Consequences of sin

Isaiah 59:6 - Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make.  Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.

In Isaiah 59:6, the prophet paints a vivid picture of the consequences of sin and the futility of human attempts to find righteousness and peace.  This verse serves as a part of a larger passage (Isaiah 59:1-15) where Isaiah highlights the people's separation from God due to their sins.  He describes a people whose efforts to cover themselves and find security are as feeble as cobwebs.  Despite their best intentions, their actions are tainted by evil deeds, and violence permeates their lives.

This verse serves as a reminder that all humanity, regardless of our best efforts, falls short of God's perfect standard.  No matter how hard we try to construct a facade of righteousness or find fulfillment in worldly pursuits, our attempts will always fall short.  Amid this bleak reality, there is hope. Isaiah 59:1 assures us that God's hand is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.  Despite our sinful state, God extends His mercy and grace to us.  He sees our desperate need and offers a solution that transcends our feeble attempts at self-justification.

The ultimate answer to our sinfulness and brokenness is found in Jesus Christ.  Through His perfect life, sacrificial death on the cross, and victorious resurrection, He offers forgiveness, redemption, and a restored relationship with God.  Jesus' sacrifice provides the covering we desperately need, far surpassing any cobwebs of self-righteousness or human effort.  As we recognize the futility of our own works and the destructive nature of sin, we are invited to embrace the redemption and salvation offered through faith in Christ.

Seow Bak (Roast Pork)

Crispy Pork Belly, just like you get from the Chinese BBQ meat shop!

1. Pricking lots of holes in the skin = puffy crackling with bubbles.  This is what makes all the difference, yielding that beautiful bubbly crackling that is so unique to Chinese pork belly.

2. Roast covered in rock salt = crispy crackling.  Salt draws moisture to the surface, helping to guarantee you’ll get crispy crackling every single time.  And yes, it works whether you do the pricking or not.

The pork belly is first roasted with the salt crust, then the salt crust is removed.  At this stage, the skin is rubbery and looks thoroughly unappetising.
All it takes to transform the ugly ducking into a crispy golden swan is to stick it under the grill/broiler for 25 minutes.  Watch in amazement as it starts to puff and crackle and becomes so crispy!!!

Pork Belly Marinade
The pork flesh is infused with subtle flavour by marinating it in classic Chinese flavours – Chinese cooking wine (or dry sherry or even Mirin), five spice powder, salt and white pepper.

Loving God: Daily Reflections For Intimacy With God.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. —1 John 4:16

No one can come face-to-face with what God is like and ever be the same. Seeing the truth about His personality touches the depths of our emotions, which leads us to spiritual wholeness and maturity.

BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE RENEWS OUR MINDS, STRENGTHENS US, AND TRANSFORMS US.

God is a Person

It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. LAMENTATIONS 3:22–23

When I was a small boy, I thought of God as an old man with a long white beard.  After all, hadn’t Michelangelo painted Him that way?

Later, as I read the Bible, and after I had accepted Christ as my Savior, I realized that God is a spirit, yet He has the attributes of a person:  He thinks; He speaks; He communicates; He loves; He becomes angry; He grieves.

Because God is a person, He feels that which we feel.  After all, we are made in His image, so it is to be expected that we would be able to communicate our deepest feelings and emotions to God.

God communicates with us in two ways.  First, He communicates with us through His written Word, the Bible.  It tells us who God is, who we are, and why we need a Savior so that we might have that relationship with God which sin has broken.

Second, God communicates with us through His Son.  Jesus said that no man can come to the Father except through Him.  We have that access to Jesus, and thus to God, through salvation.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He never changes.

Our Father and our God, sometimes I can’t express my deepest emotions. But I know that Jesus can express my very heart to You and that You understand.  Thank You, Father, for Your great compassion and faithful love.  In the name of Christ, amen.

[From  UNTO THE HILLS  A Daily Devotional by BILLY GRAHAM]

God's Goodness

Psalms 34:18  "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”[NIV]  The Good News: Though you may feel defeated, God is closer than you realize.  He is always with you and can heal your heart.

The heart of a Psalmist is familiar with suffering and consistent in hope. This pattern emerges time and time again. The writer expresses an honest struggle, makes a request, and ends with a choice to trust in God.  Some Psalms focus on lament, which means to grieve the loss of something or someone.  Some focus on praise.  But many combine the two, even when several verses reveal the pain of suffering.

The power of God’s love has a way of enhancing our ability to believe.  When we experience a deeper connection to love, the tank of our ability to believe gets filled and empowered.  On the other hand, our ability to believe can feel like it is getting shipwrecked with our hearts are struggling with disconnect to love.

When you see someone struggling to believe, you will often find someone who carries a broken heart and the absence of the power of love in their life.  Disappointment has taken over.  Weariness has gotten the upper hand.  Life has a way of beating the belief out of you.

That is why the healing power of love is needed in our lives every day.  We need it to heal and recover from all the experiences we are going through.  When love has not been imbedded in someone’s heart, it can be so easily to lose hope and struggle to believe.

Many believers are trying to help their belief with a “I think I can” kind of approach.  They try and try harder, but struggle to make progress, because there is a love issue missing in their heart.

When you love someone in a way that it impacts their heart, it can literally bring their belief system back to life.  That’s what love does.  It revives hope, renews your perspective, gives you meaning and purpose.

For many of us in our journey, we just need the experience of being loved back to life. 

THE POWER OF INTERCESSION

THE POWER OF INTERCESSION

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ephesians 6:18

I once received a message with the following words: “I will be requesting a doctor's report on the wear and tear of your knees any time soon.  Hope you are still remembering me in your prayers.”

As I meditated on the words I realised how easy it is for our prayers to become selfish and how we approach the Lord all the time and it is all about us.

The Father wants to use us as instruments to reach out to others that are hurting, He wants us to learn the discipline of desiring the best for others before we have even received it ourselves.

The day you learn to reach out for others in prayer is the day you will learn the highest expression of love for others.  You have to pray with all kinds of prayer and you have to persevere in your supplication for all the saints.

Your prayers have the potential of winning mighty victories for someone else.  Someone at this moment needs someone to call on the Lord on his or her behalf.  They need someone to cover their backs...

When last did you take someone as your prayer assignment and prayed consistently for them?  What is the wear and tear of your knees like?

When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes.  In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before! Job 42 v 10 [NLT]

When Job obeyed this principle of interceding for others, the Lord restored his fortunes.  Many people have battled to receive something from the Lord because all they have done is to selfishly pray for themselves.

Learn the discipline of standing in the gap for others, that alone can open doors of for you.  It does not matter what the people you have to pray for are like!

They might have hurt you and they might not even be able to reward you for being there for them.  Realize that your reward is with the Lord.  Job prayed for his friends with no regard of how they had criticized him.

Someone is in need of your prayers today, doors for you when you learn to stand in the gap for others.

FROM THE SHEPHERD’S DESK DAILY DEVOTIONAL VOL 1 by Charles P. Magaiza

Fresh Grace Every Day

Matthew 6:34  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

"I am concerned about the big business deal that I have to close tomorrow."

"I am worried about tomorrow's job interview."

"My medical test results will be out tomorrow.  I am afraid it won't be good."

God does not want you to worry about tomorrow.  He wants you to know that He gives you all the help you need for today, and when tomorrow comes, so will fresh help from Him.

This is God's principle even in the Old Testament.  When the children of Israel were in the desert, God gave them fresh manna from heaven every morning. (Exodus 16:13-16, 31)

They did not have to worry about tomorrow because when tomorrow came, there was fresh manna again.  He was their provision every day.

Today, God's manna is the grace He gives you every day.  If you are worried about a situation tomorrow, know that there will be sufficient grace for that situation when it comes.

God wants you to simply rest in His ability to heal, deliver, protect and provide for you every day.

In the Old Testament, when the armies of Moab and Ammon came against King Jehoshaphat, God told the anxious king, "Do not be afraid nor dismayed... for the battle is not yours, but God's... You will not need to fight in this battle... stand still and see the salvation of the Lord..." (2 Chronicles 20:15-17)

When the next morning came, King Jehoshaphat saw how God caused such confusion to come upon his enemies' camp that it brought about their own slaughter.

Amid all that fighting in the enemy camp, God's people merely stood still and saw Him fight the battle for them just as He had promised.

My friend, when you see a problem looming in your tomorrow, don't be afraid or dismayed.  Look to the Lord, and see His grace and salvation deliver you.

God wants you to live a stress-free life, not one filled with worries about tomorrow's problems.  When tomorrow comes, His grace will be there for you as your help, protection, favor and enabling!

Thought For The Day: God gives you all the help you need for today. When tomorrow comes, so will fresh help from Him.

[Taken From : Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince]

USE YOUR AUTHORITY

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19 KJV)

Visualize a traffic control policeman, as he stands in the street; every motorist has to respect his authority.  Even the strongest man driving an eighteen wheeler has to STOP when he is commanded to do so.  What happens if someone thinks they are in a hurry and decide to run over the policeman?  There are a number of problems with that; the policeman does not stand there depending on his own power and authority.  There are structures and institutions that are designed as back up to this man’s authority, however tiny or huge, whatever his colour or gender.  If you do not respect the authority that person represents, you are in serious trouble.  Behind that single policeman, there is the whole police force, the army of the country, the cabinet, the president, the courts, the air force and many other structures that are in place.

This is the same with the authority that Christ gave to us as believers.  We have been given POWER to tread on scorpions and over ALL the power of the enemy, nothing by shall any means hurt or harm us.  The above scripture allows us to take hold of our destiny and know the rights that have been given to us.  All this power is within us, surprising many believers go through life without a single clue of this power.  They faint at a single blow from the enemy and do not take authority over the situation.

The above reference has some absolutes that are mentioned in it:

i)  Over all the power of the enemy
ii) Nothing shall by any means hurt you.

The above points us to the fact that whatever strategy the enemy tries to use, it can be foiled by the power that we have received.  From time immemorial, the enemy has been employing different strategies like bringing sickness and disease, discouraging us, attacking us with worry, attacking our businesses and even directly attacking us through other people.  Before the knowledge of this truth, it is easy for the enemy to ride on our ignorance of this inheritance of authority the Lord Jesus gave us.  He will throw everything on us and we will take it as if it was due to us.  The above absolutes however do not leave any room for some of the enemy’s power to hinder us or hurt us.  Nothing is permitted and nothing should be allowed room to even harm us.

Child of God, you can begin to exercise this power.  The enemy knows that if he tries to oppose that authority, you are backed by all the angels of heaven, the Lord Jesus Himself and God the Father.  The word of God is alive and powerful and you can begin right now to speak it into your situation.  You have to exercise that authority over your sickness, your job and your destiny.  That situation that you are facing that appears insurmountable can be subdued by that authority.  Take charge of that situation and remind it of your inheritance in the Lord Jesus.  Before the above verse, the disciples had witnessed that authority at work; demons were subject to them in the name of Jesus. There is power in that name saints, when it is mentioned every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord (Phil 2:11).

Take authority over your overwhelming situations and over all the power of the enemy today.  With this knowledge, begin to address every strategy that the enemy has been using to get to you and your loved ones.

(From the Shepherd’s Desk Devotional by Charles P. Magaiza)

“Come and rest with Me.”

I care deeply for you, My child.  There is nothing that you feel or experience that I don’t also experience as I carry you through life.  My hand is upon you, and nothing will take you away from My love.  Quietly wait on Me, and you will feel my nearness.  You will hear Me whisper into your soul, and My peace will descend upon you.

My little one, there is a hiding place you can find in Me.  The shadow you see over you is the shadow of My wings.  It is not a shadow of confusion, but a shadow of My hiding place where I will place you next to My heart.  For I have taken you from troubled waters and brought you up on high to rest in My presence.  No matter how dark the night and how fierce the trial, My kiss of mercy will keep and protect you.

No one says in My presence, “I am afraid.”  It is never heard in My glory, “I am poor.”  For I have given you all things that will strengthen your life and prepare you for eternity.  In My presence all cry, “Glory.”  Come into the shelter of My shadow, where all My lovers are washed, robed, crowned, and seated with Me.  I care deeply for you and nothing can disturb you in the hiding place of My glory.  Come and rest with Me.”

[Excerpt From I Hear His Whisper: 52 Devotions (The Passion Translation) by Brian Simmons]

THE POWER OF GENTLENESS

THE POWER OF GENTLENESS

Do you remember the old fable about the contest between the wind and the sun?  It seems they got into an argument over which one of them was the most powerful.

An elderly man in a tattered coat came walking down the path.  The wind challenged the sun to see which one of them could get the man’s coat off.

Confident in his own strength, the wind went first.  He began blustering and blowing with all his might, ripping at the edges of the tattered coat.  But the poor old man ducked his head, hunched his shoulders, and pulled the coat more tightly to his chest.

When at last the mighty wind gave up, it was the sun’s turn to shine.  The sun slipped out from behind the clouds and beamed down on the old man so gently—and warmly— that the man immediately removed his coat and folded it over his arm.

This story always reminds me of the truth of Proverbs 15:1: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”  In our relationships with others, we often take an aggressive posture.  Like the blustering wind, we try to win the point—or the argument—by overpowering and intimidating the other person.  We blast him or her with the full force and strength of our sharpest words.  But seldom does this approach produce the results we’re looking for.  Often we achieve the exact opposite!

The Scripture tells us there is a better way.  Whether we’re giving or receiving constructive criticism, settling an argument, or addressing a sensitive situation, we’d do well to remember the wisdom of Proverbs 15:1 and the power of a “gentle answer.”

Take It To Heart!

Can you think of a problem or circumstance in your life that was exacerbated by harsh words?

How could it have been handled differently?

What about a situation where a gentle answer saved the day?

Pray that God will give you gentle answers for the difficult people and circumstances that come into your life today.

Read James 3:3-18. Write down the areas that you need to work on.

Taken from : Take it to Heart by Christin Ditchfield