The photo above is a tomato that has been sitting out on the counter for at minimum 3+ weeks.. I don’t know how long it was in the store… Fresh Produce?? Nutritious?? Rotten Tomato or Not?? Just saying???
When I was growing up my folks made me pick through tomatoes daily because they would begin to rot so fast. They would keep boxes of green and ripening tomatoes in a cooler set at a special temperature to keep them from going bad.
Vine ripe tomatoes are special in the fact that they are picked off the vine when they are ripe. They should never be put through any wash or gasing to preserve them because this process will tear them up and with all of the talk today about healthy eating and what gasing and preservatives do to our bodies, I try to only buy fresh fruit and produce that have been spared this process.
So it is with our spiritual life. Not everything or everyone that looks good on the outside means they are healthy or nutritious on the inside.
Many times I’m so tempted to only let others see the “pretty” side of me and would be horrified to let some of the hidden secrets that are on my inside be revealed or digested by others. At times like this I retreat, isolate or just wind up sitting on a shelf or counter kind’ve like the tomato.
But, as a Christian I know God will help me using circumstances or others sort through my rotteness. If I am willing to allow Him to set me free, He delivers me from the pain and effects that these hidden sins have on me, and gently washes me. God is always faithful to help me ripen and mature just like those vine ripe tomatoes that I love so much!
Searching for God’s Treasures, Marlene
Marlene has been called to go and serve others
wherever God calls her.
She combines teaching, prayer, worship with the prophetic, words of knowledge and wisdom to bring salvation, deliverance & healing to those who are lost, hurting helping each other prepare for ruling and reigning with the MOST HIGH GOD!
Let your [a]character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] [b]Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor[c]give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [d][I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor[e]let [you] down ([f]relax My hold on you)! [[g]Assuredly not!] Hebrews 13:5 AMPC
I’m sitting here this morning asking the Lord, What is next, Lord? Of course my flesh thinks about all of the seemingly missed opportunities, hopes, & dreams, and then the Lord reminds me of all the flowers, shrubs, trees, jewels and treasures I’ve been privy to. The blessings of His goodness, mercy & bounty are immeasurable.
My mind continues to wander from the thoughts and hopes I had as a little girl sitting in the naval orange tree in my back yard and the conversations between me and God. At the time I didn’t know about Jesus, Holy Spirit and the person of Abba as Father. I think I saw Him through the eyes of the movie I saw about a Catholic Nun.
In this story I remember thinking in the life is a fairy tale version, “she is so beautiful” but she is married to God. She has given up having a husband, children, a house with a white picket fence. How is that possible to love God so much and to give all of that up for Him? You can’t even see God. But, I knew He was the Creator and that you could see what He created, the birds, the bugs, the squirrels, the trees, and the oranges. I was always fascinated by the naval orange. It had a belly button just like me.
The Navel Orange originated from a single tree that was planted in Brazil in 1820. This tree had a mutation, causing two oranges to be produced within one single piece of fruit. The second orange, developing at the bottom of the fruit, opposite the stem, is where the Navel Orange gets its name, as that second orange vaguely resembles a human navel. The secondary orange is of vast importance, because it causes the orange to be seedless.
My brother Doug taught me to peel off the thick outside with my thumbs to get to the big sections on the inside and pop the entire piece in my mouth to avoid the juice running down my mouth. Sometimes this wasn’t possible with the size of the navel on our tree and in spite of getting this distinct chafing from the citrus on my chin, I continued to devour these delicacies.
Navels were seedless so you couldn’t collect the seeds like from other oranges in our yard. Doug also taught me to collect those seeds in the side of my mouth as I was eating until I got to the last section and then I could fire them from my mouth like a machine gun! Rat a tat tat tat tat tat tat….
I knew all about seeds. I knew that some seeds had to be planted at certain depths in order to grow and that you had to water and add fertilizer around the root of the plant or the tree. I would help my dad in our orange grove get fertilizer in the galvanized bucket and use my hand to spread the fertilizer around the base of each tree. Then I would take the water hose and water it.
Navel oranges had to be propogated (a big word I didn’t know then) from the tree themselves and so you couldn’t plant the seeds in the ground like you could watermelons, greens, tomatoes and other fruits and plants.
When I asked God about this He said, “Pray, Plant, Feed & Water, Prune and Harvest.” I could understand the plant, feed, water, prune and harvest, but “PRAY.” God was teaching me as a little girl about prayer and how important it is to put this first, especially if I was going to fulfill the destiny and dreams that He had for me. He created the earth for them to enjoy…
As a child God taught me before ever reading the Bible, going to church, or having someone witness to me that He is our Creator and I am His Creation. Each person comes into this world and is given a choice to believe this is true or not. This is called faith. I can either accept this truth or spend my life disputing it. But, one of the first things I have to do is trust that God is real and that He doesn’t lie. I have to partake of this fruit in order to enjoy it. God created the orange, and then He gave man the ability to actually improve on our ability to enjoy it without seeds. But you could ask my daddy sometimes it is a lot easier to propagate and trust what man does, than to have faith in God that a planted seed is going to come forth in it’s due season. Some seeds lay dorment for years.
Another scene in the nun movie I watched was the nun took a vow of silence for a year. This was so she could pray, talk and listen to God. I found this even more of a challenge for me since I was the child whose “tongue was loose on both ends,” as my daddy would say.
I believe this was when in my heart of hearts I knew God was wooing me to Him in a close and personal way. In my child’s mind I took it as an invitation to always be able to come to Him to pray, talk, listen and be willing to obey. I took it as a vow between us that He would always be there for me. The Creator of the Universe wanted a relationship with this little farm gal from Sanford, Florida. Little did I know how important this choice would be for me, my children and their children to come! God never asks us to give up anything that isn’t for our own good.
Pray, Plant, Feed & Water, & Harvest
Searching for God’s Treasures,
Marlene
Marlene has been called to go and serve others
wherever God calls her.
She combines teaching, prayer, worship with the prophetic, words of knowledge and wisdom to bring salvation, deliverance & healing to those who are lost, hurting helping each other prepare for ruling and reigning with the MOST HIGH GOD!
My dad would have been 96 today. It seems like an eternity since I moved to help my younger brother Keith take care of him in 2006.
Baggs Fruit and Produce Market was his life. He and my mom established it July 4th weekend 1955 and it is still in operation. I once asked my dad if he ever minded going to work, (this was when he was 89)? He simply said, “I look forward to waking up every morning and having a place to go that is mine and that I love!” He truly loved the produce market and he loved to watch things grow. He could look at a baby sprout in the field with bad eyesight and tell you what the crop was. He was a great farmer, like his daddy ~12th generation.
It has been six years since his 90th birthday and his passing along. I still miss my daddy. I miss fixing him breakfast and listening to his comforting laugh and silly jokes and the way one eyebrow would raise when he was pulling my leg about something or telling a story that he knew was getting my undivided attention. This was how my daddy showed he cared, telling stories and getting the laughs. I loved the tall tales! Now, my son Maverick and his son Jonah have this same trait. The Lord is so good! Below is a story about a day with my dad. I call it Daddy, Jesus and Coffee.
This is a Repost from May 20, 2012
This morning (May 20, 2012) my daddy went to his heavenly home.
He is finally at peace, running, jumping and probably drinking coffee with Jesus!The last few years have been quite a struggle for him. He didn’t like being bedridden and he was tired of being sick and tired. The last time I prayed with him, he said he felt like a “zombie.” My dad could describe his feelings in one word or one sentence matter of fact statements. Usually the humor expressed subtly would hit you a few hours later, giving you a fresh appreciation of his wisdom.My daddy was one of the hardest workers I’ve ever known. Over the past three years, he had gone from getting up early, going to work seven days a week 364 days a year (he always took off Christmas), to being barely able to get out of bed.
Only after extreme doses of chemo therapy and radiation, at the ripe old age of 87, he lost his strength. His mind remained “sharp as a tack” and like I said earlier, he always had a quick wit about him…even to the very end of his life here on earth.
One of his favorite sayings was, “I don’t care which way the wind blows as long as I get a little breeze.” His last birthday was May 6th and he was 90 years old, now he is in eternity. The Lord wants us to honor our parents so we can live a long life. He honored his daddy who lived to be 96!
I was blessed to have had my daddy and the stories he shared with me over the years. I will miss him. Below is a story I wrote a few years ago, called The Coffee Cup.
The Coffee Cup
Dear Seed Sower Deb,
You asked about my dad. This morning I’m home with him. His heart is getting weaker and weaker but he is still able to crack a joke. I always make coffee when he stays home and this morning I took him another cup. Usually I take him a small delicate cup, but this one was heavier. He needs the exercise!
Of course he lays down and drinks his coffee because he is weak. I poured him a refill and he said, “This is the height of laziness.” (He meant, laying in bed drinking coffee.)
He keeps asking me if his brain is ok? He’s worried about becoming demented. I assure him he’s still all there. This has been a serious learning experience being at home with my dad who is 87. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been blessed to be loved alot.
He is always thankful for every little thing and rarely complains. One thing I’ve noticed is that he is able to discern whenever he is anxious about something. He knows and understands whether or not something is a matter that you should get upset about.
He says, “my nerves are bad, I get upset over something I shouldn’t get upset over.”
This reminded me of Phil 4:6 “Be careful (anxious)for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
For those of you out there with older parents…appreciate their wisdom….and love their life….that all may go well with you and you will live a long life. For more about his produce market he started in 1955 check out
Cinderella Released…from ashes to beauty… cinderellareleased@gmail.com
Searching for God’s Treasures,
Marlene
Marlene has been called to go and serve others
wherever God calls her and is in the process of
opening a transitional home for women.
She combines teaching, prayer, worship
with the prophetic, words of knowledge and
wisdom to bring salvation, deliverance &
healing to those who are lost, hurting & sick.
To have Marlene speak, become a prayer partner and/or support this ministry monthly or give a one time donation, or be added to Marlene’s mailing list: Email: CinderellaReleased@gmail.com Please include your name, mailing address, city, state, zip and email address or
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