Peaches and Other Fruit

The little Red Haven peach tree has grown up. This year it has produced enough juicy red globes to fill almost 30 quart bags for the freezer. It is really amazing what can happen with time and growth. The fruit is sweet.

The tree started out quite small, but each year seemed to produce a few more peaches. Each peach was savored and enjoyed, but there was never enough to save for the winter, until this year. We ate until juice was dripping from our elbows and our sticky smiles beamed. This is good. This is what a peach tree is for, and it is worth the wait.

There is a plum tree in the yard that has not produced a single fruit in the same amount time, not even a single blossom. There are leaves, but that is all. It seems such a waste, to be a fruit tree and not bear fruit.
I wonder if my life is producing any fruit. God's purpose for my life is to "Bear much fruit." John 15:8. I have had many years of receiving nourishment for God's word, but is the effect seen in my thoughts, words and actions?

"Let your love go out for those things that Jesus loved, and withheld from those
things that will give no strength to right impulse. With determined energy seek to learn, and to improve the character every day. You much have firmness of purpose to take yourself in hand and be what you know God would be pleased to have you. . . Thoughts of God and heaven are ennobling." Ellen White 1893

That is bearing more fruit every day. And if I want to do just that, what should I do? Think of God and heaven every day.

"Abide in me are words of great significance. Abiding in Christ means a living refreshing faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It means constantly receiving the Spirit of Christ, a life of unreserved surrender ot His service. Where this union exists, good works will appear. The life of the vine will manifest itself in fragrant fruit on the branches. The continual supply of the grace of Christ will bless you and make you a blessing, til you can say with Paul, "I am crucified wtih Christ: never the less I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me." (Gal 2:20)." "That I May Know Him"

Living in Christ. What a rich experience! Fruit bearing for the glory of God. And just remember, all that fruit is for the blessing of others. The peach tree didn't eat a single peach that it grew this year. It gave them all to us. And that's how it works with the fruit of our life too. Those precious fruits are gifts to others. Our sweet words, our patience, our selflessness, giving up our rights, our joy, love, generocity, forgiveness, understanding. All these things come from God, and if we are lacking them, we get them from abiding in Him.

"...Look to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the perfection of His character. Christ in His self-denal, Christ in His humiliation, Christ in His purity and holiness, Christ in His matchless love - - this is the subject for the soul's contemplation. It is by loving Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him that you are transformed into His likeness." Steps to Christ, p. 71

Good fruit appears in our life as a result of dwelling (camping out) on His love, and beauty, His good character. It transforms us. It is transforming me.

I just read "The Pineapple Story" about a missionary who grew some pineapples out in the jungle with the help of a hired man, and expected to eat them himself when they were ready. He was so angry when the natives stole them that he did some pretty selfish things. Years passed and he learned about giving up his rights to God. He prayed and gave his pineapple patch to God, and gave up his right to the pineapples. From then on, it didn't matter if the natives ate them or not, he didn't get angry. The natives noticed the change and came to ask him about it. What is the difference? When he told them, they said to one another that the missionary had become a Christian. And at that point, he was finally able to eat some of his pineapples. He went from being a leafy tree to one that began to bear fruit, and it made a huge difference in his ministry.

Are there any rights you need to give up, so that God can work in you and cause you to bear fruit too? The fruit will be sweet.

Dwell on Light

Time alone with God
morning light dawns in my heart
a new day

Petunia petals a light with morning freshness
capture my eye,
capture my thoughts.




I choose to dwell on light,
light through the window,
light on a face,
light words from the throne,
words of grace, light, power, energy,
transform my thoughts,
transform my face,
enlighten the whole room
every corner, every being brighter,
catching sparkles,
thoughts dancing around YOU,
Great God,
Source of my light.


I am singing with "grace in my heart to the the Lord". (See Colossians 3:16.)

Wilted Peonies

The peonies are doing better in the garden this year then last. There are bigger blooms and they aren't damaged by the earwigs. My son brought me in a pink one and a white one yesterday morning, which were promptly placed in the place of honor in a vase by the kitchen sink, where I admired them all day.


This morning I was saddened by the the wilting of the pink one. There it was, pink petals drooping like icing about to slide off a birthday cake. The once crisp edges were shriveling, the freshness vanished. All the joy had departed from my bouquet, even though the white one still shown bright.


I thought about when the first peony wilted. I'm sure that they were bigger and more lush in the Garden of Eden then they were here. It must have made Eve want to sit down and cry when she saw how sin ruined such a beauty, her sin, wilting life for everyone. Surely she felt so responsible, so guilty, so sorry for straying away from God's plan. One bite of curious disobedience, then a stronger taste of broken trust.


Sin wilts me too. Selfishness, the great big "I" problem, is the center of my problems, just like it is the center of the word "sin". I want something. I think something. I feet something. I forget something. I hurt someone. I think of myself before I think of others. I pull in on myself and start to shrivel. I'm not happy. My smile starts to frown. Sharp words replace loving gestures. Rather then gathering what I desire, my selfishness injures me.


But Jesus had a plan to defeat the sin problem once and for all. In His purity He gave himself. He took my sin, my great big "I" problem, my selfishness, my disloyal disobedience upon himself. It killed him. But here is His promise, "As many as received him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God., even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12. That's power available to me to overcome my sin problem, power from the very throne of God, a gift of Jesus, His perfect life, in exchange for mine. Praise God!

"All who accept Jesus Christ and hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to "an inheritance incoruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away." (White, Ellen, Manuscript 153, 1893).

And there will be no more wilting or fading in my life or in God's garden. What a precious inheritance!

Ordinary Service, Extraordinary Results

Gluten Free Focacia Bread - Link for the recipe

"In a sermon on the feeding of the five thousand by our Lord, a minister lately spoke of the lad who brought the barley loaves and the woman who made them. Little did she think as she pounded the grain, and mixed the dough, and tempered the heat of the oven, that her loaves were to feed the gathered companies, who sat down in orderly ranks on the green grass, and were refreshed by a meal presided over by Christ. As little do we know whereunto one small act of ours may grow. The obscure agents in this world are oftener stronger than those which are seen."

Signs of the Times 5/29/1884

Content

We helped thumb sized "Croakus", the Pacific Tree Frog, into this colorful hideout. No camouflage is available there, but as soon as he arrived, he felt right at home, on his new throne, prince of the garden. He patiently waited for me to take photographs from all angles, and only when I was finished did he hop away.

Paul said, in Philippians 4: 11-13, "... for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Can I like Croakus, be content where ever I am placed? Am I secure in the fact that God has placed me in this family, at this time, to work for Him. Am I content everywhere and in all things, when abounding and when suffering need? I can through the strength of Christ. As I pray He pours out His onipotent power to meet my need, to sustain me during temptation. I am empowered to contentedly face all things through Him.

"... in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6, 7.

Spring Morning Calls

Everything is so fresh outside and full of life. The air is full of sound, but it the noise of peace and praise. Sparrows, robins, meadowlarks, mourning doves, crickets all singing the song God gave them to sing. Something swelled up in my heart as the freshness filled my lungs and sight. Green bursting forth from the once cold soil. Flowers in simplicity and purity grace the garden. I could stay out here for hours, wandering slowly so as not to miss a single joy.
I almost missed it though. I almost didn't go outside. I almost stayed inside loaded down with the cares of the morning: dishes, dirty counters, kids who can't find their socks, phone calls, messy piles of clutter. The to do list stretched beyond my sight. There is no way to get it all done in one day. "Work hard and fast," my mind says. "Come and see," the birds call.
"Come," my God calls. Come and spend some time with me. All of this freshness, warmth and beauty are created for you, to lift you your mind higher, up and away from the things that burden. Spiritual lessons are written in every petal and every birds wing. God is love is found in the fresh air and the springing grass. Open your eyes, unstop your ears. The living God is active and alive. All nature is a book about Him, for those who care to learn.
The beauty of this morning is for soaking in, every drop of it. The winter is past. All things celebrate and rejoice. And so do I. A lighter heart returns to face the chores. God is with me. I am glad.

F. R. O. G.

Green Tree Frog, near Fern Canyon, Crescent City, CA

F. = Forever
R. = Rely
O. = On
G. = God