Honey Pecan Brussels Sprouts
1/2 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, halved
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sherry or unsweetened apple juice
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey
Coarsely ground pepper
Preheat oven to 400°. Place pecans in a 10-in. ovenproof skillet. Bake until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, 5-7 minutes. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts; cook and stir until crisp-tender, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, sherry and cream until blended. Top with pecans; drizzle with honey. Bake, uncovered, until Brussels sprouts are browned and tender, 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper before serving.
Faithfulness!
The one true God is faithful...
Knowing therefore that God the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful One which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. (Deut 7:9)
LORD, Your faithful love reaches to heaven, Your faithfulness to the clouds. (Psalm 36:5)
God always keeps His promises. He never fails to love, tend, and care for the needs of His children and His creation. (Psalms 104:14-27)
He fulfills His promises to His children...
~ for Adam He sent a virgin born Savior...
~ for Abraham He sent a son on his old age...
~ for Moses He brought His people out of Egypt...
~ for Joshua He brought His people into the promised land...
~ for David He gave him an eternal throne...
~ for Hezekiah He protected Israel...
He fulfills His promises to His enemies...
~ for Ahab He had dogs lick his blood...
~ for Jezebel He had her eaten by dogs...
And He protects us in temptation...
~ He chastens us when we sin
~ He forgives us when we sin
~ He hears and answers our prayers
~ He keeps us eternally secure
~ He protects us
We should keep our promises to Him...
~ We should always thank Him in our prayers
~ We should always be faithful to Him and His Word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grvRrJDu70I#action=share
Love and hugs,
Roxanna
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Welcome to Scripture Saturday!
This coming week's memory verse is Psalm 121:1-3...
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip— He who watches over you will not slumber; (NIV)
Where can we find real security in our times of need?
If we can say from our heart…”My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” it shows that we truly know who to value, who to turn to, and who to truly love.
And if we can say from our heart, with all confidence, that “He will not let (our) foot slip”…that “He watches over (us) and never (sleeps),” it shows that we truly know the object of our trusting, of our faith, and of our worship. He is the only ONE who is worthy. He is the ONE to cling to. He will keep us safe. (based on iWorship)
Have a blessed day and week everyone!
Please read John 1: 1-18
What a wonderful week we have had studying about His
Grace and Mercy, as we prepare our hearts for Easter.
Today as we read John 1, it brought to my memory how
difficult it was for me to realize that I had to stop trying to earn God’s
favor through works and that the traditions which were the foundation of my
faith were worthless. That I was dead in my sins and trespasses (Ephesians 2:1-5)
and only through Jesus I would be saved!
In some way I can understand why the Jews of those days
reacted in disbelief when John the Baptist testified about the “True Light
which was coming into the world (1:9):
“10 He (Christ) was in the world, and
though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. 11 He
came to that which was His own [that which belonged to Him—His world, His
creation, His possession], and those who were His own [people—the Jewish
nation] did not receive and welcome
Him.
Their religious pride and their judging by the Law
made it difficult for them to grasp this Truth.
“12 But to as many as did receive and welcome
Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of
God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and
rely on) His name—“
“Only BELIEVE in Jesus
and RECEIVE HIM in your heart, asking His forgiveness, for He paid the penalty
of your sins on the Cross (Col. 2:13-14)”, I was told.
This was the first time I
had heard this! What kind of religion was this? But there was this deep thirst inside
of me that longed for Him and needed to BELIEVE!
“Faith is
described as ‘receiving’ Jesus. It is the empty cup placed under the flowing
stream; the penniless hand held out for heavenly alms.” (Spurgeon)
Yes, I needed Jesus to
transform my life, I needed to embrace His Truth and receive
Him as my Lord and Savior. I learned that, “As many as received Him” is
just another way to say “those who believe in His name”.
“Our receivings by Christ are all summed up in this
one word, grace; we have received "even grace," a gift so great, so
rich, so invaluable; the good will of God towards us, and the good work of God in
us.” M. Henry
John 1:13 emphasizes this new birth, as those: “13 who
were born, not of blood [natural conception], nor of the will of the flesh
[physical impulse], nor of the will of man [that of a natural father], but of
God [that is, a divine and supernatural birth—they are born of God—spiritually
transformed, renewed, sanctified].
It refers to
the children of God as those “who were
born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God.” God causes the new birth; we don’t. We are not only transformed, but
now become His children! Peter stresses
this same thing:
” Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that
is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for
His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3)
In John 1:14 we read: “ 14 And
the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His
glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of
the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is]
full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).
“Beloved, notice here that both these qualities in our
Lord are at the full. He is ‘full of grace.’ Who could be more so? In the
person of Jesus Christ the immeasurable grace of God is treasured up.” (C. Spurgeon)
Verse 16
describes the fullness of grace announced by John the Baptist and brought by
Jesus Christ. God the Word, Jesus Christ, brought a different order than the
one instituted by Moses.
“16 For
out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all
received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor
upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift]. 17 For the Law was given through Moses,
but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus
Christ. (John 1:16-17)
Grace for
grace: “Literally it means ‘grace instead of grace’. Clearly John intends to
put some emphasis on the thought of grace. Probably also he means that as one
piece of divine grace (so to speak) recedes it is replaced by another. God’s
grace to His people is continuous and is never exhausted. Grace
knows no interruption and no limit.” (Morris)
Our God in His great Mercy delivered us through
Christ, from the misery and punishment of our sins, AND gave us in return “grace
upon grace” ! Isn’t it amazing to know that this Grace, His Grace is never
ending? Sadly there are many around us who have rejected His Word and His Saving
Grace. Let us continue to intercede for them in prayer, and most of all to love
them as He loves them!
O what Amazing Grace we have found in Him!!
Mari
Since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, life has been full of struggles and toil. Life requires that we carry many burdens, face many challenges and it certainly will weary our sin laden souls. But, God did not leave us to this fate. In His mercy, he extended us grace and offered us rest for our weary souls. He offered us an eternal hope for a life reunited with Him and full of amazing promise and hope.
I remember vividly looking at a witnessing tract when I was a child called “One Way”. It had few words, mostly pictures. It started with a mass of people moving forward, stained with sin, headed to hell. But, there were signs pointing to a side corridor that said "God’s free gift” and “Love Gift Inside”. Three young people entered and saw the story of the gospel depicted on the walls. One of the young people, rejected the love offered in that story and left to rejoin the mass of people without God. Two of the young people, however accepted the gift with sincerity of heart. They went up a flight of stairs and were greeted by God the Father, Jesus and HolySpirit. They ran into their outstretched arms. It was such a joyous celebratory moment and it always comforted me. Of course, I felt sorry for the young boy who had walked away.
Hebrews 4 reminds me of that simple story. God offers to the tired, weary, burdened society His free gift of love through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. He wants us to believe and accept His salvation. He wants to give us rest. But, sadly, many choose to reject what He so lovingly offers and must be judged accordingly.
For those of us, however, who recognize our need for Christ, we are gifted with a very personable, unique, intimate relationship with Jesus. He knows each person He breathes life into and the same gift of salvation is always freely offered. He knows every sinful thing about us, and yet He offers us comfort, deliverance from sin, and most importantly, He offers us rest. What incredible Grace and Mercy! He is always knowledgeable of what is going on in our lives and yet He is empathetic and willing to intercede on our behalf. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (v15) Because of who He is and what He has done, we can know Him intimately and be encouraged to seek Him without fear of rejection.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (v16)
"Thou lovest me, in spite of all my failure,
Thou knowest all my weakness and my sin;
But Thou did'st die on Calv'ry to redeem me,
To cleanse and make me white as snow within.
Thine is a love, unsearchable, eternal,
And many waters cannot quench Thy love;
Such love as Thou dost bear the guilty sinner,
Caused Thee to leave Thy glorious throne above.
Thou lovest me, a wretched, failing creature,
Unworthy, but Thy worthiness I claim;
Thy robe of righteousness is my salvation,
I pin my faith on Thy most precious Name.
Thou lovest me before the world's foundation,
"Chosen in Him" before the moon and sun,
Eternal love has marked out all my pathway,
And will direct 'till life on earth is done.
Thou lovest me, and Thou art interceding,
And ever working all things for my good,
O help me Lord, to rest upon Thy promise,
Rejoicing in Thy ways, not understood.
Thou lovest me, Ah! marvel of all ages,
Such wondrous love! we'll never understand;
But we can thankfully with joy receive it,
Enjoying blessings from Thy blessed hand.
O may we rest upon Thy love more fully!
And trust Thee for the needs of every day,
Assured Thy goodness, and Thy lovingkindness,
With mercies will surround my path alway.
—Lois Beckwit
