I have a great garden this year, it was kind of an experiment, I didn't have a ton of veggies to can or freeze but I didn't have to buy one cuke, one tomato, or zucchini once the veggies started coming in. So I thought it was a success, I learned a lot about what worked and what didn't, again, success. Did you know that you can trim your tomato plants in order for them to produce fruit and for that fruit to ripen? If you don't, sometimes the green maters never turn red. Since I don't eat green tomatoes, that seems like it would be a disaster. If you prune the 'male' branches back so the 'female' (the ones with flowers and tomatoes) get more sun, more fruit, ripe yummy fruit. How about that!? Pretty sweet.
My crop is winding down, I have some green ones still on the vine, and I want to reap harvest as long as I can, so I was pruning today. I began to think about all the extra branches in my life that need to be trimmed back for me to produce ripe fruit, to be fruitful for the Lord if you will. And the passage below came to mind. And then at Alive it's the passage that Adam spoke on, and I really had no idea that's what he was going to speak on... pretty amazing, huh?
On Friday I went into 'Margie Overload' it's the point that i should have turned back 1 hour prior. But I didn't and I stayed. And by an hour I say that metaphorically not really. I should have seen the signs but I kept going, and right over the bridge I went. I have too much in my life. I am called to serve with the Youth, whatever doesn't fit with that, just doesn't fit, and I know it and I know that's where I belong. And instead of saying no and possibly disappointing someone or someones, I say yes, unfortunatly, that takes a toll on my mental capacity. I don't have much as it is... I need to do some pruning. I need to let God ripen me so I am of great use for Him.
I was also thinking about how I let the things of the world, and people who should not be in sphere of influence, influence me... and it starts out slow but then is a slippery slope. It even made me think about how we welcome the anti-Christ into our homes. Ugh.
So pruning back it will be for me. Sonshine on my life to prepare me for great ripening to 'feed' others in my life.
The lessons we learn from tomatoes. I never would have thought that I would have been fed through my mouth and through my spirit with this garden. Jesus is amazing, and I' m reaping the harvest 100-fold.
John 15:1-17 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.
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Did you also know that at the end of harvest if your tomatoes are still green, you can wrap them each in newspaper, stick them in the basement and they will ripen. I did it last fall..it was wonderful. I guess that means that like tomatoes, we don't ripen all at the same time either!