Pork Chops With Garlic Mushroom Sauce

2 pounds boneless pork chops

½ teaspoon paprika

1 pinch kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

¼ cup butter, divided 

1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups beef broth

Season both sides of pork chops with paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add 2 tablespoons butter. Sear pork chops until golden brown and no longer pink in the center, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Remove pork chops from the skillet and set aside. Melt remaining butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until golden and excess moisture evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and mustard; cook until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour to the skillet, stirring to remove any lumps. Slowly add beef broth, whisking until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring often, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Check for seasoning again. Return pork chops to the skillet and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Serve hot.

Friday October 30^th- Revelation 5

Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain!

I did not always enjoy reading the book of Revelations.  At first it was scary to me and then as I have grown in my faith in Him, I see it in a whole new way.  He is our Kinsmen-Redeemer!

So far in chapters 1-3 we have read about the warnings to the 7 churches.  In chapter 4 God the Father is seated on His throne and being worshipped. 

We begin this chapter with God the Father seated on His throne and in His right hand was a scroll written on the inside and on the back, closed and sealed with seven seals. 

The question is asked, who is worthy to open the scroll and break the 7 seals?  No one in heaven, earth or under the earth is found to be able to open the scroll or even look into it. :2-3

This distressed John so much that he was weeping uncontrollably.  :4

Stop weeping!  Look closely, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome and conquered! He can open the scroll and break its seven seals. :5

Why can Jesus open the scroll and break the seal

First, he is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (v. 5). This reference originated in Genesis 49:9, where Judah was called a lion. The lion is considered king of the beasts because of his majestic dignity, strength, courage, and ability to rule over his domain. Christ is from the tribe of Judah (Mt. 1:2; Heb. 7:14)—majestic and strong, and, after His Second Coming, He will reign as King over the earth.

Second, the one qualified to open the scroll is from “the Root of David” (v. 5; cp. 22:16). This is a reference from Isaiah 11:1, 10, linking Christ to the Davidic line (cp. 2 Sam. 7:12–16). But Christ is greater than His father David (Mt. 22:41–46) and will one day sit on David’s throne to rule in the Kingdom Age (Lk. 1:32–33).

Third, the one qualified to open the scroll is identified as “a Lamb” (v. 6). The Lamb is Christ, pictured in three ways:

1.   The Lamb is standing in “the midst of the throne” (v. 6). Christ has stepped down from His throne at the Father’s right hand and moved in front of God the Father to receive the scroll (v. 7).

2.   The Lamb looks as if it “had been slain” (v. 6), although it is still standing. Christ is often portrayed in the New Testament as a slain Lamb (Jn. 1:29; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:18–19; Rev. 13:8) who still possesses the scars of His death (the crucifixion).

3.   The Lamb has “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (v. 6). This is a picture of Christ in the fullness of His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Twenty-eight times in the book of Revelation Christ is referred to as a Lamb. [Israel my Glory]

:8-9 When He had taken the scroll, the four-living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of fragrant incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song.

This new song revealed five marvelous insights:

1.   The Redeemer is “worthy” (v. 9) to open the sealed scroll on the basis of His sacrifice. In being “slain” (v. 9), He opened the way for worldwide redemption.

2.   The ransom price was paid through His blood (v. 9). Worthiness is not based on mankind’s performance but on Christ’s personal blood sacrifice (1 Pet. 1:18–19), which made it possible for God’s grace and mercy to be manifested to mankind.

3.   A representative group “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (v. 9) were redeemed.

4.   As a result of mankind’s redemption, God has formed the church into a royal “kingdom of priests” (v. 10; 1 Pet. 2:9).

5.   The church will rule and “reign on the earth” (v. 10) with Christ during the Millennial Kingdom. No wonder heaven breaks out in praise to the Lord, who has provided all this for His creation. [Israel my glory]

Don’t you just love this chapter?  We are reassured of His redemptive love for us before He opens the scroll.  Take time today and this weekend to focus on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Fall in love with Jesus anew.  Remember to know Jesus is to know the Father and we have the Holy Spirit living in us.

Ephesians 1:13-14

In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit.
That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it—to the praise of His glory. [Amp. Bible]

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  II Cor. 13:14

Lyn

Reading: Revelation 4

In this short chapter, John tells us that he is caught up in the Spirit and given a vision of heaven. Here, he sees “someone” sitting on a grand throne who is the center of worship for all those present. We know that God occupies the throne of heaven. Everyone in heaven recognizes just how amazing and wonderful He is. This knowledge that God is “the glue” so to speak of all that truly matters ( past, present, and future) is a comforting and unifying awareness. From that awareness is a constant flowing praise of gratitude and reverence. 

“... Day and night they never stop saying: “ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”” (v8)

How sad it is to me that humans fail to realize that they have a Creator. In fact, even sadder that they do not come to have a close personal relationship with Him. The Bible tells us that no one has an excuse for God has made himself known. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans‬ ‭1:20‬)

But, many are deceived and choose to place their affections and worship elsewhere.

“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans‬ ‭1:25‬)

But, for those of us who are privileged to be in his eternal presence one day, our hearts will naturally praise and honor Him. We will know that He completes us. Our joy and fulfillment will be complete and all that we have we will gladly lay at his feet. 

We will join in the praise of our Heavenly Father, declaring. “..You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”” (v11)

Praising God is not meant to be a chore, a boring burden, or a forced task. It is meant to be a naturally flowing, heartfelt declaration that is freeing, joyful and uplifting. David encourages us to join the celebration now.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalms‬ ‭100:1-5‬)

The Revelation Song by Kari Jobe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZMBrGGmeE&feature=share

 Today's Scripture Passage: Revelations 3

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.  Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 

I'd be lying if I said that He hadn't gotten my undivided attention at that moment.  

Can you relate? Has there been a time in your life when you were kept so busy in ministering to others that it was adversely impacting your relationship with Him?

• Your study time was to benefit others through your teaching.
• Your prayer time had become mechanical. Running down a list of requests for others or your own personal needs you could foresee coming ahead for that day or week. 
• Your date book was full with notations of phone calls to make and so forth, and when your phone did ring you feared you'd forgotten someone or something.
• You fell into bed at night and were out as soon as your head hit the pillow. 
• There was never anytime to sit silently before the Lord and listen even for five minutes. 

 Did you know that the way the Lord presents Himself to each of the churches is a clue as to what the underlining problem is within each of them? Here He calls Himself, "him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars." These symbols were identified for us in the first chapter of Revelation. The "seven spirits" are a symbol of the Holy Spirit in His fullness. 

Therefore, what the church at Sardis and I desperately needed was God's Spirit operating and back in charge.  

We need to be walking in the Spirit, and to remember that Jesus is Lord of His church. It is never left up to us to run the church, and minister in our own strength.

Somehow both the church at Sardis and I had forgotten that along the way. Which should lead us to wonder, what do we do when that happens? He tells us in the very next verses,

  Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

Simple as that! Turn around and go back to The Lord, surrender once more and allow Him to take over.  Don't you just love how simple The Lord makes things?  Everything changes in one act of obedience. We can set it all back into His hands and find rest, refreshment and the renewal our soul had been longing for. 

One more thing I must tell you before I close, for this speaks volumes of our Lord's heart I believe. It's found in Revelation 3:5, 

Did you know that white garments are always a symbol of redemption in the Scriptures? In the seventh chapter of this book we'll read of a great multitude of people who will come out of the great tribulation and who have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," (Revelation 7:14).

White garments are a sign of being redeemed, being saved by the grace of God. Our Lord is so very rich in mercy and lovingkindness, beloved.  He promises us once more all will be forgiven and forgotten. When we fall short, whether by accident or on purpose we only need to turn (repent) to right our relationship with Him once more. 

Know wonder He is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.(Is 9:6)

Blessings, 

sue

 October 27, 2020

Chocolate Lockdown Cake

3 cups crushed cookies (I used chocolate teddy grahams, but you can use any hard cookie)

1 1/2 cups of milk

2 1/4 tsps. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8x 8 baking pan and set aside. In a food processor, grind your cookies of choice until they are very fine. (Measure your cookies after they are crushed). Pour cookies into a mixing bowl and add milk and baking powder. Mix until combined; batter will be runny. Pour into prepared pan and bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool in pan 15 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Frost with your favorite frosting

Please read: Jude

How has the Pandemic affected your life? How has it affected your prayer life? We are living in very dangerous times! In such a time like this many are losing hope, and walking astray! How are you adjusting to this “new” life style, or what some call “the new normality”?

How can we keep our faith immune and safe from Satan’s schemes of deception? Back in John 10: 10, we learned from Jesus´ words that: “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”

Only through Jesus´ truths and by abiding in Him through prayer can we live in fullness of joy and continue firm on our faith!

This  is the purpose of Jude as he writes this short letter to encourage us Christians to strengthen our faith and to warn us against false teachers in the church (vs. 4-19).

^“But you, beloved, build yourselves up on [the foundation of] your most holy faith [continually progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], pray in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ and keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously and looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ [which will bring you] to eternal life.” (vs. 20-21 AMP)

We must endure and keep up the good fight (Mark 13.13, 1Timothy 6:12), but we need to be empowered by God´s Holy Spirit and prayer is a must!

-Our prayers are most likely to prevail, when we pray in the Holy Ghost, under his guidance and influence, according to the rule of his word, with faith, fervency, and earnestness; this is praying in the Holy Ghost. And a believing expectation of eternal life will arm us against the snares of sin: lively faith in this blessed hope will help us to mortify our lusts. We must watch over one another; faithfully, yet prudently reprove each other, and set a good example to all about us. (M. Henry)

-Prayer is the breathing of the Christian life.  So, to pray in the Holy Spirit is to be moved and guided by the Holy Spirit in prayer. We pray by his power and according to his direction. To pray "in the Holy Spirit" is to bring all your praying into conformity to the Word of God which the Spirit inspired (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Right here is where God's call to be in the Word every day and his call to pray at all times in the Spirit become intertwined. If you live in the Word of God, meditating on it day and night by reading it every day and memorizing portions to carry with you all day and savoring them hour by hour, then your prayers will be shaped by the Word. Which means they will be shaped by the Spirit. (John Piper-desiringgod.org)

In verses 22-23 Jude calls us to extend God’s love and compassion toward others. Especially those who are still not walking with the Lord; those who are weak in their faith and to those who are astray:

“And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy but with fear, loathing even the clothing spotted and polluted by their shameless immoral freedom.” (AMP)

There is so much work for us in the kingdom of God: just take a look in your family circle or in the lives of your closest friends… how about the families in your local church? We need each other, and most of all we need of God’s Grace and Favor until Jesus´ return!  

And It is All For His Glory!!

Strangers are friends you have yet to meet. ~Anonymous

Have you known the blessing of a genuine, loving , Christian friend? John had such a friend. His name was Gaius and the short book of 3 John is actually a letter he sent to this treasured friend. In this letter, he commends him for reaching out to others and including them. “Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.” (v5). 

I remember 5 years ago when I moved to NC. It was a very hard transition for me. I was lonely, grieving what I left ( family, coworkers, friends) and I was unsure of what my future would hold in a new place. My husband and I decided to visit a local church. This church was much bigger than what we were used to and I remember feeling like I was lost in the bigness and overwhelmed by so many unfamiliar sights, sounds, and faces. And then, I met Holly. 

Holly wasn’t just a person giving me a quick greeting and then not a second thought.  No, from the first moment she saw me, Holly was intent on being my friend. She got to know me and she also introduced me to other women, who took me under their wing and included me in a bible study out of one of their homes. In a time of deep personal struggle, God surrounded me with the love of genuine sisters in Christ. And, I also had the women of this ministry, praying for me, emailing me, calling me, and encouraging me. 

Reaching out to others with the genuine love of Christ is powerful stuff. God wants to use the bonds we form with each other to deepen our spiritual growth and transformation.  The value of friendship is found throughout God’s Word.

“Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.”Proverbs‬ ‭27:9‬ ‭

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  Romans‬ ‭12:10-13‬ 

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Psalms‬ ‭133:1‬ 

Unfortunately, within the same body of fellowship that we find Gaius, there was a man named Diotrephes who did not want to welcome new believers. John described him as one who “loves to be first”. The love of God is not focused on self but others. It involves leaving our comfort zone to recognize and intentionally seek to minister to others. Christian love is not exclusive  but inclusive. We have to be careful to not form   social “clicks” that push others away. That’s what Diotrephes was doing.  “....he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.” (v10)

Oh, dear sisters in Christ, I pray that we will be like Gaius and not Diotrephes. May we  have a great burning passion to recognize that all around us are people who have needs. We are the ambassadors of Christ to a broken, needy world. From our willingness to reach out to others, God can minister His love, compassion and understanding. If making friends with others is not easy, don’t be disheartened. God can bring the right person, the right moment, the right opportunity your way. Just be willing when that nudge from Him comes and remember... Strangers are friends you have yet to meet. 

God bless you my wonderful friends! 

Today's Scripture Passage: 2 John

I have to admit, often when writing lately I've been failing to first discover God's message to me, and focusing more on pulling out a message for you, but this one verse jumped off the page this week and I knew immediately this message was for me! And perhaps, for you too! This book may be small, but it still packs a punch!

2 John 8

 October 20, 2020

 1 John 5

 How many of you like Mandisa’s song “Overcomer?”  I have been sharing about a difficult situation I have been in and for some reason this song never entered my mind until this epistle. 

Overcomers are followers of Christ who successfully resist the power and temptation of the world’s system.  Whew!  And how do we do that?  An overcomer is not sinless – but holds fast to faith in Christ until the end.  She does not turn away when times get difficult.  Overcoming requires complete dependence upon God for direction, fulfillment, and strength to follow His plan for our lives.

When we recognize that the Bible teaches us that the world is a battleground, not a playground, we come to realize God does not leave us defenseless.

Strong’s concordance shows us that the Greek word most often translated “overcomer” stems from the work nike, which means “to carry off the victory”.  The verb implies battle. 

Ephesians 6:11-17 describes the armor of the Lord available to all believers.  Throughout this scripture passage is the admonition to “stand firm”.  Sometimes all it takes to overcome temptation is to stand firm and refuse to be dragged into it.

James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  An overcomer is someone who resists sin no matter what lures Satan uses.

Overcoming is often equated with enduring.  Jesus encouraged those who follow Him to “endure to the end” (Matthew 24:13)

 Ladies, we have to endure through the trials, but we have the power of the Holy Spirit.  And we overcome when we cling to Christ, no matter the cost (Hebrews 3:14).  Jesus warned that holding fast to Him would not be easy, but it would be worth it.

 I have to admit, I have never walked through a corn maze.  I am a little afraid and as a teenager, I watched or heard about enough horror movies with mazes, that I just cannot bring myself to actually walk through one as an adult.  But, I picture how I felt eight years ago when my husband fell from a tree, and everyone could not believe my calmness.  My immediate response was, “I trust you Jesus”.  I felt completely and utterly held by Jesus in those first few hours of chaos.

Life can be a bit like a corn maze with a lot of twists and turns and shocking and frightening obstacles, but when we cling to Jesus, He makes a way and we have the guarantee of Jesus, that if we are His, we will be able to endure to the end and His reward will make it all worthwhile.

 In the 2^nd chapter of the book of Revelation, Jesus promises a great reward to those who overcome.  Overcomers are promised that they will eat from the Tree of Life (2:7), be unharmed by the second death (2:11), eat from hidden manna and be given a new name (2:17), and have authority over the nations (2:26).  Jesus warned us that holding fast to Him would not be easy, but would be worth it.  In Mark 13:13, He says “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”  We have the guarantee of Jesus that, if we are His, we will be able to endure to the end and His rewards will make it all worthwhile.