Trusted you with my heart
Relaxed in your presumed integrity
Understand I am not your victim
Surviving your betrayal has made me wiser and stronger
Trusting?
Mistake – Big Mistake
I made it when I believed you
Sharing my dreams
Telling the sacred secrets
Revealing the depths of my thoughts
Useless are you to me
So I place you in my emotional closet
Terminating our “so-called: friendship.
Who are the Pharisees? The particular group that I am referring to are the religious leaders of Israel during Jesus’ time. They were the gatekeepers of Israelite Law as prescribed by the Mosaic and Levitcal Law. By this time they had taken a serious responsibility and perverted it for selfish power plays. They talked a good game but their behavior did not match. There were those who mistreated the people and used the Law to justify their actions. Sound familiar? I am not taking on all the things involved but there is a sharp comparison to the current behavior of “us Christians.” It is what I call the Pharisee Syndrome.
Have you noticed how the world lumps all Christians together under the “Right Wing, Evangelical, Tea Party Banner”? I find it a major insult. Being a believer in the Bible and a disciple of Christ has become an ugly, dirty thing. I understand why the world would think that. I thought about their expectations and decided they should expect us to be under the same banner but not that one. The banner we should be grouped under is the truth of the Word. The practice and teachings of the Christ. I have not found anywhere in the Word where He selectively hated people while justifying His hatred with Himself (The Living Word of God).
Those under that hateful banner are behaving just like the Pharisees. I am holy speaking but not holy behaving. When Jesus said if you lift me up, I will draw all men (mankind) to me, He wasn’t just talking about what we tell people but how we show people. If my God is a God of Righteous love and judgement then that is what they should see in my behavior.
If I, we, live what we say we believe the way He lived, doing what He did, the way He did it we would be respected even though we may be “hated and persecuted.” At least then it would be for “righteousness sake” and not because we were the initiators of the hatred.
Let’s not be like the scribes and the Pharisees. Let our righteousness exceed theirs.
Matthew 5:20 (ESV)
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
We were commanded to Go, tell, baptize teach, and love. The rest is God’s job. Let’s let Him do it. We might find a great weight lifted when we stop trying to do God’s job. Stress reduced!
Side Note:
Just like all Christians are not right wing, tea party hate-filled people, not all Pharisees were like this. There were some who lived the Law the way God intended.
I was listening to a minister the other day trying to explain to his congregation that we live under grace and not under the law. For those of you who are not Christians, he was referring to Ten Commandments and the Levitical laws listed in the Old Testament. That statement has always sent me into a “thought wilderness.” I mean my thoughts are wandering around my head seeking answers to things that don’t make sense. Here is my quandary.
The Word says God cannot lie and He doesn’t change. The Word says that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So if He doesn’t change, how are we not under His law?
Next set of thoughts. Jesus was born into a Hebrew family who taught Him the law. He lived the law. He taught the law, Everything He taught was in agreement with the law. That makes sense, since He is the Living Word of God. He had to be consistent with Himself. So if He lived the law and said that He did not come to abolish the law but to complete it. How then are we not under the law?
Next thought. The Apostle Paul was the one who made the statement, “….we are not under the law but under grace.” However, Paul said he was a Jew educated by Gamaliel and could boast of knowing the law more than most. Looking closely at the context I could see his teaching did not contradict the law. Putting on Christ, taking off the works of the flesh are in agreement with the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments. So what did Paul mean when he made these statement?
Romans 6:12-17 (KJV)
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
As I contemplated that question, it came to me. I believe God dropped it in my thoughts. Is it possible and even more likely that Paul was trying to explain to those who would have understood his phrasing or colloquialism as to how they should live and why. In the context Paul is explaining to the Christians in Rome that when a decision to truly follow the Christ is made our nature, our spirit changes. It becomes an internal thing. Our thinking changes, therefore, our behavior changes. He also explains that we are empowered by God to accomplish this. It comes from the inside, the very essence of our being.
We are not driven to obey God because it is the law. Instead we are motivated by His grace shown to us. His undeserved favor towards me is my motivation.
He cares for me because He loves me not because I did something to deserve it. In fact if He gave me what I deserved, I would be dead. I obey God because I appreciate Him. I reverence Him. I love Him. If I were God that would be desired so much more than someone obeying me because they were compelled to follow a law. One way facilitates intimacy and relationship. The other provokes you to respond to a legalistic check list. God did not change. He did not make His law irrelevant. We are still judged by the law but He administers justice through the filter of grace. Therefore,
I am under grace.
Driven to live His standards because of His GRACE.
Today’s assignment is to determine three (3) goals that I would like to accomplish with my blog. When I first began blogging it was to find out if anyone was interested in what I had to say. It seems a few people are.
On that note, I will be speaking at a Black History Picnic celebration here in Perris, CA. It will be interesting because I am asked to speak about healthy nutrition while the listeners are eating soul food. This will be a challenge.The next day I will be speaking at our church for morning worship.I am going to have an exciting weekend.
In the meantime, I am trying new recipes to introduce to our congregation during our health ministry. Tonight it was a Dr. Hyman’s Sun-dried tomato Turkey Burger. This is a recipe in The Daniel Plan written by Pastor Rick Warren, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Mark Hyman. It was very tasty.
This week I was given fresh organic oranges. I spent quite a while juicing them in my Nutribullet. For Christmas and a belated birthday gift my husband and I bought ourselves a KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the ice cream attachment. I thought, “Why not try making a sorbet using some of this fresh orange juice?” I had some simple syrup with pineapple left that I made the last time I tried to make sorbet. Success! My husband said it was good. I am very pleased that we have fresh sorbet with no chemicals. Unfortunately I had to use sugar, albeit, organic to make the simple syrup. Next time I will use agave nectar and give it a try.
The frozen yogurt shops just lost a customer. I can make my own and know what is in them. I think next time I will try one of my vegetable Nutriblast. Vegetable Sorbet. Mmmm.
FYI: I am also trying the image format for you Blogging 101 colleagues. In the Capoversa basic theme it is not making a big difference from the standard format.
I had a wonderful childhood. However, the wonderful memories about my family, neighborhood, church and school are surrounded by the shadows of bigotry, hatred, Klansmen, segregation and fear. Even as children we understood the eminent danger of walking down the street in black skin.
I grew up in the Jim Crow south. Alabama to be specific. I was a child during the height of the Civil Rights movement, but I vividly remember those days from my 12 year old perspective.
I remember the Monday night meetings where we heard inspiring speeches and the protest plans and instructions for the following week.
I remember the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham when those four little girls were slain. That morning we were preparing for church when we got the news. We didn’t have email or texting in those days but it seemed we got news lightening fast. I remember not wanting to go to church because our church had received threats. When I overheard the grownups talking about the threats I wasn’t afraid. Who would bomb a church? But that morning the threats were suddenly real. That could be me and my friends.
I remember wanting to go to Selma for the march and how disappointed I was when my grands told me I was too young to go. So I watched it on television in the false safety of our den. I felt every blow inside me that they experienced on the Petus Bridge. I was angry, scared, hurt for them, and angry all at the same time. Yea, I said angry twice.
I know I felt all of this pain because I relived it last night when I viewed the movie, Selma. I was back in Alabama watching the march on television angry, hurt, in pain and angry all over again.
I commend you Ms. Ava Duvernay for the excellent job you did in educating us and reminding us. Continue to tell our story in historical accuracy and truth.
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Re-springing Your Step.”
I read the prompt and wondered what has happened to me recently that would have me rejuvenated. I realized that the answer was a lot of little thins for temporary changes but nothing lasting. That revelation was very disheartening. How can I motivate others when I am fatigued? I can’t successfully because they can see something is not 100% with me.
I have had taken a day here and a day there to rest physically. It helped to some extent I am sure. I can go on. I awaken this morning feeling stressed out with the list of things I need to do NOW. The only solution I see is to make my list, prioritize and work the list.
Maybe then my step will get sprung. Physical rest is nothing without mental rest.
I woke up yesterday morning thinking of cartels. I guess I was influenced by the CSI:New Orleans episode I watched the night before. We usually think of the drug trade south of our borders when we use the word cartel. I decided to look it up because I realized that I really didn’t know what it meant. This is a definition from one of several sites.
car·tel
historical
a coalition or cooperative arrangement between political parties intended to promote a mutual interest.
When I read it I thought this seemed awfully familiar. The definition below is what I remembered from a business class I attended.
OLIGOPOLY
A situation in which a particular market is controlled by a small group of firms.An oligopoly is much like a monopoly, in which only one company exerts control over most of a market. In an oligopoly, there are at least two firms controlling the market.
When a market is controlled, doesn’t that include prices and restricting competition?
There is a campaign going on against foods containing genetically modifies organisms. The battle is mainly against the Monsanto corporation. But it doesn’t seem like they can have the kind of power they are having without help. Some believe members of our Congress have been bought by Monsanto. Others believe the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is in the mix. The things that have been happening certainly make you wonder. I just read an article about the meaning of “natural” on our food labels. This is an excerpt
“What is important to understand is how natural flavors are created. Scientists, or flavorists as they prefer to be called, blend natural or synthetic chemicals to create flavorings. The only difference between artificial and natural flavorings is the original (natural) source of the raw ingredients/chemicals. The formulas for both are the same although a small change can result in a different flavor.” The bold is mine.
These are FDA approved foods. Is this what you think of when you want natural? If you are like me, you thought natural meant devoid of artificial or chemical anything. I was in the 2/3rds mentioned below. Are you? We have been deceived for years.
“When we see a product labeled as such we perceive it as better for us, in fact a Consumer Reports survey found that two-thirds of Americans think the word natural on the label means it contains no artificial ingredients, pesticides or genetically engineered organisms and as a result has launched a campaign to ban the use of the word “natural” on both packages and in all marketing for foods and beverages.”
Read the rest of the article. The FDA has no clear definition of what “natural” means.
So now we have Monsanto and the FDA appearing to be working together to control what is in our food. What part is Congress possible playing in this. Antitrust and fair trade agreements? All I know is that it seems others profit at our expense.
The last parties to this perceived cartel is the medical profession and the pharmaceutical concerns. I don’t mean all doctors. I am referring to the system that they have to operate in. Treat the symptom, don’t search for the cause. Prescribe a pill because it cost too much to spend the time searching for the cause. Doctors are required to operate in that 15 minute window unless they are private practices that control their own offices. I had an interesting conversation with one of my husband’s doctors. Because of some heart problems, he has been prescribed Warfarin or Cumidin, rat poison. I asked the doctor if he could regulate the situation with foods that are natural blood thinners. She said no. I asked why. She said because they could not track it. This is how they track it. Take a certain number of tablets and check the blood. If the thinness is in a certain range you are okay. If it is too high, decrease the number of tablets. If it is too low, add more tablets. If the blood test is the telling factor, you could eat more or less of the vegetables depending on the thinness level. They rather he take poison, so they can regulate the dosage, rather allow him to eat fresh, certified organic vegetables and get healthy. Does that even seem reasonable to a rational, thinking mind?
I love my country but “the love of money” has removed standards and logical reasoning that can be trusted. What cartel should we fear first?
The end of the article mentioned above states the only way you can be sure your food is natural is to purchase USDA certified organic products. I am also buying from stores who have verified their products as non-GMO. I don’t know what those organisms will do to us.I am choosing to go that route. I hope I can trust the USDA.
Yesterday, I felt the lonliness and foreboding reflected in hsteinhayer101’s post This Is Really Bad. The story was told so well that I felt I was there. The “not knowing what to do” and the danger of making the wrong choice touched me. Her situation was far more serious and intense but her words took me back to my front porch over 30 years ago. My world was dark and lonely. It should have been one of the happiest times of my life. I had a newborn son, a wonderful husband and a helpful daughter. Nevertheless, my world was dark and lonely. The one overshadowing thing about depression is feeling all alone. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was suffering from Postpartum Depression. I just knew I wanted to end my life because for some reason I thought my family would be better off without me.
hsteinhayer101’s decision was choosing the correct place to sit. My decision was which direction to run that would guarantee getting far away to kill myself or be killed. I lived near two very busy streets that had a lot of traffic. A woman walking down the street in a thin nightgown would draw attention. It sounds silly now but that night I would have appeared to be a runaway from a mental asylum and the police would have picked me up. My husband found me and held me. I didn’t even know how to accept that at first. I felt he had spoiled my plans. When you are depressed and in that deep. dark place all you see is how good ending it all would be.
So many of us suffer from mental dis-ease and don’t realize it. We don’t consider depression from job loss or grief from a death mental dis-ease but it is. It may not last long or be as intense as others that cause them to seek escape in drugs or the control from another person.
I thank my husband and my Lord for bringing me through that time. The shadows of depression still linger just on the outskirts of my consciousness but I recognize it. It will not conquer me.
I posted this on ladywiggins.blogspot.com for Thanksgiving. I thought I would repost it here. Vegans out there please share your recipe successes.
I hope you had a wonderful time with your family. It was just my husband and I. Our children were away this year. I had a ball. Not because they were away though. I experimented with our traditional recipes. I was motivated by my newly vegan son and my dairy-intolerant grand-baby. I had wanted to try vegan cooking for a while and I figured now was a good time.
Mac and Cheese
Attention went first to my mac and cheese. This is my grandmother’s mac and cheese so the flavors are sacred. I decided to use rice elbow macaroni. I never used it before. Next concern: How do you bring those southern flavors to vegan world: Butter, real milk, sharp and mild cheddar cheese? I was skeptical but I went all in. I replaced the cheese with veggie cheese. I replaced the milk with flax seed milk. I found it to be creamier than almond and other nut milks I’ve tried. However, what to do about butter? I found some vegan butter in my favorite organic store but the cost was ridiculous. Google came through. I found several vegan sites that had recipes for making your own vegan butter without using soy products. I made my first non-dairy butter. The results were good but I still didn’t know how it would work in my mac and cheese. It was wonderful. That gave me hope for my sweet potato pie.
Sweet Potato Pie
This was not completely vegan but it was still an experiment. I used my non-dairy butter, a blend of flax and evaporated milk and egg. I thought my husband had bought an egg substitute but he bought egg whites instead. The filling was good. The real experiment was the pie crust. I decided to try gluten free flour. Who knows why? I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil or shortening. I either had a crumbling mess or something that was very oily looking. I wanted that flaky crust I was familiar with. As it turned out, the taste was great but the texture was too thin. Saved by the flavors.
I have learned a lot through this experiment.
I also found this link for powdered egg replacer recipe. If any of you have used these recipes, I would certainly like to hear from you. My holiday baking begins in about a week and a half. I am planning to experiment ahead of time.
Vegans out there please share your experience and wisdom. I am on fire to test things out.
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