Sonshine!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. I John 3:1

The apostle John, along with all who believe, is a member of a great paternal inheritance, greater than any prince has ever known. Sadly, the world does not recognize the favor given us, and available to them also, because they do not understand the character of He who gives grace and mercy and possesses all the riches the universe.

As were all the early church leaders, John was confronted with attempts to taint the true Gospel.  Man’s desire to manipulate everything including God Himself, while practicing self exaltation is really quite alarming. The heart of John’s response was to declare the true and pure attributes of Christ and remind those that believe in a resurrected Savior, we must adopt the family likeness.

The Son of God became fully man, like us, so that we could become fully like Him. Family at its finest! Kinship anchored in lavish love.

Love,

Gretchen 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Galatia was a place populated by gentiles that received the Gospel with great enthusiasm. When Paul, their minister, left to continue his missionary journey, Jewish teachers came and encouraged all new believers to take up the traditions of Judaism, namely, circumcision. Sadly, they taught that you had to be one thing, a Jew, before you could be another, a sinner saved by grace. These new believers complied, but when news reached Paul, he wrote this letter explaining that laws did not bring about salvation.

There are two great temptations at play in Paul’s world. One, to be ruled by law and two, to use law to rule others.  Both paths lead to bondage of one sort or another. This is the very thing Christ died to end.

The Christian life is lived by faith, just as it began. Christ put His life aside that we might have life eternal.  By faith and love we live for Christ. Please God with your faith and everything else will take care of itself.

Love,

Gretchen

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your name, O Most High. Psalm 92:1

This Psalm was anonymously written but is titled, A Song for the Sabbath. 

Believers in the One True God are called to set aside labors and cares one day a week and intentionally focus on the wonder of the Creator and Lover of our souls. It brings our storm tossed lives back into a harbor of calm water.

A Holy day is important to the emotional and spiritual well being of the community of Christ. It is a gift, but it is also mandatory maintenance for survival.  This Sabbath is our little bit of Heaven on earth. For when this life is over, we will enter into an eternal day of worship.  We will rest, sing praises and relish in the fellowship of those we love.

Love,

Gretchen

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name, the LORD. And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Exodus 34:5-6

Moses returned from 40 days and nights in the presence of God, bringing the engraved laws of the covenant nation. While Moses was with God, the Hebrew children, under the leadership of Aaron, lust for a tangible god and orgy type worship. When Moses finds the chaos and desecration of God’s kindness and provision he throws the precious stones, written by God. Now, Moses has returned to the peak of Mount Sinai and God’s mercy.

The people have sinned and God says He will destroy them, but Moses pled their case. God heard and extended forgiveness and restoration. The announcement from God to Moses, that He is the LORD, is a perspective builder.  Moses was carrying the burden of the people’s sin, but God exclaims it is His character that will determine the destiny of these people, not Moses’. Everything is going to be okay, but there is some work to do.  Moses and God spend another 40 days and nights rewriting instructions for Holy and set apart living so the world may be blessed.

These people, just set free from slavery, were terribly quick to worship god’s of their own making.  What an insult to God’s love!!! Still, God CHOSES…….HE CHOSES to be slow to anger, ABOUNDING IN LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS to mankind.  

You are loved so very much! 

Happy Friday,

Gretchen

Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Psalms 86:1

There are occasions when I read vignettes of time in the Bible, i.e. most of Isaiah, and I think, “This is talking to a specific group of people, in a specific situation, in a specific time.  It’s a lovely story, but what does it have to do with me?” Well, here’s the greatest news you’ll ever hear!  God is constant!  Perfect in perspective and judgement and completely without bias. What He did for sinful humans throughout history, desperate for, yet undeserving of mercy and grace, He will do for you!

David is not financially poor. He is spiritually bankrupt, broken, exhausted.  He needs mental rest and assurance that the weight of the world doesn’t really set on his shoulders. It isn’t his physical life that needs saving, it’s his sanity! Can you relate?

Because he knows that God is good, loving, and able, David, the poet, puts his humbled and tired heart to pen, takes it to God and leaves it there.  Do you think he got a good night’s sleep after reflecting on the trustworthiness of God? I think so.

Rest Well,

Gretchen

The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Isaiah 58:11

God chose a covenant nation who’s purpose was to bless all nations. In remaining Holy, God’s plan of redemption and complete restoration of mankind can be made full. Instead, these people, this nation, became self-centered. God’s promises became their entitlement. God’s love became their focus of abuse and exploitation.

Isaiah 58 speaks of fasting, one of the highest forms of worship and connection to God.  Again, this became a self absorbed ritual centered on the whims, convenience, and lust of the people rather than the honor of God’s sovereign power and glory.  As condemning as this passage is, it is also a call to correct relationship with God and sacrificial love for others.

God’s call to all who know Him is to show love toward one another.  To bless others is to represent God’s infinite resource and sustenance for all mankind’s needs.  Follow the laws of God/love. Find the purpose of your life in Him alone. You are called to Bless others. There is more than enough for you and those who come your way.  That’s just the how God works.

Love,

Gretchen

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I Peter 1:3

The persecution of Christians in Rome was horrific but had been somewhat contained until the Emperor encouraged enemies of Christians across the Empire to take every advantage to annihilate them. It is believed that Peter wrote this letter shortly after Paul’s martyrdom and sent it to the churches Paul established to encourage and fortify them for the days to come. In this atmosphere of suffering Peter reminds everyone that Christ’s work of grace and salvation was through suffering.

There is nothing for Christians in looking back.  We are born again, into a new living hope, a great gift from God, His love for us fulfilled. Peter, face to face, denied Christ in the very moment of Christ’s great agony. He knew the shame of sin and weakness of resolve. Three frightening, excruciating days later he was face to face with a risen Savior. He found grace, only grace. NO condemnation.  He knows the joy he speaks.

Peter wasn’t special because of his time and place in history, he was merely a man, a sinner saved by grace and that is all.  His words of praise must be our beacon and faith in the storms that will come our way too.

Love,

Gretchen

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Psalms 100:1-2

The thought of the Lord is our greatest source of joy, therefore, to worship is delight. Sing loud, sing proud! It is God we’re singing too and it is He we are singing about!

The Bible speaks frequently of singing. Moses taught the people of Israel to sing as they journeyed on their way to the Promised Land. Psalm 100 was meant for use in public worship and is still today, one of the most well known and most often sung Psalms of all.

Whatever the occasion, fear or triumph, everything drove David to the LORD in worship. Let’s follow his example and someday, our voices will rise in symphony with David’s, in eternal love and worship at the Throne of God.

Love,

Gretchen

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Oh! The hope and promise of God’s Word! Moses, the man of miracles, has come to the end of his journey. He has led the new Hebrew nation from the slavery of Egypt to the Promised Land in Canaan.  He won’t join them as they cross the Jordan River into their new home, but God has gone before them and Joshua will lead.

God’s people are living out His promise, but in real time they are doing the most difficult thing any person can do, step into the great UNKNOWN. It is terrifying.  It’s called change and unless the present is unlivable, nobody signs up for it. God is not oblivious to this. Moses repeats what God has said and what he himself has witnessed and lived, “He will never leave you nor forsake you!”  God goes first!

Strength and courage originate from two givens: Solid preparation for the task at hand and confidence in success. God knows the future for those that put it in His care. He goes before us and prepares us for success!  It’s a win! 

Love,

Gretchen

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. John 9:34

The Pharisees decide to investigate a sabbath day miracle. Jesus heals a blind man, but the synagogue authorities must determine whether it was a sin for Him to do so. They seek the man out and ask him to repeat the details. Who healed you? How did he heal you? Where did he come from? They cast dispersions on Jesus. The man replies, “I was blind, now I see.”  He continues, “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

In ancient times, birth defects or physical handicaps were thought to be the consequence of sin, either the parent’s or the person himself. Because of this prejudice, people cast speculation and judgement on things they knew nothing of.  Physically challenged people were marginalized, abused and cast into the furthest outskirts of society.  Jesus didn’t just give this man the ability to see a blue sky, he gave him a place in the world, the entire ‘living’ package.

Jesus extended love and compassion to a man who responded with praise and worship. Incredibly, the Pharisees felt their authority was threatened! Their adopted policy was to place blame instead of restoring a world to the beauty God intended.

This miracle shows, the sighted can be blind to truth. In stark contrast to man’s bigotry, hatred, tainted perspective, and fumbled intentions, Jesus can always bring good out of man’s suffering.

Happy Friday!

Gretchen