 Although the fine details vary from denomination to denomination, it is a wide held belief that the wicked will burn in a lake of fire. Why not believe that? The Bible says it. While many accept this truth, most fail to understand the God who instituted it. The fateful fire can paint a picture of a God who is tyrannical and perhaps a bit extreme. I know I have had to think twice about it on several occasions. One thing I can be sure of though: ""God is love." His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The history of the great conflict between good and evil from the time it first began in heaven is also a demonstration of God's unchanging love." I "happened" upon this quote years ago when I was SET in my misconstrued idea of God's love. This quote helped clear it up immediately, and I have never forgotten it.
So, while it is true that the wrath of God will be poured out "without mixture" (Revelation 14:10), I have to believe that the coming lake of fire is still indeed an act of God's love. It is important to note that this "everlasting fire" is actually "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:1), and not for any of us. Remember, we are needed by God? Before he formed us in the belly, He knew us. (Jeremiah 1:5) And He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) So why the eternal death by fire? Sin. It's not cliche', it's fact. "But [our] iniquities have separated between [us] and [our] God, and [our] sins have hid His face from [us] that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2) I don't think I can word it better than dear brother Frazee, so I won't try: "Yes, sin is man's great problem, but it is also God's great problem. He LONGS to have us with Him in happy fellowship. Yes, since sin made the separation, sin must be removed for the separation to end. "Why should it be such a problem to get rid of sin? Why not burn it up, the sooner the better! God would like to destroy it at once. But look at His problem. Many of those He loves are infected with this deadly virus. The only solution which can satisfy God's heart of infinite love must separate sin from sinners. Can this be done? God says it can. Satan says, "Impossible!" Whom do you believe?" I wish I could share the whole chapter! But I'll end here: The Bible says "our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29) who was manifested to us through His Son to TAKE AWAY OUR SINS. (1 John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:19) When Christ, the brightness of the Father's glory (Hebrews 1:3), came to earth, His desire was to "make manifest to men their sin" as He inevitably revealed the character of God, in hopes that they would be purged of it. "In all who submit to His power the Spirit of God will consume sin. But if men cling to sin, they become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them." Only the "pure in heart" shall see God (Matthew 5:8). Our God is a consuming fire who wants to consume the sin in your life, in my life. But He can only wait so long. And if we cling to sin, He has no choice but to consume us, for iniquity and God cannot co-exist. "If, as you look into the mirror of God's holy law, you see yourself a transgressor, will you not come and put your sins upon the Lamb? God has no other way to separate you from your sins. And no matter how little your sin may seem to you, it murdered the Son of God." Won't you surrender it to Him today? *Feel free to ask me for my sources*
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 "And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
I remember appreciating the Sabbath for the first time when I was in college. I was somewhat of a nerd, so studying on a regular and completing all my assignments to the best of my ability was not an option for me. So I welcomed the Sabbath with open arms! "Yes, I CAN'T do any work....finally, REST!" I'm sure many can attest, but I am so glad I am learning that Sabbath means SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT! The Sabbath was instituted at the beginning of the world. Jesus, the Word of God, was our Creator (John 1:1-3). Just after He created man, the "crowning work of His Creation", He created the Sabbath so that Adam could take time to reflect upon and enjoy those things that the Creator made. Adam was just created, so certainly He did not need rest in the sense that many understand it today. Instead, He was to enjoy creation, and in so doing, get to know the character of God, for "it was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God's power and His love. The Scripture says, "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered." " The things that are made," declare "the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world," "even His everlasting power and divinity."" (Psalm 111:4; Romans 1:20) How amazing must have been Adam's first full day! Not only did he have face to face communion with his Creator, he also had His beautiful handiwork to teach him about God's love. We don't have face to face communion yet, but we can have that experience. "The Sabbath calls our thoughts to nature and brings us into communion with the Creator. In the song of the bird, the sighing of the trees, and the music of the sea, we still may hear His voice who talked with Adam in Eden in the cool of the day. And as we behold His power in nature we find comfort, for the word that created all things is that which speaks life to the soul." And this is where it gets really amazing! As you reflect upon God's handiwork today, also remember this: Only after He finished His work, after He saw that it was good, did He rest and offer us that same rest. Christ is again offering us rest, but first He must finish a work. "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works..." (Ephesians 2:10), and "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform [or FINISH] it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6) So Christ wants to finish His work in us, that we may be declared "good" and thus enter into His rest. (Note to self: I'll have to do a part 2 on what it means to finish the work.) I could go on and on because this is such a beautiful subject. But I'll finish with this: The same Word that spoke the world into existence can also speak new life into you, His life to be exact. This is His desire. Our Creator wants to "CREATE in [us] a clean heart...and renew a right spirit within [us]." (Psalm 51:10) And today He wants us to REMEMBER that He can and will do just that if we surrender and ask Him. Happy Sabbath! Be made new. Today. *Feel free to ask me for my sources*  An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
There is something that really stood out to me in the last study that I want to dwell upon a little longer. Joseph did not understand the magnitude of the words spoken to him by the angel. Neither did Mary understand when the angel said to her: "[Jesus] shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:32, 33) That's why they did not really take into account what the focus of their 12 year old son ought to be when they took Him to witness His first Passover. Thus, they lost sight of Him for 3 days. What strikes me as amazing is the fact that, now having understood His mission, Jesus, even from the age of 12, tried to direct His earthly parents' minds to the prophecies that pointed out the future suffering that He would have to endure. Mary, led by the Holy Spirit, did a good job at teaching her Son spiritual truths from the Scriptures. She had access to those same prophecies which Christ then sought to point her thoughts toward. Still, she did not understand His mission. "As Jesus had been separated from her, and she had sought Him sorrowing three days, so when He should be offered up for the sins of the world, He would again be lost to her for three days. And as He should come forth from the tomb, her sorrow would again be turned to joy. But how much better she could have borne the anguish of His death if she had understood the Scriptures to which He was now trying to turn her thoughts!" "If Joseph and Mary had stayed their minds upon God by meditation and prayer, they would have realized the sacredness of their trust, and would not have lost sight of Jesus. By one day's neglect they lost the Saviour; but it cost them three days of anxious search to find Him. So with us: by idle talk, evilspeaking, or neglect of prayer, we may in ONE DAY lose the Saviour's presence, and it may take many days of sorrowful search to find Him, and regain the peace that we have lost." The good news is, even when we lose sight of Christ or fail to seek the Lord as we should, He is tirelessly seeking after us! His promise is, "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." (Ezekiel 34:12) "As the shepherd loves his sheep, and cannot rest if even one be missing, so, in an infinitely higher degree, does God love every outcast soul. [We] may deny the claim of His love, [we] may wander from Him, [we] may choose another master; yet [we] are God's, and He longs to recover His own." And if we "submit to be ransomed, Christ will rescue [with a loving embrace and a heart filled with joy] from the pit of corruption and from the briers of sin" as He carries us back to the fold.  So Jesus is the Word of God and the Way of God. Contemplating this point as I consider these oft repeated verses gives them a bit more meaning: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the WAY everlasting (Psalm 139:23, 24) and Thy WAY, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? (Psalm 77:13). Every act in the services of the Sanctuary of ancient Israel was "bound up with [Christ's] own life." Thus to know the Sanctuary is to know the Way of God, that is the Way that leads to everlasting life. To know the Sanctuary is to know the mission of Christ while He was on earth and even after He returned to Heaven. And to know His mission is to know our mission and His plan for our lives.
As mentioned previously, Jesus did not exercise any divine power that we do not have access to while He was on earth, for, as our Example, to do so, we would have claimed, would have been an unfair advantage. So the omniscience of His Father was of none effect to Jesus while He was on earth. He had no foreknowledge of His divine mission. He had to study the Scriptures and commune with His Father daily in order to understand. As was common practice for Jewish boys, Jesus was finally allowed to participate in the Jewish feasts linked to the Sanctuary when He was 12 years old. So for the first time, He made the journey with His parents to Jerusalem to participate in the Passover feast. "For the first time the child Jesus looked upon the temple. He saw the white-robed priests performing their solemn ministry. He beheld the bleeding victim [the sacrificed lamb] upon the altar of sacrifice. With the worshipers He bowed in prayer, while the cloud of incense ascended before God. He witnessed the impressive rites of the paschal service. Day by day He saw their meaning more clearly. Every act seemed to be bound up with His own life. New impulses were awakening within Him. Silent and absorbed, He seemed to be studying out a great problem. The mystery of His mission was opening to the Saviour." This is what prompted the "gentle reproof" from our 12 year old Saviour when his mother seemed to reprove Him for "going missing" for 3 days (more on that tomorrow): "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49) Mary and Joseph did not understand the meaning behind His words, but that 12 year old Child had finally come to the realization that 1) God was His Father and 2) He was born to die. He was born to die. Many a child, many an adult would balk at such responsibility, but Christ continued for the next 18 years to prepare to fulfill His mission. It is only because Christ has such a close walk with His Father that he was able to discern the true meaning of the earthly Sanctuary and continue on with great love in His heart for the fallen race that He had come to save. What love! And what sweet communion! Praise God, we can have that same love and communion in our own Christian walk. We must keep our eyes fixed upon Christ! Trace His steps through the Sanctuary to see how He lived, died and is living right now for us! "As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit." *Feel free to ask me for my sources*  TRUTH - I am super tired and don't really feeeel like studying, so that means now is when I need it most. Faith isn't feeling. So let's go!
I'll begin with this solemn yet ENCOURAGING truth. Read 'til the end (of this quote, I mean), because it signals just how important we are to God: "God has given us His word that we may become acquainted with its teachings and know for ourselves what He requires of us. When the lawyer came to Jesus with the inquiry, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" the Saviour referred him to the Scriptures, saying: "What is written in the law? how readest thou?" Ignorance will not excuse young or old, nor release them from the punishment due for the transgression of God's law; because there is in their hands a faithful presentation of that law and of its principles and claims. It is not enough to have good intentions; it is not enough to do what a man thinks is right or what the minister tells him is right. His soul's salvation is at stake, and he should search the Scriptures for himself. However strong may be his convictions, however confident he may be that the minister knows what is truth, this is not his foundation. HE HAS A CHART POINTING OUT EVERY WAYMARK ON THE HEAVENWARD JOURNEY, AND HE OUGHT NOT GUESS AT ANYTHING." While living as a human on earth, Christ did not exercise any special powers that we don't have access to. "The word of God was Christ's assurance of His divine mission." And He lived by that Word, thus being able to fulfill His mission in the exact manner that was prophesied. Likewise, we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 1 Corinthians 10:11 tells us, "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." That's us! We are that people living in the end who have ancient Israel to look upon as an example of what we , in most cases, ought not do. And, in contrast, we have Christ to look at for an example of what we must do. Even in His younger years, when looked upon by His own brothers as "narrow and strait-laced", He would respond to them with a firm but loving, "It is written, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word."" (Psalm 119:9) When asked why He was "bent on being so singular", He would respond with an "It is written... "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways."" (Psalm 119:1-3) But how is that possible? To have a "Thus saith the Lord" or "It is written" for every situation, every temptation? Here's the answer: It is written, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." (Psalm 119:11) We must, like Jesus, make it our first work to commune with God through prayer and His Word. Without this, we WILL fail. "In order to endure the trial before [us], [we] must understand the will of God as revealed in His Word; [we] can honor Him only as [we] have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. NONE BUT THOSE WHO HAVE FORTIFIED THE MIND WITH THE TRUTHS OF THE BIBLE WILL STAND THROUGH THE LAST GREAT CONFLICT." So what's this to do with the love of God? "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10, 11) What God says WILL come to pass. We have seen it happen before and have no reason to doubt that it will continue to happen just as He says. It is no coincidence that Christ is the Way and the Word (John 14:6; John 1:1). To know the Word is to know the Way of salvation if we so choose to walk in it. May we all choose wisely. *Feel free to ask me for my sources*  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:23) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... All things were made by Him... In Him was life... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us... (John 1:1, 3, 4, 14) The world is mine, and the fulness thereof. (Psalm 50:12) The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:8) FOR HE [CHRIST] SHALL GROW UP BEFORE HIM AS A TENDER PLANT, AND AS A ROOT OUT OF DRY GROUND: HE HATH NO FORM NOR COMELINESS; AND WHEN WE SHALL SEE HIM, THERE IS NO BEAUTY THAT WE SHOULD DESIRE HIM. (Isaiah 53:2)
Hmmm... Something does not add up. THE God of all came to dwell among men, EVERYTHING belongs to Him, He is rich beyond measure, yet there was no beauty that we should desire Him. There was nothing about Him that would make Him stand out. Had Christ come in the beauty of His description in Revelation, He would have been welcomed into palaces, His people may not have rejected Him as the Messiah! Instead, He was born in a manger and grew up under peasant circumstances in Nazareth. He truly gave up all in order to save men. But what was the point? There is little said about Christ's childhood years, but one thing we do know: "the child grew, and waxed strong in Spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him." (Luke 2:40) But Nazareth?? "The inhabitants of Nazareth were proverbial for their wickedness. The low estimate in which they were generally held is shown by Nathanael's question [regarding Christ], "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46). Jesus was placed where His character would be tested. It was necessary for Him to be constantly on guard in order to preserve His purity. He was subject to all the conflicts which we have to meet, that He might be an example to us in childhood, youth, and manhood." What hope this is for parents everywhere! In His humble circumstances in that wicked city, He was still able to develop a close relationship with His Father. And get this: "Every child may gain knowledge as Jesus did. As we try to become acquainted with our heavenly Father through His word, angels will draw near, our minds will be strengthened, our characters elevated and refined. We SHALL become more like our Saviour." This is a promise! But the condition must be met! We must surrender daily and truly give our all in getting to know our Father. We must seek the Lord in prayer, for "communion with God through prayer develops the mental and moral faculties, and the spiritual powers strenghten as we cultivate thoughts upon spiritual things." Thirty years Christ dwelt in wicked Nazareth, yet He never sinned. Yes, "He thought and spoke as a child; but no trace of sin marred the image of God within Him." And likewise it may be with us and our children, no matter what our situation. If poverty and difficult surroundings are your plight, take courage! "Temptation, poverty, adversity, is the very discipline needed to develop purity and firmness." We should be glad when temptation comes, for by it our faith is tried and patience worked, but we are to "let patience have her perfect work, that [we] may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1:2-4) But HERE IS WHERE IS GETS AMAZING: "NO child of humanity will EVER be called to live a holy life amid so fierce a conflict with temptation as was our Saviour." What love! "Christ risked all. For our redemption, heaven itself was imperiled." But, PRAISE GOD, He came out victorious! THIS is why He forsook His riches and embraced poverty with humble beginnings in the evil city of Nazareth. Had He come as King, we would have claimed that He had an unfair advantage. But, no, He wanted to show us that by following His example, we, too, can have the victory over sin. We, too, can live a life in which NO trace of sin will mar the image of God within us. But the condition must be met. We must walk humbly with our God. Will you walk with Him, today? ADMONITION TO PARENTS: "The more quiet and simple the life of the child, - the more free from artificial excitement, and the more in harmony with nature - the more favorable is it to the physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength." *Feel free to ask me for my sources*  Continuing from yesterday, I am following through with looking very closely at the character of Christ. I'll start with His love. Everyone loves to know that people love them, and who loves us more than the One who gave His life for us and the One who actually sent His only Son to do that for us. It is actually more profound than most people probably believe. John 10:17 puts it like this: Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again." Do you know what that means?? I didn't always know, but here it is more plainly: "My Father has so loved YOU that He even loves Me MORE for giving My life to redeem YOU. In becoming your Substitute and Surety, by surrendering My life, by taking YOUR liabilities, YOUR transgressions, I am endeared to My Father; for by My sacrifice, God can be just and yet the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." I had to read it over and over again to really grasp it, but it's quite a tear jerker when you really think about it. And it gets even better. Most people (me!) consider themselves just a number to God. "If I don't surrender fully....well...He'll be happy with the other person who is doing waaayyy more to spread the gospel than me. If I'm failing Him, He won't count it as that great a loss...." This couldn't be more wrong! This is His character according to Exodus 34:6, 7: "merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping MERCY for thousands, FORGIVING iniquity and transgression and sin [and ONLY AFTER all of these attributes of love have been rejected time and time again], and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children..." Still, He "is not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) Such a character could not count any person as "just a number." In fact, "the relationship between God and each soul is as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son." What great love! And it still gets better! "We were brought into existence because we were NEEDED." What a shame if we don't, if I don't fulfill my God given purpose simply because I failed to recognize what great love He has for me.
I totally didn't even really scratch the surface lol, so in the next study I'll continue to delve into God's love by looking at the life of Christ while on earth. At least that's my plan. Will see where God leads! :D I'll finish with this promise that I have to keep dwelling upon when I'm tempted to feel discouraged: "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all of your heart." Jeremiah 29:13 **Feel free to ask me for my sources**  I am a foolish virgin. The familiar parable in Matthew 25 points us to 2 classes of people who exist within God's church - some foolish, some wise but ALL virgins. That is, they had a pure faith or at least claimed to. Other commonalities include the lamps they carried and the capacity to carry oil within those lamps. The difference? Only 5 of them actually had oil in those vessels. So what are the foolish virgins destitute of? The lamps and burning wick, or light, represent the word of God (Psalm 119:105); the oil represents the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 4) . So both classes of people read God's word, know God's word. Both are waiting expectantly for the appearing of Christ and feel confident that they will be on the right side when the door to the celebration closes. They all appear to be good Christian people, but they lack the Heaven-borne power that comes by having the Holy Spirit present in the heart. When a challenge arises and faith is tried, the fruit that one with the Spirit embodies (Galatians 5:22, 23), proves to be missing. "The Spirit works upon man's heart, according to his desire and consent implanting in him a new nature; but the class represented by the foolish virgins have been content with a superficial work. They do not know God. They have not studied His character; they have not held communion with Him; therefore they do not know how to trust, how to look and live. Their service to God degenerates into a form. "They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness." (Eze. 33:31). And covetousness, according to Colossians 3:5, is idolatry. Something, even one little seemingly minute thing, stands between them and the Savior, and it is enough to bar them from His Kingdom.
Like I said, I am a foolish virgin, but I don't want to be. So I am going to take a journey in which I study Christ and His character feature by feature so that I may know Him and His Father, our Father. I mean really know them, for this is life eternal (John 17:3). And, as the foolish virgins unfortunately learned, only those who know Him as only His Spirit can help us know Him, will be permitted to spend eternity with Him. I'll try to post daily what I learn that urges me to grow to truly love Christ. You're welcome to join in the journey!  Hi, I'm Sasha, and I love brownies! I can say with 100% certainty that they are my ABSOLUTE favorite dessert. So you can imagine the dilemma I faced when I made the decision to stop eating chocolate. -__- I can't even remember the day I decided to stop eating chocolate, to be honest, but I know that it took a while for me to get to that point. Every week, every month, there was some change in my diet or lifestyle. But one could rest assured that if I went out to dinner with my friends or family and there were brownies on the menu..... You get the point.
So what's the big deal with chocolate??? Now would be a good time to throw in my disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor nor a dietician. I just know some things, but PLEASE don't take my word for it; do a bit of research of your own to verify. Ok, so I'm a bug-in-my-food-a-phobe (keep reading; it relates). And I don't think it is a secret that the the FDA allows a small percentage of....questionable non food items in chocolate. But not even that could stop me. I was addicted! Oh, right, chocolate also has caffeine in it. Hence my addiction. But I'm not here to give chocolate a bad rep. Instead, I'd like to share my experience with "frownies" (fake brownies), black bean carob brownies to be exact. These were my attempt at appeasing my recent brownie craving. Well, to make a short story shorter, I made them and hated them! In short, they didn't taste like black beans, nor did they taste like brownies. They were simply a bite sized carob mistake. Hence the name FROWNIES! As I reflected on this experience, I started to realize my true dilemma. I wanted to stop eating chocolate and my absolute favorite dessert, yet I wanted to replicate the very thing I was sacrificing for the sake of God and my body, His temple. I tried to have my cake and eat it, too (pun intended). But, like I said, I'm not trying to bash chocolate. Let's be frank. Chocolate tastes good. There is no substitute. There is no way to make a mouth watering brownie without it. Hmmm... So my mind got to thinking again. So many times, many of us try to be Christians. Or sometimes, some just try to be "good people". We look like a Christian at a glance, but one bite of our true character proves that we are far from the real thing. It's sad. It's repulsive. In fact, John writes about such "Christians" in Revelation 3. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Rev. 3:15, 16 Unfortunately, looking like a Christian is not enough. This is especially true for many long standing church goers. So many of us are missing the main ingredient. We're missing "the chocolate", to extend the metaphor. What is this chocolate? Matthew 1:21 says, And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. And Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. And John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. This "chocolate" is Jesus Christ. There is no other way. We can't be rich, we can't have flavor, we cannot satisfy the cravings of those looking to us for love, if we don't have Him abiding in our hearts. Without Him, we are nothing. Oh, how I long to have Jesus flowing through every ounce of my being! Not even brownies can satisfy that craving. Hi, I'm Sasha, and I love brownies. But I love my Savior even more. All I want is for Him to reign in my heart so that I can be what He desires me to be. Oh yeah, I tried those "frownies" again. They weren't perfect, but I think they deserve a name change, at least -- crownies -- but I'll let you be the judge. Black Bean Crownies Recipe 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained 2 flax eggs (1 T ground flax seeds mixed with 2.5 T water) 3 T melted coconut oil 1/2 C carob powder Heaping 1/4 C Roma 1/4 tsp sea salt 1 tsp pure vanilla extract Heaping 1/2 C raw sugar 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 2. Lightly grease standard size cupcake pan 3. Combine flax egg ingredients in food processor. Pulse to mix and allow to rest for 3-5 min. 4. Add remaining ingredients and purée until you achieve cake batter consistency (can add water if too thick) 5. Evenly distribute into cupcake pan 6. Bake for 30 min. 7. Allow to cool once removed from oven, BEFORE taking them out of pan. They are VERY delicate, so remove carefully with fork once cool. Pecans or walnuts are wonderful topping options you can add before baking. Store in airtight container for up to a few days. HEAVILY adapted from Minimalist Baker's Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies. Check her out; she's awesome! But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 -- Sasha |
AuthorHi, my name is Sasha Thomas and I'm a stay at home mom who enjoys sharing the wonders of healthy eating but more importantly, healthy living. Mind, Body and Soul! Archives
September 2016
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