A Recipe for Growth

One of my weaknesses of late has been gathering recipes. Once I clicked on a Facebook page for a   "healthy" recipe and now I get dozens of recipe ideas every day. I have yet to find a great recipe that is both healthy and tastes good.

Actually, I've been addicted to recipes all my married life. I have a whole row of cookbooks in my bookcase. There I have found some wonderful recipes by great cooks. I have tagged pages with favorites that I go back to again and again.

Peter wrote a specific recipe for growing Christians. The ingredients are important individually. But, they all work together to make us resemble Jesus Christ more closely. God empowers us, but the recipe is not complete until we work at these characteristics daily and show growth.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ," (2 Peter 1:5-8 NIV).

Wow. What a list of qualities to work on! 

Faith
Goodness
Knowledge
Self-Control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love

And, as we read in the Scriptures elsewhere, the greatest of these is love. But it takes them all to be a growing Christian. They aren't automatically ours when we are born again. We have the Holy Spirit in us that helps us, but the work is ours to do.

Heavenly Father: when we see this list of our responsibilities, we are overwhelmed and convicted of our weaknesses. Please hear our confessions of failures, and help us rebuild our character to be the follower of Jesus Christ that You desire us to be. Thank You for sending Your Son to save us from our sins. Praying in the name of Jesus, Amen.

God Cares for You

What is happening outside? It was above 64 degrees yesterday. We walked a couple of miles in the glorious sunshine. It felt so good. My sweatshirt was too warm by the time we got home. It seems like our trees and plants must be confused. It wasn't just one day of warmth...here in Iowa. We are experiencing a string of warmth that extends more than a week long.

I'm not complaining. I love the warmth but this is February! I am confused and concerned about the changes happening in our earth. I won't step up on a soapbox here, but I really care what kind of air, water, and soil we are leaving for our grandchildren and their children to live with.

We must trust God with our concerns. To do that means we must humble ourselves, giving up the control, and realizing that we need God in every situation. We aren't to sit back and wait; we need to take action that is within our ability and God will lift us up in due time.

"All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34)." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you," (1 Peter 5:5b-7 NIV).

Lord, I need Your grace. I repent of my sins and humbly obey You. Show me what I need to do, Lord, and help me be the best me I can be. I trust You, God. Heal me, and heal our country, our land, sea, and air. Praying in the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

#1175 gds

Love

What is a four-letter word that we are encouraged to say? 

"If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing," (1 Corinthians 13:3 NIV).

Love: "Deep affection and warm feelings for another." (The American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition 2001).

I just realized, as I read the definition in my 'old' dictionary, that the meaning of love in a current publication might be completely different. I don't think I want to search for a 2026 version of love. The example shown throughout the Bible is the one I want to use.

In reading the Scripture again, the meaning and purpose of love seems to indicate that to love is beneficial to the givers. Love is living our lives for someone else's good. Love is a decision followed by an action. Love makes us more like Jesus. That's the real goal in a Christian's life.

"If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love,"  (1 Corinthians 13:3 The Message in Contemporary Language). 

Paul, the author of the letter to the Corinthians, concludes his love chapter with the following:

"Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love," (1 Corinthians 13:13 The Message in Contemporary Language).

O, God,  we know that love is the greatest of all human qualities. Love is what shows we care. Love is what You have shown to us over and over. Help us love others like ourselves. Let us live today, filled with love for others. Show us when to love, how to love, and make us live with love. God, we thank You for Your love in sending Your Son, Jesus, to give His life for us. Fill our hearts with love today and every day. We pray in Jesus' Name, Amen.

Put On Love

It's the month of red hearts, candy conversation hearts, shoeboxes covered in hearts, paper valentines, chocolate-covered strawberries, red roses, and romantic dinners by candle light. Valentine's Day is just around the corner. 

I did not remember that Valentine's Day was originally a Christian feast day named for a martyr, Saint Valentine of Rome. One legend says Valentine was imprisoned for protecting persecuted Christians and was buried on February 14, on the Via Flaminia, an ancient Roman road through the mountains. Accounts say there is not much known about Saint Valentine.

Through the years, Valentine's Day became associated with romantic love and "lovebirds" of early spring. In 1868 Cadbury created heart-shaped boxes for their chocolates, beginning a favorite Valentine gift of candy, Just walk through a store that sells candy and find hundreds of varieties of heart candies.

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity,"  (Colossians 3:14 NIV). 

It is always a good idea to "put on love" as we strive to live out our faith. As Colossians 3:12 tells us to "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossians 3:14 continues: "over all these virtues put on love."

The virtues listed can make showing love so easy if we just work at living them out.

Oh Gracious God, thank You for giving us Your Word to guide us in our faith. Keep these virtues at the top of our minds this week. Help us choose these actions in all that we do. We want to live like Your Son. Thank You for sending Him to teach us and to save us from our sins. We pray in Jesus' Name, Amen.

Fix Our Eyes on Jesus

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God," (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). 

Sometimes when I am walking I set my eyes on where my next step is to be placed. There are some sidewalks that have uneven edges, broken pieces of concrete, or tree roots that have forced the cement to break or buckle. They can be dangerous if I set my eyes on where I am going instead of where my foot will be placed. 

That is what makes a walking track nice. Each step is the same. The surface is even and smooth. The only hazards are other walkers who may stop suddenly on the track or back into you, or when you stub your toe. (I am a danger to myself anywhere I walk).

The Scripture above tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus in our big picture of life. We need Jesus to make our faith stronger and more perfect, like Him. Jesus endured the painful torture and hanging upon the cross for us! He must always be in sight or we will focus on ourselves and stumble and fall.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal," (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV).

Lord God, Help me keep our eyes fixed on You. The path of my life is bumpy and long. It winds around and through dangers that only You can help me through. I need my focus to be on You. Fix my eyes on Jesus, in whose name I pray, Amen.

Run With Perseverance

Welcome to a new month, a new week, and a new day. February. One month closer to spring! Will it be warmer than January? Will we get more snow? What will our path look like? Will we have a smooth, rock-free, hill-free road to travel this month or will we face challenges with every step? Only God knows what lies ahead.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).

The author of Hebrews recognized that he was surrounded by faithful believers who had experience and wisdom and encouraged him to keep running the race, whatever it looked like. We do not walk alone. Others have walked through our troubles and survived. We can make it, too.

The key is perseverance. I never noticed what a long word perseverance is. Just saying the word takes a while. That gives a hint to the challenge that might be ahead. Our walk in life as a Christian is not easy. We have temptations and sin that gets in our way. We must confess those hinderances and keep going. 

We must get rid of anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to help us run toward the freedom we receive through confession of our sins. We need to start again, if we pause. Keep Jesus in our sights. He leads the way.

Lord God, I'm not a good runner, never have been, never will be. But I can persevere on the path You place before me. Guide me, Lord. Show me the way. Point out the hazards in my path. Don't let me give up. I need the encouragement that You and fellow believers provide. Thank You, God. Make my life give You praise in all I do. Let every step I take bring You honor and glory. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

What I Need to Do

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness," (Colossians 2:6-7 NIV).

I am totally blown away by the beautiful verses that can be found in the Bible. Those above just spoke to me when I ran across them again. My study Bible has been my go-to since 1991, I think. I have read through it several times so it has many stars, underlines, notes in the margins and a number of bookmarks with an assortment of treasured writings of friends and authors. There are a couple very special letters inside. And a few study guides clutter inside the front and back covers. It has become too heavy for me to carry to church or to my Bible studies. I use it at home where it lays open on my desk.

"Continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him..."

Live in Christ Jesus. That's what I need to do.  To be rooted and built up in Him! Like a tree stretches its roots out seeking nourishment and the water it needs to grow, that's what I need to do. With my branches, my arms, stretching out toward the sun, the Son, praising the Father.

"Strengthened in the faith as I was taught..." 

Returning to the basics of my belief, grasping the foundation that was built in Sunday school, youth group, church camp, sermon after sermon, and Bible study after Bible study. That's what I need to do.

"Overflowing with thankfulness..." 

Thank you, Father God, for giving me the Word to guide my life in Christ Jesus. I need You every moment of every day. Fill me with everything I need to stay rooted and grounded in You. You are my source. I praise You and thank You with my whole heart, and I pray in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.