Do you enjoy grapes ?
These are Black Sapphire grapes. These non-genetically altered grapes originated in the Middle East, and are now grown in many countries. They are delightfully sweet, crunchy, and seedless. These arrived in rural Newfoundland from California.
Grapes are one of the foods that require careful washing before consumption. I soak them in a container of pure spring water, and then rinse them again, before carefully drying them.
As I clean the grapes, I pray for the farm workers who have grown them and harvested them. These grapes were likely harvested by Mexican migrant workers, who are expected to work quickly, under harsh conditions. We know how God feels about migrants. Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled persecution by King Herod, and sought refuge in Egypt.
As I dried the grapes, I also thought of the spiritual fruit that is produced in our lives, when we are obedient to the Lord, trusting in him, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us.
Paul describes the fruit of the Holy Spirit as : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. ( Galatians 5:22).
Hopefully, we are all showing increased spiritual fruit production every day. I notice that self-control is the last fruit listed. I wonder if this is because it is the fruit that requires the most time to develop. This, for me, seems to be the slowest-growing spiritual fruit.
Let us pray for the Body of Christ, that we continue in spiritual fruit production, and thus attract others to follow the Lord.

The grapes look nice. The Fruit of the Spirit is like this, ready for us to partake and give to the hungry and thirsty souls around us.:)
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Thanks for the reminder that people are hungering for the Lord. π€
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You are welcome. Blessings.
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β Diamond Hard – “Water in to wine.”; I like my grapes fluid EveryOne just like Jesus in Canaan – Diamond Hard
…βββ…
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I have never considered praying for the harvesters, Sally. This is such a great reminder ππ½
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Self control sure takes time to develop for me too.
Thankyou for this beautiful reminder.
BTW we get those grapes here in Australia too
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Thanks for your kind comment. You are fortunate to live in a country where many good foods are easily grown. I don’t think Newfoundland has produced a single grape. The air is so salty here. π€
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Australia sure is a lovely place that grows a lot of things. Each place has its own positive and negative things I guess.
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I doubt that many find that self control comes easily or quickly. If we are feeding the plant with the word, watering it with living water, fertilizing it with communion with the Lord then the fruit should develop in its proper time. So often we forget to do our part or don’t do it often enough and the growth is slower.
I have never seen those kind of grapes. I’ll have to keep watch for them. They look very interesting. By the way, if you want to make sure your fruit and veggies are clean, toss a handful of baking soda in a bowl of water and rinse them off. It does a great job.
God bless you for thinking to pray for those who harvest the fruit. Many of them may not have anyone to pray for them.
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Hi ! Thank- you for your kind observations. Thanks for the great tip about the baking soda. That’s good to know. Thanks also for commenting that so many have no one to pray for them. Intercessory prayer for others is a great blessing, since in praying for others, we share in the work of Jesus, who intercedes for us. I have watched youtube videos of grape harvesters working, and they verified that those harvesters are expected to work at an extremely fast pace. π€
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I understand what you mean about intercession. I am on the church intercessory team and spend a great deal of time in prayer every day. It is a ministry, as you said, that is a great blessing.
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Interesting grapes! Thanks for the reminder about the importance of bearing good spiritual fruit in our lives.
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Great post!
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Thanks! π€
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Youβre welcome!
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