Blackberries

I am just crazy about blackberries...especially when I am standing at the kitchen counter and dipping them one by one in the tub of cool whip. Really what doesn't go great with cool whip. But blackberries especially...they tend to be a little sour sometimes and to me the cool whip is the perfect flavor balance.The berry is really made up of lots of tiny, round, shiny berries stuck together-an aggregate fruit. Each tiny berry in the cluster has its own seed, so one animal eating one fruit spreads many seeds. Blackberries grow wild and have thorny vines.. are rich in nutritional value. So what does this have to do with a devotional.

Well...just this... consider the blackberry and all of its intricacies... there is no other fruit that compares...raspberries maybe but even raspberries when picked are hollow in the middle. The blackberry is little, but stout and hearty and solid..no need to cut off the stem as in a strawberry..no peeling....or fussing around...What you see is what you get... a fruit with packed tightly with character.

Now think about our makeup....we too are packed tightly... clustered with many gifts and characteristics that make each of us unique. We may be one small unit in comparison to the world at large but we have got character, each of us....and we have been created with all our intricacies for the benefit of being a blessing to others. And we have been picked so that we can be a joy not only to Christ but to others.

We are to be fruit bearing branches for others to depend on. And laden with the fruit of encouragement, patience, love, goodness, self control, joy, peace, faithfulness, kindness, etc. All are seeds that are cored by the Love that Christ has given to us and shown to us through his life and his example. Our core is not hollow...it is stout and bold and strong ...for it is founded and established on the truth in Jesus that we believe in that holds us together as we are. For it is when we are dipped into the sweetness of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are balanced with the flavor of our sometimes strong and pungent ways with the soft and sweet way of our Lord.

Blackberries grow wild...and I remember from years back how hard it is to pick them without getting struck by the sharp thorns...we are surrounded by sharp thorns....thorny people, thorny situations, thorny "have to be made" decisions, thorny behavior and thorny selfish desires and motives....but in the midst of the bramble there is something good to be found. We just have to be diligent enough, determined enough and dedicated enough to keep seeking the fruit that we know God has planted within us. It is there....filled with God's goodness and clustered with seeds of His gifts. We have value...each of us...spiritual value that comes from God that is to be embraced and then shared.

As we stand at God's heavenly counter of excellence, may we too be dipped in his goodness...and may the flavor of
our words and deeds be a joyful fruit in the eyes of our Lord.

Hopefully you will look at blackberries a little differently next time you see them...and even if it isn't your chosen fruit...
remember the clusters of seeds...all joined together to complete the fruit....and consider a minute the fruits that God has clustered within you....to make you complete for his purposes.

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

Dear Lord, Thank you for making us as you have with your unique design and intricate detail...May we remember to
each day to dip ourselves into your tub of sweet goodness so that we may "grow" forth and be your rich fruit in the middle of the world's bramble. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!

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email address: cjodeit@gmail.com
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http://simplygod-cathy.blogspot.com/