Be Ye Separate

December 1

Influence

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Matthew 5:14

The Bible contains many figures of influence. Leaven is one, picturing the gradual fermenting of influence into a whole mass, for good (Matthw 13:33) or for evil (Luke 12:1). A canker is used in 2 Timothy 2:17, a sore in the flesh which is fatal unless stopped. Tares are another influence, choking the good wheat (Matthew 13:24–30). In John 12, when Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with spikenard, the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. It did not just stay on Jesus’ feet.

In our Scripture reading, Jesus uses two figures, salt and light, to teach us that our lives spread influence. They speak either of godliness, influencing for truth and righteousness, or that of darkness, and that which will be cast out and destroyed. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

When there is light, one can see. Light is life! Without it we perish. Christians are to let their light shine so others can see God. Paul told the Corinthians, “Ye are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2).

My life, whether godly or otherwise, speaks. It does not stay only with me, but it also influences others. Christians are the salt of the earth. The power of influence is mighty!

Edward Hochstetler, Hicksville, OH

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:1–16

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

2 Peter 2

Ezekiel 43, 44

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Daily Devotion 334

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Imagine yourself on a boat approaching the western end of the Mediterranean Sea on a calm summer morning. At first you see only the waves undulating lazily before you. But then your straining eyes make out a projection that looms on the far horizon. When you are quite close, you are struck with awe at the sheer enormity of the great

rock that leaps up from the sea to peak at over 1,000 feet in the blue sky above. You realize that this must be the famous “Rock of Gibraltar.”

For thousands of years the Mediterranean waves have spent their force on the rock’s gray limestone sides. But the rock is still there. For thousands of years the hot sun has beat down on the rock’s craggy crown. But the rock has not moved. As the wheels of time have turned, great men and great kingdoms have risen and fallen, but the rock has stood firm. When sailors first began to navigate the seas in their fragile crafts, they too must have been impressed with this great fortress and must have spoken of it on

their voyages. Today the Rock of Gibraltar has become a household word. Whether you speak of someone’s convictions or of the ice cream you are trying to dip, when you say something is “as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar,” people immediately visualize something very solid and unyielding.

Friends, there is a Rock we can depend on as well. A Rock that will help us never to be moved by any wind of opposition or fire of trial. A Rock that is far more unchanging and far more steadfast than any earthly rock.

In his farewell song, Moses pointed his people to this Rock. In His mountaintop sermon, Jesus reminded His followers of their need to build their lives on this Rock. In today’s uncertain world, we also can have perfect confidence in this Rock. There is no safer place on which to build our marriages, our homes, our relationships, or our entire lives. Are you building on the Rock?

It All Begins with a Pumpkin:P

I actually posted this last year on October 25, 2007 but I've had several folks ask if I would repost this so I am moving it here since it's the season for it:) I pray you enjoy!

Our Mary-Ann made the most tastey and pretty pie and I wanted to share it with you:)

Cut one pie pumkin in half, remove seeds, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour (350F).

When pumpkin is ready, pull out and scoop out the meat. Mash it up really well. Measure out 1 1/2 cups pumpkin mash and add 1 C. Sugar, 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves and dash of vanilla, 1 2/3 cup sweet condensed milk and 2 eggs. Mix until smooth.

Pour into unbaked 9" pie crust and place on cookie sheet to guard against spilling while baking.

While pie is baking you can make some decoration to spruce it up if you like. Here she made some stars.

The seeds never go to waste. Take the seeds gathered from the inside of the pumpkin and place in collander and rinse thoroughly.

Prepare the cookie sheet with a little foil over the top and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt to prevent seeds from sticking.

Place seeds across the pan and place in hot oven (400F). Watch them carefully so they don't burn. The hot oven bakes the outsides to nice and golden brown and crunchy while the meat of the seeds stays nice and soft.

A Day for Christmas

The Gospel stories of Jesus' birth do not reveal to us the year or the date of His nativity. Biblical scholars have long agreed, however, that there is enough factual evidence to place Jesus' birthday in the year 6B.C. We are told that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, and it is known that Herod's reign ended with his death in 4B.C. Just before he died, Herod ordered all male children under the age of two to be executed. His order, issued out of fear, was meant to rid the world of the boy being hailed as the new King of the Jews. Jesus, if He were born in 6B.C., would have been approaching the age of two when Herod's violent decree was issued.

For more than three centuries, as Christianity spread slowly throughout the world, Christians remembered and celebrated the birth of Christ on different days and in different fashions; it was not until the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity that December 25 became the official Christmas Day. Constantine had taken root in Roman culture in the third century A.D. On December 25th, Mithraists celebrated the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, or the Day of the Invincible Sun, in honor of Mithra, who was said to have been born on this date. When Constantine declared himself a believer in Jesus Christ, he left Mithra behind, but he decreed the official Roman day of celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ to be December 25, the same day as the celebration of Mithra. This was also the season of the Roman holiday of Saturnalia and the Kalends of January, two highly spirited celebrations marked by great feasting and revelry. In those days, Christianity grew in a world full of mythology, superstition, and competing gods; and Constantine understood that the best means of winning converts was not by forbidding the old celebrations, but by turning the old traditions to the new Christian purpose.

One element almost all pre-Christian cultures and religions shared was the winter solstice celebration--rituals and festivals meant to help the people through the darkest, shortest days of the year and hasten the return of spring. Christmas Day became the new center of the winter solstice, and Jesus Christ the new light in the darkest time of the year. In 350 A.D., Pope Julius I decreed December 25 as the official Christian celebration day for the birth of Jesus. Two centuries later, Roman Emperor Justinian gave further permanence to the date by declaring it a civil holiday on which all work must cease. Jesus Christ may not have been born on December 25, but more than fifteen hundred years have proven that there is no more wonderful time to celebrate His arrival.

Such Blessings!

Last weekend we received an email from his lovely wife letting us know that he would be arriving the next day (Sunday)~! It's not easy finding a day in the fall up here in Oregon, that is dry let alone sunny:P So, it's important to check the weather daily to see if there will be a window of time. They did and he was on his way.

I want to share a wonderful thing here quickly. I was blessed to see the title of the email that she sent..."Greetings!! From your landlords wife!" It was wonderful to see that she acknowledged that she belonged to her husband:) Not as a possession but rather as his helpmeet, his adoring wife! Something not to be ashamed of in the least. It was truly refreshing:)

He showed up Sunday morning around 10:30am. I had not been feeling well the night before and so had not slept well. This meant sleeping in just a tad the next day;P Miss Sarah was the only one dressed so she greeted him first while Miss Mary-Ann and I got dressed. Shame on me for being so lazy that day:P

I went out to meet him and my what a blessing. He was very sweet and pleasant. For all of my silly conserns about things, it was wasted as he had no real expectations of us and so the fellowship was quite sweet and encouraging:) He spent time speaking with our Miss Sarah while she helped him at one point which she enjoyed greatly. She has since shared some little stories that he shared with her about himself.:)

I had the blessed opportunity to correspond with his lovely bride and get to know her a bit better. I am looking very forward to getting to meet her in person. Perhaps Spring:) Lord willing:)

We sent him home a few days later with some homemade soaps, peaches, pearbutter and oatmeal cookies which I've been told he ate half of on his ride home:P

We have truly been blessed by the Father in our moving her. He has given us godly landlords, plenty of room for our homesteading needs and the sweet fellowship of this past week:) How could we ask for more?

I know they read our blog now and again so I want to say...Brother and Sister...thank you for your sweetness and your encouragment here. You are truly a God breathed blessing in our lives.

Be Ye Separate

Daily Devotion 335

Daily Devotion 334

It All Begins with a Pumpkin:P

A Day for Christmas

Such Blessings!

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