A Ministry of Christian Chefs International (CCI)

Friday, September 23, 2016

My Wife and Blog partner went home this morning...day 1 numb

1 John 4:7-10            [ God Is Love ]
"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God."

My Dear Friends and family, This morning as swiftly as Love came home to me the woman who made me feel Beloved...returned Home, Love to Love , to be with and in... the presence of her Father, Lord, and Saviour, and True Lover of who she is...Jesus. Cat and I shared almost 17 years of passionate moments. Oh for sure not all sweet and pleasurable...yet in every moment of pain, loss, trouble, scars, and tears... Cat embraced each moment with the same Passion... the expression of the revelation of Love powering through her heart.  That power Love's pure energy, drove her.  One of the many things I admired and loved about her was when someone met Cat...they knew her.  She was up front and straight forward to a fault Like her best friend and saviour Jesus.   Truth be told...she would!  Wanting only that others would see Jesus in her.  With her I shared that same desire and together we stood behind, supported, and encouraged that in each other...and to those God put in our circle of influence...or in relationship with.  We'd been put together to grow and develop as a "new creation"   We were a "couple"...  the one flesh, in a larger body,  we were two persons living by the life of another...more of a "triple" actually...
To the very end of her residence in the corporeal form born Cathleen Lou Fast she took each piece of life tasted it chewing and digesting it into her very heart where space, time, and matter don't "matter"...only one thing...Our love...mattered,  As expressed in one of her fav worship songs...(please listen with ears to hear)      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ
And that power...Grace...and I have been blessed and fulfilled to have known anyone so incredibly...Grace-ful. Her passion made things happen  they so touched the heart of God.  Like Jesus, God works through obedient servants...I can see her now sitting at her sewing machine...smiling...she did it unconsciously...Passionate Love smiles Sisters and Brothers..and it changed my life...We shared a name and a heart and a time.  And together we both came and agreed...that God made for her just what He made in me!  A passion...creative unto itself...  And the smile goes on and on and on and on it goes!
Rock and Roll! Jesus is the Rock and we Roll!   want to say so much more  floodgates just started to open   She was Our friend and I love being a part of such an awesome friend relationship  She so enjoyed her facebook staying in touch and sharing her passion for the Word...seeing pics of her family, grands and greats she expressed such pride in you all she truly valued relationship...from the Friends made over her custom Creations, to the Body of Christ the bride which we are of...to the fellowship of suffering     which she embraced with an attitude that glorified God...I wont be on much but will endeavor to share with you the blessing that was Cat and the Passion that IS Cat...
 She's home rockin' and rollin' with her dad and the great cloud of witnesses...shouting  as we do too...Halleluia!
It is indeed "funny" odd to me that even though she is "gone"  The Love grows stronger...It is after all ...a Love thing...

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Ran across my rubber Pirate Chicken...

...Hardly good eats!  And with the passing of Talk like a Pirate Day , the finding reminded me of the fun times had celebrating this holiday during the radio show...Chef Brian Edwards has one also...I ran across a barrel full of mostly defective Rubber Pirate Chickens ..and finding a few that "worked"  it squeaked as only a rubber chicken can...I sent him one as the unofficial mascot of Cooking With A Mission the former radio ministry of CCI...
So now I have a reminder of sharing the Joy of the Lord...Strength in Joy indeed!
John 16:22 (NKJV)
Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
John 16:23-24 (MSG)
“This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Thems good eats!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

...intermezzo...

Whew!  while its not "hard" work  it is busy! Hunting, foraging, digging, gathering, harvesting, processing, getting all the Mis en place and cooking, tasting, and digesting ...all to see what the food means to us...yes it is life giving, and yes it is nourishing, and quite frankly...a lot of "stuff"!  And now we know ...what?
Take a moment to just "be" in His presence...its been a much shared word recently and for good reason...it is the place where Jesus is and where His truth is revealed...a place where His yoke is easy, where His burden...Light...a place where His peace which is given to us is received...A place where Love lives...Its a Love thing Amen?
Let us partake.  Not necessarily does See come right after Taste...
Take a moment and digest...its been, and will continue to be... quite a journey
A groovy vid/song and a cartoon for your spiritual pleasure and as a digestif...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WPbs7N-E0Q&index=5&list=PLRZlMhcYkA2HCg8PZnI1EaqcnIhU-Kd3T








Rock and Roll!  Jesus is the Rock...and we Roll!

If any of you would like to share comment below

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

...gathering more manna...food foretold...

From Cat's scripture sharing...from the prophesy of Joel 2:23-24 (MSG).  a foretelling...Here Joel was prophesying things and times, persons and yes Food to come!

[ The Trees Are Bearing Fruit Again ] "Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate! God has done great things. Fear not, wild animals! The fields and meadows are greening up. The trees are bearing fruit again: a bumper crop of fig trees and vines! Children of Zion, celebrate! Be glad in your God. He’s giving you a teacher to train you how to live right— Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do. And plenty of food for your body—silos full of grain, casks of wine and barrels of olive oil."

This is a part of a message given through Joel and at the beginning he writes in Joel 1 (MSG)
1-3 God’s Message to Joel son of Pethuel:
Attention, elder statesmen! Listen closely,
    everyone, whoever and wherever you are!
Have you ever heard of anything like this?
    Has anything like this ever happened before—ever?
Make sure you tell your children,
    and your children tell their children,
And their children their children.
    Don’t let this message die out.

We love the promises...  the good things...as we must love the other things for they are part and parcel of what has gone on...what is going on, and what will...go on.  The song comes to me... Will the Circle be unbroken? ...in the here and now another song  Standing on the promises...We are called to do that.  As Joel wrote  Be Glad in your God! He's giving us a teacher!   I encourage you to seek that teacher and have a nibble...and "Don't let this message die out!   To eternity and beyond!

Monday, September 19, 2016

God Monday to you all...ready for another bite?

 It is food we seek and hunger for...that same hunger desire and passion we feel for such things that fill our bellies...we also seek to fill our hearts and souls....and in the process...our brains  ( thats usually the stumbling block battlefield of the mind)
We are called to be "Do-ers" of the Word...Amen?  We hear, listen, read and speak the Word ingesting it into our spirit person.  From the beginning food was the primal thing that showed the Love of God...His provision...the thing that made us strong, healthy, and empowered for the task He gave us to “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth!"  For one thing we had to work the fields and work for our food...All things working together.  As in food service  the food "services" us  relationship ..food for food...When the Hebrew children were "Exodused" from Egypt God knew it was going to be tough going and the logistics of feeding millions...Wow!  We may be able to wrap our minds around feeding a meal to thousands...it is a massive effort that calls for discipline, a staff, organizational skills, a plan, , and equipment...and oh yeah the raw materials, the food of which we can configure into eatable product delivered in a timely and precise way...yikes!  God took the "relationship" we had with food...and expressed it in His Worship...from the tithe of the dough to the Sacrifices, Grain, Drink, Peace, Whole Burnt...in Numbers 28
[ Offerings ] God spoke to Moses: “Command the People of Israel. Tell them, You’re in charge of presenting my food*, my Fire-Gifts of pleasing fragrance, at the set times. Tell them, This is the Fire-Gift that you are to present to God: two healthy yearling lambs each day as a regular Whole-Burnt-Offering. Sacrifice one lamb in the morning, the other in the evening, together with two quarts of fine flour mixed with a quart of olive oil for a Grain-Offering. This is the standard Whole-Burnt-Offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing fragrance, a Fire-Gift to God. The Drink-Offering that goes with it is a quart of strong beer[or strong wine**] with each lamb. Pour out the Drink-Offering before God in the Sanctuary. Sacrifice the second lamb in the evening with the Grain-Offering and Drink-Offering the same... as in the morning—a Fire-Gift of pleasing fragrance for God. ..."
     So we know food is important but here we get another taste of what Our Father says in our worship is His food  saying this s we can identify with these things as they worship God as we...worship God.  And how these things  ( All things working together amen?) are directed and ordered by God...Yes all the regulations about food and all the procedures for cooking and worshipping like the priests in the temple and those going to worship had to ritually wash their hands or were not allowed into the Presence.  Also a groovy note was the basin that contained the water for washing is defined as a Chafing Dish!  We all know that word!  More cooking devices used in the worship of God...
     Wow  the more we Ask, Seek, and Knock...
in Mat 7 “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock. 9 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? 10 Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
12 “Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets."
The more we receive, find, and the door is opened   The Meal is ready   come on in... We are now open for business...so now lets finish it...Follow the Maitre 'D  and and enjoy your meal...

*Emphasis and underline is my enhancement of the words "my food"
** other Translations translate Strong  Beer as Strong Wine KJ, Living, AS, or in the NIV..."fermented drink"
Jesus even mentioned the tithe of cumin and mint

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Happy Saturday!

While digesting our first courses on our journey to His Food....the Word today ...a great verse that encourages and spurs us on to want to know more of God in His Word...Posted by my wifey today...

Ephesians 5:1
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

Taste some of this and see...

Friday, September 16, 2016

Lets keep seeking...hunter-gathers...I must be about my Father's business!

Luke 2:49 (NKJV) And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”  Jesus amazed the scholars...and already hungry and wanted the best !so when we want the best we go to the source  and to the best persons we can find to share that food with us......Jesus knocked, and sought and was seated with the teachers...and asking...And Jesus when "busted" by the rents....left with them...and in Luke 2:52 "matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people."....Going about the family business...snif snif   I smell food....
     In 1st Samuel Saul was a guy….doing as others did back then working in the family business…that was tradition…that is why folk say Jesus was a Carpenter  because His earthly Father was one…     Going back to the hunt in the OT I found a reference to food, bread and wine...wow the Word is full of food! In the amazing story of Saul (In fact I encourage you all to eat...er  read the  great story of Saul in 1 Sam 9 and 10)  So Saul was caring for his father’s business as usual...Donkeys are important to a farm, ranch, and any person or business really It was the car, the truck, the plow, the stump puller  it was the beast of burden that could move mountains...and even speak as one spoke to Balaam...and save us from a whole lot of work.  Now Saul's Dad Kish was a successful person for he had servants, and enough donkeys that they couldn't keep an eye on all of them.   When they found out some donkeys got lost…Saul’s Dad sent him and a servant out to find the donkeys….sounds like "business as usual" enough…then things got different  For they were about to enter into and experience a world changing event God had already planned out! After a long day looking they found out about a “Seer” (the old testament title for Prophet)  and found food!... in 1 Sam 9
19-20 “I’m the Seer,” said Samuel. “Accompany me to the shrine and eat with me. In the morning I’ll tell you all about what’s on your mind, and send you on your way. And by the way, your lost donkeys—the ones you’ve been hunting for the last three days—have been found, so don’t worry about them. At this moment, Israel’s future is in your hands.”
21 Saul answered, “But I’m only a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and from the most insignificant clan in the tribe at that. Why are you talking to me like this?”
22-23 Samuel took Saul and his servant and led them into the dining hall at the shrine and seated them at the head of the table. There were about thirty guests. Then Samuel directed the chef, “Bring the choice cut I pointed out to you, the one I told you to reserve.”
24 The chef brought it and placed it before Saul with a flourish, saying, “This meal was kept aside just for you. Eat! It was especially prepared for this time and occasion with these guests.”
Saul ate with Samuel—a memorable day!

     True!  One day looking for Donkeys….the next becoming “born again” as it were ...He became something new!  On the path he found his purpose…In his purpose he found God’s Will for His life….and that in a nutshell is what happened to me and I believe to you.  As we journey through life…each morning we are born again another chance…
And the invite was Come...eat!  Then the chef...serving in the service of the Lord of Hosts...served the choice cut...with a flourish...something we do today...working with the best ingredients and the "flourish" that passion expressed in our dishes...Just that meal made it a Memorable day!  As we strive to create memorable cuisine...God's "business' has always been about providing for His children (that's us) from the beginning...and all through His children's journey...as He does to this day...we must follow and imitate Christ in His finishing works feeding body, heart, and soul.  
Mange'!

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Food to cook...Food to cook...over...

For a basecamp for our journey understanding and seeking that Food...lets look at a simple definition...for like anything even a definition can be complex and far reaching...Hmmm  that'll preach too!  OK
Food: ... "any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth." To expound a bit "The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth." 
     Jesus was seeing His Father's Will  as "food"  I like looking at synonyms for Food... some synonyms:
nourishment, sustenance, nutriment, fare; bread, daily bread; cooking, cuisine; foodstuffs, edibles, provender, refreshments, meals, provisions, restoratives, rations; solids; eats, eatables, nosh, grub, chow, nom noms; comestibles; viands; victuals, vittles; commons, meat, aliment, fodder, feed, forage.
     It is also a word that for us almost begs for a descriptor like "French ,Chinese, home-cooked...etc".  So we think we have a good grasp on food...it is the "substance" which we manipulate and do all kinds of things to... to create something memorable to eat. Food has flavor characteristics; Sweet ( yum!)  Sour( face scrunching), Salty ( blood pressure raising), Bitter ( Did I eat that unsweetened dark chocolate...really?), and  Umami ( Oooooooooo  Mommy!  Savory!).
     So sometimes when reading or meditating on the Word or Words in the Bible perhaps these descriptors can help describe what Psalm 34:8 says  "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!".   Taste...when you taste...you partake...just a bit....just enough to identify its characteristics of flavor... of what it is... A taste introduces something familiar or new into your senses and leads to further acceptance or rejection. We taste in faith, trusting the cook to have delivered a delicious recipe into our mouths and bodies, and memories... to the heart of who we are.  The "substance ingested" by us whereby our physiology converts...and then it can "provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth."
     Even when we look in the Bible for the word to see how it is defined by the divine...We see Taste written (depending on translation) up to 50+ times... When Jesus tasted the sour wine he did not drink...He had to taste to "Finish the work" His Father started. In 1 Pete 2:2-3  "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."   Food indeed!  
    As I experience His Word some things are so sweet..the Sweet Psalm Songs, the Promises, The Good News!  Some are Sour feeling our faces scrunch as words challenge and expose our sinful hearts...And Jesus tasted the sour wine on the cross...did he drink it?  no  but He tasted...as the Word tells us in Hebrews 2:9 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone"... Thank you Lord!  Some Salty..The word Salt used as seasoning  in Mark 9:50 "Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”  Bitter words  those spoken by persons (like us) hurtful the cry of "Crucify Him!" words expressing tears and feelings of guilt and sadness.  And then the Words so so Savory so filling and delicious words of deep Love, words of comfort, and Joy...His words that speak life and Light into our very being...
     So eat a bit...taste ...and see ...you may want seconds...

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Begin again?...The food...

Continuing to seek "the food you know nothing about".  From the beginning  Our Father provided for us all  as a Father would...even if we were "bad"  now it is true some parents send children to their room without a meal...sometimes because we said we didn't like it...(Hmmm...that will preach at another time)  The Word of God speaks to us as a corporate body of all human beings, and to each of us as individuals...Amazing Word!  As a cook it speaks to me in terms that touch my heart and edifies and enlightens me in who I am in the world and who I am in Christ Jesus.
     After the "fall" Our Father provided and guided and taught so that they (and we) could continue on in this world as it was in the beginning living with His presence...seeking, praising and loving Him.  In Genesis 3:21 it is written that "God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them."  Some would say this was God slaughtering animals the source of the "skins"...and what of the meat? This sets a precedence and an image of us being "covered" by the sacrifice of a creation whom God had declared "Very Good" and without blemish... a little later in Genesis we see  in chapter 4 Abel raises sheep – not for eating as man was were vegetarian , but for both clothing and for offering as an animal sacrifice before the LORD; which precedent was set before his father and mother in Eden.  Then in Genesis 9:1-4 God gave his blessing to eat  of His creation..."God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature—birds, animals, fish—will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You’re responsible for them. All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. Except for meat with its lifeblood still in it—don’t eat that."  And we know from here on that food was a source of not only nutrition...but of expression of our heart. In Gen 25:29-34 "Now Jacob cooked a stew"...The Lentil stew was used to obtain Esau's birthright...and then in Chapter 27 a hearty meal of game and fresh baked bread was prepared by Rebekah to deceive Isaac...to gain God's blessing...for one who maybe could't get it any other way?   Wow food has quite a history doesn't it?  When I eat a lentil soup it is a "taste" of something historical and world changing...something that did make an impact upon lives that...made an impact...Maybe that where we get the phrase "Cooking up something" Ah I can hear Hank Williams now...
     As we search on I notice the story of Joseph  indeed an impactful person by going with what God created him to be...Joseph found himself...by simply being simply by believing and trusting God ...and acting on it.  I also noticed in his adventures that we was imprisoned with a Sommelier, and a Pastry Chef!  In the Word called Cup Bearer (one who would choose the finest wine , and Baker ( one who would make the finest bread and pastries) for Pharaoh, the king and demi-god of Egypt!  This is the first time Bread and Wine in my searching is found together in the Word.  Here in Genesis we get lots of "tastes" of the Food we don't know about ... and as Joseph showed us by being who God made him to be and "doing" that... he was partaking of that food...in John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.".  When Jesus spoke those words He was letting us in on the next phase of seeking His will   taste by taste..eating a bit, chewing on it,.. taking some infants milk...garden food to meat... perhaps a good image of "Farm to table"  Amen?  So we seek and do His Will and join Jesus in His "Finishing" work...He did it, said
It is finished"...then told us....Go...make disciples
To complete a dish we have to have all the right ingredients, have all the right equipment, and have all the right knowledge and wisdom to put it all together in one lovely co-creation with God...OK we have the ingredients...now to the equipping...
   



Monday, September 12, 2016

Begin again? ...an appetizer

With each day another chance ...and some days its a total reboot...its a Genesis 1:1 day Amen? This week I will share excerpts from a Devo I shared with CCA and students from a couple years ago ...over this week we pray you enjoy are blessed, and encouraged as the next school year begins again and we ask for prayer...prayer ...and did I ask....more prayer?   

Making an impact...
What makes an impact? First let’s define. One definition says “have a strong effect on someone or something.”  synonyms: affect, influence, have an effect on, make an impression on; touch, change, alter, modify, transform, shape

I believe that each of these defining words aptly describes what a relationship with Jesus Christ is all about …just add an “ing” to each of those words and we can see what Jesus is doing in the lives of those who Love, believe, and follow Jesus. In this real relationship we mirror it in our own relationships with everyone we come in contact with. So how do we do that? Our Role model Jesus shows us how…by following Him…and ultimately told us what to do…He gave us our “job” At the end of Matthew He gave us a promise and our Mission…“ Therefore go and make disciples… of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…"

So off we go! Here at the Christian Culinary Academy in Cannon Beach Oregon we are in love with the vision Christ in the kitchen and making culinary disciples. Training up culinarians is wonderful but the first word in the name of the school is Christian. Christ first leads God has given Christian Chefs International to share the Good News of to a foundation that establishes life success and a firm foundation that their passion for cooking will lead them. And it testifies to a changed and Impacted life.

Matthew 11 25-30 Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”

27 Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”



“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t la\y anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Did you know Jesus is all about food and feeding...and is a Cook? I encourage you to read the Gospel of John...in fact just pray and think on the times God spoke to you about Food as something that truly feeds from within...Jesus our Master and Teacher said "I have food to eat that you know nothing about"  When I read this I almost hear Jesus say this with an exclamation mark !  So...let us journey together in a search to "know about" Jesus' Food, and ultimately our Source...let us learn from watching working, and ...yes Tasting and seeing!  
Till Tomorrow  Rock and Roll!  Jesus is the Rock and we Roll!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Tell them " I Love them" Supper is ready...

Sometimes in our life of service...or in fact anytime as we go through trials... we still seek to present a fantastic awesome powerfully packed message from the Lord!  We read, study and pray and read, study...like shampooing our heads...rinse lather repeat!  Finding the Lord in the "every" moment  not just in the prayer closet, or just in congregational worship, or every "small group" be it Womens, Mens, Couples , youth, intersessional prayer, service ministry, evangelical or missions work...especially the witness and testimony that is our Lives!  I am so pleased that Jesus came into my life...and indeed into all of ours...and for that I am thankful...and we learn that Thanks is the key to the door of that relationship.  So IN thanks...lets Go!  The first two letters in God...Amen?  


2 Corinthians 9:15 (NKJV)

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!


2 Cor 2 :14 ish  (MSG)

And I got it, thank God!  In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life.

...When we get a gift...we usually say "Thanks" even if we wonder why. Why is this person giving me a gift?...to manipulate me?  To use me?  To endear me into their favor for a later time that suits the giver...It happens...there are people hurt by a little c "church"...and may shy away from and be afraid of a gift because of the past  and the "strings" that come with such gifts...and in our "beware of greeks bearing gifts" suspicious and fearful way of looking at gifts...we all revere that strategy as the most famous military strategy whether in reality or mythology.  And it fills our lives even to this day. When your child ( whom you love)  brings you a gift...(not all the time) some gifts are accepted with a heart touching thanks...some with "OK  what do you want??"  

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

...So OK we tentatively put out the invite...we take the chance on Love...to live in a relationship that is expressed in living each day in and by the life of another...bearing the fruit of the relationship  Children, Works, and Treasures...an expression of our New Life based on a choice to Love...
You know when I am invited to someones house for dinner it is customary and an expression of thanks for the invite to bring a gift...and often it is a bottle of wine...So imagine if you will...Hear the knocking...then we hear His voice... knowing the person on the other side of the door is bearing a gift...the gift that is the New Wine of Himself...We have even peeked through the peep hole and seen Him   hmmmm    looks like a mirror....
Open the door...the door opens inward...Thank Him for the wine...Wow  a rare vintage the bottle as old as time itself...yet the vintage is of today...this is the day it was "created"...open it to let it breathe...OH look!  He brought Bread too!  Supper is coming...

Monday, September 5, 2016

Labor...A message is for those who wish to serve God, but think there will be no opportunity...

I see Labor as a word with many definitions ...Man's;
noun
1.  work, especially hard physical work.
"the price of repairs includes labor and parts"
synonyms:  work, hard work, toil, exertion, industry, drudgery, effort, menial work
2.  the process of childbirth, especially the period from the start of uterine contractions to delivery.
"his wife is in labor"
synonyms: childbirth, birth, delivery, nativity
verb
1.  work hard; make great effort.
"they labored from dawn to dusk in two shifts"
synonyms:  work, work hard, toil, slave (away), grind away, struggle, strive, exert oneself, work one's fingers to the bone, work like a dog, work like a Trojan, plug away; literary: travail, moil
"a project on which he had labored for many years"
strive, struggle, endeavor, work, try, work hard, try hard, make every effort, do one's best, do one's utmost, do all one can, give one's all, go all out, fight, put oneself out, apply oneself, exert oneself;
informalbend/lean/fall over backwards, pull out all the stops, bust a gut, bust one's chops
"she labored to unite the party"
...and God's...and in the Word as associated with a promise...a gift in many ways  the Talents...the rewards...and expression...Run don't walk to the Word ...be blessed in your "labor-ing"...asking, seeking, knocking...whatever the definition...this is the Truth..It's in the Word!  
Taste these and see!

Matthew 11:28(NKJV)
" Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Psalm 128:2
When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

I just searched for the word labor in a bible search online...  I encourage you to do also  I place a few here for the diversity of Our Father's "definition" of the word Labor...
Rock and Roll Y'all!  
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Genesis 35:17
 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”

Exodus 5:4 
Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.”

Exodus 23:16 
and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

Deuteronomy 5:13 
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Joshua 24:13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

1 Kings 5:13 
Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.

Nehemiah 4:10 
Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

Nehemiah 4:21 
So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared.

Job 9:29
If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain?

Proverbs 5:10 
Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

Proverbs 10:16 
The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked to sin.

Ecclesiastes 1:8 
All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

Ecclesiastes 2:10 
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.

Ecclesiastes 3:9 
[ The God-Given Task ] What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

Ecclesiastes 3:13 
and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Matthew 9:37-38 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

John 6:27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Friday, September 2, 2016

Choose His Will...It's a Love thing...cling to it!



Isaiah 43:2-4


When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have loved you;
Therefore I will give men for you,
And people for your life.


Matthew 6:10

‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

Lamentations 3:32
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.

Psalm 63:8
My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.

When we pass through the waters, God will be there with us. God wants us to trust Him even when we are in deep waters.
Don't be concerned about your feelings during an emergency.  There are no emergencies in heaven   The most important thing is that we turn to God, trusting that He is indeed with us. When our heart is sinking under waves of panic, don't focus on those feelings. Instead, Look to God, for "as your soul clings to Me, My right hand will uphold you"--keeping us safe in turbulent waters.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Choose Authority



Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.


Psalm 143:8
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go
for to you I entrust my life.

We must entrust our loved ones to God. They are much safer with God than in our clinging hands.
Sometime we confuse loving others with rescuing them. God wants us to stop feeling responsible to fix people, since that is God's role, not ours. It is God's prerogative to bring about change in peoples lives as He chooses. When we feel compelled to rescue a loved one, look to God. Don't usurp God;s role in peoples lives, no matter how much we want to help them. God can rescue or control anyone He chooses, but He created us with the capacity to choose good or evil. God wants us to be free to love Him--or not. Love that has no choice is not real.