The Kingdom shall be the Lord's

The Kingdom shall be the Lord's. — Obadiah 21b

That has ever been the ultimate hope of the men of faith. The prophets of God have always insisted upon His present and active sovereignty; but they have also declared with perfect unanimity that the day will come when that sovereignty will have its perfect victory in the subjugation of all things to Himself in the mind and heart and will of man. That victory is not yet. Men are in His Kingdom, but not willingly. Therefore, they know nothing of the peace and joy which are His will for them.

They fight against righteousness, and so fail to find peace and joy, because righteousness fights against them. When in the final order, righteousness is the condition of human life, peace- and joy will inevitably follow. That is what we pray for when we say, "Thy Kingdom come." Faith is the assurance that this prayer will be answered. These final words of Obadiah's prophecy are the more remarkable, seeing that the burden of his message was that of the doom of Edom, the people who had persistently opposed Israel, and practiced cruelty towards her.

For this sin God would bring her down from her high and proud place, and utterly despoil her; and Israel should be given possession of her rightful inheritance. Having uttered this message, the prophet rose to a greater height, and saw the outworking of the Divine sovereignty, bringing deliverance even to Edom.

Out of Zion saviours would come to judge the Mount of Esau, and then "the Kingdom shall be Jehovah's." That remains the one hope for the world and it is the one sufficient secret of confidence in all the days of darkness and travail which lead to the victory.

FOODIE FRIDAY: 

Oven Baked Tacos

Ingredients :

• 2 lb ground beef

• 1 can refried beans

• 1 can of tomato sauce

• 1 packet taco seasoning

• 1 oz shredded cheese

• 12 tortillas/taco shells

Directions : 

Start with the taco shells, buy them in the store or make em yourself. If you make them yourself, I don’t think you will ever go back to purchasing taco shells. All you need is some tortillas and cooking spray. We used some small, soft “taco” tortillas. We used the flour kind but corn is fine too.

First you want to steam them… Wet some paper towels and wring them out well. Layer the tortillas with the wet paper towels on a plate and then microwave (we did 6 at a time). Keep an eye on them, it should be about 30 seconds until they are steamed. Then lightly spray each side with cooking spray and drape each tortilla over two bars of the oven rack. It is wise to put a baking sheet below them to catch any oil from the cooking spray. 

Bake at 350-375 degrees for 7-10 minutes. You will be able to tell that they are browning & getting crispy. Take them out and set them aside!

Okay, now for the filling All you need is ground beef (2 pounds), 1 can of refried beans, 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 packet of taco seasoning, shredded cheese, & your favorite taco toppings.

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. COMPLETELY drain all grease and return to skillet. Over low heat, add refried beans, taco seasoning, and about half to two-thirds of the tomato sauce (you can eye this to see whats best, you don’t want the filling to be too runny or your tacos will be soggy on the bottoms). Blend well and scoop into the tacos (which should be “standing” in a lightly greased casserole type dish). Then just sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake. I think I did my at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Happy, Happy Friday...