God's Ingredients

When my daughter and nephew were little I asked them if they wanted to make cupcakes. My nephew quickly grabbed a children's picture book and said, "Ok, we need eggs, and milk..." as he started rattling off ingredients needed to make cupcakes. My daughter decided she needed to join with him as she got a book of her own, but then they started listing ingredients according to which pictures were in the book..."We need sunshine, and trees and people...." That was going to make some interesting cupcakes, no doubt.

Looking back at the fond memory in that picture today, I noticed that they both were using children's Bibles. This prompted the thought that God, in a way, began listing 'ingredients', if you will, through his words as he spoke the world into existence. Then God said, 'We need sunshine, trees, people'...and all of the beautiful elements that make up our world today. "Then God said, 'Let lights appear in the sky...then God said, 'Let the land sprout with vegetation--every sort of seed bearing plant, and trees that grow seed bearing fruit...then God said, 'Let us make man in our image." (Genesis 1:12, 14, 26)

God used all of these components and many more to make something great. A world for us to live in. He's the master creator and all the next great baker's in the world have nothing on him.

Even more, he left the ultimate book with his words as our guide for life and the one hereafter. He left ingredients for the making of a good Christian life that leads to eternal life.

Start with a full measure of love for God, mix in a second helping of love for your neighbor, (Mark 12:30-31). Pour in a cup of contentment that overflows with God's provisions (Psalm 23:5). Add to that faith, supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)

You may have your own portion of God's ingredients from His ultimate guide book that you would like to throw into your recipe, just don't add to it or take away from it or your recipe will be destroyed. (Deut. 4:2-3) This is one recipe you want to follow to a tee.

Respect, love, adoration, and adherence to God's Word has been on my heart and mind a lot lately. Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. (Psalm 119:97)

My actual baking skills are sub par, my following of God's instructions lack perfection, but I'm working on it and trying to be a little more like my instructor every day. I just have to keep reading that Good Book and adding to those attributes daily.

And the best part? Well, the best part is in knowing that in those areas where I don't get it all quite right and I totally botch the recipe, those areas that I'm lacking in perfection, my guide and Savior adds a whole new means to save me from those "Pinterest" fails of life. He helps me grow to fruition and he fills in those missing pieces to make me one complete cupcake. 😉

I may mess up and fail, but Jesus truly and literally did "nail it' once and for all for all of mankind. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:14