Tag: christmas

Peace

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In Exodus 33, we read about Moses pitching his tent far away from everyone else. This tent is referred to as The Tent of Meeting. When he did this, the curiosity of the people of Israel peaked. They would watch with an expectation of what would happen. They knew that when Moses sought to meet with the Lord, the Lord was faithful to meet with Moses. And as they waited, they worshiped. Verse eleven says how the Lord spoke to Moses as one speaks to a friend, face to face.

His words to the Lord were, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight'” (Exodus 33:13 ESV). Moses had been tasked with leading all 4 million of God’s people, and was quick to bring his worry to the source of who could supply peace over his concern.

Moses knew his task and also knew God’s promise over him. Yet, he found himself uncertainty about how God would make a way. The Lord powerfully responded to Moses, saying, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14 ESV). Moses, tasked with an insurmountable job, responds with significant words, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15 ESV).

He could not bear the thought of going forward without the presence of the Lord; that is what he desired above all else. He knew that the peace he was desperate for could only be supplied by the presence of the Lord.
The Lord who was speaking and meeting with Moses in this passage is the pre-incarnate Jesus. Though He was yet to be born, He was present. Though His Advent was yet to come, He came. He came to supply Moses’ need for peace through His presence alone. He came to spend time with Moses like a faithful friend.

Feeling anxious and uncertain is a crux of the human experience. It is nothing new. It is an ancient struggle. But just as the Lord promised His presence and rest to Moses, He promises the same to you. The faithful shepherd that David writes about in Psalm 23, leading him to the rest, provision, protection, and the restoration of his soul, is the same shepherd that offered it to Moses. His presence was with Moses. It was with David. It is with you.

When your soul longs for peace, know you can go to the supplier of living water and be fully satisfied in Him. His face will shine toward you. He will offer you His peace to become yours. His presence is our peace. His presence is a promise. Seek Him. Go to your “tent of meeting” and worship while you wait for Him to meet you there. When Moses asked the Lord, who will you send to go with me? The Lord replied “I will go with you, Moses.” Praise be to God!

Lord, as we long for peace, will you remind us it is You alone our souls long for? Help us to remember the promise of your presence as we walk the path you have laid before us. Fill us with the peace only You can supply. Please turn your glorious face toward us and faithfully meet us as we seek to meet with you? Help us to worship while we wait, expectantly.

Hope

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Jeremiah is nicknamed “the weeping prophet”. He had a nature of being gloomy and downcast. If you have spent any time reading through the book penned by him, Lamentation, you will be quick to realize why that nickname is so fitting. His grief over God’s people is tangible. His heartache over them turning their heart from the covenant they made with Him is evident. Jeremiah had the burden of being a prophet when God’s people could not have cared less that they were God’s people. And yet Jeremiah found himself, as downcast as he was, not without hope.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:24

The word hope in this verse is the Hebrew word yāhal, meaning wait, hope, expect. Jeremiah was not only clinging to hope but was also staying with the expectation that the Lord would supply hope to him. Jeremiah couldn’t muster up the hope he needed to carry the weight of his weary soul; only the Lord could do that. And neither can you.
We wait with the expectation of hope in this advent season. But why is hope important? Why is it necessary? Why is the hope of Christ one of the promises we receive from Him?
Because the reality is that difficult times surround us or will soon surround us. They hit us like a colossal wave out of nowhere; circumstances leave us disoriented and confused about what happened and where to go next. Hope anchors us.

The security of our hope depends upon the security of what we have placed our hope in. If our hope source is faulty and fragile, then when the waves of life come to beat us down, they will carry us off. There will be nothing secure and steadfast anchoring us to a solid place. Sand and waves go hand in hand. Sand goes where the waves take it. A secure foundation of hope means our hope must be anchored to rock, not sand. The rock is solid and secure. It’s not being tossed about when waves come; it remains. Our hope must be anchored to the rock, which is Jesus.
It is okay to feel hopeless. I have been there more times than I can count. Feeling hopeless is not the measure of a follower of Christ. Feeling hopeless is the measure of being human. There is a difference between the reality of feeling hopeless and the knowledge that despite it, you are, in fact, not without hope. Those two things can exist at once. Feeling and knowing are two separate things.

Feeling hopeless does not mean that what we have placed our hope in is faulty; it means our ability to cling to it when life gets hard is faulty because we are human. Fixing your eyes on Jesus gets much more complicated when life spins out of control. But in the center of the storm, there is always peace to be found! And that peace is Christ. Cling to knowing that Christ is your hope, even when all hope feels lost. Wait with the expectation that He who supplied perfect hope to you once before will supply it once again!

Christmas Cinnamon Rolls | My Secret Ingredient |

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I don’t know about you, but it’s just not Christmas at our house unless there are cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It may be the yummy smell that fills our home when they are baking or the sugar rush you get from eating them, but cinnamon rolls were just made to be consumed on Christmas. And since the holiday is fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to share one of my family’s favorite holiday treats with you all. I do have to admit, this recipe is one that I cling tightly to. I don’t typically share the secret to my cinnamon rolls. However, I so appreciate how lovely you all have been supporting my new blog, that I just couldn’t keep the recipe to myself any longer! Enjoy.

I begin with my basic bread recipe. You can find that in my previous blog post “How To Make Perfect Dinner Rolls: A Step By Step Guide.” I will link it here for you! Follow the directions on that post until you get to step number six, and then begin here.

Step 6: Roll Out Your Dough

Once your dough has nicely doubled in size, gently place it onto a lightly floured surface to work. Press all of the air out of your dough ball, then grab your rolling pin. Lightly coat your rolling pin with flour and begin to roll out your dough into a rectangular shape. It does not need to be a perfect rectangle, just the basic shape will do. I roll mine out until it is about a quarter of an inch in depth. If you find that your dough is not cooperating after you de-gas it, let it rest for a few minutes before trying to roll it out.

Step 7: Adding The Secret Ingredient

You will not be using butter to make your cinnamon rolls. My secret to perfect cinnamon rolls that will stay fresh and moist for days is to use canned pumpkin puree! I promise, you will not be even be able taste the pumpkin. (NOTE: Do NOT use pumpkin pie filling).

Take 1 cup of pumpkin puree and spread it evenly over your rolled out dough. I like to use a small offset spatula, but a butter knife would work just fine also. (I always save the remaining from the can and mix it into a batch of cookies).

Step 8: Top With Brown Sugar And Cinnamon

Once the pumpkin puree is nice and evenly covering your dough, sprinkle 1/2 cup light brown sugar over it. Then, generously cover with ground cinnamon. I don’t measure out the cinnamon, I just make sure it has a really nice layer to it.

Step 9: Rolling Your Dough

Roll your dough into a tight spiral starting from the long side of your rectangle. I start in the middle and work my way to the end to make it easier. As you roll ,you might find that the middle gets thicker than the ends. When this happens to me, I pull on the dough a bit from the middle to help even it out. Once I roll it up completely, I give a gentle to pinch to the seam to seal it just a bit and make it easier to place in the pan.

Step 10: Slicing Your Cinnamon Rolls

My trick for making nice crisp looking cinnamon rolls is to use unflavored dental floss. I just slide it under and cross it at the top, then pull it through the dough. Before I begin slicing my actual cinnamon rolls, I cut off the ends. I find that they just don’t look nice and don’t have a lot of filling so I discard about a inch from each end. One I do that, I slice about 1 1/2 inch cinnamon rolls using the dental floss and place them into a lightly greased pan.

Step 11: The Second Rise

Once all of your cinnamon rolls are placed into your greased pan, it is time for the second rise. I place a tea towel gently over them and just let them sit for about 45 minutes or until they are nicely doubled in size. I always make sure to preheat my oven during this point as well. You will be baking them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.

Step 12: Time To Bake

Once they are nicely doubled in size, it is finally time to bake. You will bake for 10 -15 minutes depending on your oven. Once the cinnamon rolls are nicely golden brown it is time to take them out. To prevent them from getting tough be sure to remove them from the baking dish after about 5 minutes or so. I place mine into a large serving bowl covered with a tea towel until they are completely cooled.

And there you have it! Perfect Christmas cinnamon rolls. If you prefer to have icing with yours you can make some cream cheese frosting very easily by mixing together 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 4 cups powdered sugar. So simple, and so delicious!

Enjoy your yummy treat and have a very Merry Christmas ❤