Maturing / Ripening

Summer has begun here in the Willamette River valley of Oregon. Although the nights are still quite chilly, temperatures 10-15 degrees Celsius (50's Fahrenheit) daytime highs are 25-30 degrees Celsius (80's Fahrenheit). In the garden there are already some tomatoes as large as golf balls. Cherries and Blueberries are beginning to color and the Strawberries glow bright red hidden among the weeds. While mowing the lawn on Saturday the lawn mower malfunctioned and will require a visit to the repair shop very soon. Anyone who likes to pull weeds and get dirty and sweaty would be more than welcome. Showers, fresh towels, and nourishing food would be cheerfully made available. (Just joking, I need the exercise. Polish food is excellent.)
As I was just waking up this morning, feeling loved and energetic, Father brought you (my blog readers) to mind. It was clear to me that Papa wanted me to write for you again this morning. So, I was asking Him what He had in mind to say to you. He did not quickly reply. He left me pondering the idea for a bit and then quietly suggested that I go back and read the older blog entries. I do not know how you react to such ideas. For me the idea of reading stuff I wrote years ago feels a bit like eating stale cold food that was fresh days ago. But, ... So I went back to the old ones and started to read. To my surprise, it was not like eating stale stuff at all. Indeed it was like eating something that had spicy hot sauce sprinkled on it. Time after time I found the Holy Spirit asking me a question.
The question He kept repeating was: "Stuart, you can see when I revealed that to you clearly so you could write about it, how are you doing at living in the revelation I gave to you ?" He was never asking this question as a criticism or nagging condemnation. Always it came as a bit of encouraging warmth. It was always spoken with an underlying sense of approval. And yet, each time He asked I could clearly see how He wanted to strengthen me in my inner being so that I could walk in each bit of revelation in greater, stronger, more powerful ways than I have before.
Once again He points out to me that He never gives me a test so that He will know how I handle it. He gives the pop quizzes so that I can learn about myself. The famous Scotsman's poetic quote is a plea that God would give us the ability to see ourselves as others see us. But, all of us know that we are able to hide our real selves from others most of the time.
My prayer for each of us today is that the gentle Holy Spirit would reveal to each of us what He, the Comforter, the Encourager, the Fruit giver, sees in us.
Love to all.
His, thus Yours,
Stuart