Out of The Silence, Music Devotion

OUT OF THE SILENCE, MUSIC

Never let your song be silenced.

It is in times like these that it can be so easy to lose our joy, let fear creep in and tighten its grip around us and let our song be silenced. With so much going on around us it can be difficult to find our song again.

Thinking about this brought me back to the story of Paul and Silas in the Bible. There is one specific part of their story that I want to pay attention to and I encourage you to read Acts 16 for the full picture.

“After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.” (Acts 16:23-24, NIV)

I can’t fully understand how they must have felt but if that were me, I can imagine it would be easy to have feelings of hurt, pain, fear, hopelessness, helplessness and darkness surround me in that cell. To find my song in the middle of such a terrible situation with no end in sight would surely seem near impossible? demonstrate exactly why, in the midst of those dark and hopeless situations, there is always hope.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” (Acts 16:25-26, NIV)

Paul and Silas didn’t allow the darkness around them to silence their song. In that cell, in those chains they chose to proclaim their song of hope and joy. Not only were they free from their chains and then released from prison, but the jailer and his entire household were saved!

My encouragement to you this Christmas is this: whatever your situation is, don’t let your song be silenced. Proclaim your song and your breakthrough will come.

Laura Dijkens

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Gizmo’s Cupcakes

Let’s get festive! Gizmo has kindly offered to share his very own Christmas cupcake recipe with you. We hope you enjoy baking these yummy treats.

Recipe:

THE CAKES: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tray with your favourite festive cupcake cases.

Mix together the unsalted butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating continuously. Sift in the flour and mix gently. Spoon the mixture into your prepared cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes! Wait until your cakes are cool before getting to the fun bit - decorating!

You Will Need:

170g Self Raising Flour 170g Caster Sugar 170g Unsalted Butter 3 Eggs 225g Soft Butter (cubed) 450g Icing Sugar 4 tbsp Black Treacle 1 tbsp ground ginger A Little Milk 12 Mini Gingerbread Men

GINGERBREAD BUTTERCREAM: Beat the soft butter cubes with an electric mixer on a low speed until soft. Add the icing sugar in a couple spoonfuls at a time and beat until fully combined. Add the black treacle in a tbsp at a time and beat until fully combined. Add the ground ginger and again beat until fully combined. If the buttercream seems a little too firm then add a little milk to your liking.

Decorate your cakes with the yummy gingerbread buttercream and finaly, add a mini gingerbread man on the top.

All that is left to do is, ENJOY!

REMEMBER Always bake responsibly with an adult!

UK.SUPERBOOKACADEMY.COM

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