Well for some reason this week God is speaking to me about what exactly happens when a rotten apple is able to co-exist with it's fellow apples as in the familiar phrase of how "one rotten apple will spoil the bunch." I thought it a strange topic at first but once again confirmations come at me right and left so I listen carefully to those confirmations and ultimately end up with something to write about. This seems to be working well for me and I trust that God is leading me always towards my growing up in Him.
So what exactly is the scientific explanation of what happens when your nice big bowl of fruit succumbs to this process of decay?
"This occurs because the rotting apple gives off a gas called ethylene, which speeds the ripening of the other apples in the fruit. Ethylene production can also be induced by a variety of external aspects such as mechanical wounding and environmental stresses. Ethylene gas in biology, is known as a hormone. Hormones, as they do in humans, cause growth."
Interesting to see the connection of decay and then breakdown that is at work in all of God's life. I think this topic came up because of a discussion on the fear of some individuals being susceptible to friends of theirs that are walking in dangerous areas.....drugs, loose morals,denouncing Christ as the only way to salvation. Can they stand firm in their walk with God without this negative influence affecting them? That is always every parents biggest fear....peer pressure that can raise it's ugly head in children as well as adults. It must be an important issue, as there is much spoken on this topic in Scripture:
Be not deceived, bad company corrupts good morals
(Proverbs 4:14)
* Don't be spending your time with someone who's angry or hot tempered or you may become like that yourself. (Proverbs 22:24)
* Don't answer a fool regarding his own foolishness because you may end up like him. (Proverbs 26:4)
* Don't spend time with those who are foolish or eventually you won't be able to discern knowledge. (Proverbs 14:7)
If you are in the company of those who are wise, you will gain wisdom. If you are in the company of those who are evil, you too will become evil. (Proverbs 13:20)
The Bible tells us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. God’s ultimate aim for us is spiritual growth. His goal is to transform us into the express image of His Son Jesus Christ. The main reason that God will start to take out the friends in your life that He does not want you to have is because some of these people may be negative influences in your life and hinder your own growth. The pressure to conform is so hard, especially in young people. Having friends and being accepted is such a huge mountain to climb. I feel all my kids have gone through some form of this and even now I still feel that they walk the middle of the road sometimes just to be a part of the accepted group.
God will not put up with this, and He will remove these bad influences out of your life if you enter into this full surrendered walk with Him. For those who are married and have children - it is the same thing when you do not want your children hanging out with other children who you know would be a bad and negative influence on your child. You know that if your children start hanging out with the wrong type of crowd, they can become very easily corrupted in a very short period of time. It would be comforting to believe that if they have received Christ they are strong enough to stand their ground but there is a growing up process going on physically and spiritually. We go from infant to young men to adults and along these growing years is where maturity happens. At some point I think you do reach a place of maturity where you are not easily swayed but it takes time.
Ephesians 4:13
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Hebrews 5:14
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
We are all operating at different levels of spiritual development with the Lord. God knows best as to who would be best suited for you at the level of spiritual development that you are currently operating at with Him. I have always been a person with a few very close friends, even in high school. When God does bring in these types of special friends to share your journey with, they become real treasures! They might be with you throughout your life or maybe just for a season but I trust that each interaction has a purpose.
Sadly, what you will find out very early on, is just because someone may be a saved and born again Christian does not mean this person has their act together in the Lord. Some people have become too judgmental and too critical in their walk. Some have become too arrogant and pompous, thinking that they have all the answers to everything. God will always be fine tuning us in how to walk in the Spirit. I know sometimes my kids think that is where I am coming from and I am trying to stay strong in what I believe,share who I am in Christ with them and hope that it doesn't come off that way but I know it probably does sometimes and I ask God and them to forgive me. When someone says that they see something different in me, I only hope that it is Christ that they see.
I pray that God will bring the right people into their lives at the right time. How He gets you to meet some of these people in the first place is exciting. Some of these interactions are quite incredible, as most of these people will be total strangers to you until God moves in to match the two of you up. I just took a new job the other day and was so delighted to meet a new Christian woman in real estate, also expecting her first grand child in a few months. It was kind of a confirmation that this is where God wanted me for now. The possibilities are endless as to where these people may come from and I've come to realize that these kindred Spirits can come from anywhere and at anytime - so keep your radar up, as you never know when God may move to bring one of them into your life.
We are so praying for our children to find these prayer partners, kindred spirits, forever friends, "good apples" in their early adult years. To have friends that share your faith, that will pray for you when things get tough and stand with you through thick and thin is truly a blessing. Dividing yourself between who you are in Christ and who you are in the secular world is tricky. Only in Christ is there power to defeat the enemy and I believe it's only purpose on earth is to stop the spread of the gospel. The gas that is released from the apple, quickly does it's job on a bowl of fruit and the negative energy of an ungodly person has the same effect.....decay!
Feel like I wrote this for someone.....it's just what was on my mind.
