Stay Connected
I often start our blog by saying, “this has been a busy month, where has the time gone”, and the month May did go by so fast for Vernon and me. The month of May, was extremely busy. Every weekend of the month we were on the road from North Carolina, to Alabama, to Virginia, to Washington DC, to Maryland, and back to Virginia and finally home to Tennessee where Vernon had to take wedding photos the final weekend. In between the traveling, we were taking care of the farm, planting our crops, caring for the animals, and securing the property for the next trip. I can truly say I am tired.
May also was a special month for both Vernon and me. I celebrated my 65th birthday on Mother’s day in Alabama with some dear friends. What a wonderful time we had! Our oldest Grandchild celebrated her 16th birthday on May 19. What made it especially special was we got to see the delightful surprise on our granddaughter’s face when she first saw us at their home entrance. She had no idea we were coming! The look on her face when she saw us standing in the foyer was priceless. Her big “I’m not going to let you go” hug was the cherry on top. Korinne texted me later on in the week and told me that our surprise visit was the best birthday gift ever! Just love that sweetie. It's so important for us to stay connected with our grandchildren, as they grow up so quickly.
When you are on the road as much as Vernon and I are and running a farm, it can be a little chaotic at times. The farm doesn’t take a rest when you have to leave. Things still have to be done. When we got home the grass needed cutting, but the lawn mower was not working; we need to buy more feed for the new baby chicks; the dog needed more food; the garden needed water, and the smoke detectors needed new batteries. When I mentioned to Vernon that we needed to put new batteries in the smoke detectors, Vernon looked at me and said, “There’s a spiritual application in this.”
The battery gives life to the smoke detector. Without it, it will not alarm when there is smoke or carbon-monoxide in the air. But, with new batteries, the smoke detector should work just fine to alert us to some dangerous conditions inside our home.
I guess you are wondering what the spiritual application is. Christ through the Holy Spirit supplies the power (battery) in our lives to alert us to spiritual danger. Our minds, our consciences, our sense of discernment (smoke detector) will not function properly without Christ operating in us to open our spiritual eyes, ears, and our hearts to the spiritual miasma Satan unleashes to deceive, to put us to sleep and to death spiritually if not physically.
“False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.” – Matthew 24:24
“As we near the time when principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places will be brought into warfare against the truth, when the deceiving power of Satan will be so great that if it were possible he will deceive the very elect, we must have our discernment sharpened by divine enlightenment, that we may know the spirit that is of God, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices. Human effort must combine with divine power, that we may be able to accomplish the closing work for this time.” – 2SM, 15.3
“The churches are ready to die because little of Christ is presented. They have not spiritual life and spiritual discernment.” – 3SM, 185.4
“Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure air of heaven.” – SC 99.2
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” – Romans 13:11-14
It is no time to become disconnected from the Power Source that charges our spiritual discernment that is so vital to our spiritual life. Do not allow the miasmic atmosphere of this fallen world to put you to sleep. Stay in the Word; be instant and constant in prayer; keep alert to what’s happening in the world prophetically; stay engaged serving our LORD to finish the work HE has commissioned us to do in being a living witness to the world of the transformative power of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST; let us participate in the proclamation of the messages of the 3 angels of Revelation 14, and the Revelation 18:1 who will lighten the whole world with the “everlasting gospel”. We must apply all our GOD given faculties, all of our resources, all of our time, talents, and treasure to this task, allowing GOD to work in us both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure, to finish the work HE has begun in each of us… and all the more as we see the end approaching.
The month of June is already nearing its end, and has been just as busy as May. We’re a little behind in our garden. We have one more bed to plant in the outside garden – Beauregard sweet potatoes. We usually plant three varieties: Korean, Japanese, and the Beauregards. We love the Korean variety the best so far! We also have a couple of types of eggplants to put in the ground. Once the planting has been completed our attention will turn to all the many projects we have yet to complete before winter sets in.
We hope all the fathers had a Happy Father’s Day!
