Philippians 4:1-3

Hello Everyone!

I have been thinking about making this recipe

so when I pulled it out of my recipe book,

I thought I should post it!

It is called Baked Spaghetti.

I believe it was originally taken from a Taste of Home Magazine.

It was given to me from a sister in the Lord who received it

from another sister in the Lord...

You know how that goes...

"Hey, Debbie..."so and so" gave me this great recipe...

you have to try it!!!" ~ .one.of.those.!

Baked Spaghetti

1 Cup chopped onion
1 Cup green pepper
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Can 28 oz. tomatoes, diced (do not drain)
1 Can 4 oz. mushroom pieces (drained)
2 Cans (2 1/2 ozs. each) of ripe olives (drained)
2 Teaspoon dried oregano
1 lb. Ground beef, browned (drain)
12 oz. Spaghetti cooked and drained
2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese (divide/ one cup and one cup)
1 Can 10 3/4 oz. condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 Soup can of water (more or less as desired)
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add tomatoes, mushroom, olives and oregano. Add ground beef. Simmer uncovered
for 10 minutes. Place half of the spaghetti in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Top with half of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with one cup of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layer. Mix the soup and water until smooth; pour over the casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350º for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. Yield 6 servings. This casserole freezes well and is a great one to make double of and put it the freezer ~ as do the leftovers, if you have any!



The only deviation I make from the original recipe, is that I use fresh mushrooms, because of personal preference, only ~ oh... and low sodium cream of mushroom soup (I won't go there...), oh...and ground turkey instead of ground beef (same...won't go there...getting older is challenging!!) oh...AND maybe the cheese....low fat.....THAT'S ALL...I PROMISE!!!

It WAS from the Taste of Home magazine and I found it online ~ Whoo Hoo!!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Baked-Spaghetti

One more time....(sniff...sniff...we are almost done with Philippians!!)

let's go over our little outline that we started with on....

JULY 21st!!!! Can you believe it??????

OK...now how many months has that been?

July-August ~ 1

August-September ~ 2

September-October ~ 3

October-November ~ 4

November-December ~ 5

December-January 10 ~ 6....ALMOST 6 MONTHS...can you believe it????!!!

Zoweee...

Here is our little outline one more time:

I. Rejoicing in Christ as the Principle of Life (Chapter 1:1-11)
II. Rejoicing in Christ as the Pattern of Life (Chapter 2:1-30)
III. Rejoicing in Christ as the Prize of Life (Chapter 3:1-21)
IV. Rejoicing in Christ as the Power of Life (Chapter 4:1-23 )

In this last chapter we will see Christ as the Power of our Life.

The Source of Power = Joy, verses 1-4.

The Secret of Power = Prayer, verses 5-7.

The Sanctuary of Power = Contemplation of Christ, verses 8-14.

The Satisfaction of Power = In Christ, verses 15-23.

Verse 1 ~ "Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

Verse 2 ~ I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.

Verse 3 ~ Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.


Stand firm...

This phrase in verse one, takes me back to the Spring of 1994.

I was going through the hardest test of my life.

My first husband, Bruce was battling the effects of lung cancer.

He had been a non-smoker, but found himself faced with this disease.

We were living in Indianapolis, IN in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch-style home.

One of the features of this home that I liked was that it had a covered porch

and 2 rocking chairs.

One day, I realized that a storm was coming our way.

I had the privilege, at that moment, to be able to go out on the porch

and sit in a rocking chair and watch, listen and smell the storm as it approached.

All of a sudden, my eyes were focused on an object across the street.

There on a corner of our neighbor's yard, was a rabbit.

Now that may not seem unusual to you,

but this rabbit was sitting smack dab in the middle of this rather large

area of grass.

It was not moving.

It was not running from the storm.

It was not hiding in the bushes.

Suddenly, I sensed in my spirit the words...

"Stand Firm".

"Stand firm, do not run from the storm...

Do not run and hide and bury your head until the storm passes...

Stand firm and see the work of the Lord...

Do not be afraid..."

You can imagine that it was as though the earth had stopped spinning

and it was just me and that rabbit zeroed in and focused on.

What courage it gave me to stand firm in my faith!...

To stand firm that God will see us through this storm...

Even though the wind was blowing and the smell of rain was coming...

Even though the natural thing to do would be to run away...

Take shelter...and hide.

God said to stand firm and show no fear.....

This and other instances like this encouraged me through out the

year and 4 months and 28 days of Bruce's battle,

until God saw it best to give him an ultimate healing in heaven.

OK>>>>>(cough and clearing of the throat...)

Verses 2 and 3 deal with conflict.

Now, you may say, I can see how standing firm in your faith

can give you the source of power = joy...

But how can conflict give you...joy?

I'll be happy to tell you how.

But first, let's remember what type of "document" that we are reading here.

Paul was in prison. Paul was writing the Philippian church a letter

to send to them via of our friend Epaphroditus.

(See Philippians 2:26-30 post on November 7, 2008 to read about this wonderful

servant and co-worker in the Lord with Paul.)

So...Ep takes this letter (or what we know as the Book of Philippians)

back to the Philippian church and let's imagine

that it was read to the whole church at one time.

"Imagine sitting in the congregation listening to Paul’s letter being read. There are two women, sitting on opposite sides of the room, listening intently. Each of them is surrounded by their supporters. They both gave a hearty amen when Paul said that he was 'confident that He who began a good work in you would carry it on to completion to the day of Christ Jesus.' (Phil 1:6) Both women dabbed their eyes with tissues when the great Christ-hymn of chapter two was read (Phil 2:5-11) and they both nodded resolutely when Paul told them beware false teachers (see 3:18-21).

But Paul starts Chapter Four by calling each of these women out by name. Paul has left teaching and now he’s gone to meddling! I am sure each of them wanted to crawl under their seat. Paul does not mean to embarrass them, but does not hesitate to deal with this divisiveness head on.

I love the way that Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses:

'I urge you Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn’t want his children holding grudges.' (Phil. 4:2, The Message Bible)"

–by Jeff Williams, "Getting Along With Others", 06/26/05 at www.preceptaustin.org

Mr. Williams goes on to talk about how we as Christians need to be peacemakers.

He gives the acrostic of P.E.A.C.E.

P ~ Pursue peace at all costs. Handle conflict Biblically.

Action step: Are you in a conflict right now? Maybe it is someone in the church

or a family member. It could be with a friend or a coworker. Here is the action

step – deal it with today. Putting off resolving conflict actually leads to sin and

a hard heart.

Do not delay or doubt God’s ability to help you resolve the

problem.

E ~ Express yourself Biblically. Avoid accusing comments, sweeping

generalizations, and becoming historical. (not hysterical!)

Use words that “build others up” by being gentle and kind.

Action Step: Do your words wound or bring healing? Is your vocabulary

vicious or do your adjectives affirm? Try this tomorrow. Try to go one entire

day without saying anything negative about anyone. Make a deal with someone

that every time you slip you have to pay them a dollar!

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you apply Ephesians 4:29 to your mouth...

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is

helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit

those who listen."

A ~ Ask yourself the question – "Is this worth it?" "Will this matter

one year from now?

In many situations, the best way to resolve conflict is to simply overlook

an offense.

Action Step: For the most part, people do not get out of bed in the morning

thinking, “I think I’ll go hurt someone’s feelings today.” Let me encourage you

to give a little grace to that person that hurt you by what they said, what they

did, what they didn’t do. In the name and power of Jesus Christ, who has

forgiven you and me of so much, let it go. Forgive, GOI, (Get Over It) and move

on.

C ~ Confess your sins. Jesus calls us to confess our part in the problem before

calling others out for their faults. We have enough holy hypocrites; we are in

desperate need of Christ-following confessors. We don’t like people who sin

differently than we do!

Ken Sande at www.peacemaker.net

and author of the book "The Peacemaker"

says that these are the "Seven A's of Confession":

*Address everyone involved

*Avoid the words "if, but or maybe"

*Admit specifically (both attitudes and actions)

*Acknowledge the hurt

*Accept the consequences

*Alter your behavior

*Ask for forgiveness and allow time

E ~ Engage a mentor. Finally, if none of these steps work, we are to engage a

mediator to help us resolve the issues. That’s what the “loyal yokefellow” was

to do in the church at Philippi and that is what God calls us to when we have

conflict. Listen to some pretty intimidating words from Jesus:

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the

two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will

not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be

established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'" (Matthew 18:15-17)

Chuck Swindoll writes “if you chose mediation remember,

- the ultimate goal is restoration not discipline

- the right attitude is grace not force

- the common ground is Christ not logic, politics, tradition, or your will.”

Action Step: Identify a Godly leader within this church and asked them to

mediate for you. Stop talking about it to anyone except the individual you have

the conflict with and begin to pray that God would bring peace.

But how can conflict give you...joy?

The peace and joy that you have when you have solved a conflict is liberating...

The peace and joy that you have when you stand firm for God...

It is as though you have a 100 ton weight lifted off of your shoulder...

That gives you the POWER to walk in the purpose that God has for you!

This Source of Power does = Joy!

Now...that is what I call real J.O.Y.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until next week....

Rejoicing in Christ as the Power of Life,

Debbie G.

PS ~ I need to add a disclaimer that I have in no way attained these principles of settling conflicts in full by any means. Verses 2 and 3 were another reminder of what I need to do, not do what I do...which is being too passive. Holy Spirit, I ask that you help me to be the peacemaker that is a Biblical peacemaker and know fully the joy You have in store for me. Amen.