How careful are we about what we say? How easy is it for us to make fun of someone else? How easy is it for us to talk about the fault of others and gossip endlessly? How easily does that lie slip out of our mouth?
Very often, we do not understand the power that lies in our tongue.
We see in Proverbs 18: 21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Wow! How strong these words are….do we really think that our tongues are this powerful before we use them? We quite often say things without really thinking them through, even to our children and those we love. When we are angry, how easy it is for us to say, “You’ll never learn!” or “You will know when learn your lesson” or “You will never prosper” or “I wish you were gone!”? Other times, when we receive a phone call we do not want to take, how easily do we dismiss the simple lie, “Tell them I’m not home or Tell them I’m in the shower!”?
I say this with complete experience. Many of these things I have sadly, done myself! But when we are children of God, with a heart like Jesus, guided by the gentle Holy Spirit, our words must reflect this! Even when it is not easy to say things politely or nicely!
Jesus says in Mathew 12: 33-37: Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
This is definitely bad news for many of us! Imagine giving account for every careless word that we said? Every rude name we called someone, every rude word we used when we were upset, every curse we hurled at someone, every gossip we readily spread and every unkind word we said! I don’t think I can even remember most of them anymore!
Our mouths were meant to bless, and to praise God….we cannot use the same mouth for evil! We see in
James 3: 8-12: but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Let us confess to the Lord for the evil that our tongues have spoken, and ask him to forgive and renew us to speak only blessings and praise as we are lead by His Holy Spirit.
Today’s recipe is an easy snack.
Onion Fritters (Onion Baji)
Ingredients:
Diced onion – 1
Diced ginger – 2 teaspoons
Diced Curry leaves – 2 tablespoons
Diced coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons
Diced Green chilly - 1
Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Asafetida – a pinch
Salt – as required
Gram flour (Besan) – ¾ cup
Water – as required
Oil for frying – as required
Instructions:
1.In a bowl add all the ingredients, except oil for frying, and mix well. Make sure to add only enough water to get a thick pasty consistency. You should be able to spoon out the thick batter into the oil for frying.
2.In a frying pan, heat oil for deep frying and with a tablespoon, take out one spoon full of the batter and drop into the hot oil. Repeat this for the entire batter.
3.Flip over the fritters in between to make sure both sides are evenly cooked. Keep the flame low to ensure that the insides are cooked as well.
4.Drain the fritters from the oil when they are a deep golden brown colour and serve hot.
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