In Matthew 7:12 NLT, Jesus tells us , "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." image courtesy of Randalyn Hill via Unsplash My goodness, how often does the world turn the Golden Rule around? Jesus meant it for us to be kind and merciful. Many in the world use it to get even, to seek vindication for a wrong done to them - or what they think has been done to them, which is NOT at all what Jesus said in this verse. Yet, how many times do we hear, "Well, they did this to me. I'm going to do the same to them." Or, "That person was mean to me; I'm going to teach that person a lesson they will never forget." Or, "I never get a break. Why should I give anyone else a break?" Jesus said to treat people the way we want to be treated. That means to be cordial in all encounters. Show mercy to those who aren't showing us mercy. Let's be nice to people who

In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus teaches us that God hears our prayers of asking and seeking and answers when we knock on the Door of His Heart. Let's read the Amplified Bible version below. “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened."  image courtesy of  Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone?"  Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him." I want to touch on a few scenarios that I thi

OMG! I bought a cast iron skillet. I thought this would be great to share with you this morning . I got my Lodge brand skillet at my local grocery store for about $10 less than I could buy it from Amazon. I didn't find out until I researched that Lodge is the best brand on the market according to other bloggers.  First thing you need to know is that you can't let these skillets get wet beyond washing them. Because they will rust. The second thing you need to know is these need to be seasoned with vegetable oil. So, even though my skillet was seasoned at the factory, I did have to wash it as soon as I got it home, because there was no covering on it. Everybody who was curious about a cast iron skillet had touched it before I bought it. Okay, probably not many people, but in my imagination, only 1 other person touching it was enough to warrant a thorough washing.  Once washed, I dried it with a completely dry dish towel - not one I had just dried my hands or other dishes with. 

Watching our backyard wildlife is a favorite pastime at our house. We have a birdhouse that the bluebirds occupy most of the spring. A few years back, we had 4 different bird couples nest in the birdhouse. Besides the bluebirds that year, we also had Carolina wrens, barn swallows, and black capped chickadees. We used to set out birdseed and had a birdbath to attract more backyard avian such as the titmouse, cardinal, blue jay, cedar waxwing, house finch, goldfinch, wren, barn swallow, black capped chickadee, and others. We eventually had to take down the bird feeder and remove the birdbath, because the squirrels, crows, pigeons, and grackles discovered our little bird paradise and would leave nothing for the birds we wanted to attract. Since removing those items, we still have the occasional cardinal, blue jay, goldfinch and house finch drop by - just not in abundance like we used to. And the woodpeckers that came around frequently stopped coming by when we took down the feeder and bi

Grilled Beef Kebabs AKA Kababs or Kabobs As I've already mentioned, grilling is my newest hobby . I call it a hobby; otherwise, I wouldn't do it because a lot of time is required to prep. Grilling is meant to get me outdoors more, so yes, it is a hobby. Someone recently told me that they enjoy grilling because it's so much easier and there is less cleanup. I'm not sure how that can be unless they simply add something onto the grill without prepping it with flavor. Gas grilling may be slightly easier since no prepping is needed to heat it up as with a charcoal grill. However, I'm not 100% sure about that. And honestly, I use more dishes for grilling than I normally would for cooking on my kitchen stove. But the flavors and connecting with nature are so worth it. Directions for these beef kebabs are for the charcoal grill.   But they can also be made in the oven or on a gas grill as well, using your own judgment for cooking times. This cook involves open-fire cooking,

Must-Have Tools for Grilling I'm finally back with a few helpful grilling tips that I promised you last month. More than anything, you're going to need the right tools for cooking AND cleanup afterwards. For me,  grilling is a hobby ; otherwise, it wouldn't be worth the effort. There is definitely more work in grilling for me than there is when I cook inside where I have air conditioning. First of all, it's hot here in the South. But I have promised myself to spend more time outdoors this summer - to enjoy God's lovely nature. So, grilling is one of those things I'm doing to make sure I do just that. Keep in mind that I do use a charcoal grill because I love that smokey taste. But most of my recommendations can be used for any grill of your choice. So far, I have grilled the obvious - hamburgers and hotdogs. I've also grilled a whole chicken (yummy), eye of round steak, pork chops (loved these!), beef kabobs, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes. I still ne

In Matthew 7:1-6 NLT, Jesus is still preaching His Sermon on the Mount. This lesson is about not judging others. How often have you heard someone say (or have said it yourself), "I know I'm not perfect, but..."? The very next thing following that common statement is a judgment about someone else. The devil loves when we say that. God doesn't. I'll admit that I used to say this at least once a month if someone was doing something that I thought they shouldn't be doing. But when I seriously studied these words that Jesus said in these 6 verses, I have never used that judgmental phrase again. I know I'm not perfect. That's as far as I need to go. Let's carefully read these words from this part of Jesus' sermon. "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others." When we read that we will be treated as we treat others means others are going to treat us the way we treat them. They'll point o