Sunday

Why We Worship 26


If you have been visiting with me for "Why We Worship" each week I would like to thank you for your company and your comments.

I have been writing this for 6 months and today we come to the final post in the series.  I think this is the only thing that I could have chosen for our final one.

(If you have missed any of the posts in this series you can catch-up by clicking on the Devotionals tab at the top.)






And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:    Exodus 3v14


 This is the holiest name for God in the Old Testament.


There is no-one else who can make such a statement.







We serve a God who is the only "I AM"


He is the God of NOW!

Not a god of the past.


He is the God who is ALIVE with us!

Not an idol made of bronze or stone.


He is the God who is PERSONAL!

Not something that doesn't relate to us.



"What does it mean I Am?   He is what?"  some might scoff.


We could not answer that to suit them 

because




He is unfathomable to us.


He simply exists and is everything we could possibly think of
and even more besides.







Who could ever think of worshipping anyone else.





Wednesday

I'm too Sexy for this Card - A Dose of Encouragement


Mum!!!!


You can't sing that over the phone.


This is what my oldest son said to me in a telephone conversation last year.





So no doubt he will be saying

Mum!!!!

You can't say that word on your blog.

If he sees this post.




Why?

Okay I am a 55+ wife, mother, new mother-in-law, and ready to be a granny (if they can take the hint).

And I suppose 55+ mothers are not seen as sexy to their children, or to many other people for that matter.

But my husband bought me this card for my birthday last year.






Because He has a sense of humour.


All I could do for the first 10 mins was laugh, laugh, laugh.


Then I started to sing.


You see it is a musical card and when you open it this deep voice sings


"You're too sexy for this card, too sexy for this card, too sexy by far."


So after the 10 mins of laughing I just had to sing it and I danced around the lounge singing it.

Now what happens after you have a long laugh and a song and dance routine?

Well obviously you are very happy, in a good mood (and have had some exercise) so obviously it is good for you.


Then just at that moment comes the phone call from your son to wish you a Happy Birthday.

Of course being me I just can't resist it.

I just have to do it.

I say

"You're got to hear this"  

and I

OPEN THE CARD

He says

"What's That?"

and I tell him it's the card his father gave me.

Then I make the big mistake

and

I start singing it to him

and that's when he says

Mum!!!!

You can't sing that over the phone.



Yes there are certain things you don't talk to just anyone about.



You can't sing that over the phone!


Fred and I love a joke and teasing within the family and good friends, but yes there are some things that you don't talk to just anyone about.

I am so thankful that Fred and I can talk to each other about anything & everything because we know each other so well and we trust each other after all these years together.





I am saddened when I see other marriages where the couples do not share everything or would feel they need to keep secrets from each other.

If we cannot have the right relationship with our spouse then I feel it would be very difficult to have that right relationship with God.

Then the question also is could I have sung that song in front of God?
Well I did because when I was singing it and dancing round the lounge God was also there and let's face it He knows all about our relationships and what exactly we do, say and sing every day.


I'm too Sexy for this Card


We need to remember that we have to be honest before God and not pious.
He knows what we think and feel anyway.

But that does not mean that we do not still give Him honour and respect.

It just means that I know that He knows all about me and I am not going to pretend that I do not have a laugh and a dance with my husband when God has been there all the time.






Well it is my birthday on Friday and I will be opening that card again and no doubt Fred will laugh at me as I dance around the house but I'll try not to tell Jonathan when he calls this time as two years might just be too much for him to bear.

 

He is a Pastor you know.








Monday

Salmon with Peppers

 Do you have a meal that you know you will probably have the ingredients you need in the house at any time?


Well this is one of those recipes because this works great with frozen salmon fillets as well as fresh ones.





I normally have everything that is needed because they are things we would use often and because we are fond of salmon I always have some in the fridge or freezer (so easy to defrost quickly).


This was the first meal my husband had after he had been so ill for days with food poisoning and lets face it he is not a great fish eater but he does love this.


So it basically is very easy to prepare and cook and in total takes about 50-60 mins


Ingredients

Salmon fillets   enough for 2 people
Red Peppers  1 per 2 people
Green Peppers   1 per 2 people
Onions    1 per 2 people
2 table spoons olive oil
8 table spoons balsamic vinegar
boiling water
Black pepper
Lime/Lemon Juice
Enough Rice for 2 people


Method

1.  Mix the oil and balsamic vinegar together in a Pyrex/casserole dish not too small.






2. Cut up onions and peppers in lengths and add to dish stirring around in the mixture.





3.  Place in a preheated hot oven for 10 mins then  add some boiling water and stir around, leave in oven for another 5 mins or until the vegetables look like they are starting to soften.


4.  Place the salmon on top of the vegetables, grind some black pepper over the salmon and then drizzle salmon with lime/lemon juice as much or as little as you like.


5.  Place dish back in oven and cook for a further 8-10 mins.


6.  Then grill on medium/high for approx. 5 mins.   Salmon should be soft but nicely browned on top.






7.  Serve Salmon and vegetables on top of rice and scoop up remaining juices from dish to pour over rice.


As you can see from the picture I had two different types of Salmon fillets this time simply because I grabbed the first two packets I found in the freezer 
(shape doesn't matter to us).


We love this meal and have it at least three times a month.






NOTE:   When we want to feel even more healthy we just leave out the oil
 and it is fine that way too.




If you try it let me know what you think.







Sunday

Why We Worship 25






I am taking time each week to ask myself 
"Why we worship"

We are coming to the end of our series based around the attributes of God.

Next week will be the last one to be contemplated.

So this week I want to look at something that I really only started to think about in the last year or so.








Of course we have always thought of God as the only true God.


But here I want to think about God as God the Most High God meaning that He is Sovereign over everything.


He is in control in every situation.








So there is nothing or nobody (not even ourselves) that should come before God in all aspects of our lives.

Yes that is hard because most aspects of our lives we can quite easily say we are handing over to God but it should be all aspects of our lives.


In everything we should put God first.


In every day nothing should dethrone Him from being the King, the Lord of our lives.







All reverence must be given to God.

All honour must be given to God.

All glory must be given to God.


All worship must be given to God.








Is God the MOST HIGH GOD in your life?


Do you give Him all the worship?







Wednesday

Make Good Use of What you Have - A Dose of Encouragement



Each day when I sit at the computer in my study I will at some time turn my head to look out of the window beside me.


Now the weather in Northern Ireland is not that hot and sunny and when we do get good weather it is limited to a few days now and again during May - August.  Although as I am writing this the sun is beaming down into my back garden which is the view I have from my study window.






We are also known for our rain (although we do not get any more in the year than Delaware or Belgium - I know this because those are the other two places we have lived in and I did a bit of research - it just seems like it).


So you may be surprised to find out what is sitting in our garden since May last year (not this year).


This is the view that I have from my study






Yes those are two white PVC sun-loungers sitting in my garden.


And Yes they have sat there for over a year because we are rather lazy and didn't bother to put them away and also because we got a new BBQ last year (we used it twice) and some extra chairs to match our table so the BBQ and the chairs are now taking up the space in the garden shed where these two sun-loungers and their matching 6 recliner chairs used to be.  We gave the chairs and cushions to our son and daughter in law so that they could have something in their garden shed.


Now the point of this is that those two sun loungers always make me think of the chairs and the chairs always make me think of our Sun Room in the house we lived in, in Belgium for over 6 years.

You see when we got to Belgium we had a Sun Room but no furniture to go in it so I thought well we will probably buy a sofa for it.

But also when we got to Belgium we had garden furniture but no garden shed to keep it in and the garage was under the house so it was just not feasible to expect Fred to go down to the garage every time we would want to sit out in the back garden.

So we just sort of started off by putting the garden chairs into the Sun Room.  It was very convenient to just open the door from the Sun room to the garden and lift out whatever number of the chairs we needed.  It was so convenient that they stayed there for the whole time we lived there and we never bothered to buy proper furniture for the Sun Room.


So then you see we could say we just "made do" with what we had for the Sun Room.  


BUT

I spent many happy Monday mornings there sitting on those chairs as I prayed specifically for our kids.

Many evenings were spent sitting on those chairs with family visiting from the UK.

Many evenings were spent sitting on those chairs with other visitors from all over the world.

Many very happy occasions were spent on those chairs as our church homegroup met in our home for pot luck dinners.

Our homegroup was like our family away from our homeland.  Most of the group were from other countries having come to Belgium through work etc.  These were the people of all ages who met together on a weekly basis to worship and study God's Word together.  These were the people who looked after each other in all sorts of ways when we had no other family to turn to. These were the people who shared each others joys and heartaches and prayed together through the deep desires of our hearts.





No-one ever asked why we had garden furniture in that room.


So you see NOW I don't think of us just "making do" in all those years;

  NOW I actually think of it as "making use of what we had" 

and

   it being a "good job".


We had people of every class of life in that room and every single one of them happy to sit on those chairs.  That room was always full of smiling faces and I am thankful for the great memories that were created there.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that what we have or what we can do is not good enough for God.

Sometimes we think we need to go do something someone else has done, or something that seems to have more effort put into it, or something that is more noticeable as being a unique act of outreach for God.

Sometimes we think it isn't good enough just to use what we already have and that we would just be "making do" and not doing enough.







If we think like that we can overlook or miss the opportunities 
God has put in our path.

If we think like that we can always be worrying about getting things perfect before we speak, or act or even pray and read God's Word.

If we think like that we may even be disobedient to God who has already given us the talents we have that we are not stepping up to use.


BUT

 If instead we simply ask God to guide us as to what He would like us to do, who He would like us to serve, and where, how and when He would like us to do so and make the talents that He gave us available for Him to use through us we will be in His will.


So the next time you think you are just going to have to "make do" with what you have either in belongings or in the talents and the gifts that God has given you (or as you may think the not so good as other people's talents and gifts) then think of my garden furniture in my Sun Room.






Remember that you can make use of what you have and use it wisely for the benefit of yourself and of others.


Be thankful for what you have and that you are not "just making do".


God wants us to MAKE GOOD USE of what He we have because it came from Him.




Tuesday

Help! This Blogging Thing is not Easy!

You could end up pulling your hair out over this thing called BLOGGING.

AT THE START
 you think it's all about getting a



set up and big query is


Blogger or Wordpress?


My decision was based on
1. My son's blog was on blogger and so he could help me.
2. Our Church Website (which I help with) is on Wordpress and it drove me demented about how when I typed something in and then looked at the page neither the spacing nor size of font ever seemed to be what I had intended and pictures just seemed to go where they wanted to go and not where I tried to place them.

So I chose Blogger.
Then now over a year and a half later my husband tells me that the blogging template in wordpress might be easier to work with than the website template.  Thank you Fred for helping me sooner!!!!

Then my son tells me that there are ads on Wordpress that the blogger will not see on their blogs, so I would not be happy with that.




NEXT
after you have the blog set up you only think you have to think about what content you will put in your posts. When you get settled in to that you have to decide how often you will post to your blog.

But you haven't really got to the main hurdles yet because if you wanted to start a blog you must have had a good idea as to what the content would be and how much inspiration you have leads to how often you post.  Not necessarily!  But let's say yes you know your content and have decided how many posts each week and you have the ideas.


Then you realize there are not very many people reading this blog because even though the "whole world" can get use of the internet not everyone has discovered your blog among the millions of others.

What do you have to do to get it seen out there?


THAT'S WHEN
we start posting on facebook and twitter, provided we already have accounts, if not we have to start learning to use these sites.  Lots will even make a page on facebook to get likes and hopefully blog followers through that as well.

Everyday you need to post and tweet your blog.

So your computer will never look like this!


NEXT
you hear people talking about "oh you need to be in circles and so that means you need to get on Google Plus and it you are like me you have held out for some time because you don't really want to have to learn something new at the moment because you are rather busy with everything else.

But eventually you give in and you are then hooked into gathering people up to be in your circles and getting offended if people do not put you in their circles.


AND THAT'S NOT ALL
you have to be pinning all the time because by now you have heard that everyone should know that Pinterest is the best place to get traffic to your blog.  So your nice little pinterest boards which you had set up for your own interest now have to not only cater to you but be attractive to others so that they will follow lots of your boards and then see the pins linking to your blog and start to visit your blog and then like it because it is as attractive as your pinterest boards and then they will come back often to your blog.



Oh and then you should gather Instagram followers as well - but I definitely drew the line here and Instagram is staying personal for me.


AND THAT IS STILL NOT ALL
there are communities on google plus, groups on facebook, special Pinterest boards for groups of bloggers, and then something called Stumble Upon which I have neither stumbled upon or went looking for (yet).


AND OF COURSE BY NOW
1. you have discovered that your blog post should be full of very good pictures so you need to go take masses of photos

#BigBlackWedding

and adapt them to use on your blog



or find places on the internet to get free pics.



or start learning to create your own pictures





2. you have heard of the words "blog hop" & "linky" and you decide to google this and then your life is never the same because not only do you have to join in with loads of these but you find all these other blog posts on these linkys that you want to read
     



  3. you have realised that you are getting more comments than you thought you would but that takes more of your time because you have to read them and answer them.


BY NOW
you have wondered why you started this in the first place because it looks like it could take over your life and you have to be careful in conversations with others or else you will talk about blogs you have read and what you are doing on your blog too much.




AND THAT IS WHEN
you find out that other blogs with less traffic than yours are making money and everyone in the groups etc. are talking about sponsorship and ads and promotion and you have to take the big decision

DO I MONETIZE MY BLOG?????

I never in all my life thought I would use the word 
MONETIZE







BUT










Sunday

Why We Worship 24





I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"


This is Trinity Sunday

                so there is no doubt as to what we should consider today.






This is often a difficult thing for us to comprehend.


I actually think it is harder to explain the Trinity in words than to believe it in your heart.


We have a Godhead which is:  


3 in 1  and  1 in 3






God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are mentioned often in the Bible.


They have different roles which means that we are never alone, are always under the blood and we can bask in the Father's Love.









I think it is wonderful to be included in the Father's love, be cleansed by the blood of the Son and have the Holy Spirit teach and guide us. 



In our church one of the things I love the most is the fact that we end each service with the Grace, extending this blessing on each other as we leave.







I think it's wonderful to have the Father's Love, be cleansed by the blood of the Son and to have the Holy Spirit teach and guide us.



Do you think of The Trinity when when you mention God or simply God the Father?