world where the child born of a virgin, The Alpha and Omega, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Truth, The Way, The Life, is the promise of each new day.

Love,

Gretchen

Saturday, December 3, 2016

For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city. Acts 18:10

The missionary Paul had been speaking regularly in the synagogue in Corinth. However, his teaching about the risen Jesus upset the traditional Jews. So Paul ‘shook his clothes’ and decided he was going to take the gospel to the Gentiles. The Jews were still not satisfied and wanted an end to the gospel telling period! They took Paul to court, they beat him….generally made his life miserable by normal standards. In the midst of this struggle Paul has a vision from the LORD. “Do not be afraid, keep going, do not be silent!”

The Gospel that we have didn’t come to us without tremendous sacrifice. From God that gave His only Son, to that Son Jesus, that died a horrendous death, to the many messengers that suffered and were martyred, our Holy Bible IS the greatest story ever told and IT should be our great treasure.

God provided for Paul as he boldly, without hesitation, took the story of salvation as far as his feet and voice would carry him. Someone that had as many personal encounters with God as Paul did seems invincible, yet he still needed a continuous, new touch from God. What did God do? He provided with great love!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Gretchen

Friday, December 2, 2016

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:13

The Testament of Joel is a short book of prophesy that gave early Christian Disciples the basis for the events of Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit). It also tells of salvation to all who call on the name of the LORD. The people of Israel constantly struggled with disobedience, consequence and then a return to God. God never turned away a sincerely repentant people.

The focus of my comments is “Rend your heart and not your garments.” Tearing one’s garments was an ancient sign of grief or remorse. The problem with this outward sign is that it may not reflect an inwardly humble and contrite heart. God knows the difference! He’s not impressed with dramatic acts of emotion, He is the author of Truth.

Since the fall of man, we have all struggled with the cycle of sin, repentance, renewal and obedience. The good news is, you can’t sin enough to make God give up, and you can’t ask for forgiveness so many times He will eventually say, “Sorry, you’re out of chances.” God is slow to anger, compassionate, abounding in love. He relents and forgives!

You are loved so keep your seams intact and rejoice!

Love,

Gretchen

Thursday, December 1, 2016

It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. Deuteronomy 11:12

The Hebrew children are on the banks of the Jordan river waiting to cross into the promised land. They are being reminded of God’s faithfulness in bringing them from slavery in a barren land that took hard work and irrigation, to a land watered by Heaven and blossoming with bounty. A gift from God that will provide all their needs!

Why did God have to remind these people of the miracles they saw with their own eyes? Why did they argue, complain and build false gods?

The reality of the sinful, selfish world we live in makes us suspicious of everyone’s motives in all things including gifts. This propensity toward skepticism leads us to impose and credit human like behavior to God. PLEASE DON’T!! There is NOTHING about God that is like carnal man. Man was made in His image, but man sinned. God gives the opportunity to return once again to His image. NEVER does God become like man. We must chose to become like Him.

God has a wonderful place of peace and rest for each of us, but it requires obedience, faith, service to God and to others. We must live and love like we are the children of God. Then He is able to take care of us through His blessings, as the Father He is.

Love,

Gretchen

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

James the brother of Christ writes a very direct and straight forward letter to the Jews that did not live in Palestine, referred to as the twelve scattered tribes in chapter 1, vs. 1. He pulls no punches with his very direct instructions for Holy living.

Submitting yourself means to allow someone else to make decisions that directly effect you. You relinquish your power as an act of great faith. Easier said than done, I know……but only God, has the ‘know how,’ to do battle with satan. So……when we trade our insufficient power for God’s mighty strength, we are able to make the devil flee from us. What a fabulous word, ‘flee!’ That means to get away as fast and far as possible! So….the devil will put as much distance as he possibly can between himself and me if I simply allow God to lead and guide me. This sounds like a win/win opportunity!

No need for a lantern when the Son is shining!

Love,

Gretchen

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God. 2 Samuel 22:22

This verse is from David’s Victory song found also in Psalms 18. An accounting written at the end of David’s life, this song narrates David’s reign (Chapters 21-24) showing God’s faithfulness and justice.

David was not a perfect person. He was a person that humbled himself and always returned to God. This is the sum of David’s life.

I once refused to move past someone’s sin against me. It stood between us and my unforgiving attitude crippled our relationship. One day the person said to me, “Gretchen, God has forgiven me and chosen to forget what I did. If you can’t forgive and move on then that is your problem and you can take it up with Him.” This sounds brutal but it was what I needed to understand about God’s forgiveness. It is the most powerful love we will ever know. David is declaring this power. Yes he sinned, but he stands righteous in the radiance of God’s grace.

Have a very blessed Tuesday!

Love,

Gretchen

Monday, November 28, 2016

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. I Thessalonians 5:6

Thessalonica was a prosperous city along a major east/west trade route with a thriving seaport. Today its ruins are buried beneath modern day Thessaloniki, Greece, the second largest city after Athens. Paul and his fellow missionaries, Timothy and Silas, were not well received as they spread the good news and founded a church. They were run out of town, but Timothy and Silas were able to find news of the fledgling church and brought it to Paul who then wrote the two letters, I and II Thessalonians.

These words tell of our hope in Christ’s return to take believers who have remained ready and watchful. I encourage you to read the entire chapter. This type of scripture is called eschatology. It is meant to inform and prepare Christians what will happen at the end of this age and in the age to come, grounding them in the hope of eternity with their Savior.

Eternity is a very overwhelming but inevitable. These words were give assurance and encouragement to persevere with faithfulness to the end of human life because that is just the beginning. The best is yet to come.

Have a perfect Monday!

Love,

Gretchen

Sunday Stories, November 27, 2016

The Gift of Dignity

One of the most difficult things I’ve experienced as an adult is the realization that my parents are mortal. My eyes were opened a few years ago when my mother suffered a terrible heart attack. Not recognizing the early signs of heart disease, mom concluded that she felt just fine because she couldn’t expect to feel 21 when she was 67. However, the day came that mother decided she might need to seek some medical advice (she didn’t have a doctor by the way). Having a high standard of hygiene and personal appearance mom took a bath, shaved her legs, dried and curled her hair, put on some makeup, then did her finger and toe nails with bright red polish. A few hours later dad came home for lunch and found her sitting quietly in her chair, all fixed up and lovely but out of breath, gray and dying.

The next hours brought life as I knew it to a grinding halt and humbled me with a lesson in how quickly life goes from predictable to unbelievable. Mom had emergency bypass. She met several medical obstacles and her survival is a miracle. My three siblings and I were scattered out across state lines and many miles attending to our lives and those that depend on us but we stopped and turned toward home. As we gathered the Lord placed His hand over us and gave us comfort and safety as well as wonderful support groups to help us keep our lives and families going.

During the most frightening moments of my life I saw the absolute best that God had to give through community and fellowship. A group of people from my uncle’s church in Texas were passing through Arkansas and went a few miles out of their way to come and comfort us. Our church families, a very diverse group, never left us lonely. Extended family and friends stood vigil and held us up when our strength was spent. Even today in these words I am so very grateful. God is good.

The point of this story though is this: My dad became the ultimate super hero. He never left my mom except to bathe, eat and take care of their personal business that couldn’t be done by phone. As we waited for news from the doctors dad assured us “He was the daddy and he wasn’t abdicating anytime in the near future, we’re going to be okay.” He also said as he gazed at mom’s still form hooked to wires and tubes, “She’s just as beautiful today as she was the day she became my wife.” Preserving her dignity became his supreme objective. As mom healed and came back to us he assumed some duties that others were expected, even paid to do. Why? Because they were intimate things and he didn’t want her embarrassed. He protected her self-respect at all cost and constantly reminded her that she would forever be his precious bride.

Love does not dishonor others, it always protects, hopes and perseveres. Love never fails. Paraphrased from I Corinthians 13:5, 7 and 8.

Love establishes and maintains dignity. It is a gift worth giving and receiving. Mom and dad, thanks for everything!

Love,
Gretchen

November 26, 2016

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

At a time of great personal despair a friend invited me into her home. I was lonely and afraid. She let me cry and then cry some more. After a while I felt her hand on my back and she quietly said, “I know you will find your smile some day. The sun will come out and you’ll laugh again.”

I grabbed that lifeline of hope. It meant everything to me. She did not condemn, shame or advise. She offered assurance to the return of joy. She carried my burden and it altered the course of my life.

There’s no need to save the world, God already did. Just keep hope alive by lifting up your fellow man.

Love,

Gretchen