VBSFAWTG&G 2023 Day 3
FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK, THERE WILL BE THIS INTRO FOR ANYONE JOINING IN FOR THE FIRST TIME….IF YOU HAVE BEEN HERE FOR THE SERIES, SCROLL ON DOWN, FRIENDS, FOR DAY 3
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Welcome to the 2023 VBSFAWTG&G.
If you are new to the Journey, every summer I revisit my love for Vacation Bible School along with my aversion to the obligatory craft portion, and provide this week of Vacation Bible School For Adults Without the Glue and Glitter.
This year’s series flows from a page in my beloved Valley of Vision prayer book, page 209 and is part of a prayer for The Family.
The portion that generated this year’s VBSFAWTG&G is:
Help me to hate and forsake every false way,
to be attentive to my condition and character,
to bridle my tongue,
to keep my heart with all diligence,
to watch and pray against temptation ,
to mortify sin,
to be concerned for the salvation of others.
The Valley of Vision, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975 collected by Arthur Bennett, page 209
I had made a note in the margins many years ago with a list of my “temptations”; the things that draw me away from a deeper and purer faith. The things that occupy me and ruin my condition and character, cause my tongue and heart to sin, interfere with my prayers and eclipse my concern for the salvation of others.
As it turns out, there are five and that is exactly the number of days we have for VBS. So we will be tackling one each day, hopefully outlining what it looks like in real time, some Scriptures to speak into the temptation and some steps to practice fighting it.
I would guess I am not alone in these five temptations. The succumbing to them can manifest in a variety of sinful and selfish and damage-to-self and to others ways, but the root issues are common to all people I believe.
The five temptations are:
Discouragement
Unbelief
Rejection
Unforgiveness
Bitterness
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Good morning and welcome back.
If you remember what I told you about the inspiration for this series, it comes from a list I made in the margins of my prayer book quite a number of years ago. In some ways, I wish I had expanded on the thoughts I was having that day.
It’s not that I don’t understand what made me land on these five things as “temptations”, I just wonder what was being manifested in my life during the season that I first jotted them down.
Rejection is our topic today and as I pondered how this proves a snare to my soul and spirit and faith walk, I keep thinking that it is more the fear of or anticipation of being rejected that proves a temptation to me.
Being rejected, in my own definition, is having someone weigh and measure me in mind or heart and deciding I am unnecessary, unwanted, found to be without worth or value, dismissed, discarded and ousted from any and all circles of relevance to that individual or group.
And for someone like me, for whom all things matter much, this is a dead zone that strikes fear and hopelessness in my heart.
Rejection goes beyond not being liked or even hated.
Rejection nullifies the existence and purpose of another in some arena that is now impossible to be included in.
But the circumstances that might lead to me being rejected are only a temptation.
The sin is when I succumb to the sense that were I to be rejected by an individual or group, then that becomes my identity.
The sin comes when I attempt to alter what I believe and the core of who I am in order to be accepted.
The sin comes when I forget that being loved and accepted by God is not a consolation prize when I am rejected by humans, nor does it dim in power when I am accepted and loved by any person.
The Scriptures that I focus on to bolster me from falling prey to a spirit of rejection are ones I call “the great Belonging”.
Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.NLT Ephesians 1:4-5
This passage is filled with the stability of a choice to accept us before the beginning of all things. We are adopted into His family when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior. He WANTED to do this and it gives him JOY to do so.
We have been accepted, not rejected by the only One who really matters.
This is the bedrock of my identity.
Every other place or person who accepts me is simply icing on the cake.
For me, this is a daily practice of reminding myself that I belong to Him and nothing else that happens that day can change my status. I am safe, held, loved and I belong, based on His choice, not my behavior.
And out of the peace that comes from this knowledge, I can love even when I am not loved back.
Oh, the temptation will arise. Trust me.
I get my feelings hurt, I harbor resentment at times for how my thoughts, ideas, words, feelings or person was unwanted/rejected…but always, always, I will land on going back to the foundation of my identity and I will rest there, heal, forgive and move on.
For a practical activity I can highly recommend a daily reading of Ephesians 1-3 for a series of days. Take a week, two weeks, a month…read it every day and begin to mark up the passages that bolster your faith.
Memorize them, mediate on them and pray them for yourself and for others.
Now for today’s snack.
The abundance of zucchini people have been talking about reminded me of this delicious bread that is really more like a dessert. We had a friend who gifted us a small loaf every year that had been baked in an empty soup can. Something about those round loaves was magic.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
from https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-zucchini-bread/#wprm-recipe-container-39959
1 c. All-purpose flour
1/2 c. Dutch processed or unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Large eggs, room temp
1/4 c. Unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 c. Canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 c packed shredded zucchini
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat to 350 degree and grease 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick spray (you will have to google bake time for the cans if you use that idea)
Whisk together in medium bowl, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, add eggs, melted butter, oil, vanilla extract and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. A few small brown sugar clumps are fine.
Stir in the dry ingredients/don’t over mix. Add the zucchini and stir until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips (if doing load pan, stir in only 3/4 cup)
Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chips on top.
Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Melted chocolate on toothpick is okay.
Cool on wire rack 15 minutes, run a knife around edges and carefully remove from pan.
Let cool on wire rack until slightly warm. Cut and serve
Bread will keep on counter, wrapped in plastic for four days. Can be frozen one month.