Servant Sisters Cooking
Good evening sister saints!
How are you doing in your area of the world? Are you keeping watch, being salt, ready to give an answer, obediently following His word? Let's all encourage one another on this path, one day at a time, until the day we go home.
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 7:9-17)
Praise the Lord for all His promises that we see in His Word. Let us live lives worthy of calling ourselves by His name. In saying that, one area of obedience for a woman is to be a helper and servant to others. So tonight I wanted to focus just a bit on a Titus 2 area...cooking and providing food for others whether it be for a husband, children, family whoever. It's such a good and godly thing, to cook for someone.
We see food in the bible as being an intimate and joyous thing done among those who love one another. See Matthew 26 in the Lord's supper, the festivals that God commanded (Old Testament not required for today), the feasts they had, in Acts 2 they broke bread daily house to house and the other areas we see them eating in fellowship together.
Cooking is a big deal because we do it a lot, every single day, amen sisters? I wonder how many of you get tired of doing it so often....? There are times it can get that way especially after a long hard day and you don't have much energy left. But we should set that aside and be thankful for food to cook. We should also prepare ahead for such days shouldn't we?
What prompted this post was a picture from a brother who has nobody to cook for him. He sent a picture of his groceries that he'd just purchased.
This is what he'll eat for the next several days. :-) It made me smile but yet it also made me thankful that I'm capable (and have the desire) of making not only nourishing foods but that which is good tasting. Yes, men can learn to cook but most have no desire nor the skill / ambition to do it and would rather just get something in their stomach than worry about cooking. That's fine but there is something very comforting and loving about serving up a meal to someone and that person being very thankful.
I love this...
And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. (Genesis 18:1-8)
And this....
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. (Luke 15:20-24)
How many of you have cooked a meal for someone who was very hungry and they heartily ate it all, thanking you all the while with great enthusiasm? (This isn't about getting accolades and praise, I'm trying to make the point of how thankful the person is on the receiving end.) We may take good food and cooking for granted because we can whip it up without much thought and we get a satisfaction from a job well done as well as the opportunity to thank the Lord for providing...and...to bless someone else.
Okay, how about this. You have a flat tire on the highway and you are struggling to get the bad one off and although you are making progress, the nuts are rusted and you are having a very hard time with it. Then a police officer stops, effortlessly pops the tire off, puts the spare on and sends you on your way in a matter of minutes. You'd be so grateful and thankful that he knew how to do it and so quickly. That's often what men think of women who cook for them and of course other women know what goes into cooking and they greatly appreciate benefiting from the blessing of another cook.
So I'm hoping to add another dimension to your Titus 2 obedience in the area of cooking and that is to show you how greatly appreciated it is. Here's one that will make you smile. I used to be a bit offended when I would cook something and it would be gobbled up in a matter of minutes. (This was before I was a follower of Christ.) I would think, 'Wow, I spent all that time making it and it just disappeared like nobody appreciated it.' Well really....the fact of the matter is, just because someone doesn't make a big deal about it or sit and savor it like someone else would, doesn't mean they don't appreciate or like it.
And yes, of course someone could just take our cooking for granted but that's not really our business is it, because we're to be thankful for all things and what they do is their business. Also...It's our reasonable service to the Lord sisters. We are expected to be obedient in this area so we shouldn't expect praise and thanks as it should be something we do as unto Him in our every day lives.
And on the subject, it's even better when we can provide good foods on a frugal and wise budget. Speaking of, we stopped at a couple discount dent and bent stores and I made some videos for you. Maybe you'll enjoy walking through with us...
So anyway sisters, rejoice that you have this awesome job of cooking whether it's just for you or for many people....do it as unto the Lord and give thanks for it all:-) That's about it for today, just some simple encouragement for you as you go about your day as a godly Titus 2 woman, separated from the ways of the world yet in the world to shine your light.
Brother Jim has a teaching on 'why does God allow suffering', you can see that HERE.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: [9] Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-)
Let us magnify the Lord in our obedient lives sisters, living to be kind and loving servants to those in our lives, showing the love of Christ.
Blessings, peace and grace,
Sister Deb