Will You Join Me ?

1 Chronicles 12:32 “Of the tribe of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, two hundred chiefs; and all their relatives were at their command.”

Today as we go through Covid-19 and see so much violence, hatred and division, I pray for our leaders. I pray for Political leaders, church leaders and all leaders to be like the tribe of Issachar. To have understanding of these times and what we should be doing. When this scripture was taking place many people had left Saul’s Kingdom and came to David, making him King. They knew God had anointed him, they were familiar with God’s word, and had new revelation of what was the right action to take. I pray that our leaders will have knowledge of God’s word and His direction.

My heart hurts for what the enemy has been doing to people. How he is leading them to hatred and division. How through Covid,he is causing isolation, depression, increase in divorce, anxiety and even division of the body of Christ. I cry out to God, for Him to use what the enemy has planned, to be turned into good for the kingdom. My plea is for people who have not been walking with Jesus, would leave their way of thinking, and just like Saul’s kingdom did come to know God and His ways. I call out for the Lord to bring many with great skills and knowledge to unite together as His followers. To bring forth leaders prepared to fight for justice, change and against Covid and all of it’s side effect. Leaders who will come against fear, hatred racism, and a falling economy. Leaders who take a stand through love leading away from worldly views, and into Gods’ Kingdom.I ask God for new warriors that fight the spiritual battles need to bring others know and accept Jesus. That these warriors who be finding new ways to show love that align with the times. That they would have knowledge of how reach them and love them in practical ways. That all Christians would be united in seeing themselves as part of the war to find the lost. That even those who see themself as not significant not equipped would step forward as David did with Goliath. That they would have new revelation of the talents they have to bring the win for the Kingdom. Just as the men who left Saul, also left many of the comforts they had in that kingdom, I pray that we Christians would be willing to leave some of our comforts. I pray for all of us to be willing to be a little uncomfortable to bring God’s word, peace and healing to those who are hurting, living in fear and using negative coping mechanisms.

Lastly, I pray for that as these new people come to the Kingdom, that they be met with open arms. Just as David opened his arms to those who left Saul. That church leaders and the congregation would recognize the skills and talents that the new people are bringing, and not be like Joab was seeking revenge for past actions. Joab killed Abner.

Victory Over Trauma, and Sin

Mathew 5:30 “If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, then cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body then for your whole body to go into hell.”

Trauma leaves many different types of wounds, some are visible scars and others and more psychological in nature. The psychological carnage of trauma, unlike physical scars can show up in our responses to new advents in our life. The new events can take us back to relive the original hurt. A well documented example of this is soldiers who return after war, when hearing a loud banging sound that reminds them of the sounds of war, they go immediately back to being a soldier in a war. As a child, I was told I was a failure and would not amount to anything, and that nothing I did was ever good enough. For many years when I would receive constructive criticism, I would respond inappropriately. I would lash out at others or more often I would lash out at myself. My responses were sinful. They were not led by the Holy Spirit, but led by my emotions. Do you have any trauma that brings you back and causes you to react in ways that are sinful? What are we to?

The above scripture can help us. For a long time I would just try to stop the sinful responses. I would ask God to help me stop yelling, or verbally attacking the person. I would ask for God to stop me from turning to self destructive behaviors or thoughts. This would work for a period of time, and then I would return back to the old ways, or find new sinful ways of responding. Truth was I was like a rotten fruit tree, I would pick off the rotten fruit and attempt to throw it away. But I was not dealing with the root of the tree, that was rotten. The above scripture tells me I need to cut it off, not just pick off the rotten fruit, or new rotten fruit (sinful behavior) will grow. Jesus paid for our healing on the cross. Picking off the fruit does not acknowledge the price He paid for our healing or allow us to experience the full freedom that He gives us.

Cutting the roots out likely will be hard work,but the truth is removing the rotten fruit continually over our lifetime is a lot more work. We have our helper, the Holy Spirit, who is also our comforter and we have God who says He will never abandon us. If we want the true freedom that Jesus paid for us, the one who says by His stripes we are healed, we need to cut out the root issues. Not just pick off the rotten fruit.

I am always praying for your victory over sin, for you to live the Blessed life and have the Blessed Home that you deserve and desire. If you have any prayer request please do not hesitate to send me a message.

What About My Children?

2 Chronicles 6:4″ Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promises he made to father, David For he told my father.

As a child I was not taught about God,Jesus,or the Holy Spirit. My home was far from being a good Christian environment. I was placed for adoption at birth. My adopted Mom had not been raised in a Christian home. She was a hard working, tough and hurt survivor. I don’t believe she had ever learned to receive or give love in her childhood. I don’t think she liked herself or had experienced any true healing from her hurts. She used things as a way to try to escape that hurt. A spotless home, hard labor, financial security, (she was great with money and could turn a dime into a dollar), she also admittedly struggled with alcoholism, was quick to anger, and until my children had not experienced any joy in her life. When I was caring for her during the last part of her life, I asked her if she had any regrets, her response was me. She said yes Me, that there may have been a reason she could not have children, because she never really loved me. At the time, I only looked at that statement from a selfish point of view, later I thought about her, and how sad she must have felt.

As a result of this upbringing, I did not bring my children up in a Christian home either. I made many poor choices. I brought men into my children’s lives who were not worthy to be there. I did not teach them to trust God, to pray, to read the Bible and obey it. I taught them so many worldly ways. I did not teach them how to overcome temptation with God’s help. I poured love into them, made many great memories, encouraged them to dream and set goals to achieve those dreams. I taught them about perseverance and independence, how to treat other but I left God out. I could not teach them what I did not know or understand. Then I accepted Jesus into my life. I realized all the wrong I had taught, and all the right I had missed. I also learned that with Him, they could have so much more, and that it was never too late. They were at the rebellious pre-teen stage when I fully surrendered to Jesus. They had experienced many disappointments in life, some form people they had trusted. They were not living Christian lives. they had not experienced His love and healing. Even if your children were brought knowing Jesus, life still happens, hurts still exist. The enemy still attacks (maybe more so, as he wants them out of God’s kingdom). What can we do as parents? We can look for God’s promises for our children in the Bible. We can pray them over our children. We can believe for those promised things that are not happening, into being (Romans 4:17). In the scripture above we see Solomon praising the Lord for the promises that God had given to his father being kept. I hope, pray and believe that my children will one day be praising the Lord for the promises that I found in the Bible for them and prayed over them coming true for them.

Here are a few of the promises God has for our children, that we can pray over them. There are many more and the Holy Spirit may whisper ones that are specific to your children.

• Isaiah 54:13 “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”
• Isaiah 59:21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them” says the Lord:”My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of children’s offspring ” “says the Lord from this time forth and forever more.”
• Psalm 102:28 “The children of your servant shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.”
• Psalms 112:1-2 “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments! 2.” His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generations of the upright will be blessed.”

• Isaiah 44:3-5 ” For I will pour water on the thirsty land. and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.4.They shall spring up among the grasses like willows by flowing streams.5.This one will say”I am the Lord’s another will call on the name of Jacob and another will write with his hand, “the Lord’s and name himself the name of Israel.
• Proverbs 20:7 “The righteous who walk in his integrity-blessed are his children after him.”
• Proverbs 14: 26 “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.“
• Acts 16:31-33 “And they said “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household”32: And they spoke the word of the Lord and to all who were in his house.33: And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds: and he was baptized at once, he all of his family

There are many more promise written in the Bible for your children. Find them and pray them over your children. No matter where they are in life we can pray for God to activate His promises. He is faithful. King David did not get to see his son Solomon receive the promise of him having the temple built. You may or may not get to see all of the promises before you pass, but you can trust God to be faithful to them.

I would love to hear about some of the promises that God has fulfilled in your children’s life, and to pray with you for new ones to come to be. Your testimony of them to others may just be what they need to keep on praying and believing.

Thanks for taking the time to read my daily devotionals. I hope that they encourage you to a have the Blessed Home, you deserve.

WHERE ARE YOU GOD?

2 Chronicles 6:1 ‘Then Solomon prayed,”O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.”

Cloudy days are hard days for me. I loose my motivation to do things, I feel a little sad and often get migraines. I have also had times in my life when I felt like I had was stuck in a dark cloud of depression, unable to find a way to feel any joy. During some of those days, just getting out of bed was a hard task. I did not see any light at the end of the tunnel. I felt like my life would always be that way, that the burdens were too much to handle. I actually called out to God asking Him to take my life. When I made that plea I did not have a relationship with Him or Jesus, I only knew, of Him. I have watched the events in the world the last few weeks and seen the dark clouds of smoke from riots, watched people hurt people and thought, Where are you God?

The above scripture tells us of the thick dark cloud that God lived in. That cloud was the cloud that was around the Israelites during their escape form Egypt. The hiddenness of God was for both, their protect and for their pursuit. God invites us to seek Him. God calls us to search for Him through the darkness. The Bible says that God gives us peace and joy that surpass all of our understanding. Just as in life, if a person is trying to give us something, it is only possible if we are there to receive it. We need to find the giver and be present with them to obtain the item. The dark clouds may seem never ending but they are not. God is right there in them. He is calling us to seek Him, to find our way to peace and joy. We can go through the dark cloudy days knowing that He is there with us and that he will guide us. The clouds of smoke from the riots that the enemy is creating, God will use for His good. The cloud of the pandemic God will use for His good. I believe that the clouds will lead people to seek Him. To search through the clouds for Him. That just as the Israelites used the cloud to get to their promise land, many will be searching for Him and find Him and their promise land. They will find peace and joy. When they find Him, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit that guides us in the fruit of His Spirit. As each person is filled our world will become like the promise land that Solomon lived in. When he first became King there was peace.

So as the dark cloudy days come on either from worldly issue or a personal circumstance let those clouds lead you to seek Him. When I called out to die to a God I did not really know, He answered. He brought me out of my darkness and into His light. He wants to do the same for you and everyone in the world.

WHY, WON’T THEY JUST LISTEN?

Romans 2:4-6″Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and long suffering, not knowing the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and pentint heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God,”

I so clearly can remember trying to teach my children not to run up and down the the stairs. I tried explaining to them that it was dangerous, ( I had learned this the hard way, and fell putting two of my teeth, right through my chin. OUCH!) I yelled at them, and many times after they ran up them I would make them go back and walk up and down them a few times. Despite all my attempts, I often would hear them quickly running up and down the stairs. The reason for me trying to stop them was out of love, I wanted to protect them. I knew that falling down those stairs could cause so much damage, broken bones, cuts and brain injury. I worked in brain injury rehab and had seen the long term effects of brain injuries. Every time I would hear their feet running up those stairs, I would experience frustration at them not listening, and hold my breath hoping not to also hear them screaming and crying as they had fallen. A few times after they had fallen ( ok, maybe it was more then a few, my daughter has a special skill of falling up stairs) as any good parent, I would run and comfort them. I could not change the consequences of the fall, but I could make them feel better and try to help them to heal. What they did not understand was every time that they hurt and were suffering, so was I. They likely ran up those stairs focused on getting whatever toy they wanted to take and head back to their friends with. If my words of “Don’t run up and down the stairs” even entered their mind, they may have been hoping to get away with it. That I would not see or hear them. If they did get caught they always said sorry, but it did not seem like it was long before they did it again. In their world, I was the one who gave them so many of the good things that they loved. I took them to the places they wanted to go and bought them the items they wanted. I spent time with them, stuck up for them when they were being treated unfairly and showered them with my love. Despite my being good to them they just would not consistently listen to me , about those stairs.

When we look at the scripture above we can see God’s character. He is good to us. He loves to shower us with so many good things. His goodness can be seen in that He is kind, despite our past sins. He is good in His forbearance in the sin we will commit today. His goodness is seen in His long suffering of knowing our future sins. Our sin and the consequences of that sin cause God to suffer, because He loves us. He does not want any of His children to learn the hard way. His desire is for us to listen and obey. I wanted my children to listen and obey to avoid them being hurt and needing to suffer the consequences.

If you knew ahead of time all the wrongs that a person was going to do against you, that they would slander you, rob you, repeatedly cause you to suffer, that you would be the one they ran to for help after they did not listen to your warnings how would you treat them? Would you change how you interacted with them. Would you give up on them? God knows all of this and still He loves us. He still keeps on trying to help us. He still keeps giving to us. When we acknowledge this we should be repenting. Our desire should be to honor, listen and obey. So many people see God’s forbearance and long suffering the wrong way. They will sin, be suffering the consequences of that sin, ask God for help, get help and then do the same thing over again. They may start to think that God’s ok with the sin because He does not respond with punishment. They change their conscience and develop a hard heart. They do not see how they are hurting God. Soon they are so far from hearing the Holy Spirit that they just do whatever pleases them, all of their fleshly desires.

Yet God keeps on trying to reach them. He sends them messages through His goodness and through other people to show them and cause them to repent. Similar to how I tried many different ways to stop my children from running up and down those stairs. I did not want my children to fall down, to suffer something like a life long brain injury. God does not want us to suffer in eternity of falling into Hell.

I wonder if God is at all like me, and is saying WHY WON”T THEY JUST LISTEN!!

YOU ARE WORTHY!

2 Samuel 1:1 &9:” 1 “and David said “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake” 9: Again Mephibosheth lay himself face down and said “What is your servant, that you would be concerned for a dead dog like me?’

Do you feel like a dead dog? How do you see yourself? Do you focus on the things that are not perfect about yourself, about poor choices that you have made from your past? (Mephibosheth was crippled, he had no living family, his family name came with lots of shame, he was Saul’s grandson through Jonathan. He seen himself as a dead dog.) STOP disqualifying yourself, do not let your self image prevent you from asking and receiving your rightful inheritance from God. Your inheritance is based on your faith in His son Jesus. God’s goodness and mercy , and His willingness to help us has nothing to do with our being perfect, but is all about our covenant (or acceptance) of His son Jesus . When we choose to accept Christ in our life we become part of his family. He is our qualifier, He has made us worthy! YOU ARE WORTHY! Jesus’ death on the cross paid for all your mistakes, anything that you think makes you not eligible of asking and receiving God’s promises. So go and ask boldly for your needs to be met, your hearts desire to come true, (that He has placed in there.) God is good. He is always looking for ways to to bless His children, for Jesus sake. Similar, but even more so, then how King David was looking for someone to bless for Jonathan’s sake, to honor the covenant that they had made.

Make the decision to accept Christ has paid for all your sins, ask for forgiveness. Then start to proclaim and take your rightful inheritance. All of God’s promises found in the Bible are your, not because you have earned them, or deserve them but because God is good and He LOVES YOU.

A LOT HAPPENS IN THE QUIET

1 Kings 6:7 “The stones used in the construction of the temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax or any other iron tool at the building site.”

My heart is hurt, I am so sadden by the death of George Floyd. I am sad that people are dying in ways that are completely preventable. My heart is heavy at the abuse of power in our world, the lack of compassion in so many people. The utter disregard for peoples lives and their cries for help. My desire is for all to live a blessed life. One where the presence of the Lord is sought by all, and in that presence we have understanding of our rightful inheritance of His blessing and favor. One where all of the skills, talents and gifting’s that He has for each of us is used to further His kingdom. One where the enemy is stopped, his chains are broken, and we live life in the freedom that Christ paid for on the cross. That is the purpose of this blog. To help everyone to achieve the BLESSED HOME that they desire and deserve. I believe that the way to achieving this is by following Jesus, reading God’s word, listening to the Holy Spirit and obeying. Today when I went to God’s word after watching the video of George Floyd’s death, the above scripture was were the Holy Spirit stirred me. So this post is what the still small voice opened my eyes to. I write this with some reluctance, as I do not know how it will be received by you. But here goes.

King Solomon was having the Lord’s temple built, and the scripture tells us that he did not allow any sound of iron tools to be heard. It was quiet. Why? It could have been in following Deuteronomy 27:5 that said an alter was to made without any iron tools used. Solomon may have been following this direction. Why was it important to God that it be a place of quietness, and were no iron stone was used to build? What happens when we are quiet? We can hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. The one who was left as a gift, to be our guider to truth, the one who is our comforter. The one who speaks for us when we have no words.

I have no words to say about how I feel about the whole incident with George, I don’t know what to do? But I do know I want to see change that grows God’s Kingdom. I want to be spreading love like Jesus did. Jesus who was quiet when being questioned by Herod. He was silent so that I could be saved, He endured His suffering and sin’s penalty of death to be finished for me. He showed His LOVE in His silence. Jesus loved and commanded us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mathew 22:39) This means I must get to know someone, spend time with them welcome them into my life . Jesus was willing to give up His own desires of living (he pleaded to God, to spare him, but also said God let happen what you want) . Am I willing to do that? My fleshly desire is too scream and yell and hate the cops who did this. I want to focus my attention on them? But how was the temple built? In the quiet. With no iron ax or hammer. Items that could be used as weapons. If my desire is to see the kingdom grow then I need to be loving. Luke 10:25-37 the parable tells us how it was the one who helped the man and showed him mercy, that he was the one counted as his neighbor. As a Samaritan, he put aside his own cultural and ethic boundaries to help the Jewish man. He did not go running to find the three robbers. Jesus did not put the focus on the three robbers, and speak about how to go using weapons to seek justice and sentence them. God tells me that vengeance is His to seek. But I am called to show love. Then I began to think about Paul, before his Damascus road experience. Paul was killing Christians. He was there at of the stoning of Stephen. How did Stephen respond, he prayed for Paul. That prayer was likely part of God giving Paul the Damascus road experience that change his life and so many became followers of Jesus because of him. Paul’s words speak to so many of us today as they are written in the Bible.

So what am I to do with my sadness and feelings of wanting to seeking retaliation as a Christian, as one who wants to see ALL come to Jesus, and live a blessed life? I am to put aside my fleshly desires, that do not show the love of Christ. I am to pray for the lost. The cops involved are lost. I need to pray for them. I need to be quiet and listen to the Holy Spirit. I need to allow the temple to be built without noise and iron ax and hammers, not wielding those types of weapons. I need to be willing to show them love, despite where society is culturally telling me to behave differently. I need to be helping the man on the road beaten, or in this cause George Floyd. How I do that is by praying for a change in the hearts of those who could do this to another person. The kingdom is built by loving those who are hard to love. Those cops are hard for me to love. I will never even remotely like or be ok with their actions, but change in the world comes by changing their heart. They may eventually have a testimony that is like Paul’s. As my understanding is that George Floyd was a kingdom builder, just as Stephen was.

Today, I ask you, as I am asking myself, if one of those cops showed up at your home or church would you be willing to be their neighbor, would you be willing to pray for them. Could you allow your mind to be quiet and not be filled with the noise of hammer(the hammer of a judge) and ax cutting them down, long enough to hear the still small voice of God. Who says I created this man, and love him, help him to see the error of his ways and show him my love and mercy.

YOU WERE NOT MEANT TO DO IT ALL!!

1 Kings 5:6 ” So now command, that they cut cedar trees from Lebanon for me, and my servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants . For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the men of Sidon”

I wish that I could do it all by myself. I want to be good at everything! I love to sing, but I am just not good at it. (ask anyone who has ever had to endure it). With my illness many things that I want to do my body just won’t allow. I can easily get started on beating myself up and feeling bad about my abilities because of that. But then I find scriptures like the one above, and I felt better. I love how God comforts me through His word. He reminds me that we are not meant to do it all!! King Solomon was the wisest King ever!! God had said that there had never been before, or will there ever be again a man as wise as him. ( that is a pretty awesome gifting.) God says that He will give us wisdom if we ask, but that wisdom was one of Solomon’s gifted talents. What did the wisdom tell him? It let him know that he and his kingdom were not as talented in cutting timber as the men of Sidon. His wisdom allowed him to be humble and ask for help, and to pay for that help a fair wage. God has given each of us special talents and gifts. We need to have the wisdom to understand that, and embrace our talents. We should also embrace the talents of other and just as Solomon did speak words that recognize those talents through compliments and encouragements. It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help from others. It is recognition of God’s gifting in them. That does not mean we should not try to do things. Even doing things that are not are gifting, I still sing and worship God. ( fortunately for my friends who stand beside me at church still love me even though they have to endure my singing) But I will never be one of the one’s up on the platform singing. Around my blessed home I have a few special talents, I am great at breaking things, and stripping the threads of anything. Okay so maybe these are not talents to be happy about, but one of my hubby’s talents is to be mechanically inclined. His gifting to fix things is part of the blessed life I am privileged to have. I always say that he is like the elves in the fairy tale of the Shoemaker and the Elves. I can put the things that I break on his work bench and they return to me fixed. I do it this way as I do not want to be the nagging wife and demanding that he fix things until he chooses to do so. I am also blessed in that he usually gets to them quickly. There are times when things break that need to be fixed immediately and I do just tell him then. I do have some talents that he does not have, such as cooking, baking, canning, sewing and grocery shopping in ways to save us money. Each of us could maybe, do the others talents, but not to the same level. I could fix a lot of things with duct tape(call me Red Green) and he can cook a mean box of kraft dinner, but we know that the other is better at it some things . So we work as a team to make our home be a blessed home. I recently started a ministry called S.E.W. Spiritually Empowered Women at my church. Part of this ministry required some facebook knowledge that I did not have, and also has the offerings that are collected when we meet. As my role is to be the facilitator of the group, I gave these responsibilities to another trusted friend and member. I want to focus on the leading of the group. I was not meant to do it all! There is an old saying that says “it takes a village to raise a child” I think that is a good reminder of that we can not be all things for someone. I might be really good at helping my child learn to cook and my husband might be much better to teach them how to fix things. My friend might be better at helping them with deal with their frustration of how our home works. Sometimes the nature of a relationship can bring us to close to be objective. The point is we not meant to do it all!!

It is wisdom that guides us to know what are our talents and the talents of others. Yes keep searching and stretching to find and build on your talents. But when you need to go and ask for help. Embrace the talents of others, encourage them and give them the recognition they need. Let’s face it some things you just don’t want to take the chance of not having be done it by someone more knowledgeable.

BBQ Ribs

The other day my daughter called me up looking for some advice. I must admit I love when she calls and I get to pass on a bit of my cooking knowledge. Cooking and baking is something that we both love to. Actually, when we have family celebrations and are in the kitchen together we work like a well cared for and oiled machine. She had just purchased a smoker and wanted to make smoked ribs. She remembered me telling her something one time about rib preparation, that just doesn’t seem to be as out there as it should be. I have to say that since, I started doing this to my ribs they are fall off the bone good. So today I am going to share the secret to making them. You can cook them how you wish, my daughter did her’s on the smoker, I do a combination of Instant Pot and oven,but the cooking method is all up to you.

HERE IS THE SECRET

Removing the silver skin. What and where is the silver skin. It is a small layer of skin that just before the meat on ribs. It is actually a membrane. Keeping it on prevents your seasoning from getting into the meat. The way to remove it is to slide a knife under it and then peel it back. In a perfect world once you start to pull it, all of it comes off right away. This rarely happens for me and it did not happen for my daughter either. But just keep on finding a spot to put your knife under and peeling it off. Once I show through the pictures, you will be able to easily identify it and know when you have removed all of it. So here are some pictures of me removing it the other night.

SEE HOW THE SILVER SKIN LOOKS.

SLIDE YOUR FINGERS UNDER AND PULL.

WOW!! IT SEEMS TO BE COMING OFF ALL IN ONE PIECE!

IT BROKE!

Once you have the silver skin removed you can add your dry rub. This my dry rub recipe. I triple the recipe when I make it and keep it in a mason jar in my cupboard. But you can use your own, or a store bought one.

• 2 tbs salt
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1 tbs paprika
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

ALMOST TIME TO MAKE SOME MORE!

Before I put the rub on, to help it stick better, I put a small amount of Woodland Natural Hickory smoke on it.

My daughter did not have any. Since she was making her ribs on the smoker she had the wood chips she was soaking that she used the drain water from. This is optional.

THE COOKING OPTIONS

INSTANT POT

• Cut the rack into 4 equal pieces
• rub the rub on all sides of the pieces
• put beef broth into your instant pot (just add the minimum amount required for your pot size) I have an 8 quart so for me it is 2 cups.
• put your ribs on the instant pot rack to form a tee pee and secure your lid
• on the manual setting select 30 minutes for side ribs 25 minutes for back ribs(this is for about 4lbs of ribs which is about 1 rack)
• when it beeps done let them do a natural release for 10 minutes the finish with a quick release. This natural release time is like letting you meat sit, it keeps them moist and juicy)
• Preheat your oven to 425
• I like to line my pan with foil it makes clean up much easier. But you can skip this step.
• using tongs carefully remove your ribs. They will want to fall off the bone. If that happens just put the meat on the pan.
• cover with your favorite BBQ sauce
• bake for about 5 minutes on each side

In the OVEN

• preheat the oven to 275
• assuming you have already put your rub on
• put your rack of ribs on a pan(I would cover with tin foil to make clean up easier)
• cover the pan with tin foil
• bake 3 -4 hrs let them reach about 190 degrees (the USDA says they are done at 145, but bringing them up to 190 makes them more tender and juicy)
• remove from oven put on your favorite BBQ Sauce on all sides
• turn oven to broil and cook until they are nice and sticky

In the SMOKER

• I leave my ribs to marinate in the rub refrigerated for a minimum of 2 hrs, but the longer the better
• take ribs out of the fridge 30 minutes before you are going to smoke them
• set up your smoker as outlined by your manual. I always soak my chips for at least 1 hr before using them.
• Prepare a spray mixture. I use a mix of 1 cup apple juice or cider, 1tbs apple cider vinegar, 2 tbs of Worcestershire. Shake to mix in your spray bottle.
• once your smoker reaches 250 lightly brush the grates with vegetable oil
• put your ribs directly on the grill on the highest grate meat side up and spray with mix
• cook 1 hr then replenish your wood, water tray and flip the ribs and respray them and put them on the lowest grill closest to the wood chip box
• after 1 hr , spray again, check the woodchip box and water box refill if needed. Keep repeating this until your ribs are dark brown and the meat is pulling away. About 2 more hrs
• remove from smoker and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting (if you want to add BBQ sauce now is the time

ON THE GRILL

• after you have rubbed your ribs marinate for minimum of 1 hr in the fridge
• let them come to room temperature before grilling
• clean and lightly oil your grill, put foil on the lower rack to catch drippings and prevent fire flare ups
• heat the grill on high heat
• put your ribs on the upper rack and turn down the heat to low setting
• close your lid and DO NOT OPEN for 1 hr
• brush with your favorite bbq sauce and grill 5 more minutes ribs should read above 145 degrees but 190 is the best temperature for tender juicy ribs

I hope you and your family enjoy these. If you have any questions just ask. Oh and don’t throw out those rib bone put them in a freezer bag to make bone broth with. I have great method of to do this on an earlier post.

Now is not the Time!

2 Samuel 10:1-3 “Now it happened later that (Nahash) the king of the Ammonites dies, and his son Hanun became king in his place. Then David said, ‘I will show kindness to Hanun just as his father did to me.” So David sent (a letter along with) some of his servants to console him in regard to his father’s death;and David’s servants came into the the land of the Ammonites. But the princes of the Ammonites(were suspicious and) said to Hanun their Lord,”do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?'” 2 Samuel 10:6 “When the Ammonites saw that they had become an object of hatred to David, they sent word and hired the Arameans (Syrians) of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maccah with 1,000 men and the men of Tob with 12,000 men (to fight for them).”

As we go through Covid 19 many of us are grieving the loss of so much that was our everyday life prior to this virus. We are grieving visiting with family and friends, loss of income or jobs, the ability to go into stores with ease, going to activities such as church, sports events, gyms, and so many places. Oh, and let’s not forget hairdressers! ( I really miss my hairdresser) Just as with any loss our grieving level is different and how we react is different. Hunan was grieving the loss of his father, and was also learning to walk out his new reality of being king. Just like we are learning to live through our new realities of life with the presence of Covid-19 and our losses.

What can we learn form the above scripture as we go through any type of grief? When we are grieving, it is not the time to be making decisions of who are our friends and who are our enemies. When we are in this state of mind our ability to see the heart behind others actions is not clear. We are hurting, and the actions or words of others done out of compassion and kindness, we just see wrongly. Hunan did not see David’s action to help console him and show honor to his father rightly. Grief is difficult!! Thankfully we have the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. There will be many reason for us to grieve. Grieving is a process that all of us must go through in our life. Many of us will try to find distractions to avoid this process and not find healing and comfort. Oddly enough, it has been my experience that many people are much more comfortable with the feelings of anger and it’s actions, then they are with sadness, and it’s actions. Often, we will turn our grief into anger and focus on the actions of anger. Even our closest friends can out of lack, of knowledge of words to say or what action to take to help us grieve, can spur us to act with anger. Just like the princes of the Ammonites did. Recently I had a friend pass away from an accidental over dose, leaving her young daughter(in her 20’s) to deal with this grief. When Mother’s day came I tried to comfort her. Her Mom was someone who was always doing kind things for others. In the scripture Nahash was known by David for his kindness. I reminded my friend’s daughter of how her Mom was know for being kind, and encouraged her to do an act of kindness for someone around her. I spoke words, that I hope comforted her in her grieving, Words that honored her Mom’s character of being kind and spreading love. I could have tried to stir up anger in her, anger about how her Mom had obtained the drugs. But that would have not helped her to grieve. It would have distracted her from the grieving process. It would have stirred anger and not love. Part of grieving is reflecting on the people and things that we are grieving, and trying to find new ways that bring the goodness of them to remain in our life. Like we have seen with churches going to on line services, as a way to bring the good of going to church alive in a new way, or Zoom trying to create new ways of connecting us as we grieve our visits with family and friends.

When we are grieving, it is not the time to decide who are friends and who are our enemies. It is not the time to start fights and go in to battles with people or organizations that we have had good relations with and trusted before . These choices will result in the destruction of friendships, family and our grief will still be inside of us waiting for us to do deal with it. There is a season for all things, give grief it’s season. The deep heaviness of it will start to end, we won’t be the same, especially if it a person we are grieving. But if we sought it, we will have experienced God’s comfort in a new way, and found strength to move on from there. We likely always have a part of us that longs for the goodness of how life was before. But by avoiding making those choices, we won’t have caused those people who are trying to show us kindness, those making decisions and saying words to comfort and keep us safe to be turned to hatred. Which is what the Ammonities did with David (v6) After we have grieved, then we may be moved to fight for causes or seek justice. But finding justice or rallying for a cause will not replace the grief we need to go through, it only distracts us. We may believe that it will help us but truly that can only come from time and God’s comfort. So if you are grieving NOW IS NOT THE TIME for choosing to go to battle with others. It is a time to seek the HOLY SPIRITS COMFORT.

I am always here for you, I believe in you as does God! I would be honored to help you, if you need someone to pray for you or encouragement, just let me know.

#covid19 #dealingwithgrief #aseasonforeverything #nowisnotthetime #seekcomfort