How Does Psalm 8 Show Us God's Purpose in Creating Man?

     Don't you think the beauty that surrounds us should make us think who created this? In Psalm 8 David took that question up another level and asked God why did you create man? I sort of feel that God set it up like this because when David looked up at the night sky that was studded with stars it obviously evoked wonder within him. 

A friend sent this picture to me.

When I see Your heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is mortal man that You remember him, and the son of man, that You visit him?  Psalm 8:3-4

I read a real thought-provoking Life-Study on Psalm 8; in chapter 5 Witness Lee brings God's creation of man in Genesis 1 together with Psalm 8.   In Genesis 1:26-27 it's clear that God wanted man to express Him with His image and represent Him with His dominion. 

     Long before the fall that occurred in Genesis 3 Satan had rebelled and had been cast by God to the earth  (These are reference verses I picked up from the Life-Study-- Isaiah14:12-16; Ezekiel 28:13-16).  It may have looked as if Satan had won the day. Centuries passed between Genesis and David's writing of this psalm.  It may have even looked like God had given up, but on page 62-63 I learned this wasn't so:  

"Three portions of the Word speak of the same thing concerning man--Genesis 1, Psalm 8, and Hebrews 2. What is revealed in Psalm 8 was first spoken of in Genesis 1. Genesis 1 says that man was commissioned with the authority to rule over all the created things (vv. 26, 28). Psalm 8 repeats this. Then in Hebrews 2:6-8 Paul quotes Psalm 8. These three portions of the Word show that man has been in three stages: created in Genesis 1, fallen in Psalm 8, and redeemed in Hebrews 2....Man is the central object of God in His creation for the accomplishment of His economy to fulfill His heart's desire" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Psalms. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1993, Print).

  In this chapter I learned that God didn't give up His purpose that man would have dominion over every created thing including His enemy.  Through this psalm David shares in beautiful poetry God's intention of becoming incarnated to visit man and redeem him. And it amazes me that this psalm also shows us that it's through the praise of God's redeemed people that the enemy's mouth is shut up! 

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!!!

 

I really like this poster!   I heard on a documentary that if the earth wasn't located on one of the outside arms of our galaxy, all we would see at night would be interstellar dust.  It really makes me feel that God positioned the earth in such a way that we could see so many stars and planets so that we would start asking questions that would lead us to faith in God!!

 

 

 

 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Studies of Psalms on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Study of Psalms and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.


Others Posts on the Life-Study of Psalms:

What is the Focus of the Psalms?
How Does Psalm 8 Show Us God's Purpose in Creating Man?
Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 1 of 2
Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 2 of 2
Why is God's House Important in Psalms 25 -41?
Seeing the Divine Romance in Psalm 45
What Did the Psalmist Perceive in Psalm 73?
What are the Highways to Zion in Psalm 84?
Why Did the Psalmist Delight in God's Law in Psalm 119?



A Northwest Salad Favorite - Cobb Salad With Blackened Salmon & Shrimp

In July my husband and I went to a favorite waterfront restaurant  for a family birthday.  My choices were limited, so the cobb salad on the menu caught my eye. When my salad arrived, it was beautiful and tasted terrific. 

   This summer my salad garden was growing so much lettuce that I've made main dish salads at least twice a week!  So the  week after that dinner, I bought some salmon so I could see if I could make some blackened salmon.  I did a Google and came up with a pretty good recipe. It was so good! Then a few weeks later I made this salad again for some friends.  Tasty!!

Cobb Salad with Blackened Salmon & Shrimp  - For 4

1.  Prepare vegetables - Put each in an individual container until assembling:

My salad garden

(1)  Wash salad greens and spin. 
(2)  Grate 1 carrot. 
(3)  Chop 1 cucumber. 
(4)  Slice 2-3 green onions.

2.  Boil 3-4 eggs.  When cool, chop them up and put them in a container.

3.  Prepare blackened salmon - Look up your favorite blackened salmon recipe:
(1)  Rinse salmon
(2)  Sprinkle with blackened seasoning.
(3)  Brush flesh side with about 1 tablespoon of melted butter. When the pan is hot, place salmon flesh side down and let it cook for 2-5 minutes.
(4)  Brush skin side with butter and then flip and let it cook until the salmon flakes. (I put the lid on my pan to let it steam 1 1/2 minutes to finish the cooking.)
(5)  When it cools down, cut it into strips.

4.  Assemble Salads - Take out as many salad bowls as you need.
(1)  Fill each bowl with salad greens.
(2)  Arrange the vegetables in little piles in each bowl.
(3)  Arrange the salmon and shrimp.
(4)  Arrange the chopped eggs.
(5)  Put a bit of Gorgonzola or feta cheese in a pile.

Serve with ranch or green goddess dressing.

List of Other Salads on This Blog:

Greens/cabbage:
Make it Yourself Thai Peanut Dressing for Mandarin Salad  (My friend Judi's recipe)
KFC Copycat Cole Slaw   (A friend shared this with me)
Belizean Coleslaw    (From Internet search)
Antioxidant Rich Kale Super Salad  (A copycat from a deli, dressing from Syre School Cookbook)

Main Dish Salads
Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (A remake from something I ate at a restaurant)

Mexican Grilled Salmon & Mango Salad   (From a Betty Crocker summer cookbook)
Jackson Square Shrimp Salad   (From my Syre School cookbook)

Pasta & Quinoa:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad  (Something I picked up over 20 years ago!)
Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls   (From an Internet search)
Michelle's Greek Quinoa Salad   (My foodie daughter's own delicious creation!)
 Another Great Salad with Quinoa - Janah's  Original Quinoa, Cranberry & Feta Salad  (a recipe my daughter came up with)

Vegetable:
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad   (My son-in-law's recipe)

Grandma's Perfect Potato Salad   (Family recipe)
Rose's Refreshing Cucumber Salad   (From a Chinese friend)
A Great BBQ side Salad - Curried Pea Salad  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)

Dot's Easy Bean Salad  (Recipe from an  83 yr old friend of my father's)
A Great Summer Side - Broccoli Salad  (From my Come & Dine cookbook)

Fruit:
Grandma Marilyn's Frozen Fruit Salad  (My mother-in-law's recipe)

What's the Focus of the Psalms?

      Who doesn’t love the Psalms?   I’ve turned to them many times for encouragement and comfort. I’ve always liked Psalms honesty; David and other writers told it like it was with any pretense.   But I learned as I started reading the Life-Study of the Psalms that not all of the Psalms are God’s sentiments; some are a mixture of some of the writer's  human concepts and views.

 

My daughter and children in Arizona

     In chapters 3 and 4 I found Witness Lee's explanation  about what was going on in the Psalms really helpful. These excerpts are   from page 41 and 44 of chapter 4:

 

“Suppose that we were the arrangers of the 150 psalms.  Which Psalm would we place as the first one? The Lord’s way is the best way.  He put Psalm 1 first where we see the law in man’s appreciation.  Then we see Christ in God’s economy in Psalm 2....David, who appreciated the law with its keeper in Psalm 1, murdered Uriah and robbed him of his wife (2 Samuel 11:14-27)....In his great sin, however, he broke all the last five commandments, which require men to have virtues expressing God's divine attributes. Did David, the one who wrote Psalm 1, keep the law? I do not believe that many readers of the Psalms ever thought about this. They agreed with David's exaltation of the law in Psalm 1. The greatest teacher in the New Testament, Paul told us that no flesh can be justified by keeping the law (Gal. 2:16; 3:11). It is impossible for fallen man to keep the law (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of the Psalms. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1993, Print).

 

      So instead of boasting in himself  or the law,  he said David should have been repenting. Because of his human concepts, not all of David’s sentiments were spot on.  David didn’t have the book of Romans and Galatians to explain to him that fallen mankind can't keep God’s law.  In Galatians 2:16 Paul says, "Knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,...."  It was neat to learn that in the Psalms it's important  to see that Christ is the center and focus of the entire Bible not the law.

 

   You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Studies of Psalms on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Study of Psalms and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.


Others Posts on the Life-Study of Psalms:

What is the Focus of the Psalms?
How Does Psalm 8 Show Us God's Purpose in Creating Man?
Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 1 of 2
Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 2 of 2
Why is God's House Important in Psalms 25 -41?
Seeing the Divine Romance in Psalm 45
What Did the Psalmist Perceive in Psalm 73?
What are the Highways to Zion in Psalm 84?
Why Did the Psalmist Delight in God's Law in Psalm 119?
  

Jer's Authentic Pasta Aioli with Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella

 

When you have a son-in-law who's half Italian, you pay attention when they're cooking pasta!  In June we were invited over for dinner, and he was making Pasta Aioli with Tomatoes, Basil, and fresh mozzarella. Of course, he wasn't using gluten free pasta, but that's an easy adjustment to make! 

 

     I've made another one of his aioli recipes and you can see it below. It was so yummy;  I knew this one would be great, too.  When the bowls were served up, I could tell by the way everyone chowed down that it was fantastic!!

 

 

 Pasta Aioli with Tomato, Basil and  Mozzarella

 

 

1.  Prepare vegetables & cheese:

 (1)  Chop up one .66 oz. container of basil or pull some out of your herb garden like I usually do in the summer.

(2)  Quarter  1 cup of grape tomatoes.

(3)  Mince 6 cloves of garlic.

(4)  Cube  8 oz. of fresh mozzarella or more.

 

2. Prepare noodles: Cook 1 package of Trader Joe's brown rice penne pasta according to instructions. Try to cook it so that they're done just about when you're ready to mix in the aioli and vegetables. When done, drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid or more for adding at the end if necessary.

 

3.  Meanwhile prepare the aioli - In a small saucepan put:

(1)  3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and warm up on medium high.

(2)  Stir in  the 6 cloves  of minced garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes if you like a bit of spicy heat. Then bring the heat down to a simmer.

(2)  Let it simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes being careful not to overcook the garlic so it doesn't burn and become bitter.

(3)   Jer said you can add  a bit of fresh basil--like half a tablespoon chopped up.

 

4. Assembling the pasta - Into the pan of pasta:

(1)  Then stir in the warmed oil and garlic.

(2)  Then stir in the vegetables and mozzarella

(3)   If the pasta needs it, add 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

.
Other Italian & Greek Pasta Recipes on This Blog:

Italian & Greek Chicken:
Incredible Gluten Free Chicken Souvlaki   (My son-in-law's marinade recipe)
Chicken Cacciatore with Peppers & Mushrooms  (My mother-in-law)
You've Got to Try This Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan!  (From my church cook book, Come & Dine)
My Son-in-Law's Own Recipe For Greek Chicken   (Family recipe)

Pasta Cassroles:
The Best Gluten Free Lasagna   (From my church Come & Dine cookbook)
Delicious Gluten Free Chicken Tetrazzini     (From my daughter-in-law's family cookbook)
Jan's Classic  Baked Spaghetti Casserole

 Classic Pastas:
My Mom's Splendiferous Gluten Free Spaghetti  (My mother's amazing sauce!)
Ginger's Family Favorite Gluten Free Beef Stroganof   (From my friend Ginger)
Gluten Free Pasta Aioli - Sausage & Vegetable Penne  (From my daughter and son-in-law)
Incredible Gluten Free Pasta Primavera     (Combination of two Internet searches)
Fantastic Gluten Free Salmon Fettucine 
Easy to Make Gluten Free Shrimp Linguini   (From my Syre School Cookbook)
Carmine's Authentic Italian Pasta Sauce  (From my son-in-law's father who was born in Italy)

Mac & Cheeses
Fantastic Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese  (Modified from Heritage & Internet search)
Gluten Free Comfort Food - Downright Delicious Gluten Free Tuna Noodle Casserole  (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Northwest Crab Mac & Cheese  - From a 5th grade friend's recipe project
Whidbey Island Crab & Noodle Bake - A classy crab mac & cheese recipe from my mother-in-law

Pizza
Judi's Gluten Free Crazy Crust Pizza -  Spinach, Artichoke & Feta Pizza (From a friend)

Soups:
This is the Best Minestrone Soup!  (From my son's Internet search and tweaking)
Mouth Watering Italian Turkey Sausage Soup   (This is  my friend Debbie's recipe)

Salads:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad   (I've been making this salad for over 20 years!)
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad  (From my son-in-law who is half Italian)
Michelle's Greek Quinoa Salad   (My daughter came up with this way to use quinoa)

From the Life-Study of Job - What was God's Intention with Job?

     If you look at the book of Job, you can see that it took a really long time for all of his friends to run out of things to say! Then it was God's turn. He obviously wasn't too impressed with how the conversation was going because the first thing He asked Job was:  "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38:2) It's obvious that nobody got what God was doing in Job's heart and life through all the devastating losses that God had permitted.

Hiking with my daughter

     I've always loved reading chapters 38 and 39 of Job. God asks Job question after question concerning the mysteries of creation with the specific purpose of showing Job how little he really knew. And because of that could he really be so sure that he knew why God had allowed so many unusual sufferings to befall him? It's almost like God was whittling him down to size--so you think you can tell Me not to do something?  God knew the whole time what He was doing. 

     I really like chapter 31 of the Life-Study of Job where Witness Lee points out God's intention in appearing to Job; this excerpt is on pages 161-163:

"God's intention in appearing to Job was to expose him, to show him that he really was nothing....Thus, God questioned Job again and again in order to silence him....Job was in the realm of building up something that was wrong. He was building up himself in his perfection, uprightness, and integrity. He thought that he was absolutely right....God in His eternal economy has no desire to build up these things. Rather, He considers all these things as frustrations and intends to strip them away from us, consuming them bit by bit. When everything is stripped away, then you will see God, and He will attract you to receive Him....As a result of this transformation, you will be a person reflecting God, that is expressing Him and dispensing Him to others. This was God's intention with Job, and this is His intention with us today" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Job. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, Print 1993).

     In this chapter Witness Lee also explains that Job's seeing God (Job 42:5) transformed him, and that this is similar to the truth Paul brings out in 2 Corinthians 3:18. In these chapters he states that because the divine revelation is progressive, God couldn't explain too much to Job.   To really get the book of Job he said you have to couple it with what the Lord and the apostles taught in the New Testament such as 2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16:  

We are pressed on every side, yet not straightened;

perplexed, yet not unto despair;

 pursued, yet not forsaken;

 smitten down, yet not destroyed;

 always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus

 that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.

 For we who live are always delivered unto death

[figuratively like hard situations] for Jesus' sake

that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

...Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying,

yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is for the moment,

works for us more and more exceedingly an

eternal weight of glory:
 

 ~1901 American Standard Version

 

 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of Job on the  Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of Job and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

From the Life-Study of Job - Have you Ever Asked God Why?

Garrett's Peppy Cauliflower Rice

     We had lunch at a friend's house when my son Jeremy came to visit.  And not just any friend; this guy used to be a chef.  And so it's always exciting to be invited especially if Garrett is manning the grill!   On the last post I wrote up Jeremy's BBQ thigh rub recipe.  This cauliflower rice would make a great non-carb complement for that.  

I took this while Garrett was cooking it up.

      When we got there Garrett told me he was smoking up some tri-tip.  I brought along a green salad, and he made two other delicious side salads.  

      When we walked in the door,  Garrett was flipping some cauliflower rice in the air, just like you see when you're at Anthony's or some other place where they let you see the chefs at work. Because  over 90% of the recipes on this blog are from friends and family, church cookbooks and friends and friends, I was taking notes and asking questions!  This was so tasty.

Garrett's Peppy Cauliflower Rice



1.  Wash a small head of cauliflower.  

2.  Chop it up to the texture that you would like for serving.

3.  Put some butter and oil about 2-3 tablespoons into a large stainless pan.

4.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic salt over the caulflower while it's sautéing.
 

5.  Mince up some fresh herbs:  Garrrett had a container in his kitchen of rosemary, thyme, and oregano.  It looked like he had about 3 to 4 tablespoons on his cutting board.  

6.  Right before the cauliflower rice was done, he sprinkled it with red pepper flakes.  I would add that to your own liking because his had a bite!  Then he quickly added the  fresh herbs, flipped it a few times and then it was ready!  

 

From the Life-Study of Job - Have You Ever Asked God Why?

     Have you ever asked yourself what's really going on in the book of Job?  Is it just about a man who loses almost everything and a God who seems a bit detached and uncaring when calamities strike?  On the surface, the book of Job may look like that. This book may cause you to  question God's motives with His people. And you're on the right track if you do!  Keep reading, and you'll find out what God was really up to with Job. 

     I'm on my sixth time reading through the Life-Study of Job, and it is one of my very favorites!  Here's the reason--if you don't understand what God is doing when heart-rending situations hit you, it could cause catastrophic damage to your Christian life. 

     I know what I'm talking about here, and if you're not careful you become like one of Job's friends thinking maybe God's angry with you, or maybe you didn't do something you were supposed to  do and God is punishing you for it. I've been there, I've done that, and sometimes I still fall back into that thought pattern!  And the Life-Study of Job has been like a life-line to me, and that's why I've read it so many times. 

    If you remotely know what I'm talking about here, and you've gotten stuck asking God why, you have to read this Life-Study--it will encourage you so much!!!  Whenever I read these opening chapters, I'm in awe at what Witness Lee saw in this book.  The following excerpts come from pages 7, 10-11, 34-35:

The subject of the book of Job is the purpose of God's dealing with His holy one. Ethically speaking Job was very good....Only God knew that Job had a need, that he was short of God.  Because of His loving concern for Job, God held a council in the heavens to talk about Job....The book of Job shows us that God, through Satan as an ugly tool, was tearing Job down by two ways: stripping and consuming....God's stripping and consuming were exercised over Job to tear Job down that God might have a base and a way to rebuild Job with God Himself that He might become a God-man (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Job. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1993).

So although God does bait Satan to take a closer look at Job, it's not because God is playing with him like a pawn. Job was so humanly perfect and upright, but it didn't have anything to do with God. 

And God couldn't let that situation persist because all men were created to contain and express God. It has helped me so much to see that God touches our lives because we are SHORT of His expression.  And it is because of His love that He does touch us.  He can't leave us like that. 

     God lovingly arranges environments and situations that may or may not devastate us just like He did with Job.  And when we're screaming why and unloading all our angst, God is accomplishing His stripping and consuming work.  Have you seen it in your own life?  I know I have. Through all these talks with God, He gets the crack that He was after so He can seep more of His divine life into us.  Over and over things happen and sometimes just like with Job they come one after another.  But this Life-Study has helped me to see we have to  compare the book of Job with what the New Testament says so we know where God is going with everything. 

      In Romans 8:29 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 we get a window of what God is doing in our lives--He's conforming us to the image of His Son!!!  This is important because God has to fulfill His initial purpose in creating man that He stated in Genesis 1:26.  God needs to get a people who express Him and represent Him on this earth. Not always easy or pretty because God is working with people who have been wrecked by the fall.  But because He's God, He knows how to accomplish His purpose! 

Here's a song that has ministered to my heart many times when I've been in situations asking God Why.  It's called There are Times (click on the song title) and it's on a CD put out by New York City Young People.

    And far from being detached from our lives, God is actually lovingly overseeing everything that comes into our lives, and He's working like Romans 8:28 says everything together for our ultimate good and that good in God's eyes is that we express His Son! 

 You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of Job on the  Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of Job and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

From the Life-Study of Job - Have you Ever Asked God Why?
From the Life-Study of Job - What Was God's Intention With Job?