{"id":4456,"date":"2015-04-26T12:52:10","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T12:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=4456"},"modified":"2015-04-26T12:52:10","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T12:52:10","slug":"psalm-117-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=4456","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 117"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cPraise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 117 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you\u2019re doing right now (which is reading this blog, right?), stop and praise the Lord. He has done remarkable things in your life. Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at this older blog post about car cheese. I\u2019m sure it will make you smile!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Car Cheese<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his life, my husband\u2019s family made food creations that reflected both Russian and German heritages. Each of these creations were welcomed and enjoyed. Some were reserved for holidays or special occasions, while others were made for everyday meals.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Joy-April-10-2009-021.jpgm_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-4457 \" style=\"border: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Joy-April-10-2009-021.jpgm_-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Joy April 10, 2009 021.jpgm\" width=\"236\" height=\"158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Joy-April-10-2009-021.jpgm_-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Joy-April-10-2009-021.jpgm_.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/><\/a>One creation that was made for Easter was Pashka. It is similar to cream cheese when finished, but it is filled with nuts and dried fruit and it is delicious.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, Mason\u2019s family made Pashka with a twist.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The recipe calls for weights to be placed on top of the mixture to press out the fluid. Instead of weights, they placed one of the car tires on it to weigh it down\u2026with the tire attached to the car. So, instead of calling this deliciousness Pashka, they called it \u201ccar cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A couple years ago, we decided to make \u201ccar cheese\u201d for Easter. We also made sure we made it when Joy, our granddaughter, was with us so she could have fun with us.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I mixed all the ingredients together, wrapped them in cheesecloth and then into a pan. Mason jacked up the car; we placed the pan under the tire with a board on top, and then set the car down on top of the cheese.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It did exactly what it was supposed to do. The pressure of the car pressed out all of the liquid from the cheese and we enjoyed delicious \u201ccar cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes in our lives, we are put under pressure. When it happens, we can struggle with everything in our lives. All of our joy can be squeezed from us. Our patience is stretched to the limit.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But we have the assurance that God\u2019s power is stronger than any pressure we might feel from the struggles we encounter.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>2 Corinthians 4:7-9 says, <em>\u201cBut we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Our lives are represented by the jars of clay. They are fragile, easily chipped and some might say breakable.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But through the power, the all-surpassing power of God and His Gospel, we can withstand the pressures we undergo. And like the \u201ccar cheese,\u201d we can become better because of the pressure.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and stuck down are the terms presented that we can expect to encounter. But, we have <em>the<\/em> Treasure. We can counter these encounters with the ability not to be crushed, not be in despair, not feel abandoned, and not be destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With these words of encouragement, we can face the difficult struggles of this world with confidence and power. We can survive and be of use in God\u2019s Kingdom because of what we have become through the pressure.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCar cheese\u201d hasn\u2019t been made since. I really don\u2019t know why. It was delicious. I suppose it took a lot more energy and effort than it was worth.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thankful that making it through the pressures of this life is worth it all. I\u2019m thankful for the all-surpassing power within me to do so. Bring on the pressure\u2026with God, I can handle it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; \u201cPraise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.\u201d (Psalm 117 \u2013 NIV) &nbsp; Whatever you\u2019re doing right now (which is reading this blog, right?), stop and praise the Lord. He has done remarkable things in your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,296,15,3770,25,14,21],"tags":[3897,4175,4177,4176,2685],"class_list":["post-4456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discovering-god","category-experiencing-god","category-knowing-god","category-listen","category-praising-god","category-seeking-god","category-trusting-god","tag-2-corinthians-47-9","tag-car-cheese","tag-pashka","tag-praise-the-lord","tag-psalm-117"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4456"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4459,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4456\/revisions\/4459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}