Carla wanted a whole chicken, so since we don’t raise them we purchased a Foster Farms chicken from the local store.  Spend three hours smoking it yesterday, came out great.

I am finally learning the intricacies of the smoker, like any piece of equipment it has its quirks and you have to figure it out.  Done enough on it so I have a better understanding of how to keep temperatures in the range I want.

I didn’t brine this one, instead I injected butter combined with orange juice and poultry seasoning, slathered it up with the remaining liquid and dusted it with a rub – came out really full of flavor and moist.

There was a time when the two of us could just about finish off a whole chicken in one, if not two meals – now it lasts a little longer. 

Still used the fresh veggies from the garden, though.

Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

While this is in the Old Testament, it is germane for us today.

The Old Testament is full of prophecy for His people, and we became part of that select group once we accepted Christ as Savior.

God hasn’t changed, and won’t change, no matter how we may try and ascribe changes to Him.

Much of what Jesus taught was just a reaffirming of God’s Word in the Old Testament.  God loves His people; He wants what is best for them.

But He has laws for us to obey.  And while we are not under the Jewish Laws, we are under the commands that Jesus reaffirmed for us.

There are consequences for our failure to listen and follow Him.

Many of the early prophesies have already been fulfilled, especially in the foretelling of the Messiah and His coming – Jesus fulfilled those prophecies.

Throughout His teachings He advises the leadership of the Jews to READ the Old Testament, to confirm that His teachings were correct and that the passages told of His coming.

They chose not to research, but to berate, get jealous of and eventually caused the death of, Jesus.

Today we have no excuses, while most of the written Word of God was available only in the Tabernacle for readings by the leadership, we have the Bible, in print, available to us in several stores.  All we have to do is walk in and purchase them, for the price of a couple cups of what passes for coffee at Starbucks and other coffee stands we get the most significant book ever written, God’s Word.

The Bible speaks to God’s people.  It is a wealth of information on what God expects, what He has done in the past, what He is doing now and will do in the future.

It is more than just a book containing books and written by men who had good ideas.  It is the very essence of who we are in Christ.  It lifts us up, in helps us find answers and hope, it gives us peace as we allow the Holy Spirit to commune with our hearts and soul. 

Jesus proclaimed that He was the Son of God.  He proclaimed that He was God – and they killed Him to try and get His heresy destroyed.

But the rulers then, and those now, cannot destroy God or His Word.  Oh, they may take away the Bible from us – as has been done through the centuries – but His Word stays on.

Hard times come upon us in various ways, but God’s Word is the same no matter what our circumstances may be, we can rely on it and the promise of salvation.

He tells us that very thing throughout His Word – first in the Old Testament and then reaffirmed in the New Testament which refers, often, to the old.

Jesus is real.  His sacrifice is real. 

John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

And He will not change!

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Later, Art :-)