Surely, He has borne our sorrows

Our Daily Bread
If you have read any of my blog postings, you know that I am a silly old bear.  Here is another example of why.  While taking part in a very serious sermon about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross, a former pastor quoted the Bible passage from Isaiah 53:4 "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,".  I started chuckling to myself because I could hear Jesus saying "Yes, I did and please don't call me Shirley (surely)!"  Yes, I believe that Jesus has a sense of humor!

Seriously, it was foretold by the prophet Isaiah that one would come who would suffer and die for our sins.  He bore them on the cross so we could have a right relationship with God, we could be whole again in the sight of God.  Wow!  Amen!  Praise God!  What an amazing God!  Have you accepted this gift today?

Lord, thank you for the sacrifice of your Son for atonement.  Please help us live for you!

Technology Thursday
LED lighting
I started using florescent light bulbs in my lamps, ceiling fans, etc. when they became cost effective.  I saved a lot of money on my electric bill as a result.  I am researching the switch to the most energy efficient technology so far for a home in the LED light bulb.  If you have seen these new bulbs at Lowes or Home Depot or online, you noticed right a way they are EXPENSIVE!  Yikes!  Some of the bulbs that I use around the house are as much as $60 each!  Double yikes!  Needless to say, I am waiting for the bulbs to come down in price before I make the switch.

In the meantime, I found a cost efficient method to convert my recessed lighting to LED technology.  It is called the EXT LED recessed can retrofit kit by Luminus.  I noticed them at Costco recently for $25 so I thought I would try two of them in my bedroom.  Wow!  They are nice!  They have a nice light source that fills that part of the room.  They fit correctly in the "can" and look great too!  Here is a picture of the package:

There is an adapter that screws into the light bulb holder, then connects via a small cable to the new light.  Gently push the unit in place and you are all set!  Be sure get them at Costco for $25.  I saw them for $45 on eBay!

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Trusting God’s faithfulness dispels our fearfulness. - Our Daily Bread web site

Where u at?

Our Daily Bread
There was a popular commercial for push-to-talk technology where the speaker would click his phone, then ask "Where you at?".  We know that isn't great English, but it got the point across!

There are two times that I can think of where that question is asked in our relationship with God.  When we are going through difficult times, we ask God "Where you at?" when it doesn't feel like he is around.  There are also times that God is calling us and asking us "Where you at?".  The question is not needed if we are in constant contact with God!  Take a look at Psalm 16 when you get a chance.  It is a beautiful description about life with God

Lord, thank  you for being with us.  We always know "where you at?" -- by our side.

Wellness Wednesday
Check yourself before you wreck yourself
I saw the movie Wreck it Ralph a few months ago.  It is about a video game character that is tired of being the bad guy in the video game, so he looks for a new life and role in a different video game.  How many of us look at our lives and wish we had a different life?

I was reminded of a line from another silly movie, I forget the title.  The character said "better check yourself before your wreck yourself".  I thought that was very profound coming from a silly movie!  It must have been silly because I can't even remember the title!  What does this mean?

To mean, it means that we need to constantly evaluate where we are in our lives.  It is not difficult to do this with God as the center of our lives.  The Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us and bring things to our attention as we are able to handle them.  Praise God! 

The other thing it means to me is to check yourself on the goals you created at the beginning of the year.  I like to check my progress every two months or so (instead of quarterly) so I can make adjustments as needed.  How are you doing on your goals?  Making progress?  It is OK to adjust your goals if you need to!

Wellness is a constant system of feedback so you can adjust your life to be all you can be!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

Joy, joy, joy

Our Daily Bread
I am fortunate to have sung a lot of songs over the years.  I can't remember the title, but one song said something like "there'll be joy in the morning on that day, there'll be joy, joy, joy..."  It is uncommon to hear the word "joy" repeated over and over!

What about our lives?  Can we truly say we have joy in our lives?  Can we repeat "there'll be joy, joy, joy in the morning" or even sing the children's song "I have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart"  WHERE?  ha!  According to the devotional, joy comes from thanksgiving.  I never thought of it that way.  I know that there are many benefits to "gratitude therapy", meaning that we should be truly thankful for all the blessings we have.  It is human nature and the ways of this world to mourn all the things we don't have! 

Let's try something.  Put some sticky notes on your fridge and write something down that you are thankful for each day.  Read them at least once per day.  You will probably have a fridge covered with sticky notes! 

Lord, thank you for your love and blessings.  Please help us to be truly thankful and experience your joy, joy, joy down in our hearts!

Teaching Tuesday
King David
The lesson was about King David this week.  Check out II Samuel for the tale of how he used his diplomatic aplomb to unite the north and south kingdoms into one Israel.  This was no small feat!  David also capture Jerusalem and made it the capital city of Israel.  This was another diplomatic feat since Jerusalem was neither in the north or south kingdoms. 

There is also the story of David and Bathsheba.  It is a very familiar story to most.  I was reminded of how God works while reading about this story -- God can and will forgive us our sins, however, we usually still have to deal with the repercussions of our sins on our own.  For David, it was not being able to build the temple to YAWH.  He also lost the first son that Bathsheba bore him.  Sin brings heartache and pain.

It was very cool that God made a covenant with David that was to last eternally.  God made that covenant regardless of the sin David committed.  It reminded me that God loves and works through imperfect folks to accomplish his will.  Wow!  Praise God!

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u r a bcog u r fawm Now believe it!

Rejection - heavy sigh

Our Daily Bread
Do you remember Mork and Mindy?  Robin Williams created one of the most memorable TV characters of our time with his clever delivery of catchy lines.  One of my favorites is "rejection - heavy sigh".  He described the human condition and reaction with such simple words and actions.

Jesus not only described the human condition and reaction during his life on earth, he lived it!  Accepted initially by only a few, most believed in him because of what he could do.  They went along with the excitement of the crowd.  Does this sound familiar today?

The other point the devotional makes hit me hard, especially after Valentines Day -- rejection can hit us hard.  It can prevent us from accomplishing God's will for our lives.  While others may reject us, God is always there for us.  Always!  Amen!

Lord, thank you for your everlasting love.  Your children know that we will never experience "rejection - heavy sigh" when it comes to you!

Movie Monday
I went to see the movie Snitch this week.  It is the new Dwayne The Rock Johnson movie.  The plot was about a teenager that got involved with some drug trafficking and was sentenced under the mandatory sentencing laws.  Dwayne Johnson played the father who tried to assist the DEA with capturing real drug dealers and kingpins.  While the idea was nice, the movie was not very convincing.  The first time Johnson tries to get involved with drugs, he gets is butt kicked (and heals miraculously).  The next thing you know he is helping take down a kingpin.  Unrealistic at best.  Oh, and Johnson tried to act again.  Never a good idea for him.

I give this movie one bear paw.  See it if you must after it is available to rent.

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Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40

Watch out, watch out, watch out!!!

Our Daily Bread
Sometimes I think I should be a lighthouse or an early warning system instead of a silly old bear.  I can often see things before other folks figure them out and I try to warn them.  My problem is that I don't always give the warnings in the warm and fuzzy "lighthouse on a hill" kind of way.  I tend to say them in that "irritating alarm clock" type of way!  This has little to do with the devotional, but I couldn't think of any other lead in to the topic!  ha!

The devotional is about Christians being a light to the world shining God's love.  Soooo there is a very loose link about me being a lighthouse to the topic!  Whew!  ha!  The scripture passage from Matthew 5 talks about some of the metaphors that Jesus used.  Being the light of the world is just one of them.

The question of the day: are we being the light of the world or are we burnt out?

Lord, thank you for giving us the energy and love to be the light of the world.  Please help us to shine bright.

Psalm Sunday
Psalm 83 is our psalm of the week.  This is one of those "prove to my enemies who you really are" kind of psalms.  In this period in history, it was thought that the "god" of the ruling society was the "real god".  There were many battles where the Bible describes YAWH as the winner all on his own power.  They are very colorful passages.  The concept of the winning god being superior is seen very differently today by most folks.  It is amazing to me how society changes.


Psalm 83

A song. A psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, do not remain silent;
    do not turn a deaf ear,
    do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,
    how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
    they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;
    they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
    to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
    as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor
    and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
    all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession
    of the pasturelands of God.”
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
    like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest
    or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
    and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
    so that they will seek your name.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
    may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
    that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

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Trusting God’s faithfulness dispels our fearfulness. - Our Daily Bread web site

Easy bake life

Our Daily Bread
My ex-partner is a baker.  A very good baker.  Sometimes he got so consumed in his baking and frosting and decorating, I felt bad for him to get so intense about it.  When it came to baking a birthday cake for me, I secretly wished that he would just use an Easy Bake Oven and keep it simple!  I am such a silly bear at times!

I don't know about you, but I often wish for an "Easy Bake life".  We often make our lives as complicated as a beautiful high-end wedding cake with rolled fondant icing and lots of gum paste flowers!  It is beautiful, but waaayyyy too complicated!  Let's pray for each other for two things: find things that we can control to make our lives simpler so we can focus more on God and for strength to live our complicated lives more completely for God!

Lord, your Son didn't have an Easy Bake life.  We can't expect one either.  We know that you are always with us regardless of the recipe!

Simply Saturday
Easy Bake Life
I wondered what I would write about today, then the devotional this morning gave me the idea to expand on the silly line "easy bake life".  Like I said above, I am such a silly bear at times!

An easy bake life is just the opposite of a It's a Hard knock life (from the musical Annie)!  I guess I had to get a reference in to a Broadway musical!  ha!  You know the fantasy of an easy bake life: we meet and fall in love with the significant other of our dreams, we win the lottery, we travel the world, we help the poor and helpless, we are admired by everyone, and we never get sick.  For most of us, we can only realistically hope for a couple of the things in that list!

The question is: how can we make our lives easier?  What recipe could we follow to put it in terms of today's devotional?  IMHO, here is the recipe:

• love God above everything and everyone else
• love others as ourselves

If there was every a recipe for an easy bake life, it would be these two things!  Why do I say this?  First, if we always love God above everything and everyone else, then we know we have our priorities in the right order.We know that God will lead us because we are listening.  We know that God is with us because we spend time with him in Bible study and prayer.

Second, loving others as ourselves helps others, obviously, and also helps us.  Loving others prevents us from being self-centered and selfish people.  Looking upon others as the treasure of God regardless of what they look like or what they say or do is a God-like quality.  Loving others also helps us love ourselves more completely as well.

There is no recipe for an easy bake life.  Following the two most important things that Jesus told us will help us have a full and meaningful life, and have it more abundantly.  Praise God!

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We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide

u r a bcog u r fawm

Our Daily Bread
I occasionally use this tag line for a blog entry "u r a bcog u r fawm".  I used to text that to a friend that I used to be close.  We would use that code to encourage each other.  It means "you are a beloved child of God.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made".  Another close friend added "Now believe it!"  I like that!  We can say or text those words all we want, but it doesn't make any difference if we don't believe it!

The devotional talks about "believing it" when it gives us the passage from Psalms 8:3-5. 
3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?[a]
5 You have made them[b] a little lower than the angels[c]
    and crowned them[d] with glory and honor.

It is hard for us to believe sometimes, especially when we are overwhelmed by life's challenges or underwhelmed when thinking about ourselves.  Always remember:
u r a bcog u r fawm  Now believe it!

Lord, thank you for making us a little lower than the angels. Please help us always remember our place in the universe!

Foodie Friday
I had a wonderful chicken corn chowder soup during my recent trip to Orlando.  I am not usually a fan of chowder style soups, but this was delicious.  I think I found a recipe that looks similar to what I had.  I haven't tried it yet.  Take a look and see what you think.  I may or may  not use the bacon in the recipe. 

Chicken Chowder with Corn
By Diana Rattray, About.com Guide

This chicken chowder is hearty enough to serve as a main dish with crusty bread, or serve it as a first course. This is delicious with or without the tomatoes, and leftovers are even tastier the next day.

Ingredients:

    6 slices bacon, diced
    1/2 cup diced celery
    2 cups potatoes, small dice
    1 cup diced onion
    1/2 cup diced carrot
    3 tablespoons flour
    2 1/2 cups chicken broth
    1 teaspoon Creole seasoning or seasoned salt
    1 cup corn kernels
    1 1/2 cups half-ahd-half
    1 1/2 to 2 cups diced cooked chicken
    1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
    salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:
Fry bacon in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; remove to paper towels to drain. Add butter to bacon drippings, if necessary, to make 3 tablespoons. Add celery, potatoes, onion, and carrot. Saute, stirring constantly, until onion and celery are tender. Stir in flour until well incorporated. Add chicken broth and seasoning or seasoned salt, stirring to blend well. Cook, stirring, until thickened. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes. Add the diced chicken and corn; simmer for 7 minutes longer, until vegetables are tender. Add half-and half and tomatoes. Heat through and taste. Add salt and pepper, as needed.
Serves 4 to 6.

Treasures

Our Daily Bread
I am from a family that likes to drive and drive fast.  My uncles raced cars when I was a child.  I still remember them fiddling with their cars!  We used to joke with them as we grew older and they drove the kids around "Be careful!  You have precious cargo!".

The devotional spoke to me at two levels today.  First, as it intended, it talked about how the real value of our lives and what we do is what we do for God.  Plain and simple.  Everything else is just "stuff" on this earth.  We carry the grace of God in our minds and hearts, this earthly vessel of life.  It is just a vessel no matter how large or small it is or how we dress it up!

The second thing I got out of the devotional is: constantly thinking of others as vessels with precious cargo!  We are all precious in God's sight.  He wants a relationship with us.  As Christians, we should see that precious cargo of human soul and treat everyone as precious!  I know it is difficult.  I suck at it, especially when folks annoy me!  Oh well. Let's pray for each other about that!

Lord, we are just jars of clay on this earth.  Please help us remember we all carry precious cargo!

Technology Thursday
Interesting new tablets

Archos, a hardware company that makes several cool consumer electronics gadgets, is updating their line of tablets this month.  The new models come in three sizes - 8, 9.7 and 11.6 inches.  The 8" model is a little larger than an iPad mini, but it has better resolution and a faster processor.  The 9.7" model is the same size as the regular iPad.  It has similar resolution and a faster processor.  The 11.6" model is pretty large by tablet standards.  It also has a quad-core processor with "retina display" quality resolution on its display.  They all run the Android 4.1 Jellybean operating system.  They also have a removable media slot for expansion.  The most amazing part?  The price!  They will run $199, $299 and $349 respectively.  If they perform decently at all, they will be worth the price!

I will probably check out the 8" model.  I don't like my Google Nexus 7 tablet.  It has more issues than I do!  ha!

Here is the link to the Archos site for these tablets.

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I pray the weight of my sins doth not crush me back to dust from where I came. I pray that God create in me a new, clean heart and place a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Praise the Almighty God from whom all blessings flow.

Make a u turn

Our Daily Bread
My best friend and I have several jokes about the different GPS devices that we use.  We have a dedicated GPS device that we usually use.  We have the Hyundai Blue Link service that can be used at times.  We have at least two maps apps on our phones that we can use.  We sometimes let them compete to find the best directions!  ha!

We agree that hearing the words "recalculating" or "make a uturn at the next intersection" are annoying.  It means we messed up by not following the instructions we were given.  Yikes!  Sometimes I just shut it off at that point because I don't want to hear it yacking at me about my mistakes!  Wow, how does this parallel with our Christian lives?  There are many times that we know the right direction.  We veer off course for what seems like a good reason only to ignore the Holy Spirit when it says "redirecting" or "make a uturn at the next intersection".  Like our regular GPS, we need to put aside our pride and follow the right path.  It is the best thing for us to reach our destination!

Lord, thank you for direction through your Holy Spirit.  Please help us follow the directions we are given!

Wellness Wednesday
Fill 'er up
I was talking with some friends last night about renewal.  There are soooooo many things in this world that feel like they are sucking the life out of us.  Could be work or relationships or parenting or aging parents or health.  The list goes on and on.  We posed this question to each of us: what renews you?  What activities do you do to help renew your strength.  I used the analogy of finding the source for your personal "well", from where you draw strength to live your life.

We heard many different activities.  Reading.  Prayer.  Shutting off from other people.  Knitting.  Exercise.  Attending movies. Seasonal hobbies like gardening.  The trick in the American culture is to find things that truly renew you instead of suck even more life out of you!  We have a tendency to play at our work and work at our play!

I encourage you to write down the things that renew you.  Make some of those activities a priority each day or week.  Renewing enables us to be the kind of Christians that we need to be!

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To be such a strong and vital organ, the heart breaks so easily. Ms. Inez used to say, "one of the many great mysteries of life is there is no love in this world without an equal amount of pain." What is the alternative? To never love anyone or anything? I love deeply, therefore I hurt deeply

Wait for it, wait for it...

Our Daily Bread
I love a good comedy routine.  My favorites were on the Carol Burnett Show.  The ensemble cast worked so well together.  There were sooooo many times that they knew the exact timing to make a situation the funniest!  You could see it in their eyes -- "wait for it, wait for it" to get the maximum impact!

Life with God is very similar to that.  God knows what is best for us.  He knows when things are best for us, too!  I usually have the attitude of "OK, I know this is supposed to happen, so why not today?"  I have learned in my life that I am not always ready for the things that I know God has for me even though I think I am.  I give the analogy of running a race.  I know I am not ready to run a 10k race.  With patience and training, I know I could eventually run one.  If I try now, I would fail.  When we try to make things happen on our own in our lives, we usually fail or get less than desirable results.  Train.  Be patient.  Run the race successfully!

I also thought it was cool that the devotional uses the story of Saul.  I talk about Saul in the Teaching Tuesday section below!

Lord, you know what is best for us, when it is best for us!  We thank you and praise you!

Teaching Tuesday
David and Saul
The Old Testament lesson this week was on David and Saul from I Samuel 16-31.  There were some very interesting relationship dynamics with these two!  There was also the subplot of the extremely close friendship between Saul's son, Jonathan, and David.  Some call it the closest friendship in the Bible!

Here is a quick summary of the story of David and Saul.  Saul's kingship eventually lost the blessing of YAWH because of his sin.  He did not follow the directions that YAWH gave him.  Some scholars think that this sin haunted him into his seemingly mad behavior later in his kingship.  He was paranoid, especially about David.  David was similar to Saul in many ways.  He was a young, handsome, charismatic man that people had a hard time not liking.  Yes, I can relate... Just kidding!  ha!  David showed his leadership skills AND his total reliance on YAWH time after time.  Samuel also secretly blessed him as king.  After David received the blessing from Samuel, Saul lost his blessing!  Not good!  There is a lot more to this story, so take a look at it sometime. Remember that the story is told from two points of view and those points of view are mixed together.  It can be confusing at times!

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We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide

Walk the talk

Our Daily Bread
There were several things drilled into my head as a young Christian.  Read the Bible.  Pray. Talk the talk and walk the walk.  One teacher changed that last statement to "walk the talk".  What?

The passage from I Corinthians 2:1-5 talk about this.  We cannot usually win people to the Lord with just our words, not matter how convincing we are.  Most folks will see right through us if we talk one way and then act (walk) another!  Walking the talk means acting the way you talk.  If we speak about love, then be loving.  If we speak about kindness, then be kind.  If we speak about treating other folks as ourselves, then we ought to do it!  Talk the talk.  Walk the walk.  Walk the talk!

Lord, thank you for your example of walking and talking.  Please help us follow your example?

Movie Monday
I saw the movie Quartet last week.  Be assured that I followed my new guideline of spending more time in prayer and Bible study than at the movies!  Praise God!

Quartet
The movie was sort of like a portal into my future!  Not really, but I had thoughts of what it would be like to retire in a place like the one in the movie!  The home was for retired musicians.  There were a lot of singers, chorus members and instrumentatlists.  There was a lot of layers to the plot, which I liked a lot.  The characters were all very lovable.  My favorite was Wilfred, a flirtatious Scot that continuously flirted with all the ladies.  I think I related to his flirtatious nature!  Oh well.  The plot centered around a fund-raising gala event that celebrated Verdi's birthday.  The movie was very sweet and very well acted.

I give this movie three bear paws out of four.  Definitely see it at an art film theater near you!

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u r a bcog  u r fawm  Now believe it!

You lookin at me?

Our Daily Bread
Have you ever seen a horse race?  Many folks don't notice the fact that the horses wear "blinkers" to keep them from seeing all the things around them.  They can only see what is ahead of them.  They don't need to know what the horses around them are doing. That is the jockey's job!

I confess that the devotional hit me hard today.  God has been dealing with me about looking too much at other people and judging them.  Maybe not judging in the harshest form of the word, but in a "I am rationalizing my behavior" helpful kind of way!  NOT!  I swear that I need blinkers sometimes to keep me focused ahead on the direction that God has for me!

How about you?

Lord, thank you for giving us purpose and direction.  Please help us stay focused on you!

Psalm Sunday
The psalm for this week, Psalm 82, is odd to me.  It is only eight verses, but talks about "other gods" and how our great God will render judgment towards them.  There is disagreement among Biblical scholars about "other gods" in Biblical history.  This phrase could just mean the the false gods like Baal or the fertility gods or could refer to the gods worshiped regionally.  There are also some theories about the gods in mythology.  An way you look at it, our God reigns!


Psalm 82

A psalm of Asaph.

1 God presides in the great assembly;
    he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you defend the unjust
    and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
    They walk about in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
    you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
    you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
    for all the nations are your inheritance.


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Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40

So long!

Our Daily Bread
I saw in a movie once that one character said to another "So long.  I don't say goodbye because we will meet again".  I always liked that.  I started saying it to friends and family.  It was comforting to know that each parting was not really "goodbye".

The Christians at the beginning of the church had a strong hospitality tradition, especially for traveling evangelists.  The evangelists relied almost exclusively on the Lord to provide sustenance and a place to sleep.  The devotional talks about being careful who we support with our resources.  Yes, we should support those who are teaching and preaching according to God's will.  God will give us discernment to know the difference.

Lord, thank you for discernment.  Please help us know who to support and give of our resources as we are able.

Simply Saturday
More on prayer
The topic of prayer has been coming up a lot in my life the past few months.  Let me say that I am noooooo expert on prayer.  I have been writing about it here and there as I learn more.  Here are a couple of my favorite entries from the past two years:
June 4, 2011
September 8, 2012
January 5, 2013

I am not sure what else I can write about this topic right now that I didn't already cover.  As I thought and prayed about it, God mentioned that I should gently guide people with some suggestions.  A friend from church mentioned that she was doing these things in her prayer group.  I hope the suggestions work for you.

1. Set prayer goals.  This may sound "over the top", but making time to pray and to listen should be a priority for every Christian.  One friend complained that he didn't have time to pray.  I lovingly mentioned "you have time to watch Project Runway".  Conversation ended...  My current goal is to spend more time in prayer and Bible study than at the movie theater.  I love movies and would go every day if there were good movies to see.  There are always folks to pray for.  Prayer should be a higher priority than movies.  What about you?
2. Create a prayer list.  I started using Evernote to track my prayer requests and results.  It is easy.  The account is free.  I can view the list on any of my devices or home computer.  Very cool.  I am not as disciplined about it as I should be.  I will work on that.
3. Maintain a prayer log.  I am not sure about this one.  I don't know if it is the same thing as the prayer list or just a time tracking tool for prayer time.  I will have to pray about that one!
4. A prayer confidant.  I don't want to scare you, but getting deeper and deeper into prayer can be a very intense experience.  I am just starting down that path.  I am not a spiritual giant, but I have found that getting to know God and myself better is very intense.  There are times when we need to bounce things off a mentor or prayer buddy.  
5. When in doubt about what to pray for, pray for these three things: that God will be first in the person's life, that the person would treat others as self and that God would make the person whole.  We know without a shadow of a doubt that these things are the will of God for everyone.  We can have complete faith that God will work in these ways.  Praise God!
6. Have faith.  When God tells you something, have faith that it will come to pass.  It is not easy being patient.  While writing this entry today, a favorite song called While I'm waiting played from my iTunes music list.  It was unexpected.  I needed a reminder!

Lord, teach us to pray!  I strongly encourage you to join me in this spiritual journey.  Let's pray for each other!

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Even our Lord Jesus Christ needed to spend time alone in prayer.  Are we better than him? - DF

Teach me to pray

Our Daily Bread
I don't know about you, but prayer is a complicated thing to me.  Being an engineer type person, I do my best to keep it simple instead of thoroughly defining and documenting the process!  ha!  How about you?

The devotional talks about the way we usually approach God in prayer.  "Oh, God, something happened to me and I need your help" or "Oh, God, something happened to my and we need your help".  Sound familiar.  I have been thinking about prayer a lot the past few years.  I think I will make it my topic for Simply Saturday this week, so stay tuned tomorrow!

Regardless of how you approach God in prayer whether it be with needs or praise or thanksgiving, don't ever stop talking to God.  Yes, he knows everything that is going on in your life.  I find talking to God about things openly and honestly helps me keep things in perspective and opens my mind to listening for God's voice to lead me.  Pray today.  Today.

Lord, thank you for letting us come to you in prayer.  Please help us talk to you AND listen to you.

Foodie Friday
I ran across an article about healthy soup recipes this week.  Here is one of the recipes I want to try.  Sounds yummy on a chilly winter night!

Ravioli Chicken Soup
Pasta and chicken keep this healthy soup low in fat and calories, while still providing the nutrients and carbohydrates you need that brothy soups may lack. Saffron and leek add a nice, exotic touch.
Saffron is a spice with a bitter taste and notable golden yellow hue. This soup is great for lunch or
dinner.

Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 9-ounce package vegetable ravioli or herb chicken tortellini
1/2 cup sliced leek or chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, slightly crushed
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves or shredded
fresh spinach

Directions
1 Lightly coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook and stir
chicken in hot saucepan for 3 minutes.
2 Carefully add broth, leek or onion, ginger, and saffron. Bring to boiling. Add ravioli or tortellini.
Return to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 to 9 minutes or until ravioli or
tortellini is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Ladle into bowls. Top each bowl
with several spinach leaves or shredded fresh spinach. Makes 4 servings.

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U r a bcog  U r fawm.  Now believe it!

The greatest love of all

Our Daily Bread
A little over a year ago, we lost the great voice of Whitney Houston.  She sang many love songs that I enjoyed over the years.  One of my favorites is "The greatest love of all".  Remember that one?

As Christians, we truly know "the greatest love of all" from our Lord Jesus Christ.  No, it is not the romantic kind of love that gets all the press on Valentines Day!  This is the love of God that lasts for this life and the next.  A love we can count on.  A love that brings us joy and peace.  A love that reminds us that we are never alone!

Lord, thank you for your never ending love.  Please help us always remember that!

Technology Thursday
Apple cuts notebook prices
It looks like Apple has finally figured out that their notebook computers, while more technologically advanced than many, are too expensive.  They announced new pricing and some updates to their top of the line models.

The MacBook Pro with Retina display models are down $200 from earlier this year (now $1499).  A new model has a 256gig SSD (solid state drive) that runs $1699.  The top of the line models are the same price with faster processors.  Check out the new models and pricing here.

Have you checked out the iPad Mini?  I love those!  I plan to buy one when they come out with the Retina display version, probably sometime this year.  I will be able to consolidate some devices after buying that one!  Woohooo!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

Perfect....sacrifice

Our Daily Bread
I did not grow up with the tradition of giving up something for Lent.  We didn't celebrate it like a lot of folks do.  We used to joke "I am giving up strawberries for Lent".  Well, I hate strawberries, so it is not really giving up something!

There are two schools of thought about sacrificing during Lent.  Give up something that is not too much of a temptation like the author mentioned or give something very meaningful to you.  It may seem silly to most folks, but I love popcorn, buttery, salty popcorn.  I could eat it by the gallons, especially at movies.  It is a big temptation to me to give it up for Lent.  I may not go to any movies so I can resist temptation better.  Like the author of the devotional, I also fail.  I failed at giving up popcorn a few years ago.  I fell off the wagon, but got right back on for the rest of the season.

The point of it all, as I finally learned, is to sacrifice something in honor of the sacrifice that Christ made for us at Easter time.  While he may not ask us to sacrifice our lives at Easter like he did, he does want us to give our lives over to him so we can have a personal relationship with him.  Won't you do that today?

Lord, thank you for your sacrifice at Easter.  Please help us honor that sacrifice with our lives each and every day, not just during Lent.

Wellness Wednesday
The Flu
So I thought I had the flu yesterday. I was up late Monday night with symptoms.  I had bad symptoms Monday morning.  I called into work and slept until noon.  I felt much better after that.  I got very hungry, which is a good sign.  Some people starve a cold or feed a fever.  I just feed everything!   ha!  I guess I ate something that didn't agree with me.  Very odd!  What should you do if you have the flu?  What should you do to prevent it?  Here are a few easy steps:

1. You can prevent most flu symptoms by getting a flu shot if you are able.  Not everyone can take a flu shot.  Be warned that not every strain of flu is in the shot.  For 2012-13, one of the nastiest strains is not in the shot.  The good news is that getting a flu shot can help make the symptoms milder and help you recover faster.
2. Wash your hands.  A lot!  Any time you touch something in public, be sure to wash your hands before touching your face or eating with your hands.  Some common things we forget about: menus at restaurants and hand rails on stairways.  Wash, wash, wash!
3. Depending on your flu symptoms, drink a lot of fluids.  There are a lot of different opinions about what you should drink.  Check with your doctor.  I prefer something like Poweraide Zero that has some electrolytes and stuff, but not the sugar content of Gatorade.  Some folks prefer Sprite or 7-up instead.  
4. Watch what you eat, if you can eat.  You body may try to tell you what it is craving if you feel like eating it.  Try to stay away from high fat foods.  Stick with whole grain crackers and low fat cheese or something like that.  
5. Get your rest and follow through until you are well.  We have a tendency to get back to our normal routines as soon as we feel a little better.  Take your time.  Get well.  

I hope this helps!  Get well or don't get sick at all!

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We too can know this God and be assured of His presence. He has revealed Himself in His creation and in His Word. As we ask Him to make Himself known to us, we’ll learn that He is even more than the owner and creator of everything! - Our Daily Bread web site

A very personal invitation

Our Daily Bread
I am not much of a social butterfly.  I don't get invited to the popular parties or many special events.  That is fine with me. As far as I am concerned, I am the one that should be doing the inviting!

The devotional talks about the much more significant invitation we have to offer others -- a relationship with God!  How often do we really think about that?  I know I have a tendency to flirt than talk about God.  As a friend calls me, "bad oso" (bear)!  ha!  Changing our attitudes and behaviors to be the voices of God is the most important calling in our lives.  Will we accept that responsibility?

Lord, thank you for our reservations to the most important event we can attend -- our eternal stay with you!

Teaching Tuesday
The lesson this week was the last part of the Samuel and Saul story in Judges.  Very interesting stories if you haven't read them.  Instead of following YAWH, the people of Israel decided they wanted a human king.  The deal was that YAWH would grant them one, but they had to still follow YAWH under the leadership of the new king.  Shortly after Saul became the first king of Israel, the people realized they made a mistake.

Isn't that the way we are sometimes?  Instead of asking for discernment about what to ask for or better yet, trust God for what is best for us, we often ask or even beg God for something or someone that may not be best for us.  We can realize soon after God answers our prayers that we didn't ask for the right thing!

On a personal note, God is trying to teach me something about answered prayers.  If he answers one particular prayer, do I really understand all that comes with the answer?  Everything?  My life would be very, very different if this one prayer is answered.  I need to understand and accept these things before I continue asking.

What are you talking with God about?  Let us pray for each other for discernment and understanding as we follow God!

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Trusting God’s faithfulness dispels our fearfulness. - Our Daily Bread web site

This offer expires in 24 hours!

Our Daily Bread
I don't know about you, but I am horrible about letting coupons or Groupons expire!  I see the line "This offer expires on ...." and I think I have all the time in the world to use it!  I usually forget about it and throw it away (or get a Groupon refund) a month or two after it expires!  Yikes!

We sometimes look at life that way as well.  We all know "This offer expires" when we expire!  ha!  The problem is that we don't know when our coupon expires!  Only God knows!  We should live each day like our coupon is expiring at midnight! 

How would you live your life differently today if you knew your coupon expired at midnight?

Lord, our time is in your hands.  Please help us live each moment for you!

Movie Monday
I saw several movies last week.  I am only reviewing one today since I may not have time to see a movie this week!

Stand up guys
This is a movie about three older crooks that are reunited after one of them gets out of prison.  They have one last run at glory before they face the sins of their pasts.  The acting was very good as Pacino, Walken and Arkin are the old crooks!  The story line is sort of bizarre and takes some bizarre turns IMHO.  Yet, one of my favorite exchanges of all time was in this movie:
Pacino: What are we doing today?  Chewing gum or kicking a$$?
Walken:  Well, I am all out of gum...

Ha!  I love that interchange!

I give this two bear paws.  It is definitely rentable.  Don't waste your money seeing it at the theater.  At least I saw it at the matinee rate...

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arm!

Destroys like fire

Our Daily Bread
I attended a conference week before last and learned another lesson about why I should hold my tongue.  The presenters were having A/V issues in one of the sessions, so I jokingly said "Oh, they must be using Product A.  Ha,ha, ha...".  I heard a voice from behind me say something.  It was one of the lead support engineers for Product A!  He wasn't very happy with my little joke!  I made a quick recovery, but the damage had already been done

Isn't that the way we are in our relationships and our daily life many days?  We says things that we think are innocent that are really hurtful.  We say things that are hurtful that are very, very hurtful.  We don't think before we talk.

I had an interesting thought while writing this.  Instead of leading off a conversation or a response with our own thoughts, can we lead off with the thoughts from God?  "Lead with the Lord" is what came to mind.  It is sort of like "stop, drop and roll" if you should ever catch on fire except this is to help prevent you from using a flaming tongue!

Lord, thank you for your love and mercy and restraint.  Please help us to always "lead with the Lord" when we open our mouths or write down our words!

Psalm Sunday
Let's look at Psalm 81 today.  While studying the Old Testament the past few years, I have made many cross-references from the people of Israel to the people of today.  We do the same things!  Let us all follow our Lord God with all our hearts!


Psalm 81

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.

1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
    shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
    play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 When God went out against Egypt,
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:
6 “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
    their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
    I answered you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.
13 “If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”


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We too can know this God and be assured of His presence. He has revealed Himself in His creation and in His Word. As we ask Him to make Himself known to us, we’ll learn that He is even more than the owner and creator of everything! - Our Daily Bread web site

Change of plans!

Our Daily Bread
I have often been told that I am not "spontaneous" enough.  Whatever...  ha!  I like to plan, but I am not 100% tied to my plans.  I like to have plans and goals to help me achieve the things I want to achieve in my life.

Often my plans and schemes are not the best things for me.  I re-learned this lesson when I was studying the story of Jacob in the Old Testament a few months ago.  When Jacob gave up his own plans and schemes, he became the great man of God, Israel! (from the EFM manual).  Wow!

I love this line from today's devotional:
"He often needs to divert us in order to make more of our lives than we would have if we had stuck to our original plans."

What plans are we sticking to that you need to let God divert?

Lord, your ways sure aren't our ways.  You know what you are doing!  Praise God!

Simply Saturday
Dead Sea Scrolls
I am traveling to Cincinnati with a group today to see the Dead Sea scrolls exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center.  We have a full day of activity planned in the center, so it should be a lot of fun.  Check out the link above.  It looks very cool.

Here are some other resources about the Dead Sea scrolls:
Wikipedia
An interesting link to the Digital Dead Sea scrolls project
The West Semitic Research project site
Some Google images of the Dead Sea scrolls

Finally, here I am standing in the Dead Sea.  I digress, but I got to see the general area where the scrolls were discovered!

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13

Death is not the end

Our Daily Bread
I am fortunate to be able to travel more than most folks.  It is interesting to me the different perspectives that folks have on an airline flight.  Each time we touch down, some folks are at their final destination.  Some folks are connecting to another destination.  Some folks, like the pilots and flight attendants, keep the cycle going over and over.

Life is sort of like that.  People come in and out of our lives as we all journey to our final destination.  We all arrive at our final destination at different times.  It is usually sad when a loved one leaves us for his or her final destination.  No matter how we try to be positive, we miss them very much.

I spent some time in the hospital with my grandparents before they died about fifteen years apart.  It was a very sad time.  The only thing that comforted me was knowing where they were going and knowing that I would be with them forever some day.  What a comfort indeed!

Lord, thank you for looking forward to us joining you in glory.  We long for that day, indeed!

Foodie Friday
Here is a new quinoa recipe from a friend of mine!  Quinoa pizza bites!  Thank you, Kimmie!


Gluten-Free Quinoa Pizza Bites

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pizza sauce for dipping

Directions

Place the quinoa and two cups of water in a covered pot. Bring to boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together all ingredients, except pizza sauce, in a medium mixing bowl.
Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (one heaping tablespoon each), and press down gently to compact.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.
Makes 24 mini muffin bites.

Never stranded

Our Daily Bread
I don't think my sister remembers this incident from our childhood, but I laugh about it every so often.  There were four children in my family.  We usually traveled in a station wagon (before the days of minivans!).  On one of our trips we stopped at a gas station for gas and a rest room break.  We were in a hurry for some reason, so we rushed back to the car and got on the road.  A few miles down the road, I looked around the back of the car and asked "Where is Karen?".  Yikes!  We turned around immediately and rushed back to the gas station.  My usually pleasant sister was sitting patiently on the curb waiting for us!

Don't we all feel deserted by God at times?  It may not be from sin or not fulfilling our calling as Christians.  It could be because we are waiting.  Waiting for God to fulfill one of his unbelievable promises to us.  I call my lack of patience "tapping my foot patiently".  It can't be done!  ha! 

I pray that each of us act like my sister.  She sat patiently and calmly.  She KNEW we would be back to get her.  She was not alarmed.  Can we do that too while we wait on God?

Lord, thank you for always being there for us.  Please help us have faith in your promises even when we can't see or understand how things will work out!

Technology Thursday
USB 3.0
The latest version of the USB standard is not common on all newer PCs and laptops.  USB is the interface used by a "thumb drive" or "USB drive" used to store data.  Those little sticks come in all shapes and sizes now.  It is amazing to me that they can hold as much data as some of my old hard drives!

Be careful when buying a new USB drive of you want to take advantage of the new standard.  Be sure your PC or laptop has a USB 3.0 port.  Be sure your thumb drive is a 3.0 version.  Ask someone at the computer store or read the description on Amazon.com if you aren't sure.

The new standard is MUCH faster for transferring data to and from.  Very cool!  Enjoy!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

And they'll know

Our Daily Bread
There is a campfire song that I really liked called "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord".  The last line is "and they'll know we are Christians by our love".  How true it is!

The devotional talks about how our actions must be in sync with our words.  Yes, it is nice to say the right words at church or in public places.  It is another thing to live those words with our deeds.  They must be consistent! 

I know I have a problem with consistency at times.  On days that I don't feel good or am stressed, my actions do not match the godly words that are coming out of my mouth.  I hope you are better than I am at consistency!  Let's pray for each other about it!

Lord, thank you for your consistent love for us.  Please help us be consistent in living for you!

Wellness Wednesday
Lent
Lent starts next Wednesday.  What are you giving up for Lent?  To be frank, I never really observed Lent very much when I was  younger.  I started paying more attention to it as a Methodist and now even more as an Episcopal.  I gave up popcorn one year for Lent.  I faltered a time or two.  I will try again this year. 

I feel giving up something that you like is a good exercise for wellness.  Discipline, especially when it comes to spiritual things, is a very good thing.  Doing things like reading your Bible and devotional each day is good.  Praying each day is good.  My new discipline guideline is that I can't spend more time at the movies than I do in prayer and Bible study.  Whoa!  That is a big one for me.

What personal discipline goals do you need to work on in  your spiritual life?  Let's pick one and work on it for Lent!

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u r a bcog  u r fawm  Now believe it!

Roots...

Our Daily Bread
When I was a child, I loved dandelions.  They were so pretty when in bloom!  I also loved picking them when the blooms faded and blowing away the furry cap.  Little did I know that I was helping a weed spread and grow!  The roots of a dandelion grow deep! There are several images of "roots" in the Bible.  They mostly refer to trees being planted by the water.  Their roots will grow deep and they will not be moved!

There are some other things that can be deeply rooted.  The devotional talks about bitterness being deeply rooted.  The author talked about a long hidden root of bitterness that had been twisting around in his mind and heart and strangling him without him even realizing it! 

How many of us have these same issues?  Let us pray for each other to find these roots of bitterness and dig them out like a nasty dandelion root!

Lord, thank you for the special tool of your love that will help us root out the roots of bitterness!

Teaching Tuesday
The last two weeks have been about the books of Joshua and Judges.  Very interesting historical stuff.  Some very interesting stories and fables (an example is the story about the talking donkey).  The stories are mostly from the D writer, who portrays things from the point of view of YAWH conquering all when the people of Israel are faithful.  An example is the way many of the stories start "And the people of Israel forgot YAWH and sinned in his sight".  That is when the people of Israel were conquered or lost battles when they were on the offensive. 

What did I learn?  The people of Israel were much like we are today -- we have trouble not being absorbed into the culture around us and absorbing its mores.  The people of Israel started worshiping the fertility gods like Baal.  We worship success, money and popularity.  We are not so different!  We all need to keep our eyes focused on YAWH!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

Not one more...

Our Daily Bread
I saw the movie Amadeus many years ago.  I loved the section of the movie when a listener said that Mozart's music "had too many notes".  He looked at them and said something like "each one is necessary.  It is perfect".

I will never be described as a man of few words (or few notes).  The devotional author said something I never noticed -- each devotional can only 220 words or less.  Wow!  I know I write more than that at times in my blog entries.  He also gave examples of succinct passages in the Bible like the ten commandments, the story of the temptation of Christ, the 23rd Psalm, etc.  Very interesting.  I think each of us can be more wordy than we need!

Lord, thank you for your Word.  Please help us do a better job of choosing ours!

Movie Monday
I saw two movies last week: Parker and Hansel and Gretel.

Parker
This is the latest Jason Statham movie.  It was entertaining, but nothing to write home about.  He had some cool fight scenes.  It was set in Miami, which was nice.  The scenes with Jennifer Lopez were interesting.  Michael Chiklis was a good villain.  Oh, and the first scene was shot in Columbus, Ohio, where I live!  That was cool!

I give this movie two bear paws.  Rent it. Don't waste your money at the theater.

Hansel and Gretel
I saw this one in 3D.  It was more fun in 3D I think.  The movie was just OK.  It is NOT a childrens story brought to life.  The language is rough at times.  The violence is rougher at times.  There is also some skin at times.  Weird movie, but mindless entertainment.

I give this one two bear paws as well.  Rent it.  No need to see it at the theater unless you want the 3D effects.

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Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40

Not a time for weeping...

Our Daily Bread
I have to admit that I am a big-hearted teddy bear at times.  I can cry at some sentimental commercial on television or youtube or card at Hallmark.  I get it honestly from my beloved grandfather.  Our joke was that our big bellies were necessary to make room for our big hearts!

There was weeping during the reading of the Law by Ezra.  Israel had come back to the Lord once again (see the notes on the psalm below), and they called all the people together to listen and worship.  Some folks cried during the parts where Israel turned away from God.  Their leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah, told them not to cry.  This is a time for joy and praise!  The people were instructed to "eat choice food and drink sweet drinks" and to share them with folks that were less fortunate.  It was a celebration to be the people of God once again!

Lord, please help us learn from the lesson today that we need to keep vigilant about always pursuing you and learning more about your word.

Psalm Sunday
Let's look at Psalm 80 this week.  It is a prayer of yearning and suffering like so many others.  The author is calling upon God to restore Israel to its former glory.  In the Old Testament stories, the god of a nation is seen as powerful if the nation conquers others or cannot be conquered by others.  We see over and over that the people of Israel, Yahweh's chosen people to show his glory, turn away from God, get conquered, pray a prayer like Psalm 80, repent, and then Yahweh blesses them again.  This may sound mean on the part of God, but he made a covenant, a deal with Israel, to be obedient so they can remain in the relationship.  Read it out loud!


Psalm 80

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.

1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
    shine forth
2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
    come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.
4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
    will your anger smolder
    against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
    and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
    its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls
    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
    and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
    Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15     the root your right hand has planted,
    the son you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
    at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
    the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
    revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.


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We are far from perfect, but despite our mistakes and our sins, we will never abandon the Lord and he will never abandon us - adapted from a statement about Abraham from the EfM Training Guide

I once was blind...

Our Daily Bread
I have a better appreciation for today's devotional after what I went through since 2008 -- fighting blindness. Thanks to many prayers, the skills of my doctors and taking better care of myself, I can see!  I don't have 20/20 vision any longer without glasses, but I can see very well without them.  Praise God!

IMHO, the keys to spiritual sight are similar.  We obtain the new type of vision by accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Then, through many prayers, the skills and spiritual guidance of our friends, church family and ministers, and taking care of our spiritual vision, we can see!  We can see the things that God has for us. See the folks around us who need our help.  See the people that we need to pray for.  See the things inside of us that we need to turn over to God.  Praise God, I can see clearly now!

Lord, thank you for spiritual sight.  Please help us always look for you each and every day!

Simply Saturday
Mandisa songs...
While writing this entry, I cranked up some Mandisa songs from iTunes.  I want to write about a few of them since they spoke to me.

Good Morning (Capital Kings Remix)
If you have read my blog at all, you probably figured out that I am a morning person.  Good Morning, especially this dance mix, really gets me going!  Do a search for it on Youtube.

Stronger (Movin mix)
Yes, God will use any situation to help us better see the things we need to see.  After reading the Old Testament a lot over the past 2.5 years, I can testify!  Whatever you are going through, turn it over to God.  He will make you stronger!

Shackles (Switch Remix)
When we are going through the trials and many times after the trials, we cry out to God to release the chains or things that are holding us back.  We usually forget the next part of that song "so I can dance.  I just want to praise you!".  Too often, we mumble "thank you, God" and not really dance and praise God for deliverance.  It is very freeing!

Songs can speak to me.  I hope they speak to you, too!

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We too can know this God and be assured of His presence. He has revealed Himself in His creation and in His Word. As we ask Him to make Himself known to us, we’ll learn that He is even more than the owner and creator of everything! - Our Daily Bread web site

What's my motivation?

Our Daily Bread
When I was younger, I tried taking some acting classes.  I thought they were a little silly at times when the students, not the teachers, got over dramatic.  One student having difficulty acting his lines said "Well, what's my motivation?".

As children of God, we don't have to ask that question!  We know from the Bible and church that our motivation is the love of God!  If we love God, then we have to show it by doing the things he told us to do.  It is important to note that people can tell if you are "just going through the motions" or "just saying the lines". Serving God with your whole heart shows in everything you do.  You have your motivation!  Go!

Lord, thank you for giving us direction and purpose in life.  We thank you and praise you!

Foodie Friday
My church dinner group is having a Super Bowl Sunday food theme for this morning.  It should be fun.  Here is the recipe I am taking.


Pigs in Blankets
Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson, 2007

Prep Time:25 minInactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:15 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
50 pieces

Ingredients
2 cups plus 5 tablespoons self-rising flour
1 heaping teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons grated Red Leicester or Cheddar
1 cup whole milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
50 pork cocktail sausages (mini hot dogs)
For glazing:

1 egg, mixed with a splash milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Measure 2 cups of flour into a bowl, add the salt and grated cheese and mix lightly with a fork. Pour the milk into a measuring cup to come up to 1-cup mark and then crack in the egg and add the oil. Beat to combine, then pour into the dry ingredients, forking to mix as you go. You may, at the end, feel the dough's either too dry or too damp: add either more milk or more flour and fork together again until you've got a soft dough that's not too sticky to be rolled out.

Break the dough into 2 pieces and roll 1 piece on a lightly floured surface. Scone dough is a dream to work with; in fact, I find it deeply pleasurable. Just roll as clumsily and heavy handedly as you like: no harm will come to it. You want a thin, but not exaggeratedly so, rectangle. A square wouldn't be the end of the world either, so don't start getting out the geometry set: this is the roughest of instructions.

Cut the dough into approximately 1 3/4-inch strips, and then cut each strip at approximately 2 1/2-inch intervals so that you end up with a collection of small, raggedy oblongs (I just cut each strip as I go, but it's probably more efficient to do the whole batch of dough at 1 time).

Take a cocktail sausage and put it at 1 end of an oblong at a slight diagonal and then roll up, pressing on the infinitely compliant dough to squeeze it shut, and then place on a nonstick baking sheet, or 1 lined with parchment. Carry on until you've finished all your strips and then get to work with the remaining dough. Three baking sheets should do it.

Now, dip a pastry brush into the beaten egg mixture and paint on the pastry for a golden glaze. Put in the oven and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, by which time they should be puffy and burnished. Remove from the oven and let cool a little before giving them to the children.


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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13