Monday Evening

6:32 p.m.

Charles Spurgeon

I've recently started reading Spurgeon.  There is no planned schedule for my reading, but I try to read the Morning and Evening Spurgeon devotionals put out by HeartLight and sermons (occasionally).  Tuesday morning's devotional (which I just read today) focused on the mercy of God.  It was such a wonderful and encouraging reminder to me that I wanted to share it here:


 "The mercy of God." 
              -- Psalms 52:8

Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With
gentle, loving touch, he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up
their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; his
mercy is like himself-it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy
is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great
lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and
raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved
mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the
sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the
doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a
cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some
things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a
cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding
wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for
your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is
manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are
double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one
mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is
abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being
exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is
unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend,
mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with
thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be
the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the
joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.

Bitter Melon

   A good farmer's market is a wonderful thing.  Fresh produce, friendly people, street musicians, and fresh morning air make for a fun Saturday morning.  Inevitably, I come across a food item at the market that I have never seen before, much less ever tried to cook.  When this happens, I like to talk to the farmer/vendor about what the food is and how to cook it.  If I have the time to experiment and a few extra dollars, I will go ahead and buy some to try cooking at home.  This past Saturday I came across a new food: bitter melon. 

After talking to the farmer about the food and how to cook it, I decided to give it a try.  I was advised to cook it with egg, pork, and tomato.  After I got home, I found a recipe online and e-mailed a good friend back in Indiana (who is a great cook) to help guide my cooking experiment.  Here is what happened:

1.) Peel and chop up four tomatoes.

2.) Slice 1/2 onion.

3.) Peel the melon, scrape out the seeds and cut into small pieces (I used three melons).

4.) Cut up the pork (I used about 2 pounds).  Stir fry in oil with two heaping teaspoons of minced garlic.

5.) When the meat is cooked, add tomatoes, onion, and about 1 cup of chicken broth. 

6.) After it has simmered for a while, add salt, pepper, and the bitter melon.

7.) Then add two eggs and let simmer about 5 minutes.  And it's done!

The melon is a little bitter, but with the pork and the tomatoes, it tastes great.  A happy ending to a farmer's market experiment. :)