Daily Devotions and More for Saturday, July 11, 2020
MerkV814
Saturday, July 11, 2020
* Beauty is whatever gives joy. -- Edna St. Vincent Millay
* America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -- Harry S. Truman
* To love beauty is to see light. -- Victor Hugo
* Beauty awakens the soul to act. -- Dante Alighieri
* Beauty is not caused. It is. -- Emily Dickinson
* The more we love God the more we will obey. The more we obey the more we will be aware of the reality of Christ in our lives. The more we are aware of Christ in our lives, the more victory we will experience. The more victory we experience, the less difficult the choices are and the less conflict we have within ourselves. -- Norma Becker
Unexpected Saviors
Scripture Reading — Judges 4:1-15
“God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” — Acts 2:36
In those days it was usually mighty men of war who fought in battle. But in this story Barak of Israel—a capable man of war—would not enter the field of battle without Deborah the prophet. The message from God that Deborah had given him wasn’t enough. Did Barak not trust the Lord? Did he not trust Deborah, who had been serving faithfully as a judge for God’s people?
Because of his decision, Barak is told that God “will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” And when the Lord routs Sisera’s army (v. 15), Sisera escapes from Barak’s advance and runs away on foot.
In those days, it was embarrassing for men to be saved by the help of women. In Jesus’ day, it was embarrassing for the people’s leaders to hear that an under-educated teacher from Nazareth could save them, and that their own sophisticated religious culture had no such power. What embarrasses us about Jesus as Savior today?
Our embarrassment about the Savior sent by God opens our eyes to uncomfortable truths: we cannot rescue ourselves from sin, and all our ideas about rescue from unrighteousness inevitably fail.
Not Barak or even Deborah fit God’s overall design for a Savior. Only the Son of God, mysteriously born of Mary, would do. Hallelujah!
Prayer: Lord, may the grace and love of the unexpected Savior, Jesus Christ, lead us to godly sorrow and the joy of deliverance from unrighteousness and its misery. Amen.
Arie Leder
email: to...@thisistoday.net
TODAY is copyright © 2017, the BTGH
Cooking with Mom
From
Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Moms
By Kimberly Noe
A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe. -- Thomas Keller
I'm four years old. Mom is always busy working, but she pulls down the big heavy mixing bowls and chooses the huge yellow one. It's a baking kind of day. She gets out the amber jar full of flour and lets me pack the brown sugar. My favorite part is when it all slides into the bowl in the shape of the little, copper measuring cup. She shows me how to carefully separate the eggshell so no pieces fall in. We make the best chocolate chip cookies. We eat a few chips together while we're mixing them, and she makes half with no nuts just for me.
She teaches me that sugar is a wet ingredient and how to multiply fractions and that if you pull the mixer out of the batter before you turn it off, batter splatters everywhere. (Keep reading)
Reprinted by permission of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. In order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights reserved.
No More Running
In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2:2
Scripture Reading: Jonah 2:1–10
On July 18, 1983, a US Air Force captain disappeared from Albuquerque, New Mexico, without a trace. Thirty-five years later, authorities found him in California. The New York Times reports that, “depressed about his job,” he’d simply run away.
Thirty-five years on the run! Half a lifetime spent looking over his shoulder! I have to imagine that anxiety and paranoia were this man’s constant companions.
But I have to admit, I also know a bit about being “on the run.” No, I’ve never abruptly fled something in my life . . . physically. But at times I know there’s something God wants me to do, something I need to face or confess. I don’t want to do it. And so, in my own way, I run too.
The prophet Jonah is infamous for literally running from God’s assignment to preach to the city of Nineveh (see Jonah 1:1-3). But, of course, he couldn’t outrun God. You’ve probably heard what happened (vv. 4,17): A storm. A fish. A swallowing. And, in the belly of the beast, a reckoning, in which Jonah faced what he’d done and cried to God for help (2:2).
Jonah wasn’t a perfect prophet. But I take comfort in his remarkable story, because, even despite Jonah’s stubbornness, God never let go of him. The Lord still answered the man’s desperate prayer, graciously restoring His reluctant servant (v. 2)—just as He does with us.
By Adam Holz
REFLECT & PRAY
What, if anything, have you tried to run away from in your life? How can you grow in bringing to God the pressures that overwhelm you?
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Jonah initially ministered to the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:23-28). God reassigned him to minister to the Assyrian city of Nineveh and to warn them to repent or face God’s judgment (Jonah 1:1). After Jonah refused this new mission and instead fled in the opposite direction (v. 3), God disciplined him by causing him to be swallowed up by a big fish (vv. 4, 17). Jonah 2 records the prophet’s prayer of repentance when he was inside the fish. Jesus used this event to foreshadow His own burial and resurrection: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40; Jonah 1:17). -- K. T. Sim
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Today’s Video: 'His Strength Is Perfect' Steven Curtis Chapman Live Performance
“We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end
He hears our humble cry and He proves again
His strength is perfect when our strength is gone
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on
Raised in His power, the weak become strong
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect”
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Today’s Verse: James 1:20 ... 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
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Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 24:10 ... 10 If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!
Our Daily Bread
Wings over the Mountains of Life
A MountainWings Moment
Through The Hurt
Direct link: www.CoachB.tv/0743
I was teaching religion to ten-year-olds in an affluent town and was determined to have them know the names of the five Books of Moses.
One boy confidently recited, "Genesis, Exodus, Lexus..."
Da Mouse Tracks
Verse of the day
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, 'Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?' When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Silence! Be still!' Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. -- Mark 4:38-39 (NLT)
Voice of the day
Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new. -- Ursula K. Le Guin
Prayer of the day
Christ of truth, who stepped into the chaos and shaped it into calm, be present with us and comfort us in the midst of our wrestling and re-imagining. Amen.
Looking Happy and Being Happy
Happiness is not based on the way you appear. Happiness is an authentic state of being that you can choose.
When you are truly happy, people around you will no doubt see it. Yet there’s so much more to being happy than merely looking happy.
If you’re striving to impress others with how happy you are, you’re not happy at all. Let go of the striving and the needs, and allow happiness.
You can be happy doing nothing. You can be happy doing anything.
Happiness does not come from the situation the person is in. Happiness comes from the person who is in the situation.
Be the person to allow happiness. And you can experience it at any and every time and place.
Copyright Ralph S. Marston, Jr. Used by permission. From The Daily Motivator® at www.dailymotivator.com
THE FAINTEST LIGHT
By Joseph J. Mazzella
It was a dark night in June. Thunderstorms had rolled through our area earlier in the afternoon and drenched the woods around our home. Now it was calm but still overcast. I was getting ready to take my dogs for their last walk of the day. I started by leashing up our biggest dog, Fluffy. I unlocked the backdoor, turned the knob, and moved my hand over to turn on the porch light. Before I could, however, Fluffy in his excitement dragged me out the door and off the porch. Without the porch light it looked even darker outside. Not a single star was visible in the sky. Even the light of the moon was being blocked out by the heavy clouds. It made everything look and feel gloomy.
Suddenly, I saw something in the woods at the far end of our yard. For a brief second the faintest light had blinked on and off again. I realized at once that it was the first firefly of the year. I smiled and scanned the woods and meadow for more of them. It wasn’t long before I saw them blinking on and off in their own little symphony of light. It warmed my heart to see my lightening bug buddies once again. The night didn’t seem quite so dark with them there, sharing the miracle of their light with me. I keep Fluffy outside for longer than usual while I enjoyed the light show. Then I went back inside feeling a little closer to nature, to love, to light, and to God.
Isn’t it incredible how even the faintest light can make this world a brighter place? Isn’t it wonderful how the littlest act of love can light a fire in a person’s soul? Isn’t it glorious how God gives us all the love and light we need, to share and to shine? We may at times feel like we are only tiny fireflies floating around in the dark. But in truth each of us is a beacon of light and love that God needs to help illuminate this world. Live well then! Love well! Shine bright!
HELP ME TO BE LIKE JESUS
Help me to always be humble
To reach out to the poor
Help me to know simplicity
To meet it at the door.
Help me to always be worthy
To be what I should be
Help me to have the patience
To see what I should see.
Help me to always be honest
To often speak your name
Help me to gently hasten
To give you all the fame.
Help me to be a servant
To always do your will
Help me to quietly listen
To hush up and be still.
Help me to be assertive
To calm the angry tongue
Help me to fight adversity
To glorify your Son.
Help me to show my courage
To stand up and be strong
Help me to be the missing key
To sing a different song.
Help me to touch your garment
To make me lily white
Help me to spread the gospel
To lost souls in the night.
Author/Written By:
Marilyn Ferguson
"He who has God and Everything has nothing more than he who has God alone."
Dear Lord God,
Thank You for being my helper.
Thank You for opening Your arms and welcoming me to come to You, to find rest in You, to find freedom in You, to have abundant life in You.
I cry out to You now for those who are heavy on my heart, for those who are going through the fire and those who are going through the valleys; for those who face difficulties and those who have come through trials and are triumphant because of You.
I pray for Your grace and mercy, Your peace and love, Your blessing upon their lives.
I pray for miracles and ministry to each person.
I pray that all who are weary will cry out to You and trust You.
And I thank You for all that You have done and all that You will do.
May Your works and miracles in our lives be a witness to others that You are God.
May You be glorified and may all people be reached by Your love and salvation.
In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
Relationship with God
Read: Luke 15:11-32
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. (v. 20)
God is the source of life. In many ways, our relationship with God is our primary relationship, like that between a mother and infant. Like Cain, we feel that a broken relationship with self, land, or others must mean a broken relationship with God and therefore exile from God’s presence. The parable of the prodigal son tells another story.
The father in the parable saw his son from a long way off. (Was he watching for him?) When his wayward son was still quite a distance away, the father ran to him. Our God, like the compassionate father, eagerly waits for us to return home, and meets us with an embrace even as we travel back.
Where do we come up with the idea that our God stands in judgment over us? That is, in fact, the point of Jesus’ death and resurrection: because Jesus became a part of the creation and defeated death and the effects of sin in our world, the broken relationships we experience can be redeemed, beginning with our relationship with God. Because of Jesus, our relationship with God is restored. As Paul writes in Romans, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
Our God has the compassion of a doting mother or father. We are welcomed into God’s presence with celebration.
As you pray, celebrate the fact that you are restored to right relationship with God.
—Amy Curran; Words of Hope
Here’s to Your Health
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Live sofrito and thrive!
By Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Olive oil has been the liquid gold of Italian cuisine since 4,000 B.C., according to evidence found in an ancient pottery jar in central Italy. Its powers have been tapped for health reasons for millennia too! Around 350 B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, as part of a topical rub, it could ease insomnia in elephants. (That's a problem they have?!). But we get a kick out of the writer Jane Wagner's pithy question about the lovely lipid: "If olive oil comes from olives, then where does baby oil come from?"
Enough joking around. New research in the journal Molecules shows that if you want to get the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, you need to adopt the region's cooking methods too.
The researchers looked at the nutrition-unleashing benefits of sofrito -- it's a time-honored mix of onions, garlic and tomatoes (plus veggies such as celery and carrots) slowly sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil and added to everything from pasta and fish to steamed veggies. They found that cooking in EVOO releases bioactive compounds (polyphenols, carotenoids) in those ingredients. The result is that they are more easily absorbed and used by your gut biome and body, resulting in profound benefits to your heart health, insulin sensitivity and conversion of white fat to brown fat (which speeds up your metabolism) -- all well-known effects of the Mediterranean diet. The tomato sofrito recipe that the researchers used: 3 1/2 ounces EVOO, 14 ounces onion, 1.4 ounces garlic and a pound of tomatoes. You can scale it back proportionately.
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Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic and Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of "The Dr. Oz Show," and. To live your healthiest, visit www.sharecare.com.
Today’s Recipe …
Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta
Ingredients:
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
Cooking spray
6 sweet hickory-smoked bacon slices (raw)
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
8 ounces uncooked mini penne (tube-shaped pasta)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 425F. Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, rosemary, and pepper.
Place squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake at
425F for 45 minutes or until tender and
lightly browned. Increase oven temperature to 450F.
Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.
Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 1/2 teaspoons drippings in pan; crumble bacon. Increase heat to
medium-high. Add shallots to pan; sauté 8
minutes or until tender. Combine squash mixture, bacon, and shallots; set aside.
Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat.
Drain well.
Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk, stirring
constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil.
Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add provolone, stirring
until cheese melts. Add pasta to cheese
mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish lightly coated
with cooking spray; top with squash mixture.
Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and
begins to brown. Serves 5.
CALORIES 469 (28% from fat); FAT 14.4g (sat 7.3g,mono 4.4g,poly 0.9g);
IRON 3.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 40mg; CALCIUM 443mg; CARBOHYDRATE 66.6g; SODIUM 849mg; PROTEIN 22.1g; FIBER 6.8g
From Recipe Du Jour
What’s on the Web?
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iMom Espresso Minute … Why is Swearing Bad, Mom?
As I waited in line with my son to be
fitted with a harness for rock climbing, we heard everything the two teen
employees said to each other: “Yeah, I said, ‘What the f---?' I mean, that
b----!” My son looked at me with big eyes and the two other kids in line stood
staring, ears open.
I seriously considered complaining to the manager but resolved simply never to
return. Instead, I decided to use the experience as a lesson at bedtime. I
couldn’t protect my son from ever hearing swear words, but I could educate him
about the weight our words carry. I knew he might ask, "Why is swearing
bad?". So I armed myself with these 4 truths about using curse
words.
Pillow Talk: Ask your kids, “Why are the words we choose to say so important?”
Word of the Day: bromide
[ broh-mahyd ]
Part of Speech: noun
Meaning: a platitude or trite saying.
How is bromide used?
the work is its own reward. That may sound like just another bromide, but Gilbert’s love of creativity is infectious …. Jennifer Reese, "'Big Magic': Elizabeth Gilbert's advice on how you, too, can eat, pray, love," Washington Post, September 17, 2015
I’m intrigued by the way in which his political success … contradicts bromides about the importance, professionally, of making friends and using honey instead of vinegar ... Frank Bruni, "'Nobody Likes' Bernie Sanders. It Doesn't Matter," New York Times, February 26, 2020
Mother Sings 'Give Me Jesus' To Smiling Baby
“In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus
This classic hymn is always a favorite. It was originally written in the 1800s as an African-American spiritual hymn, but over the years the lyrics have been modernized. The most famous interpretation comes from Fernando Ortega, a Dove award-winning singer and songwriter. Today, this talented mother is singing the words straight to her child and it’s a heartwarming moment to witness.
There’s no doubt that children are truly a gift from God. These precious babes start as infants and gradually turn into little people with their own unique personalities. Through expression, this little boy can show his mom just how much he enjoys her serenade. And that smile on his face is absolutely contagious. He may be just a baby, but this little guy is already learning that Jesus is the way and the truth. What a blessing to hear this sweet song.
Psalm 127:3-5 “3 Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”
What Does Your Favorite Flower Say About Your Personality?
Stop and smell the flowers!
English
Some Metaphors Are Beyond Comparison
Rob Kyff
We swim in a sea of metaphors. Our everyday conversations teem with the minnows of comparison: We bite the bullet, go back to the drawing board and miss the boat. As consumers, we're stalked by sharklike, predatory metaphors: Budweiser is the king of beers, we're in good hands with Allstate, and Chevy is the heartbeat of America.
And as readers exploring colorful coral reefs, we're sometimes lucky enough to encounter a breathtaking angelfish. I recently spotted this perfect simile in a memoir by Peter Schjeldahl, the longtime art critic for The New Yorker: "Closeness is impossible between an artist and a critic. Each wants from the other something ... It's like two vacuum cleaners sucking at each other."
You wouldn't expect to find many metaphors and similes in a book about punctuation, but in "Semicolon: The Past, Present and Future of a Misunderstood Mark," Cecelia Watson tickles up some wonderful comparisons.
Three well-placed semicolons, Watson writes, produce a sentence that's "a stone skipping across water, lightly touching it three times, just for a split second, before hopping on."
Grammarians of the late 1800s, she writes, virtually prohibited semicolons, treating them "like a controlled substance."
Watson compares the deft use of a semicolon in a sentence by Raymond Chandler to jockey Ron Turcotte's skilled handling of Secretariat in the 1973 Kentucky Derby: "Chandler reins in that first clause nice and tight and short; and then he lets it go leaping forward, surging with energy and passion."
Likewise, humorist Dave Barry recently poked the hornet's nest of 2019 news and unleashed a swarm of stinging comparisons.
Washington, D.C., he wrote, was "an endlessly erupting scandal volcano, belching out dense swirling smoke plumes of spin, rumor, innuendo, misdirection and lies."
Rep. Adam Schiff "would not look out of place popping up from a prairie-dog hole," and the heated rhetoric emanating from the capital was "like the shouting of the couple in the next-door apartment who never seem to stop arguing ('WHAT ABOUT THE JULY 25TH PHONE CALL?' 'OH YEAH? WHAT ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN?')"
The Robert Mueller investigation, Barry writes, "feels like it began during the French and Indian War," the Dow Jones Industrial Average "flits up and down like a butterfly on meth," and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson "styles his hair with a commercial leaf blower."
From dueling vacuum cleaners to disheveling power tools, the metaphor machines thrum delightfully on.
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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to Wor...@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
I am Telling You Your Story: The Spirituality of Endings and Beginnings
Jared Ayers
“Child,” said the Lion, “I am telling you your story, not hers. No-one is told any story but their own.” -Aslan, in C.S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy I’m in the middle of packing up our life in Philadelphia....
Words Sweet as Honey … Gentleness Goes a Long Way
It’s challenging to find the right response when someone else does something wrong. We can be too harsh and judgmental, or we can just let it slide. But Paul encourages us in Galatians to approach these matters with a gentleness that leads to repentance and a sweet restoration.
Can anything good come from brokenness?—Nazareth, Israel
Nothing Shall Shake My Faith
http://www.powerminute.com/p/pm2020-02-18.mp3
The Chicken Soup for the Soul Podcast with Amy Newmark:
When Your Child Is Miraculously Meant to Be Yours
Listen Now or Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Compiled by Marilyn L. Van Driesen
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