Deed and Josh came down from the mountain yesterday bringing their garden tractor and rototiller with them.  Josh rototilled Carla’s garden in a couple of hours – much quicker than the using the rototiller that is difficult for me to handle on sloping portions of the garden.  Deed got the field mowed, which also is a big help in getting ready for Carla’s spring planting.

Carla dug up the last of her carrots so he could plow that area – they still look nice, are good and quite large this year.  We are dividing them up, some went with Josh and Deed and I am sure Teresa will want some.

Weather was cooperative, temperatures were mild as they worked and the wind didn’t start picking up until after they were done.

Their time, of working at their place together, is more limited now that Deed is working 12 hour shifts with days off in the middle of the week, at times, instead of the traditional weekend that Josh is still on – so we really appreciated them spending some of those precious hours on Carla’s garden.

Her tomato plants will be ready for transplanting into larger pots in a week or so.

Comparing them with Norm’s – well no comparison.  Hers are about 4-6 inches now, his is about three or more feet high with flowers already blooming – figure they will have some tomatoes in a few short weeks – Carla’s is a ‘bit’ farther off.  He is in partnership with a couple of other guys with a large professional green house, so they had a great start.

Reminds me of a couple of friends that lived in Dufur; both older men with adjoining properties; both characters. 

They always had a competition to see which man’s tomato plants produced tomatoes first.  One of them was grinning as he told me that plants he purchased that year were blooming when he got them from the store – figure he had a head start on the season.

Romans 5:6-8  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Ever wonder, sometimes, if God is so ashamed of you that He wished He never accepted your confession of sins, faith in Him and bestowed upon you His saving Grace?

Not sure how many, but I am confident that most people sometime in their walk with the Lord have that feeling of embarrassment, have that feeling of so disappointing our Lord that we wonder if He is having second thoughts about us.

Why?  Why do we struggle so much with our dedication to God?

Why do we sin, ask forgiveness and promise with strong determination never to commit sin – especially that particular sin – again; then days even hours later, we find ourselves doing just the opposite?

It isn’t that we are not sincere in our desire and consecration to not sin again; we meant it when we knelt down in front of Him and asked forgiveness – so why do we continue to sin?

How can we stop doing that, or at least minimize it?

Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

What is that power?  How do we receive it?

The Apostles did tarry as instructed.  They preached, they worshipped praising and blessing God.

While they waited for that power they were still busy and active in Christ’s command that they preach to others.

Luke 24:52-53  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

⁵³ And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

I believe that the Spirit of God, His Holy Spirit, is with us when we accept Christ.  That there is power in our testimony and witnessing.  That we can lead others to Him because we do have the Holy Spirit guiding us.

However, I also believe that the real power of God is unleashed when we ask Him to fill us with His Spirit so that it overflows and uplifts others.

These men (and undoubtedly women) told others of the great joy in living for Christ, in accepting His death on the cross as the substitution for OUR sins, so we can be with Him eternally.

Yet, there was more power than what they had at that time.  While they were willingly testifying, praising Him living in great joy – bringing others into the fold – they could do so much more when God sent His Holy Spirit upon them.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

So they tarried.  They gathered together and prayed and supported one another.  They prayed to God; they praised God thanking Him for their salvation – telling others about our Savior.

Some of these new converts were leaving Jerusalem, some heading back home – others from the fear of the Jewish leaders that were bound and determined to not let their message continue.

And they witnessed to others, wherever they went and lived.

But the Apostles were told to wait, and they did.

Then, on the day of Pentecost:

Acts 2:1-4   And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This infilling of the Holy Spirit was important, so important that Jesus told His Apostles not to go out of Jerusalem until AFTER they were indued with the power He promised.

The Holy Spirit is the power source for our Spiritual life.  Without the Spirit of God our voice is nothing.  It is but a story and nothing more.

It may be ‘inspiring’ to some, but has nothing to bring them to the Lord.

Does a Christian need to be ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues as these people were in order to be effective?

No.  As Christians we have the Holy Spirit within us and guiding us.

But it is like an electrical power source – the power can be tapped at many levels, it depends on the receptacle and the lines.

Most homes are powered with 110 voltage with a few appliances powered at 220.  It is good enough to meet the average person needs.

It is such a low voltage that many can tap into that supply without the need for a greater source.

Yet, the power is there for so much more.  If we have the right wires, if we have the right receptacles we can uses hundreds, even thousands more of that power’s voltage.

Lights shine brighter, furnaces work better with the proper equipment the result of the higher power is noticeably greater.

Many of the receptacles and appliances, using the higher voltage, are based on the design of lower voltage. But, they are built for the higher voltage that would ‘fry’ those appliances.

Some systems have a back-up battery that is kept charged up to take over the responsibilities in case the main source of power is interrupted – but that only lasts a short time and is rarely suffient to run everything that the main power source runs.

A Christian has the power of the Holy Ghost when they accept Christ.  They can do a job for God and be effective.

However, when we accept the infilling of the Spirit of God it is like we are going from 110 volts to 440 and even more.  We burn brighter, we are even more effective, we are more in tune with what God wants us to do.

The power is there, all we have to do is hook up to it.  Unlike wires for electricity, we are built to receive far more power than we think.  However, we must prepare our Spirits obeying God, have a sincere desired to accept that infilling, open our hearts up and ask for it. 

Why do we have these feelings of inadequacy, of regret for our sins and not being able to overcome the temptations – wondering if God wonders about us? 

We have removed ourselves from the main power supply.

We are on that battery backup, trying to accomplish things without the guidance of the Holy Spirit and relying on our own resources.

Resources that soon are drained and we sit there without power and start wondering about our walk with God and how it has fallen so low.

We just need to restart our hearts, get the power running from the true source and allow the Holy Spirit to once again invigorate us.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Most of us go through these down times, but, if we are still connected to God those times are over, quickly. 

The conduit is there, and He is waiting on the other side, willing and able to start sending His Power back into our lives.

Later, Art :-)