Sonshine!

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. Ephesians 1:7

If you are reading this you probably have a knowledge of salvation and for that I am truly thankful. I was saved at the age of twelve and while I still stand amazed in the miracle of that moment I often struggle with the deep dark parts of my heart and mind that want to take a break from my conscience and tell the world what I really think. Soon my heart breaks for its moment of carnal will and I’m defeated. It’s a vicious cycle, but God as our creator, great redeemer and lover of our souls has this under control.

Two things are working in the act of salvation: Jesus’ blood given freely and God’s grace in boundless supply. At the point of death, sin lost it’s power over Jesus and at the point of resurrection, sin lost it’s power over the believer. Now for that unlimited grace. There is no sin God can’t and won’t forgive. His riches cross the expanse of man’s moral and physical poverty. DO NOT live in defeat! Daily accept this gift, tell Satan to take a short hike off a tall cliff, and accept God’s rich grace as your own.

Living in Victory,

Gretchen

P.S. I encourage you to read the entire first chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. It will strengthen you.

But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son born of a woman, born under the law. Galatians 4:4

As the Son of God, Jesus had no boundaries, no restrictions of linear time, no limits of aging flesh and certainly no carnal temptations, but as Son of Man, Jesus took on all of these characteristics. He became fully man. He became just as we are so that we have a hope to become just as He is.

It’s just this simple, Jesus became human so that we can be Holy. Jesus came to earth to lead the way to Heaven.

In Christ,

Gretchen

No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5

Following the death of Moses Joshua was charged with leading the nation of Israel into the promised land. Things hadn’t been easy for Moses. It had been a long arduous trip, forty years wandering in the wilderness, not because God designed calamity, but because people are hard headed and hard hearted. Yet God remained true to His covenant and His promises. Now Joshua had a call to answer and God was paying forward the comfort and confidence Joshua was going to need to see His mission through. I especially love the promise of God’s constant presence.

Loneliness is the world’s deadliest disease. Horrible choices are made to avoid or end unwelcome solitude. People terminate their lives alienated from hope. Yet here we hear God’s voice to Joshua saying, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Even if you are alone, you will not fail ever! I am here! Here’s the great news! We get the same deal Joshua got!

It is inevitable that there will be times we feel friendless, forlorn, but if we look at Joshua’s story, he steps out into a state of being okay with just him and God. What tremendous victory over the trials of this world when we can shout, “It’s just God and me, and I’m good with that!”

Being Noisy!

Just get in the car!

When I was a small child my secret love was a world far beyond my front porch. My favorite book was an atlas or an encyclopedia. No I wasn’t a prodigy, I sat up late into the night looking at pictures. Despite all my passions for distant places, my life was very stationary. Ordinary people didn’t globe trot as readily as they do today. So I imagined, read books and hoped (without much faith) that someday I would chase the wind to the four corners of the planet.
Years went by and I met a boy. There was a great attraction. Attraction became love, love became marriage. Marriage became adventure and adventure became our lifetime.
WE GO! When people ask us where we’ve been, an appropriate answer is, “Everywhere.” Going is what we do best, but there have been times in our adventure that going was not an option. Sometimes managing family, home and employment meant remaining at our postal address for longer periods of time than was desirable. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my little house and the walls that hold all my joys and sorrows, but there is no better feeling than pulling out of the driveway knowing before you return the world will be smaller and hearts will be bigger.
There came a summer break when responsibility required that the Rooney family of four stay put. It wasn’t miserable, but we all got itchy feet. The beginning of school was fast approaching when my husband Keith came in the house one evening and said, “Pack some bags, when the sun comes up tomorrow we’re heading out.” There was great excitement with myself and our daughters but we were not without our inquires. I wanted to know if we needed clothes for warmth or swimsuits and sunscreen. How many days would we be gone and how far would we travel? Child number one wanted to know if she needed her hairbrush and would there be a Wal Mart stop along the way. Our youngest was most concerned with the question of weekly allowance when she wasn’t actually doing chores.
These responses are typical of our roles within the family unit and our basic personalities and impulses. Keith became very impatient when the questions didn’t stop the next morning. He had everything planned for quality family time. He just asked that we get in the car and trust him. He was worthy of our trust, he had successfully led us thousands of miles but we wanted assurances before we made a total commitment to fun.
This story led us to Southeast Missouri, and places off the beaten path that Keith had always wanted to visit. We went to Elephant Rocks and marveled at nature’s sculpture with only wind and rain for tools. Our journey continued to Johnson’s Shut-in, God’s own water slide. It was wonderful, or in other words, FULL of WONDER and has become one of my favorite family togethers.
As I reflect on this story I think how often God asks us to, “Just get in the car.” We drag things down asking for highlighted roadmaps and bulleted itineraries. The plan God has for us is prosperous and will always lead to His glory. My childhood dreams have come true in the perfection of God’s wisdom and timing so I can say with enthusiasm, “Put your face to the Son and buckle up because it’s going to be great!”

But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Today’s scripture is taken from the prophesy of Isaiah 700 years before the Son of God became the Son of Man. If I said nothing else, this fact alone speaks volumes about God’s plan to redeem mankind. However, peace is mentioned and if there is one ideal my heart yearns for, it is peace.

Peace is simply, the absence of strife and struggle; laying aside hostility. Every relationship on the face of the earth has some dynamic of peace or lack there of. In the promise of a redeeming Savior we find the word peace and the acknowledgement that to achieve this, someone had to make a sacrifice. Through Christ’s torture and death we are reconciled to God and that’s the biggie, but we are left with time here on earth in a discordant world. God didn’t just provide a victor over death, He afforded a means for us to live in harmony with each other and reside in a global community with confidence that God is in charge, always has been, always will be.

Have a great weekend!

Gretchen

Day after day, in the temple court and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. Acts 5:42

In addition to this verse I encourage you to read Acts 5:17-41. The Apostles were suffering extreme injustice and persecution for their evangelical work. Yet, no threat of abuse or loss of life was worth losing the promise of eternal life. Verse 41 tells that following a flogging intended to shut them up, the Apostles began rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the cross. Then came ‘Day after day, in the temple courts…………….’

I’ve heard of praising God, ‘In the Storm,’ I’ve even managed to praise Him in the storm, but these men were praising God FOR the storm.

It takes great maturity and faith to look back across life’s journey and be thankful for the tempest that nearly took us out. Yes, it is crucial that we praise God in the storm for this is the only way to survive and grow, but it is huge when we can reflect and see that the cross we were bearing was leading another to the cross of Calvary.

As the Apostles did, be faithful, grateful and very vocal knowing it will be worth it throughout all eternity.

Love,

Gretchen

 

And in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over
every power and authority. Colossians 2:10 NIV

I should really back this devotional up to verse 8 which states, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

There is no argument that humans across the globe share similar patterns of behavior. We tend to act and react the same way in response to stimuli. We cry over a sad story, we cheer when the underdog triumphs over unsurmountable odds, AND we all get bogged down in the drudgery of everyday life. We are a very predictable species.

Except………

In Christ’s fullness you break the barriers of ordinary, habitual and frustratingly destructive conduct. In Christ you become all you are meant to be! You are no longer commanded by predictable human nature. Christ has every power in Heaven and earth and through Christ you are filled with that same power to overcome the ordinary responses of human nature. Faith tears down fear, love nullifies anger, mercy wins over vengeance and grace irradiates poverty of body and soul.

The fulness of Christ means to lose our human nature and take the nature of Christ. It’s a total makeover, totally free and totally worth it!

Love,

Gretchen

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” John 3:5 NIV

It is never appropriate to pull one verse away from its context and give it independent meaning. This verse is an extreme example. Read John 3:1-21 and experience the story of Nicodemus, a pharisee, a prominent powerful Jewish leader, coming to Jesus in the dark of night seeking answers.

Jesus did not scold Nicodemus like a naughty child for lurking about in secret but neither did He laud him for his status. He simply explained God’s love, God’s plan and God’s redeeming hope. The beautiful words of John 3:16 were first uttered to this struggling seeker.

Jesus gave Nicodemus what He gives us all, the offer of salvation from a world that will kill us and redemption from the hater that thinks he owns us. The choice is ours, no one else’s. Just remember, you are worth the great price that was paid for you and instead of bondage you receive perfect, unfathomable freedom!

In His Great Love,

Gretchen

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 NIV

Meek is an adjective that has been totally flipped by the English language. It is a positive descriptive word but a self absorbed world that demands its own way has devalued meekness to the point that it brings shame. By human standards meekness denotes someone who is easily maneuvered against their will while never daring to protest, an easy target that no one ever dreams of becoming. Yet, Jesus states in His Sermon on the Mount, meekness as a very desirable characteristic in achieving favor on earth.

What’s the real deal with meekness then? Meekness begets kindness, practices forbearance, depends on faithfulness, exercises gentleness and self-control and reaps love and joy. Isn’t ‘Meek’ a beautiful ideal?

Meekness is not weakness, it’s strength under perfect control.

Blessings,

Gretchen

In all Your ways submit to Him, and he will make you paths straight. Proverbs 3:6 NIV

When I am traveling and I ask my Garmin GPS to search for the nearest Walmart, it gives me directions that include time and distance through city streets and traffic but it also offers an ‘As the crow flies’ milage. I find myself envious of the crow. Oh to have a straight passage, uninterrupted with mundane clutter and disturbances, straight to the place that holds all things I need materially.

God in His great love offers us this “As the crow flies” way of life. He has already planned the route, He keeps it clear of what will hinder, tempt, distract or discourage us from the joy of our journey with Him and those He has given us along the way. His path is straight, safe, nurturing and nourishing, but the best part is that every step leads straight to the Throne of God.

Happy Trails,

Gretchen