No matter what kind of birthday cake you enjoy, you enjoy it and that is what matters. During the act of making the cake, it can get quite messy. Flour flying and sticky eggs and yet we still love the end result. Then we deal with the unbearable heat to get it baked and the relentless patience to let it cool. Finally, the sparkle of the candles on the end result bring delight and joy. So, can we delight in God’s creations the same as we do our birthday cakes? Can we simply expect the fires of life so we can have the sparkle and glow of our King?
Ultimate Birthday Cake Recipe
- Plan – God knows the plan we need to be His perfect creation. He is the perfect plan for our lives.
- Ingredients – God knows the ingredients we need to be the perfect cake. He is our ingredients.
- Chemistry – God knows the chemistry of those ingredients to be made into our perfect cake. He is our chemistry.
- Fire of Life – God knows when to turn up the fire in the oven to bake us into the perfect cake He already made us to be. He is our fire.
- Party – God knows the perfect way to show us joy and delight in Him.
God has already created us exactly as He has chosen, in His image. His recipe for who we are cannot be any more perfect. Done deal. How are we going to live out His perfect creation? Can we get out-of-the-way and enjoy the new ingredients He has allowed in our lives to refine us and glorify Him? Can we find His strength to endure and grow from the fires of life? Can we see the great hope He gives us so we can party in joy?
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” ~ Genesis 1:27 NIV
God’s Perfect Plan
God already has made a perfect plan for each of our lives. Already set in motion. We get to choose whether we cooperate with it or not, that’s called free will.
How can we cooperate with God’s perfect plan: Start by accepting His free gift — the price has already been paid for our sins when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” ~ John 3:16 NIV
God’s Perfect Ingredients
Each person is created differently, uniquely. Perfectly made with individually chosen ingredients. We need different ingredients to set us apart from one another, yet in communion as the human race: to make us look like we do, have the physical and emotional make-up that we do, have the history that we do. Genetics play a role in who we are and our DNA is ours alone. Our health history is ours alone, perfectly mixed with our current health. Our choices can alter our genetics. God can alter anything He wants. It all comes together in the same cake batter that makes us exactly who we are.
How can we cooperate with God’s perfect ingredients: He gave us our bodies for this human experience, treat them as the Temple for the Holy Spirit, be kind with respect to our bodies, honor our bodies with purity and use our God-given brains to think – don’t dumb down or numb up.
“19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
God’s Perfect Chemistry Creation
I am clueless when it comes to chemistry yet I know full well that some things go together and some things don’t. Some things when mixed create disastrous explosions, like sin. Some create beautiful precious gems, like Jesus. God has it covered. He knows exactly what perfect chemistry it takes to make His creation.
How can we cooperate with God’s perfect chemistry creation: Choices of humility instead of pride make a better birthday cake creation.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” ~ James 4:10 NIV
God’s Perfection through Fire of Life
This one is tough because we don’t like pain. Heck, we don’t even like discomfort. Yet it is when we are baked, fire of life, refined by His hand, that we grow into who He intended in the first place. Our hair gets singed in the process. Sometimes we even carry the scars through our lifetime. Without the fires of life, we would stagnate and fail, being lifeless. Times of fire and refinement are difficult to walk through but incredibly delightful on the other end of the experience.
How can we cooperate with God’s fires of life: Expect the fires of life. Grow through them instead of being consumed by them. With the acceptance of God’s truth through the bible, we know that “fire” is coming. Some of it given by God, some by the devil. Either way, both ways are sometimes allowed by God. Both can allow us to be refined for the glory of God. Chronic illness, trauma, abuse, all of it can viewed as a tribulation. Are you willing to allow this time to refine your relationship with Christ? Life will come with troubles and tribulations, God tells us so…
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:33 NIV
God’s Perfect Party
My picture of God’s perfect party is Jesus Himself. We can celebrate who we are in Him, because of Him. We can celebrate our birthday’s as His perfect creation. He made us perfect because of His perfection, not ours. We are still whole people even during our times of trials, troubles and tribulations. We can still celebrate in the midst of those tough times.
Fill our birthday cakes with candles. Light them and enjoy.
How can we cooperate with God’s perfect party: Enjoy your birthday (and others). Celebrate fully what God has created in you. It is okay to question your birthday (your existence) when you are walking through the fires of life. Carry on those authentic questions with the Lord. But, when it is party time, PARTY and celebrate your life.
“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” ~ James 1:2-4 NIV
Icing on the Cake!!!!
Then at Christmas time, do the same for our Lord and Savior. Every year create a birthday cake in celebration of Jesus’ birthday and have a party for Him. This has been a treasured tradition for me.
Nourish yourself with your own birthday cake.
Maribeth Baxter, MBNC (Certified Mind-Body Nourishment Coach)
