Month: August 2026

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, it’s something YOU do, in your home……the office……Walmart 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 turned 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 and others.

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 Friday,

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 faith of new converts 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 struggled 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

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.

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 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

“See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 1:21

The children of Israel are at the end of one journey, the completed promise of deliverance from Egypt and bondage. With this ending comes a new and glorious beginning. They are about to enter into the land set apart and promised to them by God, a land flowing with all they will ever need to sustain themselves. They have arrived at their covenant home. God does what He says He will do.

God chose a covenant people, but not to create exclusive blessing and pleasure while the rest of the world suffers in ruin and agony. It is God’s plan that all the world be saved. He loves His created masterpiece and His design is for its salvation. Through those that are obedient and rely exclusively on God alone to provide their needs and keep them Holy, the entire world has hope.

Be someone’s hope. The world desperately needs it!

Love,

Gretchen