My grandma could bake. I remember watching as she made a pie crust from scratch. It looked so effortless; she rarely measured the ingredients. She taught me how to make many things over the years. Though my grandmother did not need to look at her recipe cards or measure the ingredients, I am grateful she had those recipes written down. I didn’t realize until my grandma was gone that I needed her written words to follow to reproduce her creations. As I became bolder in my own baking attempts, I would add a little something of my own to grandma’s recipes.
This is how it is for me with the Word of God. I have been aware most of my life that God’s written Word exists. There have been seasons of my life where I spent no time reading it and tried to follow my own recipe for living. Let’s just say that my life did not turn out nearly as well as one of grandma’s pies.
Then I opened my Bible and read God’s recipe for living. I read His Word which pointed the way to Him. I learned about His Son, Jesus, and the salvation which is found in Him alone. I read about the gift of His Holy Spirit whom we are filled with while we await His glorious return.
I know that I cannot add to God’s recipe book. I do believe, however, that He tells me how to use His ingredients for holy living in ever-increasing measure.
In 2 Peter 1:5-8 God says, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
I like this recipe. It is a recipe to be effective and productive for Jesus. It is a recipe for life. I sometimes wreck the recipe, but by God’s grace I try again, and it turns out better. This is a recipe I chose to follow and one I pray you will, too.
WITHDRAW weekly devotional
Author Kami R. Lobner
“Writing has always been a gift to me from God. There is no better avenue for me to communicate the true depths of my inner most thoughts and feelings. I was encouraged by my family and friends to write…anything…but to just write. So, I prayed about what to write and felt a calling to write daily devotionals. God has used my gift to put on paper what His Scripture means to me; my hope is that what I write hits a chord with those who choose to read the devotionals. I often include a short prayer in the devotionals I write. These prayers are meant to encourage and perhaps challenge us to pursue God’s Presence through scripture reading, meditating on God’s Word, bible studies and fellowship with other believers.
God has been good to me and to my family. I sincerely hope something God led me to put on paper provokes a thought in you or perhaps is that “little thing” you were needing to hear. None of these writings are from me, but from God and His gentle guidance to put thought and prayer on paper.
May God truly bless you!”
