When Life Hands You Tomatoes Make Salsa

SALSA

• 1 c finely chopped, peeled tomato
• ½ c tomato sauce
• 1-4oz can diced green chili peppers, drained
• ¼ c sliced green onion
• ¼ finely chopped green pepper
• 1 to 2 TBSP snipped cilantro or parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)

In a mixing bowl combine tomato; tomato sauce; chili peppers; green onion; green pepper; cilantro or parsley, lemon juice; garlic; hot pepper sauce if desired, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Place about half of the tomato mixture in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process till smooth. Stir in remaining tomato mixture. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving, stirring occasionally. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

        Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book Pg 368

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Everyone has heard that saying. I’d like to add one along the same theme. When life hands you tomatoes, make salsa. As I’ve written before, my husband once planted 20 tomato plants. They were beginning to rot because we had given them to all of our coworkers, neighbors and people in our small group at church, so my husband decided to make salsa. We had so many jars of the best salsa we decided to give them away as Christmas presents. Homemade goodies are the best gifts in my personal opinion. My mouth is watering for some good chips and salsa right now.

TOMATO 6 – Goodness

If you could can or put goodness in a jar and give it to everyone you come into contact with, wouldn’t you? Goodness is the generous fruit of the Spirit. It comes from an upright way of life and heart. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s God’s goodness IN us and work of faith WITH power not WITHOUT power, so Jesus will be glorified in us. Goodness is what you give away, and you can give it away because the Spirit generously provides it to you. You never run out. There's an ample supply.

But before you can put some fruit in a jar, sometimes you have to process the fruit. In order to make salsa, the tomatoes have to be chopped and peeled and blended and mixed with other ingredients like onions, garlic and cilantro. This next tomato/fruit we are going to study may make you will feel pressed on every side, and you may even feel like things are being added to your life and you don’t understand why. This fruit grows on the experience.

TOMATO 7 – Faith

There is a difference in believing in God and having faith in God. Faith results when your belief has been tested. If you have never been tried and have persevered under the hardest of circumstances in which Jesus Christ alone could have delivered you, then what you have is a belief not faith.

I can have faith in God because when I struggled with fertility during my bout of depression, He never left me. He delivered me. He brought me out of the darkness into the light and put me on the path to finding the baby He had chosen for us. I have endured in a marriage for over a decade to a man who would mock me at times for my faith, but praise God, my marriage hit rock bottom and God performed a heart transplant on my husband, and he was saved. When my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer with lymphatic involvement, He showed me His presence in addressing my fears. I write these things not to brag because I promise you I was broken in each of those instances. I write these things because God proved Himself trustworthy and reliable. I know that whatever comes my way, and we have been bombarded this year with all sorts of enemies and battles…I know whatever comes my way God has gone before me. He hems me in from the front and back. He leads me and is my Rear Guard. He never leads me nor forsakes me.

Faith is a tested conviction or truth in Jesus Christ, God our Father and the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the sense for the unseen world of faith like sight is for the physical world. Faith goes beyond reason. Faith goes beyond what you can physically do for yourself. Faith has SUBSTANCE. That substance results in your testimony. Can you testify to anything God has done recently for you? Then testify!

"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things the world are the things we can't see." Polar Express

I remember when the movie “Polar Express” first came out. It didn’t look animated. You could see individual hairs on the kids’ heads. The cinematography and visual beauty of this movie was mesmerizing. I remember hearing a quote that struck a chord with me. The conductor tells the boy,

“Seeing is believing,

but sometimes the most real things in the world

 are the things we can’t see.”

It’s those things we cannot see and yet believe which require faith.

Luke 1:45, “She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled.” This verse is talking about Mary. Mary believed without seeing what was to come. She believed because of what she was told.

Believing when you see something is not faith.

Believing when you see it in front of you is not hope.

Believing when you see something does not develop trust.

She believed based on what she heard, and because of her belief and faith in God to deliver His promise, Mary was blessed.

Believing without seeing leads to God’s blessing.

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” The message to Mary led her to hope for what God was going to do in her life. Her hope didn’t become reality until Jesus’ birth. Her proof would come 8 months later that her faith in God and His promise would be fulfilled.

What is your “faith” resting on? Is your faith resting on a word God has given you, or is it what you want to happen in your life?

For you to believe, do you have to see God’s hand moving or see the outcome before you will identify it as God’s will for your life?

Many recall Doubting Thomas, the disciple who had to see the nail marks and put his finger where the nails had been (John 20:25), and many look down on Thomas. In truth, there are more Christians like Thomas than there are those with the faith of Mary.

Believing God, trusting God means not seeing what God has placed in your heart as hope, but rather knowing He will deliver and fulfill the hope He put in your heart. Might want to read that again. Dissect it. Figure it out.

Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”

The angel of the Lord spoke to Mary and placed the hope in her heart for what was to come. It was something that had never happened before and would never happen again. Many would not believe her. Many would reject her and ridicule her for believing in the hope, but she believed anyway.

God has placed a hope in each of our hearts. Many are still searching on how to fill that hope for themselves. People search and search and believe people or things will fill that hope, but it won’t.

The hope God placed in each of our hearts anchors our soul regardless of what may happen in this life.

The God-placed hope in our hearts has a distinct shape. It’s the shape of a manger which morphs to the shape of the cross. It’s only when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior that God fulfills that hope in us.

People are searching for hope in this dark, depraved world. 1 Peter 3:15,…”Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

Are you ready to give an answer? Will anyone see the hope in you to even ask you why you have hope? Or do you have the hope that isn’t hope at all because you require seeing to believe?

People are looking for hope. This is a great time of year to tell of your hope and faith in Christ and bring light into their lives. Will you?

The Route from Bondage to Freedom

I saw a pin on Pinterest the other day, and it said, “God, why are you taking me out into the deep waters?” and God’s response was, “Because your enemy doesn’t know how to swim.”

Have you ever wished God would allow you to see the “big picture?” Have you ever asked questions like, “Why has God led me here,” “Where is He leading me because there’s a much better way I see that’s closer,” “When is He going to…?” It isn’t often God gives us a glimpse of what He sees much less His reasoning, but when He does, we really should take note. Often times, we don’t see His hand until we look back on a situation, a season, or a struggle.

 unIn Exodus 13:17-18 we read, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, ‘The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.’ So He led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.” These two verses say so much about our Father.

Just want to clear something up before we go to deep. God is leading the Israelites out of bondage into freedom. They were in bondage because of a severe famine God had allowed, and the Israelites sold their land, their animals and themselves to Pharaoh just to survive. Some people are in bondage today because of poor decisions and sin in their lives and want God to deliver, so they suffer no consequence of their sin. That’s not how this works. God forgives sin, but there are still consequences.

In this passage, God didn’t lead the Israelites down the path or route they would have chosen. The shortest and common route out of Egypt was the coastal route, but Egypt would have military outposts along the way, and God knew the Israelites were not ready to face a battle. The Israelites might have looked like an army marching in battle formation, but they were no trained army. This road would have been easy and good with water and food along the way, but the risk of danger outweighed what many would consider to be good reasons to take that route.

For Christians who have been led by God into a time or season of bondage like the Israelites, I want you to see a few things.

1.       Pharaoh eventually lets God’s people go after the effect of all the plagues. What holds us hostage is under God’s control even the results of your sin, and He is ultimately in control as to when we will be freed. There is nothing and no one who can defeat God or thwart the will of God.

2.       God leads us out of bondage to freedom. He doesn’t just open the barn door and say, “Get after it.” God leads us. Do you have the faith to follow? It can be scary taking that first step out of the known into the unknown. You have to have faith.

3.       When God leads us anywhere, He goes before us making the rough places smooth and turns the darkness into light (Isaiah 42:16). We also know when we follow God that goodness and mercy follow us (Psalm 23:6), thereby hemming us in from the front and the back (Psalm 139:5). There is security in following God’s leadership.

4.       God does not choose the most convenient way out or the most obvious way out. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us God’s ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than our own, and we know from 1 Corinthians 1:25 that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and His weakness is stronger than human strength. So when God leads you out of your bondage, and He chooses to take a path less traveled, TRUST HIM.

5.       “The people will change their minds.” He knows your thoughts and fears before you have them, and believe it or not, He goes before you to lead you down paths He knows that are best for you for where you are right now in your faith. Just like God knew the Israelites couldn’t handle a battle right after being freed, He knows what you can’t handle.

6.       “The Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.” Always be prepared. God might have known the Israelites might have tucked tail and run at the first sight of conflict, but they were at least prepared. When you follow God out of what has held you captive, be prepared because the enemy does not give up. We don’t fight against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers of the unseen world.

Remember, God is in control. His timing is perfect. Have faith He will lead you the way you need to be led, how you need to be led, when you need to be led, and where you need to be led. And when God leads you out, remember He goes before you and He’s behind you – You are in the most secure place when God leads. Also keep in mind, He does things and will take you on paths you do not know, and that’s okay because He knows what is to come and He knows what is best for you. He also knows your thoughts and fears before you have them and makes allowances for them. And be prepared to follow God wherever He leads.

http://blueletterbible.org/

I Passed Smooth Out. I Didn't Have the Endurance

2 Peter 1:5-8

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement (present) your faith (conviction of truth, belief, requires trust, cannot have salvation without faith) with goodness, goodness with knowledge (general understanding of Christian religion), 6 knowledge with self-control (master desires and passions), self-control with endurance (steadfastness, passionate patience), endurance with godliness (God-likeness, image bearer of Christ), 7 godliness with brotherly affection (phileo – cherish each other, found easily in commonality), and brotherly affection with love (agape – loves despite differences). 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first step in walking the Christian life is making a profession of faith. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (HCSB) Once that confession is made, your relationship with God begins building, growing, maturing. Remember, in the prior blog, 2 Peter 1:3 tells us God provides us everything we need to live a godly life once we make that confession of faith. Now, it’s just a matter of maturing those areas in our lives, and there seems to be a progression that maturity takes. After all, your babies don’t start off eating steak with a knife and fork, do they?

So after the confession of faith comes goodness. Goodness is a virtue. But how does a Christian’s goodness differ from a non-Christian’s goodness? Because let’s face, there are a lot of good people in the world. There are a lot of good people in hell too, for that matter. A Christian’s goodness has a basis on and in faith in Christ. If Christ is working through you to do His will for the benefit of others and the kingdom, then it will be done. A Christian’s goodness is rooted in Christ who is the Author of goodness.

After goodness comes knowledge or spiritual understanding. This is learning what the Bible has to say, learning to read the Scripture, to meditate on Scripture, and to pray. There isn’t just one way to do any of these things. There are so many ways to learn and read the Bible, and just as many different ways to pray. The important thing is that you begin, that you try. Don’t you know your heavenly Father is thrilled to hear from you when you speak to him? He is!

With knowledge, one should be in a better position to learn self-control or discipline. This is mastering your desires. How do you manage the good things in your life? Knowledge is a key element to self-control because you need to be able to see what the Word of God says about your desires and cravings. There’s a lot of false doctrine that says if you name it and claim it, you’ll have it, but that’s just not Scriptural. Self-control requires you to read and study the Word in order to mature in this area.

And the flip side of the same coin of self-control is endurance. In the Bible translation called the Message the words “passionate patience” is used instead of “endurance.” I quite like that. How do you manage the hard things in life? If you cannot control your mind or body, how can you possibly endure? Doesn’t endurance require you to maintain self-control in order not to quit? When I was in high school, I ran track. I was a sprinter. I ran 100 and 200 yards. The relay team needed to compete and place in one more race in order to earn a trophy. The next race would require that I run 400 yards – 1 full lap. I had never trained to run a full lap. As a sprinter, as soon as I start running, I am full open speed. I don’t slow down until I cross the line and pass the baton. No one told me how to run a 400 yard leg, and I found out the hard way one does NOT sprint 400 yards. Well, I sprinted 400 yards, and I was sucking wind by the time I passed the baton and passed smooth out. You see, not only had I sprinted the whole way but my breathing was for a sprinter which was short pants. It was not a pretty sight. Endurance requires training. Endurance is something that is exercised in order to grow. Just like muscles that atrophy when they are not used, this list of qualities will atrophy. Continue working on your faith exercising the qualities and characteristics of Christ, and your walk and maturity as a Christian will grow.

After endurance or passionate patience, comes godliness or God-likeness. Can we be perfect? NO! But we are to be image-bearers of Christ. If you were to look at my parents, listen to my parent, and then watch and listen my sister and I, you would see that we favor both of them. We have our dad’s very warped sense of humor much to our mother’s chagrin. My sister is built like my mom and has her coloring. I’m built like the Timmons side of the family. We bear a resemblance to our parents. In verse 3 and 4, we discussed the divine power and divine nature in us which is the Holy Spirit. Our spiritual birth gave us a new nature to take on, a divine nature to emulate, to model. Will we succeed? Not always, but people should be able to see our lives, hear our speech, and know who our Father is.

And once we know who our Father is, and we become His image-bearer, then we mature to brotherly affection. This type of brotherly love is the kind of love when you can find something in common with a person. Truth is, commonalities can be found with everyone on the face of the planet because we all have the same Creator. The reason godliness must come before brother love is because some people are harder to love than others. There are mean people in the world. There are wounded people in the world, and if God burdens your heart to minister and to serve a particular person who is difficult to love, you will need godliness in your back pocket.

Progressing from brotherly type of love, we move to agape type of love. This is a love that loves no matter the differences. It’s the love that is found in Romans 5: 8,  But God proves His own (agape) love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! It’s also found in 1 Corinthians 13 which is known as the “love” chapter. This chapter concludes with, “these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”(agape)

So how are you progressing through this list? How would God say you are progressing?

Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t where you want to be. Be encouraged knowing “He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” Philippians 1:6. We are all a work in progress.