I do a lot of research for these history posts.  Sometimes a short one page post takes two hours to put together.  However, one day I was looking through the historical dates in the month of May and found that one day in particular, May 3, was a pretty important day in the field of aviation.
            On May 3, 1919, the first passenger flight in American history took place between New York City and Atlantic City.
            On May 3, 1923, John Macready and Oakley Kelley made the first nonstop transcontinental flight.
            On May 3, 1932, 24 tourists started the first air charter holiday.  It ran from London to Basle, Switzerland.
            On May 3, 1952, an airplane first landed at the geographic North Pole.
            And, though it might be considered more in the line of space than aviation, on May 3, 1994, the US space probe Clementine was launched.
            If ever a day could be deemed important in the history of flight, it seems that May 3 fits the bill.
            Spiritually speaking, another day is much more important.  This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24).
            We have a bad habit of taking verses out of context to try to prove a doctrinal point or, in this case, make one of those feel-good memes.  All it takes is a close reading of the entire psalm and anyone with even a smattering of Biblical knowledge can see what it's about.  Read it right now before you continue with this and see if you can't figure it out yourself.
            I hope you have done that reading.  It was pretty easy wasn't it?  Let's just take the two most obvious verses.  Verse 22:  The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This one is even quoted in 1 Pet 2:7, and Paul uses the metaphor in Eph 2:22 of Christ as the cornerstone.  This Psalm is about the coming Messiah.
            Now look at verse 26:  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  This is exactly what the crowd shouted as Jesus rode into Jerusalem the Sunday before his death.  Add to that the "Hosanna" in verse 25.  (Hosanna means "save" and is translated that way in this verse.)  Many already believed he was the One whose coming they had looked for over a thousand years.
            If you keep reading the psalm, it should become apparent to you that "the day the Lord has made" is the one in which salvation comes, the Messiah comes, even as it says in verse 21, I thank you that you have answered me and become my salvation.
            That is certainly the most important day in history for all mankind, the day the Messiah offered salvation to all by giving his life and then rising from the dead to defeat sin and death.  So now that it is in its proper context:  This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
 
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. ​The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us [Hosanna}, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD (Ps 118:19-26).
 
Dene Ward

I found a verse the other day that intrigued me--for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, Rom 14:17.  While the meaning is obvious—in the context of eating meats sacrificed to idols, Paul is telling them that being in the kingdom is a matter of the inner man not the outer man—I still wondered why those three things were chosen among the many traits describing Christians.
            Before much longer I found Romans 5:1-3.  Those three things are not three separate items, as if they can be chosen one without the other, they are a chain reaction.  I am justified (made righteous), and as a result have peace with God, and that creates joy in my life. 
            Keep reading down to verse 5 in Romans 5, then add 12:12 and 15:13 to the mix and you see that joy is inextricably bound with hope.  The Greeks did not use “hope” the way we use it, a wish for something that could go either way, but as a confident assurance or, as Keith likes to say, “a vision of a certain future.”  Along with the apostle John in 1 John 5:13, I should be able to say, “I know I am saved; I know I have been forgiven; I know I have a relationship with God; I know I am going to Heaven.”  Is there anything that should inspire any greater joy?
            Being joyful does not mean we may not face sad times; it does not mean we must not ever grieve in a trial.  What it does mean is that we will bounce back from those times because joy is the foundation for our lives.  If, instead, I come through a trial with an attitude only toward myself, what I have endured, and what I believe others should be doing for me because of it, my joy has turned into bitterness.  In fact, I have not successfully endured that trial at all. Whenever I allow something to smother my joy, in at least that much I have allowed that thing to be more important to me than my relationship with God. 
            This is easier said than done.  I used to wonder how to have this joy that everyone kept telling me I was supposed to have.  God does not leave us without direction.  Col 1:9-14 gives us several techniques for having joy.  Be filled with the knowledge of Him; walk worthily of the Lord; bear fruit in every good work; give thanks for our salvation.  Do you know what that boils down to?  Focus on the good things and stay busy serving others. 
            Joy is like a glow-in-the-dark toy.  The more I focus on what God has done for me and what he expects me to do for others, the longer I sit in the light and the stronger my glow will be when the dark comes.  But if I sit too long in the shadow of sadness and grief, focusing too long on myself, my joy will begin to fade until eventually it is gone altogether.      
            If you find yourself alone in the dark today, it’s time to come back into the light before your joy disappears, along with the hope that reinforces it.  This is a choice you make, one that has nothing to do with what happens today or what anyone does to you, but with the path you choose to take regardless.         
 
That the proof of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ:  whom not having seen you love; on whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:7-9.
 
Dene Ward
 

They tell me that May is National Salad Month, and indeed, if you go online you can find websites that give you a different salad to try every day of this month, for a total of 31.  Unlike some "national" days or months, the timing on this one makes sense. At least here in Florida we are beginning to get some really good produce.  I have just discovered National Salad Month, but we have always enjoyed salads this time of year, sometimes as sides, others as main dishes—a cucumber salad with Vidalia onions and a sour cream and fresh dill dressing, taco salad loaded with sweet juicy tomatoes, Greek salad of red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta cheese, lettuce wedges dripping with a homemade Basil Green Goddess dressing.  One of my favorite main dish salads is Panzanella.
            Maybe it's the change from heavier winter meals like chili and stews that make it so good, or maybe it's just the good fresh vegetables.  Whatever it is, panzanella really hits the spot the first time you have it in the summer.  And I often make it more filling with a can, or better, a jar of high quality tuna.
             In the bottom of a big bowl, pour in a couple tablespoons each of olive oil and red wine vinegar.  Add a small handful of chopped fresh basil and parsley, 1 tsp of salt and a half teaspoon of black pepper.  Whisk it all together.  Now add about half a red onion sliced thinly and stir till the onion is coated.  While you finish the rest of the chopping, the onion will mellow out a bit in the acid.
            This next part can be changed up according to what you have available.  French bread is good.  Focaccia is good, and I usually have some leftover somewhere because it is so easy to make.  Cube 4 cups of some sort of hearty bread and put it into a 325 degree oven for about twenty minutes.  (If you want to be a little extravagant, drizzle it with olive oil and toss it with your hands before putting it in the oven.)  It does not need to brown, just dry out a little and become crunchy, and then it needs to cool while you do the rest of the chopping.
             Now peel, halve lengthwise, seed, and slice enough cucumbers to make about 4 cups.  Throw that on top of the onion-dressing mixture, but don't mix it up yet.  Dice a large red pepper and throw that in.  Chop 3 or 4 tomatoes and add them.  Now drain the tuna, if you are using it, and add it in chunks to the bowl, along with a quarter cup of chopped Kalamata olives.  Toss the whole thing and let it sit a few minutes.  Between the tomatoes and the cucumbers, it should begin to exude a lot more liquid than you first put in there.  (Note:  the tuna is not an ordinary part of panzanella and you can leave it out if you wish, but if you have never tried the jarred higher quality tunas, this is your perfect excuse.)
            Finally, add the cooled bread cubes and toss.  Yes, it will look like it's mostly bread, but it really isn't.  Once that bread starts to soak up the juices it will begin to shrink a bit.  Sit down and eat immediately.  The bread will be half soaked and half crunchy, which is perfect.  The more you eat, the more you will want to eat. 
            And now you are waiting for the spiritual lesson I somehow manage to find in the most mundane things, right?  Usually I can come up with something in a day or two, if not right away.  Well, I have been looking for it for over a month now and it still hasn't come to me.  I have made lessons out of everything from chicken and dumplings to cherry pies, from shedding dogs to dead possums, but for some reason this panzanella has evaded me.  But today I suddenly thought—maybe that's the lesson!
            I am big on finding a purpose in your life that will help promote God's plan to save man.  If you have studied my Born of a Woman class book you know that.  My purpose in God's plan may be as simple as the Samaritan woman's, who ran and told her neighbors, Come see a man who told me all the things I ever did.  Can this be the Christ? (John 4:29).  Or it may be as complex as Joseph's, who over 20 years' time and the freewill actions of a couple dozen different people managed to be in a position to save God's chosen nation, and more specifically, the line of the Messiah.  …For God sent me before you to preserve life (Gen 45:5).  God does intervene in our lives through the freewill actions of others and in His great power and wisdom makes things happen according to His will.
            Some of our purposes are fixed by the choices we make.  When I marry, I have the obligation to be a helper to my husband, helping him get to Heaven being the most important purpose.  When I choose to have children, I have placed upon myself the divine purpose of raising those children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
            But sometimes things just happen.  Sometimes it may even be a result of someone else's poor decision.  Like the man who decides he is not too drunk to drive and crashes into a minivan filled with a family of five, or runs down an innocent pedestrian.  My part in God's plan has suddenly changed if I survive that.  Now I have the opportunity to show His grace by the way I handle this adversity, by the way I refuse to give in to despondency, by the way I forgive, and a host of other things.
          And this may be the hardest thing to accept:   sometimes there is absolutely no rhyme nor reason for any of it.  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. (Eccl 9:11).
            I hear people giving comfort that I am not sure they should give.  "God has a plan," we tell our distraught friends.  Yes, He does, but do not be so arrogant as to presume that you know exactly what it is or that this tragedy is even part of it.  As much as I believe that God will use what I do to further His plan, I would never decide for Him what that use should be.  I would never assume that my feeble mind can even begin to comprehend His glorious thoughts.  And I would never, ever tell someone who has experienced a calamity that this is God's Eternal Purpose at work.  The only thing I could ever be sure of is that this is my chance to comfort a soul, and I would do that the best I could.
            It may be admirable to constantly try to find the spiritual benefit in every little thing that comes along.  In fact, I hope it is.  It is certainly better than thinking evil, or even just idle thoughts all the time.  But sometimes panzanella is just panzanella.  Nothing more and nothing less.  Just a tasty salad that reminded me to thank God, not only for his great and marvelous plan to save us, but for the simple things that make this sin-cursed world a little easier to bear.
 
​Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.​  The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.  Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Prov 16:3-5)
 
Dene Ward