MY SOLID ROCK
(Recipe: Olive-Spaghetti Casserole)

My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful 5 day vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine. While there, we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. Fifty years ago I would never have guessed that we would choose Maine as a place to celebrate this special anniversary. Europe – maybe. Hawaii - possibly. Maine – not even on the radar chart!!

But, I’m glad we did. This is a beautiful part of our great United States. Acadia National Park is filled with impressive things to see and beautiful rock formations. You can walk for miles along the rocky cliffs, enjoying a fantastic view. The ocean is wonderful, you can see for miles. September trees were beautifully dressed in their bright yellow, gold, red and orange. The town of Bar Harbor is unique and quaint – with lots of little shops and fun places to eat.

As we were walking in Acadia National Park, along a rocky cliff one morning my husband captured the moment with these simple words, “These rocks give a whole new meaning to the Scripture about ‘building your house on a rock’. If your building stood here, your house wouldn't fall down.” Indeed, any house that would have been build on that solid rock foundation would NEVER have been destroyed.

Matthew 7:21ff tells us this: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock…..”

Since we are instructed to build upon a solid foundation, namely the Rock, why do we continue to try to build our lives on something less superior? We try the world – only to find that a life built by the world’s standards will not satisfy. (1 John 2:15-16). We try wealth, and find that wealth does not last. (Ecclesiastes 5:10) We try pleasures, only to find they don't last. (Proverbs 21:17).

When all these fail, why not turn to the ROCK – Jesus Christ. Only a life (house) built upon Jesus will stand the storms of life. Only a life in which Jesus is supreme, will know and enjoy safety and security. Deuteronomy 32:4 tells us, “He (Jesus) is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Isaiah 26:4 gives this word of encouragement, “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” Edward Mote, (1834) wrote the words to a beautiful hymn, The Solid Rock, capturing this idea of building your house on the solid Rock, Jesus.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. (Refrain)

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand. (Refrain)

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil. (Refrain)

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay. (Refrain)

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne. (Refrain)

On what is your house (life) built? Have you built on sinking sand, or upon the solid Rock? 1 Corinthians 10:4 reminds us “……that rock was Christ.” Jesus is the only Rock upon which you can build to assure you will stand firm.

OLIVE-SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
½ green pepper, diced
2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
1 7-oz. package spaghetti., broken into small pieces
4 cup tomato juice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
½ cup stuffed olives, diced
salt and pepper to taste
4 or 5 slices American cheese

Cook beef, onion, green pepper in butter. Drain. Add raw spaghetti (broken into small pieces). Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the cheese. Pour into a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until bubbly. (Stir several times during baking). When cooked, lay American cheese on top and bake 5 minutes longer, until cheese melts.