Bible Study and bread dough making marathon

good morning form the "deck"stead!!           that's what I'm calling my garden now.          hahahaha        I thought I would give it a good name.          sounds pretty good to me.         anyway, it came a storm all night long.          I'm so thankful this morning that we didn't have any tornadoes pass thru.         it was bad all around us, but I'm so thankful that God's hand of protection was on us again.        God is so good and I'm so unworthy, but I'm so thankful!!!         the new morning has brought more rain with it and we're supposed to have rain all day today.        still praying for God's protection.         yesterday, in anticipation of the storm coming, I did bake 3 batches of bread.       I had a bread dough making marathon.       I think I had told y'all that bread making was on my agenda.        I got 2 batches of brioche buns made and 1 batch of cornbread swirls, all flash frozen and bagged and ready for use.         I may make a couple more batches today.        when there isn't much else to do, making bread dough is a good way to spend my time.       I don't know what else we'll get into today, but if it's exciting, I'll let ya know.   

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giggle for the day:

Q - What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?

A - Finding half a worm in your apple!

😂😂😂😂😬😬😬

oh, yum!!!!!    hahaha

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picking up with Ezekiel Chapter 6,          the Israelites had worshiped idols in the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys and God had called Ezekiel to prophesy against these places of idol worship.        God has the right to judge His people for worshiping idols.       God sees everything we do and He'll not tolerate idol worship from His people.       what are the modern day idols that we need to remove from our lives?          they are there, whether we admit it or not.        pay attention to what ever you put before God.        sin has consequences, sometimes we ignore that or forget it.         God is in control and His ways are always righteous.        God always provides hope even in the midst of judgement.

Chapter 7,          this chapter stresses the importance of living holy lives, obeying God and keeping our faith in God alone, not our worldly riches.          when God says, "I will unleash my anger against you", that's about as grim as it gets.          it is the direct consequence of the way that kept on sinning against God.          do our actions line up with the standards that God has set for us to live by?          if not, why and who's fault is it?          we have to stay vigilant and alert in our Christian walk.        are we aware of what's going on around us?          do we see the sin, or are we partakers of the sin taking place?        Lord, help me to stay vigilant in my walk with You!!!

Chapter 8,          God has every right to be angry with sin!!!!         we have to avoid any form of idolatry, it's sin and it will bring consequences.           there was corruption and idolatry in God's temple, guess what, there's corruption and idolatry in the churches across the planet that are supposed to be filled with God's people.         if our  churches  are full of sin, how can we expect to ever see change in God's people?          most of the hypocrisy in the churches is not recognized as such, because the people don't know any better, they haven't been taught scripture, but what the preacher thinks and most of the time he's skewing the word if he's even using the word.         we have to protect our faith and values from the corruption of the culture.          we cannot compromise our faith and values just because the culture doesn't know any better, we as God's children, SHOULD know better.         we need to open our bibles and read what it says and apply it to our lives.          devotion and reverence should be our way of life.

Chapter 9,          we need to examine our own hearts, be willing to stand up against sin in our culture and make sure we living as God wants us too.        you know God is serious about sin when He calls on His executioners to deal with sin.        we should grieve over sin in our own lives and the the lives of those around us.         I trust God to take care of amidst the storm of sin around me.         we need to pray for repentance and restoration.         sin is serious with serious consequences.        continue to seek after the heart of God in all things that we do.        

next time we pick up at Chapter 10.

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well, I guess this is where we'll call it a blog post.          I hope you have a blessed day today and that you call on God to help you and that we'll all keep seeking after the heart of God.        blessings of devotion and reverence for God be ours today.

hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and sheet pan veggies

good morning from my breezy neck of the woods.          the wind is bringing in the next round of rain and bad weather we're supposed to be having, again at night.         I guess I'll do like I've been doing, just pray thru it.         so many are still reeling from all the weather we've had since last october and it just keeps coming.         we got our walk in this morning and I've got to get in the kitchen for a round of making bread to turn in to varying rolls and then freeze for future use.          my stash is getting low and I love having bread ready to bake in the freezer.        anything I can make and put back for later is a win win all day long in my book.         when I can remember to do it, I'll get all my dry ingredients put together in a bowl and then when I'm ready to make the dough, I'll put the wet ingredients in the bread machine, then the dry ingredients and top that with the yeast and it's easy peasy.         if I'm gonna make a second batch of that particular dough, once I start the bread machine, I'll just start getting all my dry ingredients together in the bowl again and the wet ingredients in another bowl.         when the first batch is done mixing, I'll remove that dough and dump in my wet ingredients, then my dry ingredients, and then the yeast on top and start the machine again.         I'll generally do that about 4 times on my bread making day.            2 times for my brioche buns and 2 times for my cornbread swirls.         as a general rule, I can usually be done with 4 batches of dough in about 2 and a half hours.        as each batch comes from the machine, I'll start the next batch and then get the rolls made and on sheet pans and pop in the freezer to flash freeze and then bag them up to use in the coming weeks.         it's a wonderful way to stay ahead of the game with my bread.         anyway, this is what's on the schedule.          all of it may or may not come to fruition, we'll have to see.      

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so, let's do a 2 minutes in the kitchen with me.             it's been a while since we've done this.           for supper last evening, I wanted veggies, lots of veggies.           so I took some yellow potatoes, an onion, some carrots and a can of drained and rinsed green beans.            I done a good dice on the potatoes and carrots and sliced the onion.          I plopped it all on a sheet pan lined with parchment and then salted, peppered, powdered onion, powdered garlic and then spritzed it all really well with avocado oil.

I then mixed it up really well and tried to make it one layer in the pan.           I popped it in the oven at 425 degrees with some lamb shanks that I was baking.         I'm telling you this was great!!!           and a wonderfully easy clean up!!!!!

I'm all over easy clean up.            this went so great with the lamb shank bbq.           I wish I had gotten pics of the lamb shank, but I didn't.         when the meat was done, I picked it from the bones and shredded it and put it on a baking pan lined with parchment and covered it with bbq sauce, popped it back in the oven for about 20 minutes and that was the best meat ever!!!!!       I have come to find that lamb meat isn't tough or stringy like a lot of other meat is.         it's so good with bbq sauce on it.        I know a lot of people put rosemary and other spices on it instead of bbq sauce, but I'm not a fan of rosemary, so I'll go with bbq sauce.          hahaha          I fixed it, I can do what I want.          you can too!!!           make it yours!!!      

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giggle for the day:

Q - What breed of dog can jump higher than a skyscraper?

A - Any breed of dog. Skyscrapers can’t jump! 

😂😂😂😂😂

well, now we know!!!   hahahahaha

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starting with Ezekiel Chapter 1,              this chapter will show us that we as humans have a limited ability to understand God.         God does things that's totally beyond our ability to grasp.        despite trials and tribulations, God is always close at hand to hear  and to help us.        Gods glory is with us, even in our darkest hours.          this chapter is one of the most mystifying chapters in the bible.        but with this chapter comes a message of hope and restoration.        God is all about restoration.         Just as God was with Ezekiel in exile, we can know that God is with us, no matter what.         we have to be open to call of God over our lives, regardless of the unfamiliar, because He will be with us.

Chapter 2,          there is a responsibility that comes with answering God's call.        we have to be fearless and undaunting by the response of the message that God wants us to share.          we should be ready to hear God's call and respond to it once we know what His instructions are.        we live in a day and time where people don't want to hear truth and they don't respond to it really well.        most people have never heard real truth.        but we must share truth even though it can be scary.         focus on being faithful to God instead of how people will react to the truth that you're sharing.       

Chapter 3,          obedience to God requires courage, sacrifice and resolve to do God's will.        it's not easy!!!         do you internalize scripture?          when we read scripture, we should be internalizing it.     make it relevant to ourselves, understand scripture as it was written for the day in which it was written, but apply what was written for the exiles to our life today.         it has to transform us, change our lives, before what we say, with God's help, will have a life changing effect on someone else.        if it doesn't change us, how can we expect what we say have a change on other peoples lives?          we have a responsibility and we are accountable for our obedience.         the only way we can do the will of God is with the Holy Spirit in us giving us strength and guidance.         we have to be about the Fathers business, warning others about spiritual danger, because we care about them.

Chapter 4,          there are consequences when we turn away from God.          we have to acknowledge our sin and find hope in God's mercy, even during hard times.          we must be alert to the warnings that God gives thru His word and the Holy Spirit.          sin is serious with serious consequences.          sin separates us from God.          we need to strive for purity in our lives.          God wants us to live holy lives.          we can not live holy lives when we are living in sin.          

Chapter 5,             we need to make sure that our actions line up with God's commandments.           just because God loves us, doesn't mean He won't discipline us, God is always always always just!!!!        we have to consider the consequences of constant disobedience to God.          we have to repent and turn back to God!!!               God's judgements are righteous even when we don't understand.          most of the time we're not going to understand Gods ways, just because we don't understand doesn't make God wrong in His judgements.          God is righteous, holy and just.

next time we pick up with at Chapter 6.

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well, I guess we'll set this one to type.          I hope we all have a great day today.           and it goes without me saying it, but I'll say it anyway, let's continue to seek after the heart of God.          as long as we're seeking after the heart of God, we'll not stray too far from Him.         stay in His word, internalize it, let it change us and continue to pray.          blessings of strength and courage be ours today.

hugs and love, patty

Bible Study and not much else

good morning loved ones of God!!!            I hope you are doing well this morning.          I really can't tell what kind of day it's gonna be yet, it's still so early.         I have an early morning appointment and I'm ready to head out and thought I would get this blog post up before I forgot about it.         I do know that we are supposed to have more rain and it's a bit chilly this morning.         I am ready for spring!!!!!  so we'll see when it gets here for good.         hahaha          I think it's out playing in the snow somewhere and forgot that it has a job to do.          if you see it anywhere, tell it to get on home to some of these folks in the south.         hahahaha          well, I guess we'll get on with the blog post.         

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giggle for the day:

Q - Why do giraffes have such long necks?

A - Because they have smelly feet!

who knew?  stinky feet, hahahaha

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picking up with Jeremiah Chapter 52,              we have to pay attention to warnings of God in our lives and there are consequences when we don't listen to God's warnings.          even in times of judgement and hard times, we have to know that God's plan is ultimate and He has the power and ability to bring about restoration and redemption.         God's mercy is enduring and lasting and He offers hope and restoration even after judgement.          praise His holy name!!!!

Lamentations Chapter 1,            this books is based on the painful situation with Jerusalem.          sin is responsible for the suffering and desolation for the people of Jerusalem.          when we continue to live in sin, we too will experience the same pain and suffering and separation from God that these people experienced.           see the need to turn to God in prayer and know that He sees and cares about our problems.           God's plan is one of redemption and restoration.          He wants us to be in right relationship with Him.

Chapter 2,             even amidst the consequences of disobedience, there is hope and a call for repentance and the opportunity to seek Gods mercy.          no matter the depth of our suffering or the vastness of our sins,  turning back to God and seeking His forgiveness is the desired path.          when we bring our problems to God in groanings and weeping, that in itself is a form of worship, showing our dependence on Him.

Chapter 3,              in the darkest hours of our sin, there is still the opportunity to repent, ask God for forgiveness and to be redeemed.           that is always the ultimate end goal.         we should always tell God our honest and true feelings.       He knows them anyway, so why not just be honest with Him.      we can have for the future when we remember God's faithfulness in the past.         we have to continue to seek after the heart of God through prayer and reading His word.          this is what strengthens our faith and dependence on Him.

Chapter 4,             even in desperate times, God is still just and He still offers mercy.         hard times opens the door for restoration.         we have to keep examining our own lives and making sure we are not holding on to sin.         remember that our strength and protection comes from God alone.         in God alone, is our hope of restoration and renewal.           Parise God!!!!!

Chapter 5,            we should not ever hesitate to bring our problems to God.        the sooner the better.      He can help us if we trust Him.         we need to examine our lives to see where sin is causing damage and ask God for forgiveness and help.            reconciliation, renew, restore.          beautiful words of hope from God.          when we're in trouble, we need to remind ourselves of God's ability to bring about change and restoration.           God is in the business of changing lives, let's let Him!!!

tomorrow we'll start in Ezekiel Chapter 1.

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well, I guess that will do it for now.          as always, let's keep seeking after the heart of God in all things that we do.        I hope and pray that we all have a great day.          I don't know what we'll get into, but if it's anything exciting, I'll be sure and let you know.          blessings of renewal and restoration.

hugs and love, patty