Winter Scenes

Sharing a few photos I captured today...

 Perfect Christmas trees!

Snow-capped  thistles

 This is where I'm taking these photos...

that's our house is at the top of the road

This little weed just looked so sweet decorated with snow...

I had to get into knee-deep snow to get this shot :)

Hope your day is richly blessed!!!

💝

New Friends....and a New Recipe!

A few days ago I was out and about because I had several errands to run. I had passed by this way several times before and have always wanted to capture the horses on photo, but never had the time. This day I had decided to make the time. As I drove up, these guys (or are they gals?) seemed quite curious to meet me.

 

They let me pet their noses and scratch behind their ears. They were quite sweet!

 This was a neighboring farm,

 I liked the silhouetted appearance of this shot

so I just wanted to throw this one on as well...

 

A parting photo.....until we see each other again!!! 

Our visit ended much too soon...

...and now for this recipe....a confession: This was my first attempt at banana bread

I looked online to find a recipe, and found two that seemed good. I combined things from both and came up with this one:

My Banana Bread Recipe 

In a medium sized bowl combine these dry ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl combine the wet ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

The original recipes called for 1/2 cup butter, but I decided to cut back and use a bit of olive oil instead...trying to be "heart healthy"...

So at this point cream the butter/oil with the sugar. Once it is nicely mixed together, add:

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream these into the butter mixture.

In a separate bowl, mush together 

3 bananas and add 

applesauce to make 2 cups

then add to this banana mix(if desired)

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup cooked quinoa 

Add this banana mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well blended. 

Now all the wet ingredients are all mixed together. Add your dry ingredients that you reserved at the beginning into this larger bowl of wet ingredients, and fold it together until the dry ingredients are combined but don't stir it too much. It is ok if it remains a bit lumpy, do not over stir!!! Just stir until the ingredients are barely combined, maybe about 7 or 8 turns.

Have your loaf pan buttered and floured and pour the banana batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar over the top of the batter. I like the dark brown sugar best.

Place the loaf pan into the center of the oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees. Bake for 65 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

  

Redirecting....

I am resolving to do a couple of things differently in regards to these two blogs of mine and keep with the original intention of them more consistently (I hope, lol) and make this blog about day to day life and recipes, photos that I take (unless there is a scriptural connection) and keep my Bible Treasures and Pearls blog strictly on the topic of anything scriptural such as things regarding the church and poetry and music and Christian books and authors, sermons etc, as well as any musings that I have on Bible passages.

The summer went by much too quickly, but it was wonderful. My DH and I were able to enjoy it even though it flew by us so fast. One of the highlights was our trip to Florida. I will share with you one photo that leaves me with that feeling of the nostalgia of the trip.

My next blog post I will share a recipe creation of mine. Here's a hint: It was DELICIOUS!

Daytona Beach, Florida

Busy Summer and Eternal Security in Jesus

Tending the garden has sure kept me extremely busy. Last night we had a nice bit of rain, so it affords me a few extra moments that would otherwise be spent watering the vegetable garden. God is so good! ...even when we forget to thank Him, which is more often than not.

I allowed myself to get tangled up on a group on Facebook that talks about end times and how to be a "prepper". There is a woman on there that talks about how you can lose your salvation and talks about the evils of Calvinism at every turn, so I kept trying to put out her fires....but this woman does not give up! Don't try to confuse this woman with the facts! lol, because she knows better than anyone else, and sadly fancies herself a teacher, one that instills in her followers a subtle lie that you can undo what God does in your life. I found myself getting frustrated, a sure sign that it is time to back away, and pray.

But thankfully I did find a couple of good blog articles on eternal security. Hope you enjoy them too!

https://snyderssoapbox.com/2014/09/04/if-you-could-lose-your-salvation-you-would/

 https://carm.org/can-believer-lose-his-salvation

 https://snyderssoapbox.com/2014/04/21/hebrews-61-8-eternal-security-perseverance-of-the-saints-justification-and-sanctification/

Perversion, Pride, Gardening and other odds and ends

First words in the Bible that spoke out to me

loud and clear

when I was first saved in 1988

 

When I was first born of the Spirit of God, I came out of all kinds of deep darkness, witchcraft, perversions, and horrible things too horrible to go into detail. Suffice it to say God was very merciful and the fact that I am saved is a miracle beyond any "rational explanations".

It is so sad for me to see the idiotic things that are going on that are even worse and out in the open much moreso than in the 1980's when I was first saved. For people to be prideful about sin is sad, not funny. I grieve over it. Pride is the sin that got the devil cast out of heaven, and homosexual acts are called an abomination in the Bible. How could anyone think the combination of pride (I personally believe this is at the top of the list of worst sins) and an abominable act directly in God's face is something "good"? I pray for loved ones that are supportive or caught up in all of this mess, saying that it is loving....it is anything but loving, it truly grieves my spirit.

There are stages in which a sin takes a deeper and deeper hold of an individual.

 First, it is "naughty" with a smile and a wink, and still with feelings of "I know I shouldn't be doing this but I like it so much" together with the possible embarrassment if caught in the act, or unmasked or "outed".

Next the person gets a little bolder, takes it to a few close friends to gain their "moral support" (funny term to use for immoral behaviour, but yeah, oh well). The person caught in this sin trap is still unsure about it so he or she needs to get lots of encouragement to keep going in their sin and not allow their conscience to bother them about it.

As the person gets bolder, now he or she can even lash out at those who would say anything regarding sin being sin in regards to perverse sexual acts. Now it is "good" to turn the tables on those who speak up about the current moral decline, and to even attack them physically. They do not realize the demonic element to what is giving them their "courRAGE" with emphasis on RAGE.

Psalm 2:1-3 

 Why do the heathen rage, 

and the people imagine a vain thing?   

The kings of the earth set themselves,

 and the rulers take counsel together, 

against the LORD, 

and against his anointed, 

saying, 

 Let us break their bands asunder,

 and cast away their cords from us. 

Praying for those caught in sin, even those who are deeply caught, even as I was, and also as the Apostle Paul was. God is a God that can save even to the uttermost....but there is a point of no return, we do not know where that point is, but the Lord does, so let's not mess around with all kinds of false things thinking we have lots of time to turn away from them, ask the Lord now to heal you and strengthen you to the proper ways, His true ways, and battle against the demons that want to take you to hell with them. God will supply you the weapons for your battles....the main one is patience to wait on the Lord to fight and to give victory in that final battle that is to come, the one He can prepare you for now if you do not delay in responding to His tugging at your heart. It does not require a special invocation or prayer with certain words or a particular kind of water baptism to make that miracle happen in your life. It only requires a sincere heartfelt yearning for His saving grace, His redeeming power, His intervention, and that true sincerity is also a gift from Him, but ask Him and seek Him for these things, and He will provide everything that is needed.

Ok, now that I got that bit off my chest, lol, 

I have been extremely busy with gardening. The lawn cutting, the weed pulling, the compost making, the bug trapping....sheesh!!! But I must admit, I love the fruit of my labors.

 Calaliliy...

 seen from the other side...the bugs got to it! Ugh!

 
My favorite calalily is the purple one...so far
the bugs haven't attacked it yet




Ok, well, I have to get back to weeding
and bug trapping, so much to do, so little time!

Repenting....Sorry for What?

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I have been extremely busy that last few months (my garden has provided me with so much to do) and I have been woefully neglectful of this blog. Sorry!

But being sorry brings me to something I've been tossing around in my head today...when a person is convicted of sin and realizes God sees it all, and is "busted", is he or she (a) sorry for their sin or (b) sorry for being caught in their sin? The Investigative Discovery Channel  provides plenty of examples of true repentance vs. a pseudo-half-hearted variety of repentance to ward off the justice system giving them their due penalty for their sin....are we simply trying to defy the justice system? In other words... if a person, let's give her a name, Betty, if Betty comes under conviction of having become convinced that there really is a God, and He is not happy with Betty's sinful behaviour, and Betty wants to be saved from hell so she "repents" of her sins to gain God's favour, to get her "get out of hell free card"....but deep down she hasn't REALLY repented, she still thinks she isn't really THAT BAD (compared to ax murderers and pedophiles), she just wants to cover her bases and hedge her bet so she can avoid hell.... is  Betty truly saved?

The Bible says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7) so I personally think Betty might be saved even if she progresses no further spiritually in this life, because it does take the Spirit of God to  (James 2:19) reveal the truth of God to us....but I myself wouldn't be very comfortable at that point of the walk with the Lord because the word of God also states that even the devils believe and tremble...and devils are not saved, so it does require something besides simply believing.

I couldn't find the true way  to overcome the fact that I wanted to be saved for selfish reasons within myself, and not finding it in myself to be heartbroken over my sinful nature and my evil desires therefore I confessed to Jesus that I was unable to do it: to truly repent in a true manner that truly grieved over the sin that grieved God. In confessing the truth of that, and confessing my inability, I asked the Lord who in His mercy can supply us everything according to our needs (Matthew 7:7 & Luke 11:9). I would say that having a true and saving faith that leads one to true repentance is something that is VERY needful. (Mark 9:24)

I have seen so many who have made superficial confessions of faith, or confessions of guilt but only for the sake of getting something for nothing by appeasing "a god" with a half-hearted confession that isn't truly heartbroken about sin. If that is your situation, come to Jesus as a beggar knowing that nothing good can come from ourselves (James 1:17), that even true faith and true surrender comes from Him, and that He will richly provide those things to anyone who will ask Him, so ask Him!

In trying to locate a good image for this blog entry, I ran across this nice piece that explains what repentance is not:

http://ekklesiamuskogee.org/7-counterfeits-of-repentance/

By Grace Alone

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Reposted by permission from Lyn's blog: "Saved by Grace"

"The words sola gratia mean that human beings have no claim upon God. That is, God owes us nothing except just punishment for our many and very willful sins. Therefore, if he does save sinners, which he does in the case of some but not all, it is only because it pleases him to do it. Indeed, apart from this grace and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit that flows from it, no one would be saved, since in our lost condition, human beings are not capable of winning, seeking out, or even cooperating with God’s grace. By insisting on ‘grace alone’ the Reformers were denying that human methods, techniques, or strategies in themselves could ever bring anyone to faith. It is grace alone expressed through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ, releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from death to spiritual life.: - James Montgomery Boice

"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work" (Rom. 11:5, 6). The words "Even so" at the beginning of this quotation refer us to the previous verse where we are told, "I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Note particularly the word "reserved." In the days of Elijah there were seven thousand—a small minority—who were Divinely preserved from idolatry and brought to the knowledge of the true God. This preservation and illumination was not from anything in themselves, but solely by God’s special influence and agency. How highly favored such individuals were to be thus "reserved" by God! Now says the apostle, Just as there was a "remnant" in Elijah’s days "reserved by God", even so there is in this present dispensation.

"A remnant according to the election of grace." Here the cause of election is traced back to its source. The basis upon which God elected this "remnant" was not faith foreseen in them, because a choice founded upon the foresight of good works is just as truly made on the ground of works as any choice can be, and in such a case, it would not be "of grace;" for, says the apostle, "if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace;" which means that grace and works are opposites, they have nothing in common, and will no more mingle than will oil and water. Thus the idea of inherent good foreseen in those chosen, or of anything meritorious performed by them, is rigidly excluded. "A remnant according to the election of grace," signifies an unconditional choice resulting from the sovereign favor of God; in a word, it is absolutely a gratuitous election.

"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence" (1 Cor. 1:26-29). Three times over in this passage reference is made to God’s choice, and choice necessarily supposes a selection, the taking of some and the leaving of others. The Choser here is God Himself, as said the Lord Jesus to the apostles, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). The number chosen is strictly defined—"not many wise men after the flesh, not many noble," etc., which agrees with Matthew 20:16, "So the last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen." So much then for the fact of God’s choice; now mark the objects of His choice.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9). How plain and pointed is the language of Holy Writ! It is man who, by his words, darkeneth counsel. It is impossible to state the case more clearly, or strongly, than it is stated here. Our salvation is not "according to our works;" that is to say, it is not due to anything in us, nor the rewarding of anything from us; instead, it is the result of God’s own "purpose and grace;" and this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. It is by grace we are saved, and in the purpose of God this grace was bestowed upon us not only before we saw the light, not only before Adam’s fall, but even before that far distant "beginning" of Genesis 1:1. And herein lies the unassailable comfort of God’s people. If His choice has been from eternity it will last to eternity! "Nothing can survive to eternity but what came from eternity, and what has so come, will" (G. S. Bishop).

Dream (Earlier this morning)

 I've been looking at many of the news reports and the things that are happening in this world, and early this morning just before waking I had a very vivid dream.

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I do not remember the exact details of the dream except that it was chaotic and very unsettling, much fighting, unrest, people rioting, running, and my own thoughts and feelings while in this dream were unsettled and chaotic, I was completely in it, part of the problems, terrified, not wanting these things to happen but helpless to stop it. I awoke for a moment, my thoughts turned to Jesus "Help me to know what to do" was my inward prayer, and then went back to sleep. I returned to that scene in the dream and again I saw the chaos and fighting, but was being drawn up from it, sensing that those whose hearts were of this world would destroy themselves and each other taking each other down, but those who are of the Lord will be lifted up, not part of the mess, and it then turned my thoughts to death and resurrection and the different experience that will be had by those who die loving this world more than God and those who die and are truly looking to God, Jesus, our all in all. In the dream it felt like angels were pulling me up and keeping me standing, and  it might be that I died in the dream at that point and was being lifted off the earth. It seemed like the images of "the rapture" in a way, yet not really that, almost that.



It again reminded me that we who are in Christ are "in the world but not of the world", and that when we are absent from the body (when we physically die) we will be present with the Lord. Very comforting thoughts while seeing all of the world's chaotic problems.

John 16:32-33 (ESV)  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Mother's Day

A blogger friend wrote a beautiful letter in memory of her mother. I hope you can take a moment to read it, a blessing from above :)

http://lauraelizabeths.blogspot.ca/2016/05/a-letter.html

A YouTube Gem!

If you've never read "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" you really need to do so. Some might get lost in the distractions; was it really written by "learned elders of Zion" aka Jews? and does reading it make one an antisemite? To me it doesn't matter who wrote it. What matters is the fact that so many of the things mentioned in it are playing out right before my eyes and it makes it clear that SOMEONE (or SOMEONES) are behind what we see happening, that there is a concerted effort to do all the terrible things outlined in Protocols, and it gives the possible reasons for where they want to go with all of this. God only knows how much longer this will continue on in that direction, we who believe in God know He will put a stop to it before this world completely self destructs, however it can get a lot worse before it gets to that point, so the question for me is "Just how far will the Lord allow all of this to continue to deteriorate?"

For those who don't want to sit and go through admittedly tedious and heavy reading, this youtube video provides a nice alternative, a 3 hour audio version!!! :)

Edited: I forgot to mention when the word "protestant" is used in this book it seems to me that it isn't the  meaning we automatically ascribe to, it means "dissentors" or maybe even "rioters"  or protestors. When we think of that word protestants we automatically think of a Christian group, but it seems to be used in a broader sense.

The Sweeter Song

What I read this morning in a devotional reading from “Beside the Still Waters”

The Sweeter Song 

 by Jason Miller of Evart, Michigan

That ye might be filled with the fullness of God – Ephesians 3:19

Greek legend tells of a treacherous place in the sea where no captain had ever passed without experiencing shipwreck. Mermaids inhabited the rocks, and as each ship approached, they began playing an enticing, fatal strain of music. No sailor could resist the song, and they ended up crashing on the rocks. Captain Ulysses determined that his ship would not suffer such a fate. “Tie me to the mast,” he ordered his crew, “and stuff your ears with wax.” As they neared the rocks, the irresistible notes began tickling the captain’s ears. He strained futilely to escape as his desire to follow the music boiled. The ship sailed safely by.

Captain Orpheus had a better plan. As his ship neared the temptation which he knew he and his men could not withstand, he took a harp in his hands. He had been practicing for this very moment. As his fingers plied the strings, music such as his crew had never heard before poured forth. They stood with their eyes fixed on their captain, enraptured by the ethereal strain. Not one of them even heard the mermaid’s song, and they too passed safely by.

How often do we “tie ourselves to the mast” and strive vainly to suppress our fleshly lusts and desires? We may refrain from committing the act of sin, but sinful desires have not been conquered.

In order to gain victory over our flesh and the world, we need to hear the sweeter song that Christ has and become enveloped with Him.

Until we believe that what Christ has to give us is incomparable to the world’s false offers, we will fail to live in victory. God tenderly yearns to grant us gifts that are beyond our deepest expectations. Will you surrender to His sweeter song?

The world offers pleasure but gives destruction.

Christ offers the cross but gives eternal life.

A Thought About Biblical Contradictions

 this morning 4 degrees Celsius (brr) and quite breezy

From time to time I will read a post about Biblical contradictions, sometimes from the atheist's view and sometimes explanations of seeming contradictions from a Christian perspective.

Today is a gloriously sunny day, much like last Easter (resurrection) Sunday was, except the day before yesterday it was warm and sunny and today it is quite chilly. It had me thinking about the seeming contradiction in it. One person describing today might talk about the beautiful sunshine, birds singing, etc, and another might describe it as very bone chilling cold, the need for extra warm clothing, etc....and on the surface at a quick glance the descriptions might seem to be opposing and contradictory, and yet they are not, the two depictions actually give added information and support each other in describing the real facts of the matter.

So next time you see a seeming contradiction in the Bible, look a little deeper, and you may find that little nugget of something special, that breathes a fresh and new life into the narrative.

Mine is admittedly an oversimplification of this topic. To get an indepth study into Biblical (perceived) contradictions, please visit this website:
 http://www.debate.org.uk/debate-topics/apologetic/contrads/

How Does My Garden Grow...

The weather is beginning to warm up....but the wind has been terrible!!!

Yesterday I repotted a couple of plants...

 

 this picture was taken May 2015

I got this peace plant last year....yesterday I divided it into two plants, it was getting extremely root bound, I should have taken pictures of the befores and during separation, I'll do that next time :)

 

 here is #1

 and #2, I put this one into the original pot

I learned this week

that when the peace lily's flowers are green

it is getting too much fertilizer,

the last 3 flowers have been green...

but there's hope

this new bud is looking the normal white color

I've been planting seeds, and putting them outside in the sun as the weather permits, getting them acclimated to being outside. Soon it will be time to plant my seedlings and cuttings outside! I can hardly wait!

This reminds me of the joy the new things the Lord has planned for us will bring. He is preparing a place for us!

Idolatry

It's pretty easy to spot idolatry today. Our flesh is drawn to worship, whether it is a rock star, a movie star, or an amulet that you believe will bring you some kind of luck, we all have that desire to look to something to worship, to adore, to be uplifted by....but when it comes to idolizing a pastor or Bible teacher, such idolatry is much harder to spot. I'll confess that I am in that same boat. My desire is to find "that pastor" or "that teacher" that will bring the truth so sweetly and wonderfully that I won't need to go anywhere else for clear teaching.I can just go to Pastor Knowsperfectdoctrine for correct teaching every time. Is there such a pastor?

There's a pastor I really enjoy listening to that is almost that for me. This pastor has just the right balance; giving lots of scripture verses to just the right amount of doctrinally sound exposition, and he is humble, and gracious, and refreshing (not boring) with anecdotal stories at just the right places in his sermon to keep your interest in what he is talking about. Then he stated something that caught my ear. He said "I hate it when some pastors give their opinions while giving a sermon. I NEVER give my opinion, and you will be hard-pressed to know my opinion on most anything because I never give it." REALLY?? Actually I was listening to lots of his opinion up to that point in his sermon on what the passages he was reading in the Bible meant to him. Never mind that I do agree with most of his stated opinions, but they were still opinions. Everything that was said by him that came after the Bible readings were his stated opinions. I still enjoy his sermons, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to make the point that it would be wrong of me to simply believe every word this man (he is a human being after all) says simply because I agree with it and want to believe it.

It is so easy to point out the  bad teachings out there, and the ones giving the bad teachings. Every day I see pastors like John MacArthur pointing to the Benny Hinns and T.D. Jakes and Rick Joyners, and shout "False!! False!!" and yet there is a falseness in themselves that they need to be sensitive to and be kept humble by the truth of it, and also beware that the disciples that they have made are not following after themselves  but only following after Jesus.

A recent situation with a fellow blogger made me extremely sensitive to the reality of such idolatry. How easy it is for her to point to someone like Beth Moore (I can't stand Beth Moore either btw) and the following someone like Beth has, and whose following won't tolerate anyone pointing out Beth's errors to them...and yet people like this blogger hold in too high respect some of her own favorite teachers and preachers that are also human beings who can be prone to error.

Something Jacob Prasch has said (and I do not agree with him on everything either) about the coming antichrist;  the number one objective will be to deceive Christians. The devil doesn't need to fool nonChristians, he's already got them. His hatred is against the Church and against the Jews, God's elect. Pastor Prasch made an observation that I thought an important one. He stated that the book/letter of 1 John points out that the antichrists in the world come from amongst us. He also shared from scripture that Judas Iscariot, who is a type of antichrist, was so close to Jesus, so religious and pious, so "correct" in his beliefs that he even had all the other apostles bamboozled. Judas wasn't a "name it and claim it" type of imposter who was so way out there in left field in his crazy religion that most anyone with a half a brain would be able to see his falseness. No, instead  Judas was an angel (messenger) of darkness disguised as an angel (messenger) of light. He had his stuff seemingly together. The only one who wasn't fooled was Jesus.

In Matthew chapter 24 Jesus' first admonition is to "take heed that no man deceive you", and the ones that are most crafty at deceiving are those who seem to have the most correct doctrine, selling lots of books and tapes, able to point out the many deceivers OUT THERE, while they themselves are so crafty at deception that perhaps they even deceive themselves with their self-righteousness.

Let us TAKE HEED that we worship only Jesus, not a man, not even a very "good" pastor. When someone said to Jesus "Good Rabbi...." Jesus answered "Why do you call me good? Only God is good." He didn't say to the man "Don't call me good" but rather He asked him "why do you call ME good?". Our mindset needs to be to look to God alone, not a man, as Jesus also warned us. Beware because the days of deception are growing worse and worse, and angels (messengers) of darkness know how to disguise themselves as angels (messengers) of light, and are VERY convincing, and only by  the Holy Spirit can we discern the difference. Be on your guard and be clothed with the armour that is of God (Ephesians chapter 6).

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