Sonshine!

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son. Hebrews 11:17

The promise God made, and the reciprocal commitments Abraham returned, define the infinite, omniscient and omnipresent character of the Creator of all things and His intimacy with mankind. Abraham and God entered into a covenant relationship. They didn’t just meet and shake hands, they did things that mattered and would always remind us of God’s mountain moving love. An exchange of first born sons is part of covenant making. So, God asked Abraham for the son He had given Sarah and her husband in their post child bearing years. 

Obedience was the promise Abraham returned to God. When God called, Abraham answered and from that moment forward, Isaac was as good as dead to him, but it was a long walk up the mountain.  Isaac asked, “Where is the sacrifice father?” Abraham replied, “God will provide.”  God did furnish a sacrifice and it was not Isaac. The covenant was sealed. Many thousand years later, God gave His only Son to complete this blessing to all who would believe.

Faith is not a moment in time. It is a life’s choice to never turn back. God didn’t need to know Abraham was ‘all in’, Abraham and Isaac did and we needed to know the end of the story. Obedience, faith in action, won! And it always will. The end.

Love,

Gretchen

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

Part of the Sermon on the Mount, this verse is the concluding comment Jesus makes about storing up treasures on earth. The bigger picture is Jesus’ words on generosity, attitude toward others, intimacy with God and overwhelming worry about tomorrow.

Everything on this earth passes away, just take a look at the week old produce in your refrigerator, or the once beautiful homes decaying as long gone manicured lawns return to pasture land.  We give all our resources to things that will not matter when life gets real, because only God, through His Son Jesus can GIVE real life!

There are many things that become our master but it all comes down to money, because nothing is free………..excuse me, I misspoke! Grace and Mercy are free. Get you some! Get a lot! Share with everyone! The supply is infinite!

Throw Grace Like Confetti!

Gretchen

I am the bread of Life. John 6:48

In Old Testament Law there is a very elaborate and detailed process for making a covenant. A covenant is an all encompassing agreement between two parties, binding them together with very clear boundaries and obligations. The eighth step of this mutual promise is the sharing of a meal.  By feeding each other, the covenant participants express the act of taking one another into the each other’s life so deeply they become one with the other. We see this today in wedding celebrations where the bride and groom exchange pieces of wedding cake.

Jesus’ words are being spoken to the Pharisees following His feeding of the 5000. They are the leaders of the Jewish nation, but they are spiritually dull. Offended by these misperceived insinuations of cannibalism, they become outraged. Instead of comprehending Jesus is the source of endless fulfillment, and by accepting Him, life everlasting is secured, they sought an excuse for their self-righteous indignation.

Jesus completed the Abrahamic covenant. We are all blessed because He gave His life as a sacrifice and a curse breaker. By feeding ourselves with Him we receive life and power over death and THAT begins today.

Love,

Gretchen

“Look, He is coming with the clouds,” and “Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him”; and all peoples on earth “Will morn because of Him.“ So shall it be! Amen. Revelations 1:7

This book was written in the glow of burning martyrs. Christianity was sixty some years old and growing fast and strong, even though suffering among believers was horrific. God sent words and visions to John to strengthen those being persecuted then and today.

It is ironic that the consummation of life is death. When this earthly existence comes to an end for each one of us, we are defined, our history is complete, except for the retelling. For those who refuse to believe Jesus is the Resurrected Son of the One True God, death is the great equalizer. The will see very clearly who is God and who is not. Redoes won’t be an option then and they will mourn.

For the believer, physical death is not our end, but a new beginning. Attempts to stop God’s victorious work proved a colossal failure in the early days of the church and it still does today. Jesus lives and so shall we.

Have a Beautiful Weekend,

Love,

If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 1 John 1:6

At the end of the apostolic age John remained. The others who personally knew Jesus were martyred across the Roman Empire. John lived in Jerusalem caring for Jesus’ mother, but at some time after her death, he moved to Ephesus where he wrote his gospel, three epistles and Revelations. By now the Church is sixty to seventy years old.

John’s letter was addressing a wrong theology suggesting  separation between spirit and body. Some believed that the two were completely unconnected, therefore, the body could engage in sensual activities while the spirit remained holy. Those who believed this argued that Jesus had never really become fully man, but just an aberration.

In the entire first chapter of this letter John addresses the absolute truth of the incarnate God in His Son Jesus. You can’t ‘sort of’ believe or ‘sort of’ be a Christian.Jesus brought hope and light into the world. Darkness is gone when you are facing the Son.

Happy Friday,

Gretchen

Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. Psalm 63:9-10

My ears and eyes are pummeled with bad news and evil words. In fact, if I want something good I must go and seek it, because the world doesn’t have any to offer……I know this is the extreme, but there are days when everything seems helpless and hopeless. I wonder why God tarries.

Psalm 63 was written when David should have won the day, but didn’t. He submitted to God’s authority and remained committed to God’s higher plan. (I Samuel 24) Confidence in God’s justice gave him peace and peace gave him rest. He also knew that God did not delight in the pain someone else’s sin caused. GOD DOES NOT LIKE THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN!!! HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO WIN VICTORY OVER SIN!!!!  There will come a day of judgement for those who have hurt others and it will not be pretty.

My father once reminded me of notes he took from a sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Samuel Young (General Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene) He wrote, “You can’t do the Lord’s work the Devil’s way.” (Romans 12:17-21)

Be patient. God is good, therefore, life is good and God will take care of evil.  Wait in peace, the Lord is working on a miracle for you!

Love,

Gretchen

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement’), sold a field  he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. Act 4:36-37

The apostles called him, “Encourager.”  An early convert to Christianity, Barnabas was a compassionate man and quickly saw that Paul’s conversion was sincere and not a farce to catch and persecute believers. He accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey, sponsored by the church at Antioch.

There is a difference in living communally with common property, and living in the bounty of a Heavenly Father with full knowledge that all we have is His. Jews, who believed Jesus was the Messiah, lost everything. Patrons refused to do business with them, families turned them out and many were persecuted, leaving widows and children destitute. Part of the mission of the early church was to give relief to these people.  The church is the Body of Christ, His hands, His feet, His HEART! Barnabas breathed this mentality.

God doesn’t ask us to give more than we have, but all we have must be His.  He, as the One that created and provided all, is a far better steward of our blessings than we can ever be. Just follow and give freely, there’s plenty more where that came from!

Love,

Gretchen

As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.  I Samuel 24:13

Saul became Israel’s first king, ending the era of Judges. He was a donkey farmer when Samuel, the last judge, anointed him. Although he was ‘the most handsome man in Israel, and very tall, his countrymen did not accept him as a legitimate leader. He was insecure, an issue that remained a problem throughout his life and interfered with his obedience to God’s commands.

Following Saul’s early victories as a warrior king, he gave God glory, but failure came with bitterness, impatience and rebellion, followed by depression and fear. Servants, desperate to help, brought a shepherd boy to sooth the king with his music. Saul and his court had no idea that Samuel had already anointed David as Saul’s replacement.  But when David killed the giant, Israel had a new hero and from that day forward, Saul despised him and eventually, sought opportunity to kill him.

In the setting of the above verse David and his army are hiding, somewhat exiled, in the Desert of En Gedi, living in crags and caves. Saul’s army comes looking and Saul steps into a cave for privacy to relieve himself, not knowing David and his soldiers are near enough to kill him.

David chooses to spare Saul’s life. By this act he submits to God’s authority to judge and act and relinquishes his power, his rights, to God’s sovereignty. Evil does not fix evil. 

God’s plan is peace and love. We must set aside our perspective, agenda, opinion and man given rights, for the superiority of God’s omnipotent wisdom.  He is love and we are in good hands.

Love,

Gretchen

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

We are very quick to attribute all that’s wrong in the world to God’s great plan…..destiny, fate, simply God’s will……but God is the God of peace and order.  He is Good, He is Kind and He is eternal.  The geological earth does shake, hills do fade away, and sometimes it is your emotional world that has eroded.  Still, God is NOT rattled!  He is not intimidated by the chaos in your life.  He alone can remove each tangled strand and reweave the threads into a strong and beautiful tapestry. He alone……

Jerusalem’s confidence that God would protect them at all costs, no matter what they did morally, was shattered when the temple was destroyed and many Jews were taken into exile. This state of affairs was the consequence of blatant disobedience, man demanding his will over God’s. Things were a mess, hopeless. And then God speaks through His prophet Isaiah sending a message of hope and promise, “I AM NOT SHAKEN, I AM COMPASSIONATE!”

God loves. It is what He does.  He takes no joy in the pain that sin causes, but when man demands his freewill, God allows him his own way, thus, bringing down calamity on himself. The antidote for this is an unfailing love and compassion that shines great light on the road to peace.

You have a choice: Quake in the aftermath of sin or stand firm with a Gracious God.

Have a Beautiful Monday,

Gretchen

I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, My people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. Joel 3:2

Very little is known about the prophet Joel, except He is quoted in Acts 2:17-21, and hints of the Gospel period and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Joel tells of a great swarm of locust and an extended drought that left Judah devastated. The people cried out to God and He came to their rescue bringing prosperity. Finally, Joel proclaims that everyone, someday, will be judged.

God will hold each and every person accountable for their actions, morals and sentiments. Those who have oppressed God’s people will be punished. Those who have abused God Himself will be condemned and those who have walked in faith and love will receive what they have endured and persevered to attain, eternal Glory. No one will be exempt. God will not be fooled by man’s opinions, manipulations or ministrations. God is God and we are not. He has everything under control.

Love,

Gretchen