Category: Soul Joy

Since Good Friday and Passover fell on the same day this year, I wanted to mark it in a meaningful way, so I looked up some of the ways the Jewish people remember what was done for them. I was intrigued with charoset, a sticky mixture resembling the clay used as mortar for bricks they were forced to make. “Charoset (pronounced ha-row-sit) is from the Hebrew word that means clay.”

Encapsulating both the ideas of slavery & redemption with its bitter and sweet ingredients, it symbolizes what took place.

• It is sticky like mortar -symbolizing the bitterness of slavery
• Wine symbolizes the blood sacrifice that led to their redemption
• Sweet fruit symbolizes freedom

“…when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’  then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”

Exodus 12:21-28 NIV

Just as the lamb’s blood saved the people from slavery, so our Lamb of God saves us from slavery to self, sin & death.

“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed…”

1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  

Galatians 5:1 NIV

Just as the Israelites were tempted to go back to their slavery, so we can chose the old ways we lived by, instead of staying in the freedom that was bought for us.

Let the symbols in this dish draw you to remember what you are saved from and help you continue moving into the freedom He’s given!

Charoset

with apples, dates, and walnuts

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/charoset_with_apples_dates_and_walnuts/

• 1 cup walnut halves and pieces
• 1/2-pound (about 13 large) medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup orange juice or dry red wine
• 1 Granny Smith or Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

How to make it:

• Add the walnuts to a food processor. Process them in 1-second pulses, until they are finely chopped. Transfer them to a bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon to use as a garnish.
• Add the pitted dates and orange juice to the now-empty food processor. Process them until they form a thick paste, scraping down the sides if necessary.
• Add the paste to the bowl with the chopped nuts. Add the apple, cinnamon, and ginger to the bowl and stir to combine.
• Adjust the flavor and serve:
• Taste and add more juice or wine, cinnamon, or ginger to taste. The charoset can be served right away, or up to two days after it is prepared. (Keep refrigerated.) To garnish, sprinkle with the reserved tablespoon of walnuts.

Take the opportunity to share with others as you remember the meaning through the Scripture!

My sister-in-law, Roxy Scott, preparing for her first grandchild, planned a baby shower for her daughter-in-law where she passed on some age-old, yet very relevant wisdom that her own life beautifully displays. Here’s a glimpse into what she had to say:

Ephesians 3:14-4:2

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

⁴ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Motherhood is not a job and it’s not a hobby –

                            Motherhood is a CALLING.

Our highest calling, of course, is to glorify God in whatever we are doing, including motherhood! A calling for which the Lord is preparing you and for which He will enable you, if you walk humbly with Him daily!

Some days, as you wait for your delivery, you might be thinking, “Come on, I’m tired of waiting, let’s get this going – I’m READY!!”

Other days you’ll be thinking, “What have we gotten ourselves into?  I’m scared!”

And once baby comes, those last thoughts will probably happen more and more often! In fact, one thing I’ve often said is “like marriage,

Motherhood will bring out the worst in you!”

That sounds awfully negative, but we better face the facts now so they don’t surprise us! We are unqualified and inadequate for this calling on our own!

Motherhood is humbling and humiliating because our real [old] selves will be exposed when we’re pushed to the limits of our own capabilities and our own patience and gentleness and love!

Jesus has a way of graciously and mercifully bringing us to our knees by showing us our own inadequacy and yes, sin, – so that we will respond rightly to Him in repentance and submission and a desperate hungering need for Him!

We need HIS grace, forgiveness, mercy and steadfast love for this task, this calling. We need Him living through us! So that HE can accomplish His purposes through us – and one of the greatest purposes of a mother is to disciple her children.

Your children need to learn from you – to see what it looks like to repent, receive forgiveness, grace and mercy, to humbly bow before their Lord and know HE wants to be their sufficiency.

There will be days when we’ll be tempted to wallow in guilt or in the trap of comparisons or in a critical spirit. These will all steal the joy from this blessing of motherhood!!

Be reminded that Jesus is asking you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling – humble yourself before Him and let Him enable you to walk in humility, kindness, gentleness and love – Quickly

go to His Word!

Wake up every day purposely with a song in your heart, anticipating how Jesus will show Himself strong on your behalf! Thank the Lord that His mercies are new every morning – embrace them and enjoy the fresh slate our Savior offers us!

What calling do you need to embrace now to glorify your God?

He has blessed us, chosen us, lavished on us…according to the kind intention of His will.

(Ephe. 1)

God is after you for your good! Isn’t that an amazing thought?! He affirms you as a valued bearer of His image. You are His workmanship uniquely crafted and shaped by the wonderful and horrible events of your life. His purposes are deep and He knows what you need to be drawn deeply to Himself, so you can be the free, joyful person He is working toward.

“Suffering, like nothing else shows us what we really love. The enemy of joy is not suffering, it is idolatry.” Matt Papa, Look and Live

“Even in the suffering, He is for us. He brings pain in order to bring healing.”

Mitchel Lee

(The following thoughts were prompted by a talk by Pastor Mitchel Lee.)

Our new self is in process, it is being created, renewed, and transformed. The authentic self I was born with has to be trained, disciplined, formed and instructed with outside help, grace and power. The old self that I crafted to survive and keep myself safe has to be unlearned and put off so the new can be put on. That’s why he pursues us and sometimes it takes hardship.

Pride often is what keeps us from growing and from receiving.   We think we have to be at a certain place or mindset in order to have God’s attention. As though we have to make ourselves better first to be worthy. That’s pride. Larry Crabb calls it “deceived by the pride of self-hatred.”

What is keeping you from growing?

What we often attribute to God is a wrong view of who He really is, because we see him through our brokenness, which distorts truth. Many of our emotions are based on assumptions that come from our wrong view of Him. If I embrace the fact that God is pursuing me for good purposes; if I cooperate rather than refuse or fight him, I will find growth, strength, purpose and the new self shining His glory. God uses every circumstance to father us.

“Most people who are angry with God are angry with him for being God. They’re not angry because he has failed to deliver what he promised. They’re angry because he has failed to deliver what they have craved, expected, or demanded.”

Paul Tripp Awe, p. 73

I know that has been true of me…

What may be keeping you from letting God meet you where you are right now?