Bitter Before Sweet

Bitter before sweet.  Most of daily life in one way or another reminds me of scripture. Lately I have considered the process of dehydration.  In our daily walk with God it is all about hydration!  Receiving the life giving water of The Word, staying full of Him and His Spirit.
But the beautiful blueberries I was working with reminded me of pride, a work of the flesh.
The opposite fruit of what God desires to be manifested in His children.
Pride can be very deceiving, but when heat is applied it manifests in its element.
So I consider the blueberry and the dehydration process to shrink its appearance and the bringing out of a different form of beauty in it....wrinkles and all!

I am dehydrating blue berries and the smell in the house is terrible.
The berries are beautifully plump and need to be reduced to the size of a raisin.  
I have always thought blueberries smelled delicious, but I have only smelled them when they were fresh or after the drying process.
The process to reduce them to dried has been smelly.
I have been dehydrating them with forced warm air in a table top dehydrator for hours.

The berries still appear plump in appearance but their pleasant aroma has changed for the worse!
Because of lack of progress I have transferred them into a shallow tray in the oven on 325 degrees.
Raising the temperature has increased the productivity of dehydration and the berries are actually starting to smell better!
Reminds me of discipline...aka...Godly correction.
Strange.
Sometimes our attitude is like this fruit.
It appears on the surface quite beautiful, but when a little heat is applied, stink is evident!

But do not despair, God will make all things beautiful in His time. Ecclesiastes 3:11

2 Corinthians 2:14-15  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.

~Debbie

*Originally posted in 2015 at my blog http://wordparables.com


Proverbs 27:7 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Hebrews 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Hebrews 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Hebrews 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Hebrews 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave  them reverence:  shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Hebrews 12:10  For verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure;  but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Hebrews 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Mark 7:20-23





**All writing, poetry, posts, art, and photography, copyright © 2017 Debbie Turner Chavers.
Protected by US and International copyright laws. All Rights Reserved. Scripture references taken from the King James bible.
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