Devotion to God

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Titus 2:11-14 NLT

 

This world wouldn’t be so evil if more people “turned from godless living and sinful pleasures” and lived with “wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God.” But then if the entire world were living that way there might be some who wouldn’t see a need for God—and we do need God. It would be like the cycle that the Jewish people went through where people turned to God, then they got mediocre or self centered and forgot God, went their own way and ended up in trouble again…so they turned to God again.   See 2 Chronicles for the details. We must be careful that we don’t repeat history even in a small way in our own hearts.

 

Training Tip – Discuss with your family what it means to be “devoted” or to have “devotion” particularly to God. To whom or what are you “devoted?”

Lord God, as You taught in Matthew 6:33…help us to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, knowing that You will provide all the things we need: food, clothing and shelter. You are an awesome God, worthy of our praise.

Friday’s Feast at the Lord’s Table

I recently fixed a salmon-tuna salad for some friends and they raved about it…it was an everything but the kitchen sink type creation—but it was tasty.

Salmon-Tuna-Avocado Salad - Serves 6-7 people

3 avocados, cut into small bite-sized pieces
3 cans fish (use what you have on hand—2 can tuna to one can salmon was good)
¼ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped cucumber
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
¾ cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp mirin
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 tsp dried dill
1Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1/3 cup pistachio nuts, chopped

Loose lettuce leaves 

Mix the fish, celery, cucumber and eggs. Mix together the mayo, vinegar, mirin, thyme and dill, then blend with the fish mixture and gently fold in the avocado pieces. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix the cranberries and nuts. Serve on lettuce leaves using the cranberry-nut mixture to garnish the salad. For more flavor you may wish to add a couple of teaspoons of capers, chopped red peppers or green olives. Enjoy with some fresh homemade bread, like cranberry-cheese tea bread or a savory herb bread.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.