Marshmallow Fondant—Priceless!

By Donna McCrary –

Cake decorating kit $19.99, two boxes of powdered sugar $3.59, one bag of marshmallows $1.99. “Mom, you’re turning into a smurf!”—Priceless!

This past weekend my daughter and I had a little girl time. We decided to practice our cake decorating skills with the Ace of Cakes decorating station. As we unwrapped the gizmos and gadgets, washed the utensils, and collected the necessary ingredients, we began our girl time. First, we mixed the cake batter and poured the two tablespoons of chocolate mixture into the microwave cooker. I set the timer and stepped back expecting the aroma of fresh baked goodness to fill the air. To our surprise, out of the microwave came a choking black smog. Oops! My daughter fell in the floor laughing when we pulled the Oreo sized black remains out of the smoke. We decided to stick with traditional cake making, the box-to-bowl-to-batter-with-two-eggs-method.

With the fool-proof cake in the oven, we started to make the fondant included in the decorating kit only to discover we would not have enough to cover our now larger cake. We were determined to let nothing hinder our precious girl time so I quickly researched recipes of fondant on the Internet. To my surprise, marshmallow fondant seemed to be a quick easy way to spare our unraveling girl time. I followed the directions. Melted the marshmallows, slathered the table with shortening, and stirred in one box of powdered sugar. What came next was an hour-long battle with four hands and the stickiest pile of goo imaginable—seasoned with side-splitting laughter! In the middle of all the goo the phone rang. We both just froze and looked at each other. Then our eyes sunk to our hands. No matter, it was girl time!

Now time to add the blue food coloring. The next thing I knew my hands looked like Smurffette. My daughter doubled over as she hollered, “Mom, you’re turning into a smurf!”

This time together was priceless. In my quiet time the next day the Spirit of God reminded me of how much He wants to spend time with me creating treasured memories. He says “Seek Me and you will find Me and I will show you great and mighty things.” Now, that is priceless!

PRAYER: God help me to treasure our time together and make it a priority in my daily schedule. Help me seek You in every aspect of my life.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

Today’s devotion is by Donna McCrary, wife, mother of two, author, and life coach. Busy is an understatement but she is always thrilled to share laughter and life lessons through her writing and speaking. Join her on the journey at www.walkofpurpose.blogspot.com.

Anticipated Event

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Throngs of people leap to their feet, jumping and dancing. They open their mouths and an unbroken roar flows forth. Arms raise skyward, and faces of every pigmentation reflect the excitement. For this occasion, folks have gathered from all over the world. As the opening of the anticipated event draws closer, the shouting magnifies. It rolls like thunder—riotous, pandemonic—like the roar of rushing waters.

Finally a loud command splits the air, and something like a trumpet signals the start. An abrupt, expectant silence quivers in the atmosphere. The Super Bowl is about to begin!

But hold on. This is no stadium. There is no face paint, no hot dogs or soda, and no football team waits to run on the field to the screams of fans.

The crowds drop to their knees; some fall on their faces. The Awaited One appears. This is the King of all kings, the Worthy One. The Lamb who was slain, but who lives forever.

Angels numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand encircle His throne. Countless multitudes wear white robes and hold palm branches in their hands.

“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him…” (Revelation 1:7, NIV). He is the Alpha and the Omega, who was and who is and who now comes!

I can work up a lather over my favorite team on their biggest day of the year. If I had been at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, you might’ve seen me forget myself enough to wear a cheese hat, jump up and down and shout until my voice quit. If I can get that excited over eleven mortals chasing an oblong ball up and down a playing field, how will I respond when my Lord, the Creator of all, appears for the second time to bring salvation to all who wait for Him?

QUOTE: Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? —Bart Millard

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshipped” (Revelation 5:13-14 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Joint Maintenance

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Joint Maintenance—TV, magazines, newspapers, health journals—everywhere I look I see supplements for joint maintenance. Well, I’m here to tell you I tried them and they don’t work; I look around this joint and it’s as much a mess as ever!

If the joint to which I refer is my soul, then the statement above isn’t precisely true. It’s not in the mess it was before Jesus saved me. In my early twenties I opened my heart’s door to Him, and He came in and swept the place clean as a whistle. White spankin’ new. He powered away my sin-stain as far as the East is from the West. The Bible word for it is justification (“just as if” I’d never sinned).

The tricky part is ongoing: maintenance. To keep up the purity Christ initiated in me isn’t possible on my own. It would be like trying to pound a nail into a board with a wet noodle. The Bible word for it is sanctification (being molded into Christ-likeness), and it requires God working in me with my cooperation.

• His Spirit convicts me of wrongdoing. I confess it to Him and ask Him to change me.
• I read His Word, the Bible. He interprets and explains it to me.
• I pray (not just asking for things, but listening to Him). He responds to me and communicates with me.
• I spend time with other growing, maturing Christians. He loves on me and speaks to me through them.
• I praise Him (because He is worthy). He inhabits my praises.
• I obey Him. He makes Himself real to me.

So if I want the joint to stay clean, I have to maintain it. But I need supernatural help. A joint venture or joint ownership requires working together.

Joint Maintenance!

AUTHOR QUOTE: The high-potency formula for the maintenance of this joint is God at work in me + me yielding to God’s work in me.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20, 21 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Hiding Behind Trees

By Peter Lundell –

I was walking by a junior high school physical education class and saw two boys hiding behind trees. The trees were six inches in diameter, maybe less. Anyone who looked their way would have seen these boys looking like fools trying to hide behind skinny trees. I stopped and stared at them, partly to make them nervous, but mainly for my own entertainment. Amazingly no one in the class noticed them, or maybe they did and paid no attention. The whistle blew and the boys ran out as if they’d participated all along.

Ding-a-lings. They might have felt good about succeeding in their little scheme, but I wonder if they’re taking little steps in a lifetime pattern of avoidance. I hope I’m overreacting here.

Yet it struck me that people can live their whole lives that way—hiding in the open and pretending to participate. Or not even bothering to pretend and always being spectators. Confession: I’ve done it, probably more times than I’d care to inventory.

How do we do this? By watching and listening without doing. By procrastinating on an idea until it fades. By learning and talking about something without putting it into practice. We’ve all “hidden behind trees” in some way.

My concern is that we fully engage with the life we’ve been given—rather than make ourselves comfortable and let life pass us by.

My deeper concern is that we fully engage with the spiritual life God offers us—rather than get complacent and let God’s promises and possibilities pass us by.

We all engage differently. But whatever we do, it will cost us time and energy and sometimes money. It takes effort and may involve risk. But it will be worth it. Always. And for eternity.

PRAYER: Lord, rebuke me if I ever hide behind trees. Lead me to engage in the world, to be a living temple of Your Spirit in the world around me.

“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9, NIV).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of the award-winning book Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, Lundell is a pastor, Bible college teacher, and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories, and book chapters.

A Microwave Heated Up My Prayer Life

By Aubrey Spencer –

I’ve become a regular at Sears. I know every appliance in the store. In fact, we are on a first name basis. I’ve met the lovely, shiny, way out of my price range, GE Profile. The fancy, bells-and-whistles, only-in-my-dreams Bosch. The Kenmores, the Maytags, the Whirlpools, and all of their “wouldn’t that look amazing in my kitchen” friends. I am not out to torture myself with endless, wishful window shopping. I’m on a mission. I’m searching for the perfect microwave: the over-the-stove, microhood kind. The one I had quit. No warning. No more warming. You wouldn’t think it would take so much effort to pick a microwave, but it has for me. I want it in a certain color. And—of course—a good price. I want it to look a certain way with the right handle, the right buttons, the right—well—everything. It has been such a tough decision. I found myself locked in the store two nights this week. That’s right, I was the last one there; the annoying shopper who holds everyone up from going home on time. You know, the one who ignores the repetitive announcements about the store closing in 10 minutes. . . 5 minutes. . . now! Not locked in just once, but twice! I did finally pick a microwave, felt happy with my decision, got relatively excited, then, found out it couldn’t be ordered. Out of stock. So, the entire process started over again!

The whole experience got me thinking. Am I putting as much effort into my prayer-life? I am a prayer-gal. I love to pray. I believe in the power of prayer. But, I have to wonder (I have to be honest), do I get lazy? Do I give up quickly when I don’t see the results I’m looking for? Do I let the devil convince me that I don’t have enough time? Am I attacking my prayers with the same fervor I did in my appliance search? Am I willing to “stay late” in the presence of my God in order to make sure that no praise is left unsaid, no detail left out, no blessing left unnoticed, no request left “on the shelf”?

Isn’t it interesting that in searching for the perfect microwave, I actually found a reheated prayer life?

PRAYER: Father, I want to make You my priority. Show me Your power and help me to not become lazy in my relationship with You.

“…pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done” (Philippians 4:6 NLT).

Today’s devotional is by Aubrey Spencer. Aubrey is a “real housewife of northwest Kansas.” She is a minister’s wife and a mom to two little miracles, Oliver and Ava. She has a passion for writing and entertaining but realizes her greatest ministry at the moment is to raise her children to be people after God’s own heart. She loves to see how God shows up in everyday situations. Read more of her writings at http://ministrymama.blogspot.com.

« Previous Page — Next Page »