Let’s get right to it this week! This is my favorite, go to recipe for breadsticks. They are quick, easy, and better than olive garden.
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp (one package) yeast
2 TBLS sugar
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 Tbls salt
2 Tbls melted butter
Topping: 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 tsp garlic salt
Start by combining the water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl. Mix it and let is sit for 5 minutes until it blooms. Then add in the flour, salt, and melted butter. Mix it with a dough hook on your mixer. If you don’t have one then just use your hands and knead it for 5 minutes. Then roll them out to about 1/4 inch thick and use a pizza cutter to cut them into bread sticks. Put them on a sheet pan and cover them and let them rise for 45 minutes. Turn your oven to 400 and brush the breadsticks with the salted butter and sprinkle them with the garlic salt and bake them for 12 minutes. They are DIVINE!
What I am about to say has been weighing on me for a while and I hope it helps some of ya’ll who feel alone but doesn’t offend anybody at the same time! Do you ever just feel like things bother you that most people don’t bat an eye at? Or how things bother you now that you use to feel no conviction over? I feel like there is such a fine line between religion and actual conviction. Let me explain.
Some of us who were raised in church know all the unspoken “rules” of being a “Christian”. I put those in quotations because often those issues aren’t things talked about in the Bible. They are issues one person felt convicted about and then decided it wasn’t right for any Christian to do those particular things. I spent a lot of my time judging everybody else for the things they were doing. Look at them looking at their phone in church instead of paying attention. Look at them with their hat on in the sanctuary, so disrespectful. Look at them with that short dress on. You get the point. But a few years ago I started to hear the reoccurring theme in my spirit to worry about myself. Forget what everybody else is doing and focus on you. On judgement day the only person you have to answer for is you.
Then I came across Philippians 2:12-13 that says “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” God calls all of us differently. The examples I gave earlier were a little silly, although some people still judge for those things. What this verse has really spoken to me about is issues like tv shows and music. Some times I feel really weird because shows that bother me don’t bother some other Christians I know. I struggle with, am I just being religious? Why do I feel convicted about this show when everyone else is fine with it? Why do i feel convicted about this music when there’s nothing “bad” in it.
That’s when I hear that small voice say I have called you differently than I have called others. Maybe those people can watch those shows but you can’t because they will put your mind in a bad place. You can’t because those shows don’t build you up they tear you down. That music is catchy and you’ll be meditating on it instead of praise music. I honestly don’t know if what I am saying is making sense but the point is, don’t feel weird or out of place if some thing convicts you that doesn’t convict others and don’t judge others who don’t have the same convictions as you.
Some things are black and white. The Bible is clear on issues like murder, lying, stealing. But there are some issues that are harder to navigate. That is why we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. If you feel covicted about something then don’t do it. As you mature in Christ you’ll see that things you use to enjoy now make you feel convicted. That is the Holy Spirit helping us become more like Jesus. I hope this made sense and resonated with some of you. I appreciate all of you who continue to follow along!
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