Corona Devo 3305

What fruit tastes a little like bananas, a little like mangos, and a teensy-bit like citrus?  Oh--and its fruit-flesh has a creamy consistency, almost like a solid pudding, with three or more seed-pods buried in the fruit?

Can we guess?

Also--it's only ripe for a day or two!  Hurry-up and find this green or brown-skinned fruit quickly, and we will know it's ripe when it drops from its tree branch to the ground.  But make sure to peel and eat this creamy/fruity/sweet/unique fruit within 48 hours or so, before it goes bad.

It sounds like a riddle, but this (surprisingly tasty) fruit is real and has been around for hundreds of years, but we won't find it at the grocery store (because it's almost impossible to harvest/ship/and sell it before it spoils).

Have you been "way down yonder" lately?

If that phrase stirs up a sing-song in your mind, then maybe you know the fruit we are discussing: Paw paws are definitely different, and their window-to-enjoy and ingest is very short.  But when my husband brought one in from the tree in our yard the other day, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to sample it.

They don't look (at all) like a banana, but they do taste like one, plus notes of mango and other flavors too, all wrapped up in an unexpected solid-pudding-type fruit package.  Different, but good.  

Paw paws are worth trying, as I've never tasted anything else quite like it.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.  ~Psalm 34:8

~~~

I sense (in most people who do not have a relationship with the Lord yet), that our God seems to them a bit like the paw paw.

Time-sensitive.  

People often feel pressured to go-to-church, or to "make a decision" for Christ, but our Lord is faithful and patient.  He does want us to choose Him today, but He will wait, and for some of us, He has been waiting a long time.  Why don't we taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8) today?

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  ~2 Peter 3:9

~~~

Hard to find and figure out.  

It's hard to know where to find a paw paw/to know when it's ripe/and even how to peel and consume it can be confusing. 

Many people feel the same way about Jesus.

 

Why would He love me?  That can't be true.

And yet, it is true.  

We've done nothing to "earn" it, (and we can't), but Jesus and our Heavenly Father love us still, whether we "understand" it or not.  Let's just accept it gratefully today.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

 ~~~

Difficult to know how to handle.  

How do we "talk"/pray to God? 

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, (10) your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us today our daily bread. (12) And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’  ~Matthew 6:9-13

We tell ourselves that other people know what they are doing in terms of faith, but we often feel as if we never will.

• Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  ~Proverbs 3:5-6  

• For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, (39) neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  ~Romans 8:38-39

~~~

Just as a paw paw is unknown--Jesus is awkward to discuss, compared to most every other topic, simply because of the unknown and unanswered details that we have about God.

But our lack-of-understanding of God is rooted in the truth of His holiness and His power over us.  He is the boss, whether we have come to an understanding and an admittance of that yet or not.

• “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”  ~Revelation 1:8 

• Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”  ~Exodus 3:13-14

We will never understand or comprehend all that God is--and faith is trusting in Him and living-for-Him anyway!  The Bible is His Word, and we have to take Him at His Word. 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (17) so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  ~2 Timothy 3:16-17

~~~

Just as paw paws are a unique member of the fruit-family, our God and His Son are unique in every angle of definition.  There is no one like our God.

No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.  ~Jeremiah 10:6

No one and no other god provides the opportunity to be saved from our sin by simply turning our hearts to God.  No earning, no steps, no catches, just grace...if we will seek Him and serve Him.  God's grace is unique.

Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 

(8) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

(9) “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

(10) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, (11) so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 

(12) You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace...  ~Isaiah 55:7-12

I just LOVE God's Word and His love for us!!!

There's nothing else like the offer-of-salvation and freedom that He provides to us.  Nothing.

We can't fit God into an easy-to-describe "box".  He is anything but, and He won't be understood by us because we just can't grasp His complete Godliness.

But that doesn't make Him any less amazing, awesome, powerful, sovereign and holy. 

God is not a riddle.  Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8)

                   

Blessings,

sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com