Jesus

Comfort Food & God’s Love – Hot Stuff in Bowls

/ Bill Jones / 5 Comments

It was near freezing outside and there was a drizzling rain that made the cold seep into your bones. It was a good day to eat hot stuff in bowls, which is just what I was blessed to do! Breakfast was old fashioned oatmeal (with brown sugar and cinnamon, and actually cooked, not flakes mixed with boiling water); homemade chicken ala king at lunch (not always served in a bowl, but this was, which made it even better); and oyster stew for supper (if that one’s not to your liking, substitute your favorite chili in your thoughts).

The list of “hot stuff in a bowl” goes beyond what I enjoyed that day. How about homemade vegetable soup made with ingredients fresh from the garden, or gumbo (seafood or chicken or whatever else you like in it), or beef stew? Just thinking about those can make your tummy warm up! No wonder they call it comfort food.

Comfort food tastes good but also brings a sense of well-being. Many thousands (millions?) of bowls of hot soup (chicken and otherwise) have been served by mothers and grandmothers when their children and grandchildren had a cold. The soup itself has no healing power (I realize there will be debate on that). The taste is pleasing and the heat can clear your head and warm you from the inside, so you do feel better – thus it is a comfort. But the real sense of well-being comes from the fact that the one giving you the soup loves you. They want to take care of you…to help you feel better…to comfort you.

The Apostle Paul wrote a wonderful blessing to encourage and comfort the Thessalonians:

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” 2nd Thessalonians 2:16-17 ESV

Our overriding comfort is an eternal one that has been given to us already – Jesus paid the price for that. Notice the focus Paul prays for in the present – he prays that God will comfort their hearts. The heart is where true comfort resides – from there our hearts can be established by God for good works and words.

Hot stuff in bowls is good on cold days. The taste and warmth make it comforting, but it only becomes true comfort food when our heart is affected by the love of others (like I was that day when my wife, Sharon, prepared it for me). However, our true comfort only comes when our heart is affected by the love of God.

God is Glorified, Even as the Garden Fades Away

/ Bill Jones / 3 Comments

         Since it’s the third cold snap of the year and all the flowers except a few mums have faded away, I thought I’d ponder the garden and gardening a bit. I’ve also added a Garden Pictures page with some of the successes this year (check it out!).

          My wife, Sharon, and I usually declare it the “year of the…”, based on whichever plant or flower stands out the most. This year there were multiple choices. Early on, it was the “year of the purple verbena”. It survived the extreme cold last Winter (at least extreme for here) and exploded with blooms at the first hint of Spring. A month later, the peach tree limbs were sagging to the ground from the weight of the fruit, so it was the “year of abundant peaches”.  Then we had two new plants later in the summer – moonflower and devil’s trumpet. Both were covered in huge, brilliant white blooms for several weeks – so it became the “year of the moonflower and devil’s trumpet.” We could call these our successes, but what they really reveal is that it was yet another “year of God’s grace and glory!”

         It’s a wonderful blessing to have the time, space and energy to do a little gardening. I sometimes get frustrated with my efforts to grow certain plants or flowers, and feel guilty when I fall behind in caring for the garden, but overall I stay amazed at God’s creation. What beauty, how intricate the process, what a marvelous variety – all pointing to the goodness and greatness of God.

Two Scriptures come to mind:

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” 1 Corinthians 3:6. Paul was writing about spiritual things, but I consider it applicable to physical work in the garden too – any “success” is from God.

“Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Luke 12:27. This is Jesus speaking in a passage that encourages us to not be anxious about everyday things. A God who would “clothe” the lilies so beautifully, even though they last a very short time, will certainly care for His Children.

     As we ponder the garden, we can be reminded of our Heavenly Father, who gives us every good and perfect gift from above. (James 1:17). The garden is one of the good gifts and the perfect gift He gave us was His Son, Jesus Christ.