Well we had some sunshine yesterday and some more this afternoon.  Carla went to Hood River yesterday with some friends and brought back several buckets of apples.

She said the person’s car they were riding in couldn’t contain them all.  Her husband works in Hood River so they placed some of the apples in his car and then there was room in her car for all the rest.

She told them about the years we would take apples and pears down to her parents place.

There was an orchardist out of Odell that would allow us to come in and pick up windfall fruit.  Most of it was still very good, but they couldn’t use them in their turn in to the processing plants, so they allowed people to gather them up.

We would take the kids and several buckets and go up and down the hills in the orchard picking them up.  Then we would place them in the car – 72 Chev Impala for several years and then our Van for years after that.

I cringe to think of the weight we used to put into that car.  The trunk would be full, the floor between the back and front seat would be full with the kids having to sit with their feet wedged in between.

But, I have fond memories of those times.

“God is not silent.  It is the nature of God to Speak.  The second person of the Trinity is called ~ The Word ~”  AW Tozer

1 Peter 1:24-25  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

²⁵ But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

We get so focused on the things in front of us.  We want to be remembered as doing our best, someone that others can count on both professionally and personally.

In doing so, we have tunnel vision.  We can see what is in front of us, but we lose sight of those things around us.  What we want becomes so important that we forget to include God in our daily functions.

Very few people will have a lasting legacy; where they have books written about them, where people learn about and study them.  One of the things we have learned, is that no man is perfect, that often the fallacies are either covered up or become the focus of what we want to remember them by.  Abraham Lincoln is a good example of the former; Adolf Hitler is a good example of the latter.

I am not saying that Hitler didn’t deserve vilification, but we find very few writings that show anything positive about the man.  While Lincoln’s past has been written, discussed and studied, most writing are done in praise without looking into his faults – or when they do they are glossed over.

Countries rise and fall.  Men gain stature and pass away.  Nothing is entirely stable.  What we count on today, may betray us tomorrow, or become non-existent.

The one truth that remains constant is God.  His Word proclaims it and has held up for millenniums.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

We often think of the verses that tell us to put on the whole armor of God.  We use them as a preparation for battle with the enemy.  The Word of God is described as a sword,

Ephesians 7:17 .... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

We recognize it as both and offensive and defensive weapon.  We can use it against the enemy proclaiming the power and strength of God and we can use it as a defensive weapon to protect ourselves with the truth that God protects us.

And even though I know its value, I really hadn’t thought of the sword as an eternal weapon, one used by God to destroy that which stands between us and Him. 

The Holy Spirit uses it like a surgeon who looks at us and sees what used to be perfect, but somehow we developed a growth that needs to be severed and destroyed so our body can once again function as it should.

When we accepted Christ, He washed away all the impurities in our life.  But many of us held onto some of those things, not truly wanting to give them up, so we went back to them.

Most of us, as time went on, have allowed Him, through reading His Word, having it preached and taught to us, to cut the growth away and helped us heal, making us more effective for Him.

But there may still be some things we allow to grow within us that keeps us from obeying Him fully.  Sometimes we don’t even realize that until a verse we read suddenly comes alive and reminds us of our frailty and God’s power to help us.

We have a glorious opportunity to read His Word in its entirety.  Where some Christians, in other countries, can only hope to have a Bible and when they do get one they have to keep it in secret, we own at least one and do not have to hide it from anyone.

We can open it up and ask God to help us understand; to point out to us what He needs to cut away from our minds and conscience; what we can do to allow His Sword to sever all fear, all self-love and gratification and become a willing and effective servant of God.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

For thousands upon thousands of years men and women have used God’s Word to help them grow in Him; to allow Him to guide and direct them; to change their lives and become true servants of Him.

May we, also, take advantage of His Word and allow Him to work within us severing those things that keeping us from doing our best for Him.

Later, Art :-)