Tag: understanding

The Joy of Cooking, (Christian Edition)

“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” 

James 2:17

Recipes are good.  I used to sit and read “The Joy of Cooking,” reading it like it was a literary novel.  I was quite fond about the simple way it divided everything up.  You had sections on Meats, and Desserts, and even Drinks.  And every so often it would insert a cooking tip.  Sometimes, I would start to smell that recipe I was thinking about.

I have never told anybody about this odd preference of reading material.  The really funny part is, I’ve read how to poach an egg, but I have never done it.  As a matter of fact, I don’t cook.  Hardly ever.  You see I have saturated myself in reading cookbooks, but that doesn’t make me a cook.  Only cooking makes me a cook.

We keep getting it messed up.  We seem to put the wrong stress on things.  We attribute value to things that we shouldn’t.  I happen to think that “faith” is a verb.  I also think that reading the Bible should activate us, and not to educate us. 

Often, I treat it like a cookbook.  I read and read, voraciously mind you.  But I don’t cook!  I have never put a single recipe to the test.  I have read about terrific “Eggs Benedict” on page 222, or the luscious sounding “Grandmas Tasty Cherry Pie” on page 651. But it’s only filed away somewhere in my mind; I have never moved beyond this point.

Being spiritual isn’t how much you know, but what you do.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this:  we must realize that Scripture is first for our hearts, and not so much for our heads.  Cookbooks are good, but when it all shakes out, are you actually and really, cooking? Or are you just reading?

 

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The Day Jesus Sang

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“Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.” 

Matt. 26:30

This is the only place in scripture where it was recorded that Jesus sang.  There is no question that He sang on other occasions, we just don’t know the specifics.  The hymn on the way to the Mount would’ve been from the Book of Psalms, and most likely one of the Psalms of Ascent that would of coincided with that particular date. These hymns were known as the Hallel Psalms (meaning “Praise” psalms), and consisted of Psalms 113-118.

Jesus ‘singing’ tells us a lot of His frame of mind while heading for His death in just a few hours.  When a man is about to be executed at a definite place and time its unlikely that you will find him to be musically inclined.  Yet Jesus joined His brothers in singing to the Glory of God. He sings from darknesses depth.

“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.”

John 4:23, NLT

The search in on!  The Father looks into our hearts to find something special.  Is it there?  Will He choose you?  Let’s not foolishly think that because you play the piano or the guitar you’ll be a “shoe-in.”  “Spirit and truth” is the awareness needed.  Being ‘filled with the Spirit’ is the only thing that is really necessary.

“Be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.”

Ephesians 5:19, NLT

An insincere heart can’t worship sincerely.

God is looking for worship that’s sincere and strong.  If we are not “spirit and truth” worshippers we can’t fake it. It is malfunctioning. But we can commence to begin.  We can start by preparing our hearts.  Putting them under the spigot of the spirit and of truth.  Let them soak like a sponge in God’s grace.  Things that are dry, will saturate themselves in God.

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As Risky as Cigarettes? A New Study on Sleeping Pills

“He gives to his beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:2

At http://www.Brokenbelievers.com, our focus is mostly on the spiritual realities of being disabled, and yet a believer in Jesus. We honestly need these things as a man needs air. They are  things that we look into, and are crucial to our spiritual survival. Yet sometimes we encounter something on the physical/medical side that is important enough to merit our attention.

The latest off the wire, is a recent study on prescription sleep aids. For many years, our doctors have strongly suggested that if needed, we take a sleeping pill to enable us to “rack out.” A lot of people use them. In 2010, between  6 and 10% of adult Americans used a sleeping aid. Recently, researchers took another look. The drugs tested were Ambien, Restoril, Lunesta and Sonata. These, and a few others were tested. If your really interested, you will find the report on WebMd.com.

What they found was that users of these drugs to promote sleep faced a 5.3-fold higher death risk. They also had a 35% higher risk of cancer, the study found.  That made me perk right up.

The study was conducted at California San Diego which commenced in the early seventies. I encourage you to dig this up, and especially if you are taking a sleeping aid prescribed by a doctor. It could help you to decide on taking these meds, or not.

Perhaps, the issues are not substantial or significant to you. I do confess that the results are provocative.  And yet they do guide us into a fuller understanding. I have taken “Lunesta” for almost 4 years, every night.  My psychiatrist has explained to me that in his mind Bipolar Disorder can pretty much be a sleep issue and we need to treat it as such. Hence the Lunesta. But my shrink is not alone on this.

I suppose that I must admit a fear of  not being able to sleep. Sleep has been quite honestly the state that has carried me through many of my issues. I guess when I do sleep, I retract many things, and my “decks” are cleared for new ones.  The fear of losing this ability to really sleep, keeps me from not taking seriously the Lunesta I take every night. Inside, I just can’t see giving it up, in spite of the statistics.

In many ways, I suppose that sleep has become my deliverer. And as a believer, this should scare me. Jesus, after all, has redeemed me. He has done the work, after all. And yet I look at sleep as a sort of deliverance from my difficult issues. I don’t know what you are getting, but right now I’m sleeping 10 or 11 hours a night. And somewhat rarely I’ll take a 1 or 2 hour nap in the late afternoon.

“At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.” Jer. 31:26

Something funny: I once saw this posted on a wall in a church nursery, and thought it was very humorous, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” 1 Corinthians 15:51.

The study is reported yesterday on http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20120227/sleeping-pills-called-as-risky-as-cigarettes

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God Will Finish What He Started

He Will Complete It

3 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 1:3-6

We sometimes begin things we don’t finish.

Thank You, Lord for this precious promise that You never leave a job half done.  And here’s a simple poem . . .

Getting There, by Deb Feller

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We thank You, Lord as we joyfully pray for

You are faithful and working always in our lives

finishing what You’ve begun ’til we’re no long “in progress”

but complete, with Your Son.

Amen.

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Deb Feller has a good blog of great poetry at http://iftodaywehear.wordpress.com/

 

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