Food is my love language. I want to feed hungry people. So this year I've created a fusion of food for your body and food for your soul. This will be a year of delicious recipes I'm making now combined with relatable reflections divine readings from the book of John. If you consume what I'm preparing, you'll be nourished. That's a promise. Join me if you're hungry.
The Problem of Sheep and Cows For Sale
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Sheep and cows are not the problem in this story. My title is misleading. But there's a story ahead where the sheep and cows get kicked out of a place they don't belong. So do the people selling them. What's really coming is a look at what doesn't belong in our life and who does the kicking out. Turns out we are unable, unwilling, unconcerned, or unaware of what sheep and cows don't belong but God isn't and he cares enough to send in his whip-weilding passionately loving Son to do the job right. The older I get, the longer I am relationship to the Divine, the clearer I can see Who matters most and What belongs in the center of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I really used to think there was some kind of level of maturity I'd get to, some depth of intimacy, a layer of healing where love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control took up every seat in the house. As of now, I'm hopeful for progress towards wholeness as I engage in intimacy and healing in my inner life. I am also aware there are still wiley disrupters who need to go. John 2: 13-16 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” John 2:23-25 Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like. Johns’ pace is slow, giving us time to observe and let the message sink in. He also highlights contrast. At the beginning of Chapter 2, we saw a joy-full, behind-the-scenes miracle. The story that follows stands in stark contrast. Jesus is furious. The water to wine miracle and this coin-flying-table turning-animal-chasing response Jesus had in the Temple are both love stories. In both there is provision for what is needed. In both only Jesus can do what needs to be done. In both Jesus does the will of the One who sent him. Jesus knows what the hungry human heart needs and desires. Jesus knows what the rebellious human heart can make us do. He knows what keeps the hungry human heart from being Holy. He is serious about what keeps people from God. Eugene Peterson says: “Sin is a defective relationship with God and if we aren’t convinced of the nature of the defect in our lives, it’s unlikely we’ll accept the remedy for that defect. Sin is…the failure to treat God as God, to honor him and thank him…If we… think that sin is sensuality or vice, or crudeness or any of the bad things we do, we would have missed his point completely. Sin is that original rebellion against God, that basic act of leaving him, that foundational failure to treat him as the Almighty.” (From commentary of Romans 1, The Message Study Bible) God's love for us is both kind and severe. These back-to-back stories of Jesus demonstrate the kind and severe love we need. Jesus’ mission created a path for our sins to be forgiven - the remedy for our defect; but also to restore our relationship to God's favor and show us how to live. What Jesus did was: “A bringing back to normal of the Creator - Creature relation.” A. W. Tozer I was recently reminded I have done nothing to deserve this love, I did not earn this love and nothing I do can separate me from this love. Why would I want sheep and cows in my life if they distract, separate me, or numb me to God's love for me? What in my life doesn't belong in the place only God belongs? A Prayer “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what’s best - as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.” Jesus Christ, from The Message StudyBible -Matthew 6 Happy Summer friends... |
Hi! I'm Laura DeGroot, The Caffeinated Woman
Food is my love language. I want to feed hungry people. So this year I've created a fusion of food for your body and food for your soul. This will be a year of delicious recipes I'm making now combined with relatable reflections divine readings from the book of John. If you consume what I'm preparing, you'll be nourished. That's a promise. Join me if you're hungry.
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As a writer of words on the internet, I wonder if anyone notices when they don't come consistently. There are all manner of explanations for why I'm prone to inconsistency and being late. It happens in every part of my life from going to work, going to lunch, going to bed, and going to my computer to write words. This makes me feel guilty, sorry, and frustrated. There are strategies to help which I employ. They do not work 100% of the time. They have not worked well in April and I'd like to...
I wonder if you are preparing for a feast tomorrow? I wonder if you are expecting company or going to gather with others for a feast they are preparing? And is the feast a tradition on the day called Easter or is it a time of gathering to remember and receive once again the loving of suffering and loving of living Jesus did for you? Today's reading and reflection are about a feast with Jesus loving people with a miracle, the first recorded. He did it behind the scenes and the witnesses were...