We made some doughnuts at home this morning. No, these aren’t healthy! Yes, they’re healthier than store-bought. Well, anyway, enjoy….

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. softened butter
1 cup milk

Sift together all dry ingredients. Beat eggs, then add butter, vanilla and milk. Beat together 1/2 minute. Add dry ingredients, beat until smooth.

Deep fry in coconut oil at 375 degrees for approximately 1 minute each side, turning to brown evenly. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

We dusted half of ours with powdered sugar and the other half with cinnamon-sugar. We couldn’t decide which we liked better!

Yield: The recipe says one dozen, but honestly, I’d say it made at least double that.

All the donuts we had left over AFTER eating too many!

Today I’m going to talk about more extensive ways to use your unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk (fresh from the farm, of course). I have to be very honest. This is where my experience gets really thin — and where I’m hoping for lots of great input from those of you housewives who have walked this road before!

Several weeks ago, a good friend of mine found over twenty boxes of rennet marked down to only 10-cents per box! She called me up. “Anne, do you have any idea what we could do with all this?”

I think I saw stars!

Yikes! That would make a lot of cheese!

But cheese is one of the very best uses for your milk. The amazing thing about raw cheeses is that they each pick up unique flavors and characteristics of the locations where they are made. That’s because they pull “molds” from the air. The molds in your air are entirely different from the molds in mine. If I purchase raw cheese from one farm, it will have a completely different taste from the raw cheese I might purchase online.

And that’s what makes it fun! If you’re feeling adventurous, I highly recommend the following websites:

• The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company, at http://www.cheesemaking.com. I can speak from experience that this is a reputable business that is passionate about normal people learning how to make cheese at home.
• Enjoy this “Farmer’s Cheese” recipe on YouTube. This chef heats the milk first so that he can control the enzymes in his recipe, then he adds enzymes back in (with buttermilk). This is NOT the method used for raw cheese, but it’s a good way for you to begin to learn how to make cheese. If you don’t have cheesecloth, you can use a white linen towel. Once you’ve tried it this way, experiment with the recipes on pp. 86-87 of Nourishing Traditions.

Please don’t throw out the whey (leftover from “the curds and whey” of cheesemaking)! It’s valuable stuff, and you can go on to preserve all manner of fruits and veggies. No canning or freezing required! The nutrient content will sky-rocket, your tastebuds will be thoroughly satisfied, and… well, you’ll just feel like such a Kitchen Queen!

Some excellent resources for this old-fashioned and highly superior method of food preparation include:

• Nourishing Traditions – Again, this cookbook should be a staple on all housewives’ shelves. Check pp. 89-111 for preserving fruits and vegetables, and also see pp. 136-159 for condiments that use whey.
• Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home
• Wild Fermentation
• Cultures for Health — a great company that specializes in helping you “culture” your food. Fun and easy!

Okay, it’s your turn. What else can we do with our milk? What other resources can you share? Any questions?

“The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down” (Proverbs 14:1, NIV).

Just as God has made you His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), you also have a special “craft project” going on in your home. You guessed it! Your children! A wise woman builds her house, carefully crafting her children into works of art that will bring glory to God.

So how do you go about building your house (especially your children) wisely?

1. The foundation is the fear of the LORD.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever” (Psalm 111:10, KJV).

If you want to teach your children, making them a special workmanship for God, then you have to start with yourself. Do you fear YHWH?

Fearing God is equivalent to “doing his commandments.”

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:3-6, NIV).

Your children are watching to see how well their parents obey God’s Word.

• Are you meditating on God’s Word day and night (Psalm 1:2)?
• How’s your marriage? Are you submitting to your husband “in everything” (Ephesians 5:24)? Do you show respect to your husband in front of your children (Ephesians 5:33)?
• Are there other commands that God has revealed to you but which you are hesitant to obey? Does your heart say, “That command doesn’t apply to me,” making excuses for your disobedience? Do you apply situation ethics to your own life?

I urge you to check your own life for the fear of the LORD, being sure that before you try to begin teaching your children, you first have God’s commands on your own heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

2. Correct foolish behavior in your children.

Just as a carpenter carefully whittles away the rough edges of wood, and just as a potter adjusts the clay until the shape is perfect, so must parents search for foolishness in the heart of their child and get it out.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7, NIV).

The Bible very clearly defines foolishness: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 53:1, NIV). But what does foolish behavior look like in a small (or not-so-small) child?

• A foolish heart is characterized by disobedience. This is why it’s so important for you to check your own heart for foolish disobedience first, as you are the example in your home! (See Psalm 119:9-11.) Then you must require obedience of your children. (A good rule of thumb is “obey right away, first time I ask, with a good attitude.”)
• A foolish heart will not accept instruction. For young children, you must teach them to listen, to pay attention, and to accept your teaching with a correct attitude. (See Psalm 119:58-60, noting the correct responses your children should have to your instruction.)
• A foolish heart will not acknowledge any authority but itself. Everything he does is “right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 12:15). This is why God defines a fool as someone who says in his heart, “There is no God.” A child acts as if “there is no parent” or “there are no rules.” It is best summed up in the actions of Israel, when “there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, KJV). Take careful note of heart attitudes, not just outward actions.

God says that “foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15, KJV). The word child here means anything from infancy to adolescence. We need to carefully watch for foolish behavior, then we need to correct it!

The description of a rod in this verse, of course, means a literal rod, but it brings with it a much more broad meaning of correction done in love, for the good of the child. The rod of correction should never be used in anger or frustration (”the fool leading the fool”). God says that “the sweetness of the lips increases learning” (Proverbs 16:21, KJV). A rod is a necessary tool, but we sometimes-emotional mothers would do well to remember that “man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:20, NIV).

3. Replace foolishness with a good understanding of God.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10, KJV).

The Word of God must be your main textbook. Start very young! Note how old Timothy was when his mother and grandmother began to train him:

“…and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures…” (2 Tim. 3:15, NIV).

Note also the curriculum and its outcome:

“…the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17, NIV).

Jesus said that God’s laws, which we must teach our children, are summed up in two things:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV).

So everything we should teach our children falls into one of two categories:

1. Love God. What does this look like? To love God means to acknowledge His guidance and sovereignty, to trust Him, and as a result, to walk in faith and obedience. Encourage thankfulness and an attitude of trust and prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Do not allow complaining or arguing in your home (Philippians 2:14), for Israel was severely punished for these sins!
2. Love others. Something that is seriously lacking in our society is a care and concern for the welfare of others over ourselves. Begin at a very young age to teach your children to consider the feelings of others. Yes, it is normal for a child to run, play, and be loud. Teach your child when play is appropriate — and when play can cause distress to others. What about sharing possessions? Taking care of chores? Learning to interact with siblings and friends? Aren’t we to do all of these things for others? “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5, NIV). It will take hard work for you as a mother to instill love for others in your children, but it should be one of your primary goals.

Now, while your children are young, be building up your house with wisdom, based on the fear of the LORD. By the teen years, your children’s “workmanship” will be tested (see specifically how in Luke 6:45). Be very careful, in the early years, to root out foolishness.

May your workmanship be of the highest quality!

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:1-10, NIV)

The last two weeks we’ve been discussing the amazing blessings that have been given us in Christ. As we head into chapter 2 of Ephesians, I want to emphasize that these blessings have been given to us because of Christ, not because we have any special merit or have earned them ourselves.

I think we need to remind ourselves often of our humble beginnings.

These verses remind us that we have done wrong.

• We have “followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (verse 2). Just as Eve purposely chose to go the ways of Satan, we also make a conscience choice to follow him. We aren’t obedient enough to follow our heavenly King. We enjoy going our own way (Isaiah 53:6).

• We have been “disobedient” (verse 2). God’s commands are clearly written for all people, yet we choose to disobey. We aren’t fooled. We simply disobey (Romans 3:9-20).

• We have gratified “the cravings of our sinful nature… following its desires and thoughts” (verse 3). We do what we want, simply because it feels good. We have no concern for others and their feelings. We listen only to our “inner guide,” selfishly pleasing our every desire (2 Timothy 3:2-3).

• We are “dead in transgressions” (verse 5). We have no ability to “pull ourselves up by our bootstrap,” improve ourselves, make positive change, or be led by a glow of inner light. We are simply dead… and under a future death sentence as well (Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23, and James 1:15).

It isn’t popular to talk about the evil side of ourselves. We would prefer to think that all humanity has a spark of good that needs to be fanned into flame. We don’t want to admit that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Yet God says that we must admit our sin… not the sin of our spouse, our neighbor, or Hitler. My own. I am “desperately wicked.”

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa 57:15, KJV).

Humility and repentance are the first steps to approaching God.

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:6-10, NIV).

What does humility look like?

• It starts with submission, when we cast ourselves at the feet of Jesus (seeing Him in all His splendor, see Isaiah 6) and submit our ways to His way, our plans to His plans.
• We draw near to His holiness, acknowledging our own sinfulness, probably even listing our sins and confessing each to Him.
• We wash ourselves clean in His blood, realizing that only His sacrifice in our place can cleanse us.
• We grieve, shedding tears of sorry over our disobedience and resolving to walk in obedience with His help from this day on.

Ephesians 2 says that God will lift us up for two reason.

• His mercy - Mercy is defined as “not giving me what I deserve,” which in this case is death (Romans 6:23).

• His grace - Grace is defined as “giving me what I do not deserve,” which in this case is eternal life (John 3:16).

Notice that the blessings of Ephesians 1 are all because of God… and not because of me.

• God loved us (verse 4) — How can I say it better than these verses? “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8, NIV). Notice that He loved me first. I certainly didn’t love Him first. I remember my own heart before I accepted Christ. I honestly hated any mention of Him! I wanted nothing to do with Him! “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19, NIV).

• God made us alive (verse 5) — The verse says that He made us alive in Christ. The KJV says He “hath quickened us together” with Christ. That’s just one word in the Greek, which is why you’ll see it translated just a little differently in various translations. The Greek word is suzōopoieō, and Strong says it means “to reanimate together with.” In other words, just as Jesus died and was raised to life again, you also were completely dead, helpless, and incapable of saving yourself… yet you’ve been raised to life again.

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:18-25, NIV)

• God raised us up (verse 6) — My first question was, “How is this any different from the previous point? Isn’t being raised up the same thing as making us alive? I may be wrong, but I’m thinking that this is a reference to Christ’s ascension into heaven. How does this relate to me? I have never risen through the clouds! Well, it may be a reference to the fact that we will never die. Yes, my physical body will deteriorate and die, but I’ll be given a replacement body, a new body that is incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). My soul will never die. Before Christ, I would experience both physical and spiritual death, that horrible prospect called “the second death” (Revelation 20:6).But yes, there is a day coming when I too will rise to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

• God “seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (verse 6) — This continues the thought of God’s love, as he made us alive, raised us up with Christ, and now seats us with Christ in the heavenly realms. I like how commentator Adam Clarke states, “We have a right to the kingdom of God.” Psalm 8 describes it this way:

“What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet…” (Psalm 8:4-6, NIV).

Rulership over His creation was certainly part of God’s original design for us (Genesis 1:26-28). Our sin plunged us into the kingdom of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” but Christ’s victory over Satan guarantees that we will “reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 20:6). We are called

“a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10, NIV).

Before we leave this topic, let me just remind you one more time: All these things are a gift.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (verses 8-9).

The moment pride enters — and humility leaves — we are in danger of forgetting our great salvation. Always, always remember your humble beginnings. Always, always confess your sin quickly. His gifts are all because of His love, mercy and grace, and none our of our works.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6, NIV).

Why, oh why, would God do all these amazing things for us? Why does He love us? Why does He shower us with Him mercy and grace? What is His plan?

“…in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (verse 7).

We are His show pieces, His pride and joy.

“…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

He wants to bring more people into His kingdom, and He wants us to “declare” His praises to everyone around us. He wants us to make His reputation great in the earth.

And (drumroll…) here is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (verse 10).

Understanding this chapter will help all the rest of Ephesians make sense, so I hope you’ll meditate on it thoroughly this week!

1. God has blessed us beyond comprehension!
2. We are “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.”
3. He has expressed “kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
4. He has “created [us] in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Soon we’ll be leaving all this doctrine behind and getting REALLY practical. I hope you’ll see the instructions in Ephesians, not as a list of rules, but as a way of offering our lives back to God as “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1), in praise of all He has done for us.

You’re His “workmanship,” dear woman! He “prepared in advance” for the amazing, good works you would do. He knew you wouldn’t have the power to do them on your own (and would even choose against Him), but He reached down into your life with His mercy and grace. He CHOSE you… He created you in Christ Jesus… and now you are being formed into His precious treasure.

“When [Jesus] came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:37-40, NIV).

How can we keep from praising Him, too?

P.S. I encourage you to play the full song… such great words on which to meditate!

What Wondrous Love Is This - Fernando Ortega

It might not be rainy where you live, but it’s pouring cats and dogs here. So on this wet evening, here are some “just-can’t-miss-them” blog posts I’ve been enjoying:

• http://50shousewife.blogspot.com/2009/06/someone-has-to-do-it.html — “Someone Has to Do It” — This blogger talks about the comorts that a housewife provides to her family and how very important our job is! Inspiring…
• http://makinghome.blogspot.com/2009/06/mom-now-i-know.html — “Mom, Now I Know” — a blogger writes this tribute to her mother. Grab a kleenex!
• http://www.titus2atthewell.com/ — “At the Well… In Pursuit of Titus 2″ — Seriously, this blog is excellent! The top post is excellent. So is the next one! And the next one! Read away… then subscribe for more good things to come!

To all you homemakers, please know how important you are. May God bless you….

Hugs,

Outside my window… The day is almost over, and it’s raining, but it’s a gentle rain that cooled it off outside. Ahhh… But these are NEW (to me) windows I’m looking through. YES! I’m sitting in my new office, instead of at the dining-room table. YIPPEE!

I am thinking… That I love my office. Everything is so clean and neat. (I’m also thinking that it will take some discipline to keep it that way!)

I am thankful for… My husband spending so much of his time the last couple months to make me a new desk. He knows how special this is to me, and he went to tons of trouble to make one just like I wanted.

From the learning rooms… Well, I have two small bookshelves in my office now, so today I put a lot of books for next school year on the shelves. It will so nice to not have to go to the attic every time we need a different book for school.

From the kitchen… I’m not going to be doing much this week. We’re going out of town for a church conference next week, so I’m trying to use up food. However, the kids were talking about learning how to make crackers by themselves. We’ll see….

I am wearing… Bummy clothes, so we could paint, and move furniture, and clean all morning, to set up the office. I look awful! (But I don’t care if you don’t.)

I am creating… Well, I have a couple tricks up my sleeves this week, all for my websites. But I’m not going to tell… it’s a secret….

I am going… Nowhere much this week, but on Sunday, we leave for our conference. The kids will be spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa. So much fun!

I am reading… Covered or Uncovered (by Gary Sanseri), Herbs for Midwifery, Let the Nations Be Glad (John Piper), and whatever else tempts me, now that I’m sitting here next to my bookshelves. How will I ever get any work done?!

I am hearing… The sound of the Food Network coming from the living room, the slurp of one of the kid’s straws as he sucks on his smoothie, a car driving by in the rain, and my little one “reading” a book.

Around the house… I need to keep up with the laundry this week, so we’re ready to pack.

One of my favorite things… The seashore! I’m not a tropical-beach girl… I prefer the Cape Cod stuff… so that’s what we’re using to decorate my office.

A few plans for the rest of the week… A bit of work online, packing, homeschooling, writing.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing…

This is the desk my husband has been building for me. (The chair still needs to be painted white and recovered with blue fabric.)

Click on over to the Simple Woman’s Daybook and read some great entries from other blogs. Thanks for visiting me today!

Hugs,

Does anyone know of a delicious, low-carb sweetener for coffee?

I’m looking for something natural (no Splenda, in other words), that has fewer carbs than the Sucanat we’re using now. We tried liquid stevia, and while it tasted good in a smoothie, it seemed bitter in our coffee.

Thank you!

Our church’s ladies group has been studying the life of Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2). One thing we noted is that she prayed for little Samuel before he was even conceived. When God answered her request for a son, she kept her part of the bargain by saying, “So now I give him to the LORD.”

Each of us as moms desires to give our children back to the LORD, but the reality is that only 4% of children raised in Christian homes will stay faithful to God once they leave high school (Barna). With such a dismal statistic, many mothers simply throw up their hands and say, “Well, I just need to pray more” or “Sometimes God answers our prayers with ‘no’ or ‘wait a while.’”

Is this true? Does God not care if our children grow up to serve Him? Or does the Bible rather teach that raising Godly children is His will for us, and that this is a prayer request He loves to answer with a “yes”?

The book of Malachi talks about God’s purposes for godly marriage, and one of the reasons listed is for godly offspring:

“Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring” (Malachi 3:15, NIV).

An often-debated verse on parenting is found in Proverbs:

“Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

Is this one of those verses that you can “take to the bank,” or does your experience tell you that God’s Word cannot always be depended upon?

I firmly believe that, yes, God’s Word is always true. I believe that if a child grows up to walk away from God, I as a mother (and my husband as the father) must share some of the blame. These are hard words, especially when my own children are not yet grown and I may have to eat them, but this is what God’s Word says, not Anne Elliott.

God’s Word also says that God answers our prayers. When so many mothers are praying for their children, why doesn’t God always answer?

“You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3, NIV).

This verse points to our hearts and tells us that sometimes our lips don’t match our actions. We may pray for our children, but are we willing to back our prayers with the action required to “train up a child in the way he should go”?

What are some of the actions that we know are God’s will for parents; therefore, we know that these actions are required if we are going to produce a godly offspring?

• We must make God’s law known to our children. God’s commands are in the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and God says to “make them known to your children and your children’s children” (Deuteronomy 4:9, ESV). “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). Passing on a complete and thorough knowledge of the Bible (all of it!) to our children is a huge task, but it is of highest priority. The following verses are good ones to study for “how” and “why”:

Deuteronomy 4:9-10

Deuteronomy 4:40

Deuteronomy 6:7-9

Deuteronomy 11:19

Deuteronomy 12:28

Deuteronomy 24:16

Deuteronomy 29:22-28

Deuteronomy 31:13

Deuteronomy 32:46

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 (note the promise!)

Ephesians 6:1-4

Colossians 3:20-21

1 Thessalonians 2:11

1 Timothy 3:4, 12

2 John 1:4-6

3 John 1:4

• Training is both positive (”teach”) and negative.

“Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

Punish him with the rod
and save his soul from death” (Proverbs 23:13-14, NIV).

The standard (God’s commands) never change. We train our children first in God’s standard, then we must hold them to it. Yes, children all have unique personalities, but God’s Word never changes, no matter the personality. Hold your children to the standard, rather than moving the standard down to the child.

• Show loving welcome to your children. Training and rebuke aren’t everything. Do you show your children how much you welcome them into your life? Notice how Jesus showed welcome to children:

“He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me’”(Mark 9:36-37, NIV).

“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16, NIV).

Welcoming our children, not just as babies (”what a blessing from God!”) but as toddlers, elementary-aged children, and teenagers, is not natural for a mom! Is it natural for you to want to welcome a child when you’re finishing another task, wanting to rest for just a moment, fighting a headache, talking with a friend or surfing the Internet? No…. but we can train ourselves to take them “in our arms, put our hands on them and bless them.”

“…train the younger women to love their husbands and children” (Titus 2:4, NIV).

So yes, prayer is super important! Like Hannah, we need to pray for our children. But also like Hannah, we need to take steps to train our children specifically in God’s Law (see 1 Samuel 1:11 for Hannah’s own familiarity with God’s law). We need to hold them up to God’s standard of righteousness, and we need to show our love to them, even when they “impose on our lifestyle.”

God never intended for His Church to be filled with disobedient children (see Romans 1:30 and 2 Timothy 3:2). We know that it is His will for us to raise up godly offspring. If we are willing to take responsibility for obeying God ourselves, we know that this is a prayer God always answers!

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14, NIV).

One of the “problems” with purchasing fresh (un-pasteurized, non-homogenized) milk from the farm is that it doesn’t have as long of a shelf life as store-bought milk. In fact, the goal of increasing shelf life has been a major aim of food manufacturers for several hundred years. Increasing shelf life makes more varieties of foods available to more people in more places — and it also increases the profit of food manufacturers.

However, milk is a very special food. My milk stays sweet under refrigeration for about one week, but then it starts to change to a sour taste. If I lived before refrigeration, I would have had less than one day before the taste started to change. (Of course, I would have visited Old Bessie out in the barn for more sweet milk twice a day.)

When store-bought milk gets old, we quickly throw it out because it has become dangerous and disgusting. When fresh milk gets old, its value only increases. One reason the taste changes is because it has increased its enzyme content. (All of you who have taken my health class know how important that is!)

Not only are enzymes good for us, they also allow us to make a multitude of delicious foods with our souring milk. Here are some of the foods I enjoy making with my milk (and an idea of how much time it takes me):

Even more luscious ideas are available from food writer Sarah Couture Pope, from the blogs Passionate Homemaking, Keeper of the Home, and Cheeseslave — as well as from the book Nourishing Traditions (of course!).

Visit Anne’s Health Place

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15-16, NIV).

When a baby is born, don’t you have such hopes for him? You dream of what he’ll be when he is grown… of the fun you’ll have together… of all that God can do in His life….

Paul felt the same way toward the new believers in the city of Ephesus. From the day he heard of their new life in Christ, he just couldn’t stop giving thanks for them.

But these weren’t just any believers! These were Gentile believers, some of the first in history! When you get a chance, read through the book of Acts to get a grasp on just how significant this was. From the time of Abraham, God had been working exclusively through the children of Israel. Yes, there are some notable exceptions of people grafted into God’s people, such as Rahab and Ruth, but generally speaking, if you were of Gentile birth, you simply didn’t worship the God of Israel.

Paul had been raised as a Jew of the Jews, as he says himself:

“If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:4-6, KJV).

As Paul writes in Ephesians 1:9, when God’s gift of salvation was extended to all nations, not just to the Jews, it was truly a mystery. (Anytime you see the word “mystery” used in Paul’s writings, he is referring to the amazing fact that Gentiles can also come to Christ, just as Israelites.)

Paul, with all of his education in God’s Word, just simply didn’t anticipate the extent of God’s call. He didn’t expect how wide the church would be. (”Church” comes from the Greek word ecclesia, which means “called-out ones.”)

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:17-21, NIV).

Paul is realizing, as we said last week, that God has chosen some from every kindred and race from before the beginning of time, and he writes, “For this reason… I have not stopped giving thanks!” (Eph. 1:15-16).

If you’ve been a believer for some time, you probably know the thrill of seeing someone come to know Christ. You’re ecstatic! You’ve given birth! You’ve planted seed and seen a harvest!

How do we know that a new believer is genuine? Only God knows the heart, but we can look at the fruit. (My husband likes to say that we’re “fruit inspectors” — see Matthew 7:16-21.)

Paul lists two ways he knew that the believers in Ephesus were genuine (1:15):

1. Their faith in the Lord Jesus.
2. Their love for all the saints.

This completely matches what we read about genuine belief in the book of 1 John:

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:3-6, NIV).

So because Paul sees genuine belief in a body of Gentile believers (what a mystery!), he gives thanks and remembers them faithfully in his prayers. He writes of two specific requests for these new believers (and if you’re a new believer, these are a prayer for you, too).

• “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation…” Why? “So that you may know him better.” (Eph. 1:17)

New believers, especially Gentiles who had been raised in a pagan culture, simply don’t know much about God. On the other hand, Jews like Paul had been raised knowing God’s Word from a very early age, often memorizing extensive portions of it and certainly attempting to obey it. Paul writes in another letter that “from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). For those believers who haven’t been privileged to grow up with a solid foundation in God’s Word, Paul is praying the God will give them a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” so that they will “know him better.”

God cares deeply about your spiritual education, because he wants you to know Him. Whether you’ve been taught in the Scriptures from infancy or you’re a new believer from a pagan background, God’s Word is able to “make you wise for salvation.” (If you’re a new believer, please make digging into God’s Word a high priority!)

• “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” Why? “In order that you may know the hope to which he has called you” (Ephesians 1:18).

Head knowledge isn’t everything. God desires that your heart be filled with amazing hope. Isn’t hope an amazing thing? All your life you’ve been groping in the dark, then one morning, hope begins to break into your life. You realize that God has called you (before the creation of the world, verse 4), that He loves you enough to choose you (and then die for you)! Hope begins to dawn in your life.

This hope is because of “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (verse 18). Again, to be included in the inheritance of Abraham (see Romans 11) is an amazing inheritance. The word saints means “set apart ones,” and you can see how similar this is to the word ecclesia (called-out ones) we saw earlier.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). (Compare to Exodus 19:5-6).

This hope is also because of “his incomparably great power for us who believe” (verse 19). When you think about His power for just a minute — especially the fact that He wants to give this power to YOU — you will certainly have reason for new hope!

What is this power like?

• It’s power “like the working of his mighty strength” (verse 19).
• It’s the same power “which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (verse 20).
• It’s the same power that “seated [Christ] at [God's] right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (verse 21).

Whew! These verses go on about God’s great power (see verses 22-23), but have you begun to catch a vision of the power that God wants to give to you? Have you thought of the power of Creation? This same power has been given to you! Have you thought of the power it took to raise Christ from the dead? This same power has been given to you! Have you thought of the power that has been given to Christ as ruler of the entire universe (a thought that Paul takes three verses to tell about?!)? This same power has been given to you!

If you’ve been saved for a hundred years and you’ve started to take your salvation for granted, I encourage you to meditate on just what God has done for you. Catch a glimpse of the hope, remembering to get to know him better by digging into His Word.

If you’re a new believer and you’re feeling a little hopeless, I encourage you to see the riches of the glorious inheritance you’ve been given in Christ. Allow hope to shine as bright as the morning sun into your life as God begins to fill you with power.

P.S. Today was a little loaded… too much to take in… like drinking out of a fire hydrant. So I’ve got some homework for you:

1. Think through as much of the Bible as you can, starting way back at the beginning. List all the ways God showed His power. (Hint: He created the world, the flood, etc.) Allow this exercise to fill you with hope (this same power is at work within you), and also allow it to motivate you to get to know His Word better… all 66 books of it!
2. Are you still trying to memorize the book of Ephesians? Remember, an easy way is to download an mp3 to listen to as much as possible.
3. Finally, if you have time, consider reading Psalm 146. Take special note of the “alien,” the Gentile, in verse 9. Doesn’t this Psalm want to make you want to “sing praise to your God as long as you live”?