Which Pleasures?

Moses chose "to suffer affliction with the people of God [rather] than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin" (Hebrews 11:25). So  . . . it's true: there is pleasure in sin. We know this, and yet we don't; because who would sin if there were no pleasure in it?

Some say that when you get saved, God changes your want-to, taking away your old desires and giving you new ones instead. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any Biblical support for this magical exchange, and my experience confirms that the old want-tos are still there. Of course, new ones have come - God does give us new desires.

But the old ones are still there, which is why He says in Colossians 3:5, "So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God)."

The problem with the pleasures of sin is that they are fleeting - temporary, passing, only for a little while. And the other problem is that they are always accompanied by pain. The pleasures of sin are counterfeit pleasures given to us by the evil one, who only comes to steal, and kill, and destroy. Therefore, the pleasures he gives are laced with pain and hide a bitter slavery.

Real pleasure comes from God. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).

The pleasures the Father gives last forever. "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).

And pleasures from Him are pure pleasure - no pain. "The blessing of Jehovah - it maketh rich, and He addeth no grief with it" (Proverbs 10:22).

New Mercies

Do you ever wish you could do other things while driving?
Maybe read a book?
Dance?
Sleep?
Make eye contact in conversations?
Write a paper?

Or maybe, just maybe, you wish you could take pictures.

There should be a way to do this.
(If you already know how, please share! Lol.)

Driving to work in the morning, I encounter so many beautiful scenes.
Clouds in the valleys, between the trees
Mist rising from placid lakes
Clouds enveloping the road, so I have to drive straight through them
Hazy, painterly sunrises, where subtle pinks and blues sleepily stretch out on the horizon's edge

My eyes glimpse so much beauty, with no time to stop and capture it.

And then I think, maybe that's the point.

 

These are God's mercies, sent fresh every morning, intended to be wake-up kisses to kick off my day with Him. They are not random pieces of nature meant for me to say "Wow" and then post on Facebook so others can say "Wow." Instead, they are specially crafted gifts from our Creator. Our Father gave us this!

 

So today, appreciate the beauty God sent and thank Him, camera in hand or not.

Waiting to Be Adopted

This video tells the story of several children who want a home and family of their own. Could you be that family?



Life Is Art

The camp staff were seated around one long cafeteria table, discussing art.

"Photography is art," said one.

"Music is art," said another.

"Communication is art," said a third.

And a fourth chimed in, "Recreation is art."

Laughing inside, I said, "Life is art."

Someone across the table took me seriously and agreed quite enthusiastically. "It's true," he insisted.

Is it really? Is life really art? Well, think about it for a few days and see.
I did, and now I think so, too.

One thing's for sure - food service is art. Did you know how much thought and beauty can go into one salad? Or one fruit cup? One wrap or parfait? It's an art form, and it blesses the eye and the recipient.

What if we carefully arranged our words and actions with as much precision as a painter creating a masterpiece, or as much detail as a food prep worker arranging a salad?

It makes sense, really. We were made in the image of Yahweh, Creator of all that is beautiful. He is an artist. His first recorded act was to create something beautiful.

Then of course we are all artists. Life is art!

"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17).

Caffeine and the Brain

This semester landed me back in school, pursuing a degree for the first time. Which makes me one of those "non-traditional" students. It's fun! Reading, writing, and . . . well, thankfully no arithmetic yet.

This week, psychology required finding a scientific journal article about a psychoactive drug, and then writing a review of said article. After being introduced to coffee this summer (and surprisingly loving it!), its effects on the brain provided a natural topic for the research. A couple of words in the search engine on the school library's website, and wa-la!

"Coffee, tea, chocolate, and the brain."

Two Spanish authors used a method called meta-analysis, looking at at least four studies done over the course of five years and integrating the results.

And here's what they found:

In low to moderate doses, caffeine improves moods, increases alertness and physical activity, and enhances cognitive capacities. Of course, in excess it causes irritability and disturbs sleep. So as long as we keep this thing in moderation, we'll be good. Right? =)

The Good Shepherd

The thief comes
only in order that he may steal
and may kill
and may destroy.

I came
that they may have and enjoy life,
and have it in abundance -
to the full,
till it overflows.

John 10:10, Amplified Bible.

The Chocolate Cake "Catastrophe"

Responsibility is not my favorite thing. I prefer to be the person in the background, following the instructions of someone else who knows exactly what they're talking about. But this summer, God took me out of my comfort zone and put me in leadership in a kitchen, feeding up to 300 people every day.

Now of course, God was feeding them and just using me as His human hands. And this work was for God's glory, not for the kids' stomachs or the camp's success or even its reputation.

When it was easy and everything went as planned, I enjoyed the job very much. However, other days came, days when everything didn't go as planned and it certainly wasn't easy.
Days when we ran out of Fritos for taco salad.

Days when we barely had enough French fries.

That one day when both the four-door refrigerator AND the top convection oven stopped working, and we had to make 15 lasagnas plus several trays of rolls. =) I still enjoyed it, and experienced the added thrill of conquering a difficult task combined with the joy of watching God provide. 

And then . . . there was the cake day. We had already fixed chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Peach cobbler was for supper, and banana pudding for later in the week. We didn't have enough cocoa to make nobakes. Peanut butter cookies were out due to allergies. That left cake. Easy enough, right?

We baked four sheet pans of chocolate cake, then slid them onto the cooling rack and raided the pantry for icing. Hmm . . . one large jug with a few cups leftover at the bottom. Guess we'll have to make the rest.

So we rounded up plenty of milk and butter and vanilla and . . . 16 cups of powdered sugar.

Now, 16 cups might sound like a lot, but when you need 32 - that's woefully short.

So we called the lady on grocery run duty, and she agreed to pick some up.

Breathing came a little easier, until the groceries arrived and no powdered sugar. They searched the houses on camp grounds and rounded up 8 more cups, and while they were doing the rounding up someone began mixing up the ingredients sitting by the mixing bowl.

It was my fault.

I should have explained not to start yet, but now the bowl was full of this runny mix of 4 batches of butter, milk, and vanilla and only 2 batches of powdered sugar. And we only had 1/2 the powdered sugar we needed to make up the difference. What could we do? 200 children and nearly 100 adults would walk through the serving line in 30 minutes, and all we had was plain chocolate cake and some random gooey liquidy stuff.

I wasn't thinking about God's strength or sovereignty or glory, only my mess-up and the (hopeless) situation. Crazy thing - even when we're not thinking about God, He's still thinking about us. =)

The director's wife was very gracious and tried to cheer me up, then suggested we try it with what we had and see what happened.

Sure enough, the little bit of powdered sugar was enough to turn the mixture into a thick glaze, and with someone's suggestion of a small container of cocoa added to that, it became a beautiful chocolatey glaze that drizzled nicely over the cakes and turned that dessert into one of the week's favorites. So yummy!

Thank You, Jesus, for being in control and growing my faith once again!