Living Reality

A Second Touch

by ladypbwiggins

This morning my bible study covered the account of Y’shua (Jesus) healing a blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26). The man’s friends begged  Yshua to heal him. Y’shua took the blind man by the hand and led him outside of the village. He spat on his eyes and then touched them. He asked him if he could see anything. The man said I see people but they look like trees walking. Y’shua then touched him again. It is reported after the second touch the blind man’s sight was restored and he could see all things clearly.

In my humanness, my first reaction was to him spitting in his eyes. I have a real serious issue with people spitting on me. But putting that aside, I wondered why a second touch needed. I know He was powerful enough to heal on the first touch. He had done it before. That question lingered in my mind through the rest of the study.  A second touch was required to complete the healing. Why? Was it the man’s lack of faith? Was it the disciple’s lack of faith and understanding? Was it necessary to teach that sometimes a process is needed for healing? Was it to teach the disciples the difference in seeing and seeing clearly? In light of the disciples’ lack of understanding about the Pharisee’s leaven, maybe Y’shua had to show them how blind they were and that they had a need to see clearly and that He was the source of that clarity. Hmm.

Some of you know my husband and I went through a horrendous year in 2015. I was faced with his death. While the EMTs worked to resuscitate him, I prayed, LORD if it is his time, take him because I don’t want him to suffer but if it isn’t, please heal him completely. As soon as I finished my request, he began to breath. I believe that was God’s answer that He would heal him completely. When he left the house he was breathing on his own. Here we are almost a year since he came home from rehab for the third time. He has made tremendous progress but he is not completely healed. He is walking with a cane and his memory is still shaky. I have asked God why hasn’t he healed him completely yet?  Why hasn’t He restored him to good health mentally and physically? What are we not doing that we should be doing? What do we need to see clearly? To what am I blind? Could it be that a second touch is needed?

LORD, I pray that you touch us again with your healing hands. I ask that you restore Carl’s body and mind to be better than before. We believe you allowed him to stay here because you still had a job for him to do. Touch me and teach me what you desire of me. LORD give us a second touch.

Do you need a second touch?

Continued Search for Gluten free Sandwich bread

by ladypbwiggins

I like a good sandwich but good organic gluten free bread is expensive. The one’s I have bought are quite dense. I found this recipe  online while researching  rice flour. Two of the ingredients, white rice flour and cornstarch, are not my favorite but I didn’t want to change the recipe until I had tried it. The results are a tasty bread; soft inside with a toasty crust. I let it cool before I sliced it. It held together; no crumbling. I am interested to see how Brown rice flour and arrowroot starch or psyllium husks will work.

Into the pan after mixing
Right out of the oven
Beautiful loaf
Hmm good 

RECIPE by Christy E. Allrecipes.com

1 Tbl active dry yeast

3 Tbls white sugar (I used raw organic sugar)

1 1/4 c warm water

2/3 c sorghum flour

1 1/3 c white rice flour

1/2 c potato starch

1/2 c cornstarch

1/3 c vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)

3 eggs

1 Tbl xanthum gum

1 1/2 top salt (I used Himalayan  sea salt)

GMO Link to Obesity

by ladypbwiggins

This morning I read a blog post from Sherry Brescia. Many shrug off GMO’s and the effect they have on our health. I know we cannot escape them completely but we should pay more attention to what we are eating and the possibility that we are enabling our own demise. Ms. Brescia has written an informative article that warrants re-posting. GMO–Genetically Modified Organism or Getting Massively Obese?

We seem to care more about losing weight than being healthy so maybe this will get some people’s attention.

To My Fellow WP Bloggers

by ladypbwiggins

Hey Bloggers. I would like your honest answers and suggestions. 

After you moved to your own domain here on WordPress,  how satisfied are you? Would you recommend using WP?

  • What is the monthly cost?
  • Did you compare WP to other hosts?

Life Interruptus has struck again. I have not posted in awhile because of some family things. Now that things are getting under controll I can share and read again. I am sure you all have posted some wonderful things. I’ll be back soon. Keep writing.

The Tradition of Men

by ladypbwiggins

Have we laid aside the commandments of God for the traditions of men? This was Y’shua’s main complaint against the Pharisees.  Do we care more about what our particular denomination says rather than what God says? Even the non-denominational churches have traditions. Do we care more about our evangelical conservative view than the views of God? What are we teaching the world about the God we say we serve? Have we become like the Pharisees of old? Are we the Pharisees of the present? What would God say about us? I challenge you to examine yourselves to determine if you have laid aside God’s commandments or maybe are selective in the one’s you obey for the traditions of men.

Mark 6

6  He answered and said to them,

“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

7  And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8  “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men–the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

9  He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

Just something to think about.

The bold is mine.

Not Teaching, Teaches.

by ladypbwiggins

When you teach nothing you have taught!

Patrica B. Wiggins 2016

How do our children learn what is important? How do they learn the value of human life? How do they learn values? How do they learn who they are? How do they learn to learn?

If the parent does not teach them in the first three years of their lives, they will learn from whatever social stimuli they experience. They will except it as truth because the parent didn’t teach them anything else. So when we teach nothing, we basically tell them everything else is okay. Their values are not yours. Human life is reduced to less than a pet’s. How do they know what is important and how do they learn boundaries? When you teach nothing you teach they have not value. Their lives are not important.

Who am I? If you don’t teach me, I won’t learn about my family. I won’t learn my ancestral heritage. What is my anchor? “They say”, the neighbors, the street say who my family is. Most times they dwell on the negative and that’ s all I know. If you don’t teach me, I will be who “they say” and let them imprison me with negativism and lies.

It is reported that by age 3 the child’s brain is developed and character is formed. He/she is who they are going to be. Waiting until they are preschool age to begin teaching academic and social foundation is about 4 years wasted. The foundations should begin being laid at conception. Babies can hear as their auditory system begins to develop so read to them, talk to them, explain things to them, play a variety of music. That is true head start. Now that the process has begun, an alert little person will join us. This is not the time to stop communicating.Speak to the child the way you want him/her to speak? Expose them to books, and musical instruments. Endure the bang.

Teach me, who I am. Teach me my family values. Teach me my history. Teach me to value myself and others. Teach me that I am capable of learning and being creative. Teach me to read by reading to me. Teach me how to learn. Ask me things that cause me to think and ask Why? It’s not only the teacher’s job. It is first yours and then theirs. If you teach me they will do a better job.

Teach me, please.

Don’t let me learn the wrong things because you didn’t teach me.

The Kingdom is At Hand?

by ladypbwiggins

For a long time  some terms used in the Bible puzzled me. This is one of them. From a Christian perspective I knew or thought it was referring to the presence of Jesus the Christ but John the Baptist was not a Christian. Christ wasn’t even a Christian. They were both of Hebrew birth, Jews. They both went to synagogue, read  or heard the scrolls read, learned the Torah and the Prophets. So what did this term mean to them? I have read some theologians thoughts that they were referring to Daniel’s prophecy regarding the kingdom that was eternal that would destroy all human kingdoms. I can imagine in light of Roman oppression this would be, certainly be something the Jewish nation would be looking forward to.

I did  a word study, of course, and this is my understanding of the phrase. The reign or rules of God is here. You would think that would not be necessary to say to a group of people whose very national existence is based on the rules of God. Apparently something was missing. Just like many of us today, we know the rules of our beliefs but we do not apply the rules in our daily lives. We pick and choose what we want to obey and then get mad at God when we don’t get what we want or things don’t work out as we planned. So it seems, Y’shua came to teach how to truly live the rules so that God rules. If this were not so, would John have preached, Repent or Reform? Would Yshua have said Repent or Reform? Some things needed to change.

This declaration simply states for me that God is in charge and if we claim to be His, then His rules need to be lived daily. Yshua the Living Word of God showed the difference between what the Pharisees and Priest taught and lived and what God intended.

So change your way of thinking (Repent) for the rule of God is here.

Here, right now.

Live accordingly.

Necessity Brings Joy

by ladypbwiggins

So now what is that crazy woman talking about? Necessity brings joy. Sometimes when you have a need, the satisfying of that need brings greater joy than you expected.

Here’s the deal, Saturday, I ran out of almond milk. I had no cash. I didn’t want to u20160716_132308 (2)se a credit card for a gallon of milk. I looked around the pantry and saw that I had some cashews. I had been meaning to try making cashew milk. This seemed like the perfect time. It is simple. Put the cashews and water in a blender and let it rip. In minutes, there was milk.

I looked in  my vegan cookbook to get an idea of the ratio of cashews to water for a reasonable milk consistency. It was 2/3 cup of whole cashews to 4 cups of milk. That seemed like a lot of water for so few cashews so I increased it to a full cup of cashews. To my surprise I stumbled upon cashew cream. I did some research on the uses for cashew cream and discovered I had solved another dilemma I was facing. This cashew cream provides the creaminess and consistency I needed for both these projects.I wanted to make vegan ice cream without making a sugary syrup for a sorbet. This will be my substitute. I also needed a sour cream impostor to try in a new cornbread recipe I found. I will try adding vinegar to the cream to sour it. I’ll let you know the outcome.

Back to the milk. I used the ratio suggested by the experienced vegan and was rewarded with a good tasting cashew milk. There are no preservatives, no sweetener, no added anything. Two and two/thirds cup of cashews will make a gallon of milk.  What makes this most appealing is no added cost for  cream.

For you who like a little coffee in your cream, this is a healthy, tasteful preferred choice to the coffee creamers you buy in the store. I don’t usually add cream to my coffee but I tried a little. It was very good and flavorful.

So the necessity for almond milk provided the joy of cashew milk and cream. It was a good day.

 

Night Person Shifting

by ladypbwiggins

I have just read SimpleLivingOver50’s post “The Morning Person“.All my life I have been the night person. I did my best work after everyone else went to bed. I cleaned my house. Washed my clothes. Paid my bills and enjoyed precious moments of peace and quiet. The world was sleeping. I had my most creative moments around 2 A.M. It seemed the juices began to flow and I found solutions for problems, made the best and most efficient plans , did some creative writing, and sewing. Then something happened. Was it because I crossed that 50’s boundary?

Now I awaken, lately, about 4:30 A.M. All of the things I enjoyed at night have shifted to morning. I resisted at first but now I am accepting it and learning to enjoy it. Maybe my creative juices will begin to flow at 4:30 while it is still dark and the world is still sleeping and before the sunrise interruptions begin. Those interruptions, birds singing and such, are enjoyable but they are sometimes overshadowed by the awakening of mankind to a new day.

Am I becoming “The Morning Person?”

Did God Condone Slavery?

by ladypbwiggins
Context determines the understanding of so everything. The other day I was told the Bible condoned slavery. Several scriptures were cited on which this understanding was based. At that moment I knew it didn’t but I couldn’t speak to those specific scriptures. I also knew that those scriptures were used to justify slavery in the name of Christianity in this country. I told her to consider until I could better discuss this that “I believe everything in the Bible is true but not everything is God’s truth.” I meant I believed it was a true accounting but not reflective of God’s principles, intent, or standards.

God’s principles are the truths “that serve as the foundation for His system of belief or behavior or for His chain of reasoning.”

So I went back to those scriptures to read ithem in context.  Then I went to an Orthodox  Jewish website to get the Judaic perspective. Sometimes we lay our Western perspective on the statements made or things done by other cultures. This usually leads to a misunderstanding and fallacious arguments. This is the site if you would like to read it for yourself. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/slavery.html

How is the word slave defined? The word slave is translated from the word Hebrew eved and that means worker or servant.

Leviticus addressed several categories of slavery. The one that pertains to non-Hebrew servants are called aliens. So what is the status of non-Hebrew slaves (servants). (If you go to this website there are a few Biblical reference that you may be unfamiliar with. These books carry different names in the English Bible but the content is unchanged.)

  1. Member of the household and share in the household benefits.
  2. Property of master forever unless the person is redeemed or freedom is bought
  3. Must adhere to Mosaic law
  4. May purchase property of their own
  5. May inherit the master’s estate
  6. Can purchase own self’s freedom
  7. Killing of a slave is punishable in the same way killing a freeman would be punished even if the master kills him.
  8. Master may not rule ruthlessly over slaves
  9. Master shall not mistreat them; shall not wound them 
  10. The workload should never exceed physical strength
  11. A fugitive slave must not be returned to his master
  12. No one can be kidnapped and sold into slavery. That’s a capital offense.

There were consequences to the master who violated these rules.

As you read this list I hope you see that the practice of slavery as we know it and as we observe it in other cultures was not the intent of God. He specifically set forth guidelines that with the exception of being owned for whatever reason, the person was not to be mistreated and is cared for by the master as other family members are treated. One of the Hebrew theologians even said that slavery was not God’s plan because we were created in His image and He would not desire to enslave His ultimate creation. My paraphrase.

As you might expect, there were periods where even the Hebrews wanted to behave like the other nations but that was eventually stopped and slavery became basically extinct in that culture.

So the question is why was slavery even allowed?

God knew Israel would eventually forget that they had been slaves and treated terribly at the hands of the Egyptians. Therefore, He gave them rules that would remind them of that experience. I believe God basically said, “If you are going to participate in this, this is the responsibility you have for caring for this person.”

So I can say emphatically, “No,  God does not condone slavery.”

This is a man made construct born out of the evil hearts of mankind.