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June 4, 2009

The Circle Of Fear

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READ: 1 John 2:1-11

If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. —1 John 2:1

When the popular band The Eagles prepares a new song for concert, they sit in a circle with acoustic guitars and unamplified voices and rehearse their intricate vocals. They call this exercise “The Circle of Fear” because there is no place to hide and no way to conceal any errors they might make in the harmonies. That sense of absolute exposure for their mistakes is what makes this drill so frightening to them.

Apart from Christ, we would suffer a far worse kind of exposure before the God of all justice. If we had no advocate and no escape, we would also have no hope. But in Christ, the believer has a Defender who stands before the Father on our behalf. First John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” With our failings exposed, He takes our defense. Our Defender carries our relationship with God beyond a “circle of fear” to a fellowship of grace and truth.

Our challenge is to live lives of purity and integrity that honor our heavenly Father. Yet, when we do fail, we do not need to fear abandonment or ridicule from our Father. We have an Advocate who will carry us through.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.
Thy mercies how tender! How firm to the end!
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. —Grant

The One who died as our Substitute now lives as our Advocate.
Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14

Thank God for His Amazing Grace!

"The One who died as our Substitute now lives as our Advocate."

Good morning, Rus.

Thank you for bringing us this devotional every day.
We Appreciate you.

Have a bright, sunny Thursday.

Hug Your Cat Day

National Frozen Yogurt Day

Cheese Day

I decided to also serve wine.

Old Maid's Day

Applesauce Cake Day

Butter Rum-Glazed Applesauce Cake

Cake:
1/3 cup butter **
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
2 Tablespoons butter **
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon rum flavor
3-4 teaspoons half and half or milk

Heat oven to 350. Spray 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

In 1-1/2 quart saucepan, melt 1/3 cup butter over medium heat. Cook 2 to 2-1/2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butter just begins to brown. Immediately remove from heat. Stir in granulated sugar, applesauce and vanilla.

In large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in applesauce mixture. Pour into pan.

Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the glaze: In 1-1/2 quart saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat; cook about 3 minutes or until butter just begins to brown. Immediately removed from heat. Stir in remaining glaze ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Pour over warm cake. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm.

**it is important to use butter in this recipe as it is the browned butter that gives this cake the wonderful flavor! Please don't substitute margarine.....it won't be the same!

“Apart from Christ, we would suffer a far worse kind of exposure before the God of all justice. If we had no advocate and no escape, we would also have no hope. But in Christ, the believer has a Defender who stands before the Father on our behalf. First John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” With our failings exposed, He takes our defense. Our Defender carries our relationship with God beyond a “circle of fear” to a fellowship of grace and truth.”
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May God help us in our day. Amen.