Old Fashioned Gluten Free Banana Nut Cake

I remember my grandma's banana nut cake. Probably because all my life I have loved bananas!  Her cake was beautiful with that amazing banana flavor. When I went through my grandmother's recipes a few years ago at my aunt's house, I found this cake recipe.

  Instead of using a  frosting loaded with sugar I tried out something new.  My daughter showed me how to make a whipped coconut cream frosting.  And it really is a great complimentary flavor for this cake. Sprinkle some nuts on top and it looks sensational. 

     I made this for my brother and his wife's August birthdays, and he was wowed that it was our grandma's recipe!

Old Fashioned Gluten Free Banana Nut Cake

1.  Prepare dry ingredients - In a medium size bowl add:
(1)  Put 2 1/4 cups of gluten free flour into a bowl-- I usually use 2/3 cup brown rice flour, 2/3 cup sorghum flour, 2/3 cup tapioca flour, and 1/4 cup white rice flour.
(2)  Stir in 2 t baking powder, 1/4 t baking soda, and 1/2 t salt. 

2.  Mash bananas in a 1 cup measuring cup.

3.  Cream butter and sugar - In a mixing bowl: (For best results try to leave butter, eggs, and milk out at room temperature for about 20 minutes): 
(1)  Put in 1/2 cup of butter and beat it until it's fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
(2)  Gradually add 1 cup of sugar and beat for 6 minutes with a standard mixer and 7 minutes for a handheld mixer (This beating time comes from my Southern Living Cookbook).
(3)  Add 2 eggs ONE at a time, beating well after each egg is added.
(4)  Then add the mashed banana.
(5)  1/4 cup of milk and 1 T of vanilla and beat for a minute or so.

4. Combine the ingredients:   Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed butter/sugar/ banana mixture and beat after each addition until combined.  Then beat on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Stir in 1/2 - 1 cup of chopped walnuts.

5.  Bake the cakes:  
(1)  Grease and  flour two round 8" cake pans.  You can also put this in an 9 x 13 pan.
(2)  Divide the batter between pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35  minutes and check to see if  a toothpick comes out clean around 25 minutes. Make sure the pans don't touch each other. 
(3)   Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes and then loosen and put on a wire rack to cool.

6.  Prepare coconut cream frosting:  This frosting is made out of a can of chilled coconut cream. My daughter learned how to do it from a website and showed me.
(1)  Put the contents of a can of coconut cream into a medium size bowl.
(2)  Beat for 3-5 minutes until fluffy and light.
(3)  Slowly add 3-4 T of sugar a tablespoon at a time and 1 t vanilla and beat.
(4)  Beat until the cream is whipped just like whipped cream. Taste and see if it tastes right.

7.  Frosting the cake:
(1)  Take the cooled cakes and put one of them on a platter.
(2)  Spoon some of the frosting on the bottom and spread it with a spatula.
(3)  Take out the second cake and place it on top of the frosting.
(4) Use the remainder of the frosting to spread around the top and sides.  Sprinkle chopped walnuts over the top.

Other Gluten Free Baking & Desserts on This Blog:

Breads & Coffee Cakes: 
Gluten free & Low-fat Banana Bread    (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)
Celebrate Fall With Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread  (A friend's recipe)
Delicious Gluten Free Zucchini Bread (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
My Favorite Gluten Free Cranberry Nut Bread  (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
Claudia's Blueberry Coffee Cake (Made Gluten Free!)   (From a former neighbor)
Here's a Zucchini Bread with a Hawaiian Twist! Gluten Free Pineapple Zucchini Bread (From my Syre School Cookbook)

Cakes:
Gluten Free German Apple Cake   (From my grandmother)
You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free Carrot Cake (From my daughter's husband's grandma--whew)
Judi's Super Moist Gluten Free Chocolate Cake    (From a church friend)
Judi's Gluten Free Orange Chiffon Cake    (From a church friend)
Marilyn's Spectacular Gluten Free Oatmeal Cake   (My mother-in-law's specialty!)
The Best Gluten Free Black Bottom Cupcakes   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Delicious Gluten Free Rhubarb Cake   (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)
Grandma's Gluten Free Applesauce Cake   (From an Internet search--tastes like my grandma's!)
Old Fashioned Gluten Free Banana Cake   (From my grandma)
Rosie's Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake   (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)
Overwhelmed By Your Bumper Crop of Zucchini? Try Claudia's Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake!   (From my former neighbor Claudia of 12 years)

Decadent & Gluten Free German Chocolate Cake  (From my Come & Dine church cookbook)

Debbie's Delicious Hot Water GF Chocolate Cake   (From my Come & Dine cookbook)

Debbie's Less Oil Carrot Cake (Made Gluten Free!)   (From my Come & Dine cookbook)

Cookies:

The Ultimate Gluten Free Cowboy Oatmeal Cookies   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Mom's Go To For Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

The Best Gluten Free Recipe for Snickerdoodles    (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Gluten Free Rocky Road Brownies    (From a church friend)

Mark's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies - Made Gluten Free!   (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)

Judi's Gluten Free Oatmeal Craisin & Coconut Cookies (From a church friend)

Marie's Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies (Also Great Gluten Free!)   (My friend Marie's recipe)

Bebe's Gluten Free Whoopie Pies  (From my friend Debbie)

Cornbread & Rolls:

Beth's Amazing Gluten Free Cornbread   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Judi's Favorite Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits   (My friend Judi's sister's recipe)

Crisps & Pies:

Lena's Rhubarb Crunch (A crisp with a gluten free top and bottom crust!) (My daughter-in-law's mother. She's an amazing cook, which I think most of us moms become after a few years!)

Delicious Gluten Free Apple Crisp    (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Ginger's Outrageous Apple Pie    (From a church friend)

The BEST Lemon Meringue Pie with Mrs. Lauralicious Gluten Free Pie Crust  (Internet)

My Grandmother's Favorite Banana Cream Pie  (A recipe from my grandmother)

Granny's Lemon Cheesecake Squares   (From my friend Judi's granny)

Desserts with Fruit:
Sensational Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake   (From the back of Costco's organic sugar)

Terrific Gluten Free Strawberry & Peach Trifle  (Modified from an Internet search)
My Favorite Gluten Free Strawberry Cheesecake (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Just Like Grandma's (But Only Gluten Free) Blueberry Cobbler (My husband's grandma)
Gluten Free Lemony Rhubarb Bars (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Old Fashioned Strawberry Buckle (Made Gluten Free)   (A recipe I picked up from a berry farm)

Holiday Cookies & Baking:

Old Fashioned Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies  (Modified from back of the Libby's pumpkin can)
My Family's Favorite Gingerbread Cookies (Now Made Gluten Free!)  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
My Grandkids Favorite Gluten Free Peppermint Sugar Cookies  (From Syre School Cookbook)
Our Favorite Pumpkin Pie   (Modified from back of Libby's pumpkin can)
Perfect Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake   (From back of cream cheese box)
Gluten Free Polish Fruitcake  ( Modified from Internet search)
Old Fashioned Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Gluten Free Nordy Bars  ( From my Syre School Cookbook)
Grandma Pitcher's Old Fashioned Sandies (Made Gluten Free)  (My husband's grandma)
Make a Family Tradition & Make Your Own Fruitcake    (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Muffins:

My Favorite Banana Nut Muffins   (From my daughter-in-law's family reunion cookbook)
Gluten Free Tremendous Pumpkin Muffins   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Bursting with Blueberries Gluten Free Muffins   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Toni's Outrageous Gluten Free Corn Muffins    (From back of a Bob's Red Mill package)
Sassy Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

Puddings & Ice Cream: 

Dairy Free Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream (And other ice cream favorites!) (From searches)

Baked Coconut Pudding   (Something I worked out from my Aunt Sue's rice pudding recipe)

Tangy Lemon Pudding   (From my daughter-in-laws family reunion cookbook)

How Does God Get the One New Man in Colossians 3:10?

The Bible tells us that Christ died to produce one new man.  

       For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity.

      Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.  Ephesians 2:14-15

     It's obvious from these verses that the peace that Christ made on the cross is very powerful.  It blasted through centuries of Jewish religion and Gentile pagan living.  This peace dissolved all the differences between not only those two cultures but every kind of culture on the face of the earth today.  Now that's amazing peace!   

  It touched me In Chapter 32 of the Life-Study of Colossians that the peace Christ made on the cross produced the oneness between all the Lord's believers. 

      And in Colossians 3:10 we can see how strong Paul is to point out that in this new man that the Lord created on the cross there isn't any cultural distinctions:  And have put on the new man,…where there cannot be Greek (those who favored philosophical wisdom) and Jew (those who favored miraculous signs), circumcision (those who observed Jewish religious rituals) and uncircumcision, barbarian (an uncultured person), Scythian (considered the most barbarous), slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.  All the definitions in parentheses come from excerpts from the footnotes in the Recovery Version of the New Testament.

    For about ten chapters in the Life-Study of Colossians Witness Lee talks about how the people in Colosse were distracted by their cultures.  Paul uses the words deluded in Colossians 2:4 and defrauded in 2:18 to describe what had happened to them.  in Chapter 41 brother Lee gives a bit of a background and says Asia Minor, now present day Turkey, was actually a melting pot of cultures and eventually it pervaded the church life there.  

   The problem he says in chapter 33 is that by default we unconsciously live out the culture we're born in.  After we're saved, we begin to meet with other believers from different cultures.  And it's only a matter of time before our cultural opinions explode, and that is probably one of the reasons there might be so many divisions out there among believers.  But God desires to gain one new man, and I appreciated this clear explanation on why:

"However, God's eternal purpose is to have a corporate people to be the Body of Christ for His expression.  But if mankind remains divided by cultural opinions, how can God's purpose be carried out? It would be impossible. But according to Ephesians 2:15, Christ's death on the cross has abolished all the cultural ordinances and differences terminating them…This very peace, the peace of Christ, is what Paul refers to in Colossians 3:15 (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Colossians. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979, Print). 

   After reading this I looked up Colossians 3:15 in my Bible, I was like wow this arbitrating peace is really like our brother said for the Body of Christ:  And let the peace of Christ arbitrate in your hearts, to which also you were called in one Body,…" He then points that after this verse Paul talks about letting the word of Christ dwell in us, and later he speaks about persevering in prayer because all of these spiritual practices help swallow up  all of our cultural opinions that cause division in the Lord's Body.  

     As I was thinking about everything I've been reading these past few weeks on culture this sentence in Chapter 38 stood out to me:  "The goal of God's dispensation of Himself into us is the one new man (Page 322).   I think what touches me with these excerpts is that God's eternal purpose centers around His gaining this one new man.  

You can listen to excerpts from the Life-Study of Colossians given in 1979 on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee. 

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Colossians:

What is God's Will in Colossians 1:9?
What is the Stewardship of God in Colossians 1:25?
What is the Hope of Glory in Colossians 1:27?
What is the Mystery of God in Colossians 2:2? (Part 1)
What is the Mystery of Christ in Ephesians 5:32?   (Part 2)
What is the Greatest Mystery?
What is God's Intention for Your Life?
From the Life-Study of Colossians - What Happens When We Pray?
How Does God Get the One New Man in Colossians 3:10?
What Does Colossians 2:7 Say About Spiritual Growth? (Part 1)
What is the Goal of Spiritual Growth in Colossians 2:19?  (Part 2)
What is Christ Doing at the Right Hand of God in Colossians 3:2?

Beautiful Eggs Florentine

   Presentation matters.  Especially when it's for a birthday breakfast.   Eggs Florentine are not only delicious tasting but they also look pretty on your plate!


   I wanted a way to make poached eggs, and found this one by Rachel Ray.  I only made a few minor adjustments to it-- some fresh basil and cheese (of course).   

 

 Eggs Florentine

1.  Line  muffin tins with slices of turkey bacon.

2.  Prepare vegetables, mix together & add to muffin tins:
(1)  Chop 1 tomato
(2)  Rinse and chop 1 1/2 - 2 cups of spinach.
(3)  Slice 2-3 green onions.
(4)  1-2 T of freshly chopped basil
(5)  Place chopped vegetables into each muffin tin.

3.  Crack a raw egg over each muffin and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
     Or whisk the eggs together with some milk, salt, and pepper and poured it into muffin tins to make individual frittatas.

4.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Add some grated cheese and cook for 3-5 minutes more.

Other breakfast recipes on this blog:

Pancakes
Fantastic Gluten Free Blueberry Pancakes  (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
Gluten Free Banana Split Pancakes  (Another recipe from my daughter-in-law's family!)
Outstanding Gluten Free Oatmeal Pancakes  (From my Heritage School Cookbook, where I worked 3 1/2 years)
Yummy Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes (From About Gluten Free Cooking)
Crunchy & Delicious Potato Latkes  (From a flier in my sweet potato bag)
Tasty Gluten Free Swedish Pancakes    (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Protein Packed Gluten Free Ricotta Cheese Pancakes  (From my daughter-in-law's family)
Family Favorite Gluten Free Buttermilk Pancakes (From my daughter's home ec teacher)

Waffles, Crepes,  Fritters & Dutch Babies 
Gluten Free Gingerbread Waffles   (This is one I adapted from Rachel Ray)
Easy to Make Gluten Free Waffles  (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Incredible Gluten Free Crepes  (Mix of 2 recipes)
Old Fashioned Gluten Free Banana Fritters   (My grandmother's recipe!)
Amazing Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Dutch Baby  (From an Internet search)

Egg Dishes
Sweet Potato Hash With Poached Eggs  (From my daughter's Internet search)
Hash Brown Egg Casserole  (From my friend Lisa)
Mexican Migas Breakfast Casserole  (An adaptation from a recipe from an airport cookbook)
Baked Zucchini Frittata  (I picked this up from a Whidbey Island farmer's market)
Jan's Sausage & Vegetable Frittata  (From a friend who was a home ec teacher)
Huevos Rancheros - A Fantastic South of the Border Breakfast  (I learned this years ago!)
Beautiful Eggs Florentine (Adapted from an Internet search)

Cereals
 Honey Almond Granola   (From the Heritage School Cookbook)
 Gluten Free Baked Oatmeal   (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)

Breakfast Muffins
Banana Nutty Muffins   (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
Bursting with Blueberries Gluten Free Muffins  (From the Heritage School Cookbook)
Gluten Free Tremendous Pumpkin Muffins  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Scrumptious Gluten Free Blueberry Scones  (From Heritage School Cookbook)
Thanksgiving Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones  (From an Internet search)
Sassy Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)

From the Life-Study of Colossians - What Happens When We Pray?

     Why pray?  When I was growing up, prayer wasn't a fun thing to do, especially when I had to pray something like ten Our Fathers and five Hail Marys in penance for my sins.  For years prayer was mechanical and punitive. I really didn't know what it was about.  And on the wall outside my bedroom was the quote--Prayer Changes Things, but I didn't know how.  

   Even after I was saved, I didn't pray much.  Maybe before dinner but nothing personal. But when I was a sophomore in high school, I started talking to God.  Here's how it happened.  When I was at my grandparent's farm I used to like to walk along the fields, and at that time in my life I was going through some major life events. 

   With the sky spreading above me and the beauty of nature surrounding me, it just opened my heart, and one day I just started talking to God about everything. Looking back I don't even think I would have told anyone I was praying on those walks.  

    Since that time I have grown in both my understanding and experience of prayer.  There are a lot of lessons to learn here. Over the years I have learned a lot about prayer by simply praying with others. And I've been greatly helped by the writings of both Watchman Nee and Witness Lee on prayer.  A few outstanding books that come to mind are:  The Prayer Ministry of the Church and Lessons on Prayer.  And whenever a verse is on prayer in a particular Life-Study, Witness Lee  shares some practical experiences and fellowship (you'll see an example of that below). 

    I also like to journal some of my prayers. Several years ago my friend Patty's mom showed me a shelf filled with her prayer journals.  She had been a missionary in Madagascar when Patty was little, and her mother told me she liked to record her prayers and also any answers.  Years after that when a teacher gave me a journal as a gift, I started writing my prayers in it. 

         This week I read a striking section in Chapter 39 of the Life-Study of Colossians  on prayer. Colossians has a few verses on prayer; in chapter 4 Paul writes--"Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving." Anyway in this section Witness Lee wonderfully connects prayer in Colossians to living Christ in Philippians 1:19. This verse  says, "For to me to live is Christ…."  These excerpts come from pages 334-335:

"If you would experience Christ and live Him, we need to remain in an atmosphere of prayer.  Many of us can testify that by prayer we are brought into the spirit, where we are one with the Lord and take Him as our life.  This experience is so precious that when we are enjoying it, we do not want it to end….However, as soon as our time of prayer is over, much of the time we revert to our natural way of living.  We are no longer in an atmosphere of prayer. ...When we pray ourselves into the spirit, we are one with the Lord, we enjoy His presence, and we spontaneously live Him".  (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Colossians.  Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979, Print). 

A lot of times I only think of praying because I need  answers.  But I don't always see that bigger than that answer is prayer brings me into touch with the living Lord.  And like it says in this chapter, we spontaneously receive the grace to express the Lord in all the situations we're going through each day.  And by the way, a lot of my talking to the Lord I still do on my walks!  

I had to buy this when I found this at the book store
 because now I know He does!

You can listen to excerpts from the Life-Study of Colossians given in 1979 on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee. 

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Colossians:

Do You Know What God's Will is in Colossians 1:9?
What is the Stewardship of God in Colossians 1:25?
Have You Seen What the Hope of Glory is in Colossians 1:27?
From the Life-Study of Colossians - Have You Seen the Mystery of God Revealed in Colossians 2:2? (Part 1)
From the Life-Study of Colossians - Have You Seen the Mystery of Christ?   (Part 2)
From the Life-Study of Colossians - What is the Great Mystery in Ephesians & Colossians?
What is God's Intention for Your Life?
From the Life-Study of Colossians - What Happens When We Pray?
How Does God Get the One New Man in Colossians 3:10?
Do You Know How the Believers Grow in Colossians 2:7? (Part 1)
Do You Know What the Goal of Spiritual Growth is in Colossians 2:19?  (Part 2)
What is Christ Doing at the Right Hand of God in Colossians 3:2?

Other Related Posts on Prayer

From the Life-Study of Matthew:

What is the Crucial Significance of Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13?

Have You Seen the Battle Between the Two Kingdoms in Matthew 12:26-28?

From the Life-Study of Luke:

Why is Persistent Prayer Important in Luke 18:1-8?

From the Life-Study of Acts:

How is Acts a Book on God's Move & Prayer?

Seeing God's Move & Satan's Frustration in Acts 14

From the Life-Study of Galatians:

How Do We Practically Enjoy Grace in Galatians 5:18?

From the Life-Study of Ephesians:

How Do We Apply the Armor of God in Ephesians 6?

From the Life-Study of Philippians:

Why Does Paul Put Anxiety and Prayer Together in Philippians 4:6?

From the Life-Study of Colossians:

From the Life-Study of Colossians - What Happens When We Pray?

What is Christ Doing at the RIght Hand of God in Colossians 3:2?

From the Life-Study of 1 Timothy:

What is Paul's First Exhortation in 1 Timothy 2:1?

Other Posts:

Why Prayer Matters

Calling on the Lord Makes a Difference! 

Hearing God   (From Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 18 - Tell Him)

Great Cajun Cooking - Gluten Free Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya

Tried any new recipes lately?  This last weekend my daughter and I made jambalaya for the very first time!  We've heard of this southern recipe, but never had it before.  It's a lot of fun trying out a new recipe with someone who likes to cook!!   
We adapted this recipe from Real Simple.

We were just astounded at how good this dish was!  I think the Cajun sausage made everything else taste fantastic!

Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya - for 4

1.  Prepare the meat:
(1)  Rinse 1/2 pound of medium shrimp 
(2)  Chop up 1/2 - 1 pound of Cajun sausage (We bought the kind that was precooked, so we didn't have to cook it too long.)

2.  Prepare vegetables:
(1)  Dice 1 large onion
(2)  Dice 1 red pepper and 1 orange pepper (My daughter wanted to use these instead of the green pepper--your preference!)
(3)  Dice 2 stalks of celery
(4)  Mince 4 cloves of garlic
(5)  Chop 1/2 cup of parsley

3.  Prepare jambalaya:
(1) Put 2 T of coconut oil into a Dutch oven and heat it up on high, then add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes.
(2)  Remove shrimp and put in a covered bowl.
(3)  Then add the sausage and cook for 3-5 minutes.
(4)  Now reduce the heat to medium and add garlic, celery, bell peppers, and onion  Cook until tender about 5 more minutes. 

(5)  Then stir in 1  cup of long-grain rice, 1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (some people omit this), 2 cups of chicken broth, 1 t salt, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, 1 bay leaf, and half of the parsley.  
(6)  Reduce the heat to low, covered and simmer for 20 minutes until liquid is almost absorbed. Note: We liked having a little bit of liquid left in our bowls.
(7)  Stir in the shrimp and  the remainder of the parsley.
(8)  Cover it again, and cook about 3-5 minutes more. 

List of Other Fish Recipes on this Blog:

Our Best Gluten Free Recipes for Grilling Salmon

Crispy Gluten Free Oven Fried Fish Sticks

Asian:
Salmon & Vegetable Curry

Steamed Scallion Ginger Fish with Stir Fried Bok Choy

Fantastic Mahi & Vegetable Stir Fry

Make Your Own Sushi!
Tasty Gluten Free Sweet & Sour Fish

Mexican:
Rachel Ray's Recipe for the Best Fish Tacos  - My-Oh Mahi That's a Good Fish Taco!

What is God's Intention For Your Christian Life?

  What is God’s intention for your Christian life?  I heard a message this week that put it all together in one enlightening sentence.  All week long I’ve been thinking about that message which was a Wednesday night sharing on Living Stream Ministry’s website (If you click on the link Webcast Subscription Service, you can register.).  The speaker started off by asking three thought provoking questions:

What is the governing vision of the Bible?

 Has that governing vision been worked into you?         Are you directed by that vision?

Then he went on to give the best definition of this vision:   "The governing vision of the Bible is that God wants to work Himself in the Trinity into His chosen and redeemed people to saturate their entire being for the producing of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.” He said it’s a huge job for God to work Himself into millions of believers.  Think about it—we're not inanimate objects; we're living beings with a will!

 So in order to accomplish this he said the Triune God had a council for each one of us what sequence of events would be necessary to work Christ into us. Step back from your life and take a good look at it from this perspective. I was very touched by this particular statement: “God has a detailed arrangement for your whole life.”

Anyway on Friday I was reading on my break Chapter 36 of the Life-Study of Colossians, and after the opening paragraph on page 303 was the subtitle—God’s Intention.  I’m thinking to myself, wait a minute I just heard a message on Monday on this subject. 

“…we need to see that according to the full revelation in the Bible God’s intention is to work Himself into His chosen people. This intention is the focal point of the divine revelation in the Scriptures.  In order for God to work Himself into us, He must be triune….This indicates that the Father cannot be separated from the Son, nor the Son from the Father.

….Through the process of death and resurrection, the Son became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), the Holy Spirit who gives life.…As the all-inclusive Spirit, the Triune God is working Himself into our being. The deepest part of our being is the spirit, which is surrounded by the soul and the body. Christ as the processed, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is in our spirit, seeking to spread Himself into all the parts of our  soul and eventually to saturate our bodies to make us absolutely the same as He is.  When this takes place, our whole being will be permeated with Himself (Lee, Witness.  Life-Study of Colossians. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979, Print).

 I'm going to close this post with the prayer at the end of this chapter:  "We need to pray, 'Lord Jesus, I want to be taken over, occupied, and possessed by You  I want to give You my full capacity and all the room in my being.  Lord, I don't want to be limited or frustrated in my experience of You.'" (Page 311).

You can listen to excerpts from the Life-Study of Colossians given in 1979 on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee. 

Other Posts on the Life-Study of Colossians:

What is God's Will in Colossians 1:9?
What is the Stewardship of God in Colossians 1:25?
What is the Hope of Glory in Colossians 1:27?
What is the Mystery of God in Colossians 2:2? (Part 1)
What is the Mystery of Christ in Ephesians 5:32?   (Part 2)
What is the Greatest Mystery?
What is God's Intention for Your Life?
From the Life-Study of Colossians - What Happens When We Pray?
How Does God Get the One New Man in Colossians 3:10?
What Does Colossians 2:7 Say About Spiritual Growth? (Part 1)
What is the Goal of Spiritual Growth in Colossians 2:19?  (Part 2)
What is Christ Doing at the Right Hand of God in Colossians 3:2?