I came across the astonishing information on ‘Ghost Apples’ below one day when flicking through Pinterest on the internet and was quite taken aback by the idea!
Ghost Apples
Below a certain temperature, apples start to break down and rot, leaving them much different to the nice crunchy fruit we're used to eating.
Ghost apples are created when freezing rain settles on the fruit and ices over immediately, creating a frozen coating.
Apples have a lower freezing point than water, so when it gets a bit warmer the apple defrosts before the ice does, the rotting apple falls out of the bottom leaving its icy 'ghost' behind.
And therefore, it is not a fruit, but a crystal of ice formed around an apple
I am sure that there is a mesmerizing number of facts that we are not aware of that happens in the everyday across the world but this one, kind of stuck out for me!
The word of God encourages us to ‘bear fruit’ - “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.” – John 15:16 MSG
Imagine us as children of God… bearing amazing, luscious, abundant fruit for the Lord and then allowing the enemy to come, create the frozen ice coat/camouflage around us that then turns our awesome and abundant fruit for the lord to mush on the inside of us and then drain/drop out the bottom to become trodden underfoot!
The verse above says, ‘fruit that won’t spoil’ and in the Amplified Version it says, ‘fruit will remain and be lasting’.
I am reminded of a childhood book (movie), not sure if any of you have ever read ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis but the theme for most of it is, ‘it’s always winter and never Christmas’. Everything is tainted with ice, cold, and being unappetizing.
For those that may not understand the concept of us ‘bearing fruit’ – as we grow in our understanding of Jesus Christ and our walk with him - we build on doing the things, he has asked for us to be doing with our lives, then we will experience the blessing of others coming to know Jesus and through that God commands a blessing (Ps 133:3)
I can’t imagine, God wanting to bless us by giving us the fruit in our lives, for us to then allow it to be thrown away and wasted. We need to ensure our lives are healthy spiritually so as not to allow this to happen in this season or any season for that matter!
I was listening to an encouraging devotion on my social media this morning, sharing from Isaiah 43:18-19 – “..be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new… because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sunbaked earth..”
We must stay alert and present all the time to what is happening around us so we can perceive any destructive ploys the enemy may try to take our focus from God in our lives – maybe like coating us in ice!
As I am now writing these things, God is taking me back to a chapter I wrote in my last book ‘Fragrance’ published in 2021 - https://www.kimcreations.com.au/publications
HIDDEN!
Have you ever experienced the sensation of being watched? You are out and about, doing your normal routine and then you get that ‘knowing’ that there is something or someone checking you out and watching you? Depending on what it is you are doing, I guess will then depend on whether you feel good about being watched or not.
We all have a little feeling of guilt I guess, especially when we have just passed a speed camera on the road, and we quickly check out our speedo! Yep! Are we over or under?
In the word it says….
“Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.” 1 Peter 5:8 MSG
I have on many occasions sensed that I am being watched and, in those moments, I need to be vigilant enough to assess, ‘Who’ it is that is watching me!
There have been many movies where they show a representation between GOOD and EVIL battling it out but one particular depiction in the cartoon version of ‘EPIC’ does give a very good visual of this when the warriors are all surrounding the queen just watching, being protective and instinctively the head warrior – turns, shoots his arrow and although we might think he has struck nothing but tree bark – it’s a second later when we then realise he actually stuck the ‘jugular vein’ of what then becomes a nightmare! (Check out the trailer here )
There are also two other comments that get made in this movie trailer…
‘Brave warriors watch over and protect us’ – in the word it says…
I. "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." - Genesis 28:15 NIV
II. “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore” - Psalm 121:8 NIV
We should be confident (Rom 8:28) in all we do, knowing that our Heavenly Father is watching us and if we have any uneasy feelings of being watched by something/someone else then we can give over our concerns and worries to Him in prayer (1 Peter 5:7 NLT)
‘Just because you haven’t seen something – doesn’t mean it’s not there’ – in the word it says…
I. “So we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are everlasting and imperishable.” - 2 Corinthians 4:18 AMP
I love knowing I have a Heavenly Father who is interested in my every day and wants the best for me – I could not do this life in the 21st century without that assurance!
Even as I am writing this, my ‘daily devotion’ (daily bible reading passage from BIOY) today is all about ‘Facing the Storms of Life’ – Matthew 8:26
‘The natural response to the storms is doubt and fear. Jesus tells them that the response to storms should be trust (‘You of little faith’ v26a) and that you should not be afraid (‘Why are you so afraid?’ v 26a) Jesus is quite capable of calming the storm and that is exactly what he did. Even in the midst of storm such as a global pandemic Choose Faith over Fear ‘ (by Nicky Gumbel – Rev @ HTB Church, London)
So, if you weren’t totally aware yet, we have an enemy out to destroy our ‘Forest’ (world) and we are here for a plan, orchestrated by our Heavenly Father.
‘For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,‘ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ - Jeremiah 29:11 AMP
*****
I wrote the above as a blog on my web site on 10th January 2021, three days later my father’s bank accounts were compromised, and it continued for 19 more days until they were all emptied. I am blown away by how perceptive the Holy Spirit was to me back then to whisper ‘the urgent’ to me, but my natural eye (and trust in a bank) was not able to see what the enemy was actually doing behind the scenes at the time.
Since the investigation into my father’s theft, it has been an ongoing process of discovery – in an awful way. When you find out how malicious people are in stealing your personal details and identities from you, you feel like you have been sullied.
To know they have read emails that you have sent over years…before the crime was committed is one thing but then to know they were waiting for just the right moment to pounce on your vulnerability brings to mind pictures of Lions in the wild doing what they know to survive and go for the jugular in their victim.
The process we have had to go through to clean up all our technology is exasperating and expensive to say the least. But in this season when our technology is so necessarily our link to the world, we are playing up against an enemy who so wants to crush us in the most vulnerable way possible – and I would say mine, because of blogging and producing e-books is ‘having a voice’ through technology!
As my husband and I have progressed through making our technology more secure since this latest incident, we discovered that our personal Identities were exposed back in 2018 and then more recently the felons went in and put rules and actions on the back end of my email account to stop me from seeing what was coming in from major companies and fraudulent transactions taking place – some specific incoming mail was automatically deleted before it hit my email account so I would not suspect any unusual activity.
I know that through all that we have had to deal with, my Heavenly Father has been with me through this whole process and is working behind the scenes to accomplish an even more marvelous outcome!
A song by Andrae Crouch called ‘Through It All’ comes to mind.
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Because of this reminder today, I need to keep vigilant mentally in not allowing the enemy to cover me in an ‘ICE COAT’ of deception via my current circumstances. But honour my Heavenly Father in praise, worship, and thanks for the amazing God He is in my life and for what He still has in store for me this year and beyond.
'No Other God' by Kingdomcity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB12UFSU7_k