Well, today is a friend of mine’s birthday! And I was hoping to get for him some “Guinep”, which is a hard to find fruit. I mean, this fruit is tough to find. I’ve looked all over the place, called, searched the internet, and walked into suspecting stores, all to find zero – NADA – zip. But I have found out a lot about this fruit. More about this fruit than probably those who grow it. Well, maybe not, but you never know. It goes by a number of different names, including Mamoncillo, Limoncillo, Spanish-Lime, Quenepa, Ginep, Chenet, Kinnip, Gnep, Genep, Quennette and Honey Berry. Here is a picture as I call for help in trying to get an ultimate birthday gift for my friend, CC:
Something that CC may not have known is that the seeds can be roasted and eaten like sunflower seeds or chestnuts. This fruit has it all. So, onto something about the Bible…
I read last night the first chapter of “This Doesn’t Feel Like Love”, which a friend of mine, Ben, let me borrow.
1st Corinthians 10:10-13
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1st Corinthians 10:13 bear:
- To bear by being under, bear up (a thing placed on one’s shoulders)
- To bear patiently, to endure
- To bear from underneath, that is, (figuratively) to undergo hardship: - bear, endure.
1st Corinthians 10:13 a way out:
ekbasis (noun)
- An egress, way out, exit (applied figuratively to the way of escape from temptation)
- The issue referring to the end of one’s life.
- Meaning to go out; an exit (literally or figuratively): - end, way to escape.
Sometimes I feel I can’t take it. Sometimes I wonder, if it is more than I can bear. And if God is providing a way out, I don’t see it. Maybe it could mean being medicated and feeling fuzzy headed and useless. It doesn’t sound like an enjoyable “way out” but I would admit that it puts me way out there. And coming from an addict, it may seem strange to say, but I don’t like it. It seems that it’s a never-ending high.
Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
I like the word live. Live by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 live:
peripateō (verb)
- To walk
- To make one’s way, progress; to make due use of opportunities
- Hebrew for, to live, to regulate one’s life, to conduct one’s self, to pass one’s life
- To tread all around, that is, walk at large (especially as proof of ability); figuratively to live, deport oneself, follow (as a companion or votary): - go, be occupied with, walk (about).
So, this is how to live… I walk in God’s way. I follow the LORD. I make due use of the opportunities God gives me. And that is living in God’s way. How I use those opportunities is what sets up my character. It defines my character.
2nd Corinthians 12:7
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
2nd Corinthians 12:7 thorn:
skolops (noun)
- A pointed piece of wood, a pale, a stake.
- A sharp stake, splinter.
- Withered at the front, that is, a point or prickle (figuratively a bodily annoyance or disability): - thorn.
(From Vincent’s Word Studies): Opinions are divided, generally, between mental or spiritual and bodily trials. Under the former head are sensual desires, faint-heartedness, doubts, temptations to despair, and blasphemous suggestions from the devil. Under the latter, persecution, mean personal appearance, headache, epilepsy, earache, stone, ophthalmia (inflammation of the eye). It was probably a bodily malady, in the flesh; but its nature must remain a matter of conjecture. Very plausible reasons are given in favor of both epilepsy and ophthalmia.
But the point remains, whatever the thorn was, it was sent by Satan, well, a messenger from Satan. And the way out… it may not be until I die. I don’t know. And how hard is that to think about, to stick with it for months, years, with never-ending pain. I thought that it would be a hard thought, but at least right now, it doesn’t seem so bad. Tomorrow is a different day and I may feel differently then, but I am not going to worry about tomorrow until tomorrow gets here. Today has enough trouble on its own, or so it is written.
Galatians 6:17
Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
Galatians 6:17 marks:
Stigma (noun)
- A mark pricked in or branded upon the body. To ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or the stamp of their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even some devotee’s who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their gods
- To “stick”, that is, prick; a mark incised or punched (for recognition of ownership), that is, (figuratively) scar of service: - mark.
I am owned by Christ. I am marked by him. Satan’s messengers can put thorns in my path, but I will walk in God’s way, however difficult it may be. And it hasn’t been easy these days. I will bear what God deems worthy and try to make the most of the opportunities presented, and when a way out, a way to escape temptation or should God call for an exit, then AMEN, let me take the way out from temptation. This was interesting. Johnny Out.
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