What does the phrase, “to die to sin” mean to you? Meditate on that thought today and consider how it applies to your life.
Prayer prompt for Tuesday, March 6
Some frostbite (like toes in boots) is difficult to detect. Is there sin in your life that you are trying in vain to keep God from seeing?
Prized dental floss
It’s ironic that yesterday’s message at church was about choosing to rejoice in each day, whether it seems joyful or not, because we had a rough night last night.
Nos. 3 & 4 got into a knock-down-drag-out screaming match in the bathroom over a roll of dental floss. I was so astounded that I wasn’t even sure how to handle it. In retrospect, I didn’t handle it as well as I should have, because I got sucked into the argument. I finally threw away the container of floss and sent them to bed. You would’ve thought I’d thrown away the Crown Jewels, the way No. 4 boohooed. No. 3 accused me of wanting him to get cavities, then cried because I didn’t go straight in there to pat his back, as is our custom. I told them, quite frankly, that I loved them but I was upset because they treated me so disrespectfully and acted so ugly to each other. I said that I would come back (and I did) to pat their backs, but I wanted them to stay in bed and think about their behavior for a few minutes and decide whether or not it was worth it to get in all that trouble over some floss that they didn’t even pay for (it was free from the dentist).
I think I will have to go back to monitoring the bedtime teeth-brushing routine for a while.
*sigh – One of these days, they’ll all grow up to be respectable young men, right?? At least they’ll have clean teeth, Ha! 🙂
Monday Musings: Countdown
Bless you, all teachers!
Monday before Spring Break, and
the countdown begins!
This year, the giddy eagerness is even worse than usual, because we are going on a cross-country trip (on an airplane!) to visit Dad where he’s currently training and participate in some pre-deployment activities with other families in his Army Reserves unit. The boys are beside themselves with anticipation!
Pray for my sanity, y’all! 🙂
Prayer prompt for Monday, March 5
Thank God today for the “frostbitten” areas of your life that he has already amputated. Offer him praise for his forgiveness.
Prayer prompt for Sunday, March 4
Is there an area in your life where the cool breeze of sin is taunting you? Are you willing to give it up now, before the frostbite sets in?
Frostbite (Prayer devotional for the week of March 4, 2012)
Sin has a way of creeping into our lives like the cold. At first, it feels like a nice change of pace – a little nip in the air. A light breeze isn’t really a nuisance, so you ignore it. Then, the wind picks up, and the temperature steadily drops. You realize that you are caught out in the cold with no gloves. Sometimes the change happens drastically, and what used to be a bright and clear day suddenly becomes a blizzard.
You are snowed under, and the cold claims your extremities. You can’t feel your nose or fingers anymore. Unprotected, the numbness will turn to frostbite. If left untreated, the frostbitten areas may have to be amputated to avoid death.
The end result of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but praise God, there is a cure for this lethal frostbite of our hearts! However, there is a catch … it requires a voluntary death. We have to let the Lord amputate the dark, gangrenous, exposed areas of our life. We have to die to sin. Easter is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, but the whole scenario only came about because he willingly gave up his life. As you think about your place in the Easter story, consider Paul’s words in Romans 6:5-7:
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (NIV).
Don’t hold on to the frostbitten areas in your life. When we let go of our sin, we allow God to perform the most amazing transplant surgery imaginable—he gives us a new heart, one that is pumped full of his own Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27). We live!
Prayer prompt for Saturday, March 3
When is the last time that your sin made you feel truly sorrowful? Do we make light of our wrongdoings? Talk to God about that today.
Foodie Friday: Fried and more fried
Well, my falafel didn’t turn out as pretty and moist as the ones I showed you previously, but they tasted good. I’m not sure why mine turned out dry; they didn’t appear to be over-cooked. At any rate, they appeased my craving! 🙂
The husb and I went to Metro Restaurant/bar downtown last weekend and shared a basket of fried green beans. I shouldn’t have had the breading, but I love fried pickles and wanted to see how fried green beans stood up, in comparison. They were so yummy! I could have eaten the entire basket myself, so it was good that someone else was there to graze with me, or else I probably would have thrown willpower out the window and regretted it later.
I thought fried green beans would go well with falafel, so I tried to recreate them at home. Suffice it to say that I have not successfully breaded anything, ever. I used a 1/2-&-1/2 mixture of flax seed meal & soy flour to keep the carbs down. I added salt & pepper, along with some cumin and paprika for a Mediterranean flair. For the “bath” part of the breading process, I used unsweetened almond milk. The green beans tasted wonderful; the breading just didn’t stay put (as you can see, LOL).
The one thing that I believe was an all-around success in this vegetarian fried meal endeavor was the tahini sauce. It was scrump-dilly-icious! The boys ate it as a spread on pita with the falafel, but I just ate it as a dip. I could see eating it with celery sticks, too. Yum!
Prayer prompt for Friday, March 2
Thank God today for the changing of seasons. There is “a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). What season are you in?
faith, sweat & tears 