Lessons learned the first 50 years

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I hit a milestone. I turned 50 years old. I am thankful that I don't feel 50.   I am thankful for things God has taught me throughout those 50 years. .  I have learned that God loves mercy and when I feel a sense that justice needs to happen over mercy, all I need to do is remember that I am thankful for when God gives me mercy instead of a just punishment.   (Micah 6:8 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.) ( Luke 6: 36  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. ) I have learned that hurt people end up hurting people.   When I am able to see that I didn't hurt them but I am bearing the results of that persons hurt inflicted by other people, it helps me forgive whatever hurt they pushed onto me and move on.  (Romans 12 : 18  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. )  I have learned that anyone who thinks they have God
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Lessons from Tomatoes.....

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Fruit.. Yes, tomatoes are actually a fruit.  ..and this is just one days worth of tomatoes I just picked from my backyard garden.  Chili, soups, salads are going to taste so much better with these red beauties.  These tomatoes did cost time in the Georgia sun, a few bug bites, and a lot of work.    All of the bad that comes with gardening is worth it , when you get your crop...the fruit of your labor.  It is just like the Christian life.  Those who falsely sell the Christian life as an easy life..a life with no problems ... 1. Is lying (on purpose or not).   OR 2.  They don't really know God's word.  As He clearly says we will have troubles. 
 (1 Peter 5:9-  Romans 12:12, Romans 5, 1 Peter 1) 

So, how do we get through the icky part of life ?    By looking at the fruit that comes from those trials.   I don't believe God wastes any of our struggles or tears.  He says that He uses it to refine us (1 Peter 1).  He says He uses it so Christ is revealed in us.  What better fruit!   He says He is using it to make us stronger (1 Peter 5).  He says in Romans 5 :3 that we  also glory in our sufferings,because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  
Character and Hope.... that's some good fruit!   Hope is God's gift to us in both pleasant and unpleasant times.   Hope is our anchor...  (Hebrews 6:19- 20- 19 [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot [c]break down under whoever steps out upon it—a hope] that reaches [d]farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil,
20 Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance], a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with [e]the rank) of Melchizedek.) 

So... look for your fruit.... it is coming.   Manage the weeds that want to choke your fruit out.  Deal with the heat... deal with the work... deal with the bugs.   Know He is faithful and will create fruit in you!  
Now,I am off to cook.......



I Peter1 : 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls


1 Peter 5: 6- 11-  6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 

Romans 12;12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer

Romans 5: 1-5  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

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