Month: August 2018

The Key Ingredients To Making A “Spiritual Cake.”

I remember when I found my mom’s index cards of various recipes in the kitchen. As I skimmed through the various cards, my 9 year-old self was determined to bake my first pound cake.

Unbeknownst to me, my mom didn’t write down the full recipe.  She was an expert in baking; therefore, she knew the proper steps for the basic ingredients (flour, baking powder, eggs, butter, sugar, etc.) of baking and only jotted down a couple of notes and measurements that were unique to that cake.

My mom attempted to supervise but I was a know-it-all. I said, “I got it mom, I don’t need any help.” I didn’t ask for any clarification on the recipe.

I continued to dump ingredients in the mixing bowl, never realizing I was setting myself up for failure.

I was full of anticipation while I watched the clock and the oven. The cake continued to rise and brown in the oven; further increasing my excitement. In my mind, I just knew I had mastered that recipe and couldn’t wait to share the finished product with my family.

I took that pretty cake out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes. I grinned from ear to ear as I passed out slices of cake to my parents, grandparents and great-grandmother.

I can laugh about it now but that was the driest cake. In a loving way, my family made sure to let me know my baking skills needed some improvements. I tried it my way and I failed miserably! I had to throw the cake away and I was devastated.

The cake was pretty and brown but hard as a rock because I was a novice when it came to baking. I will never forget my mom’s reaction after taking the first couple of bites. My mom said, “Patrice, why didn’t you let me help you. The ingredients must be placed in the bowl and mixed in a specific order. You can’t just dump everything in.”

Just like that cake, many of us are pretty on the outside but dry and hard on the inside! How do you want your cake (life) to taste? If you want a good tasting cake, you can’t reject the key ingredients nor the proper steps.

There has been a time in our life, where we have all been a know-it-all and God just waits patiently for us. God is a gentleman! HE will continue to wait at the door but HE is waiting for you to open the door and let HIM in.

Things work out for the best when you learn to wait on God instead of making God wait on you. God is sensitive to our needs but HE never forces HIS love on us. When we’re ready, HE is too! Even when we’re broken and weak, HE still gives us strength!

The Key Ingredients

  • Butter helps in leavening, adds moisture and flavor. Life gives us opportunities for growth, disguised as challenging circumstances. God will give you the tools to go through a test and share your  flavor (personal testimony) with others.
  • Sugar adds texture; making the cake soft and moist. Sugar compliments eggs and your liquid extracts. God’s blessings bring joy and sweetness to our life. God knows the correct measurements that align perfectly with the other ingredients; adding the right amount of crunch (individuality) just like sugar adds to the crust of a cake.

God knows how to properly disperse challenges and opportunities throughout our circumstances that will dissolve into our lives just like a baker who creams butter and sugar. We feel like life is beating us up but God is mixing all of the ingredients; making beautiful ribbons of batter (testimonies) and showing others our soft but individual edge.

  • Eggs add volume and keep the finished product together.

Isaiah 41:10 (MSG), “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.” God is holding you steady. He has a firm grip on you.

  • Baking Powder is a leavening agent that lightens and softens the batter; causing it to rise. God knows the right circumstance that won’t cause us to be bitter nor dry but help us elevate and rise to the occasion.

  • Flour holds all the ingredients together.  God will sift through all your brokenness, weaknesses and sins; making you lighter and more uniform in texture, which improves your baking process.

Like flour, God will take all your ingredients and hold you together if you allow HIM!

God can’t do a new thing if we keep on doing the same old thing. When we present ourselves to HIM and approach him with humility, HE helps us overcome our struggles. You may have been side tracked but God has kept you. God has sifted through your ingredients and you’ve come this far by faith.

  • Milk contributes moisture and adds color and flavor. God will take circumstances that appear to be a mess but are used as functions to build our strength and structure; giving each of us our own personalized message to share with the world. Our life experiences adds tenderness, flavor and moisture to our cake (life).

  • Salt helps preserve the color and flavor of flour. Quite naturally, a novice in baking would probably skip salt because it sounds “out-of-place” but missing the step will make your cake (life) bland. If we try to skip the “saltiness” of life, our life will lose its flavor.
  • Vanilla Extract enhances all of the ingredients in the cake. Without it, cakes are normally flat and bland. God takes the bitter and sweet, puts it in the batter, and makes us better.

The Preparing Process

Baking Powder, butter, eggs, flour, milk, sugar and salt don’t taste the best individually but when you gather the ingredients together, they create a masterpiece. Our life is the cake and our individual experiences are the ingredients.

Are you willing to trust God and allow him to mix the ingredients together? You may be in the oven right now, looking at the clock and wondering when the timer will go off. God is a skilled baker!

We must trust God’s preparing process! Our greatest lessons (ingredients) have been wrapped in our greatest failures.  God knows when the mixer should be on low-speed, when to incorporate more ingredients and when to mix the batter together until we are smooth and ready to bake. If we attempt to skip an ingredient or go ahead of God, our “batter” may become over mixed; therefore, becoming  dense, dry and a life without a fairly uniform texture.

I Peter 4:12-13 (MSG), “when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.”

When you mix your own ingredients, your life (the cake) may appear pretty but when folks cut into you, you will be dry, tasteless and full of no substance!

My prayer is that you will choose God’s preparing process. He knows the correct measurements of despair, embarrassment, disappointment, hurt, brokenness and how to gather all the right ingredients; making us full of flavor, volume, texture, softness, and giving us a structure that can only make us grow and elevate to the next level!

For All I Trust HIM because I know God is mixing my ingredients (life experiences) that will feed others!

 

The Hiccups of Life

Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and got interrupted by hiccups? You take a moment to get yourself together, right? Drink some water, apologize for the delay and finish your conversation like nothing happened.

Webster’s dictionary defines hiccups as a “minor difficulty, interruption, or setback.” The trials and tribulations we encounter are the hiccups of life.

We have to handle life’s setbacks and disappointments with the same ease as a hiccup. No matter how much weight this world puts on your shoulders, God will be there to make sure it doesn’t crush you. Don’t use your energy to worry. Use your energy to believe!

When a hiccup (crisis) happens, you realize that your life depends on how you praise God. Your “I don’t care attitude,” states I’m going to praise God or I’m going to die. No one wants to be in a crisis but remind yourself, it’s just a hiccup!

A crisis can be the force you needed to get to the next level. God will never separate you from resources that you need or people who are vital to your future.

Sometimes God just uses you as an instrument so your experience can be a testimony  to save someone else. Think about the three siblings, Lazarus, Mary and Martha whom loved Jesus dearly. Jesus used Lazarus’ death to demonstrate the power of God by raising him from the dead.

Just as God used Lazarus, HE WILL USE YOU! God is trying to draw you closer to HIM. Your current test will be a future testimony and a blessing to others. Embrace the journey, the hiccups and thank God for choosing you as a vessel. You will be better and stronger because of what you’re going through.

God’s presence is with us during the hiccups of life. There will be setbacks to prepare you for God’s destiny over your life. God’s presence will allow you to go through it and come out stronger than when you went through. You may feel like you’re in the fire and feel the heat but you won’t get burned. Hiccups will teach you the true meaning of patience.

Exodus 13:21 (AMP), “The [presence of the] Lord was going before them by day in a pillar (column) of cloud to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night.” God goes before us, meets us and leads us through every circumstance we’re in. He is leading us into the destiny and all he has called us to.

It may look like a setback but that might be God protecting you. He’s leading you around dangers seen and unseen. God is working behind the scenes so be thankful for the hiccup! God is protecting you when you don’t even know it. Thank God for what HE BLOCKS!

Do you have a workout regimen? It can be dancing, the gym, walking, swimming, etc. You begin to see results when you consistently work out and eat healthy. Once you see results, you become passionate and hungry for more.

We must have the same hunger for our relationship with God as our physical health. 1 Timothy 4:8 (AMP), “For physical training is of some value, but godliness (spiritual training) is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”

Your quality time with God will allow you to see results, improve your energy and give you strength to overcome your hiccups. The more you go to the gym, the better your stamina gets and the more energy you have. Sometimes it hurts but we love the results. No pain no gain, right? It takes the same balance to be physically fit that it takes to be spiritually fit.

Feeding yourself spiritually by regularly attending church and reading your bible will give you strength to get through your hiccups. I’ve noticed my attitude and perspective has changed since I started participating in small groups at church and listening to sermons on YouTube on my way to work.

Sometimes God has to break us to make us. It’s just a bend, it’s not the end. We’re all like glow sticks, no matter how much we’re bent and broken, our light still shines.

You cannot get to where you are going until you have learned all there is to learn about where you are. Everything and everyone that is available in the place you are in right now has something to teach you or something to give you.

I know you’re tired of waiting and wondering why there are so many hiccups but God has covered you. Delay does not equal denial. Life sometimes will thrust you into darkness unexpectedly but God’s fire will shine on you or HE will use you to shine your light on someone else. I pray you see the glow of God throughout your seasons of darkness.

When life thrust you into darkness keep letting your light shine. It matters not how dark things may be, God’s fire in you will light up the world. Hiccups are there to strengthen you and give you time to prepare for the blessing God has for you.

In spite of darkness, every believer has a light . It matters not how dark the darkness gets, Christ in you gives you the light to shine through darkness.  God shines into your light.  Your light may currently be dim but God will send you a spiritual connection whose light is bright enough to shine for you both.

Everywhere you go, let your light shine! There is a light that God has given you but the darkness of life can’t extinguish it. Shine your light in spite of the hiccups of confusion, failure, disappointment, etc. God will revive you from the hiccups and continue to sustain you while you prepare for what is ahead.

Begin to Thank HIM and declare that God is at work. You may be experiencing a hiccup but declare that HE is perfecting what concerns you and will complete everything HE’s started in your life.