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July 11-17, 2009
Damaged Trees in the Human Orchard“…every branch that does bear fruit Harry Emerson Fosdick told of a curious practice of apple growers in the state of Maine. A friend, visiting an orchard one day, saw the trees loaded down with apples to the point that the branches had to be propped up to keep them off the ground. When he called attention to it, the owner said, “Go and take a look at the tree’s trunk near the bottom.” The friend noticed that the tree had been badly wounded with a deep gash. The owner said, “We’ve learned something about apple trees – that when the tree tends to run to wood and leaves and not to fruit, we wound it, gash it, and almost always – no one knows why – this is the result; it turns its energies into fruit.” Close observation will show that we know many wounded trees in the human orchard that this finding fits – those who experience intense suffering, but in their suffering discover the great realities of life and begin to produce the fruit of the Spirit. The trouble with most of us is that we want to get to the Promised Land without going through the wilderness. Your gash could be a gift! It could help you yield so much fruit that your branches have to be propped up. Hermann Kohlbrugge once said, “God wounds deeply when he wills to heal.” I am so grateful that our Lord knows right where to lay the ax. For More God-Glorifying Fruit,
Weekly Financial ReportWeekly Need $4,829
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