This is our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life (Hebrews 11:8-10) along the narrow way (Matthew 7:14), even the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16), submitting to the Bible as a light unto both (Psalms 119:105). It is our prayer that these documented moments in our earthly time benefit whom God might choose to edify, but ultimately that God glorifies Himself through them.

Month: September 2016

David’s Digest: It’s Not Salvific!

I’ve heard this before, in the context of how one lives their life. For example, “Oh, you don’t have to live such and such way…it’s not salvific!”

I agree it does not merit anything for salvation. However, salvation is a process. It starts with God’s sovereign act of changing the dead heart to a living one, a passive act on man’s part, and it continues throughout the life of the person, ending in glory. That time in the middle is the sanctification process, something the Holy Spirit does in the life of the individual by making them more holy, or Christ-like, which is by giving the person Christ’s graces, the fruit of the Spirit:

Gal 5:22-23 – “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Faith and love are the main drivers of the Christian, and with those comes obedience to God in His direction in the Bible, and the Bible would have Christians not love the world and not be conformed to it:

1 John 2:15 – “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Rom 12:2 – “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Using the example of how one dresses, the Bible would have Christians dress modestly. And in that modesty, given the world in its view on life and how to live it is one of a Christian’s main enemies (along with Satan and a person’s own carnal man), why would a Christian want to be as close to the way the world dresses, without supposedly stepping over the line, and not be as far away from the way the world does things, like Lot and his family escaping Sodom, not looking back desiring to be closer to it…like Lot’s wife?

So, Christianity requires OBEDIENCE to these commands, which (obedience) stems from love for Christ, which is a fruit of the Spirit, which brings sanctification, in the process of SALVATION!

Further, as I mentioned, a Christian’s enemy is his carnal man, which I believe is a person’s greatest enemy:

1 Pet 2:11 – “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts [desires], which war against the soul;

Our carnal man is at war with the soul. Part of our duty in our Christian walk is to war against our spiritual enemies.

As graces grow, the carnal man is brought lower and lower in the mortification (death-bringing) process of that carnal man. The means of denying the carnal man we have been talking about can help in that process. Again with dress, dressing modestly can help curb pride and vanity, things contrary to God, His nature and holiness. Mortification is a duty of ourselves, and as with graces, it is a work of the Spirit in the sanctification process, for which He uses means. And then, why wouldn’t a Christian want to dress in a way that brings the most mortification of pride and vanity, coming against sin in the strongest way possible?

Why would a Christian feed its enemy? A Christian should not, and ignoring this can be eternally dangerous:

Gal 6:8 – “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

And so, while nothing we do in our lives merits salvation, there are means of sanctification in the salvation process, and it is important for a professing Christian to consider how he/she live their life in light of the Bible’s directions and how Christ lived His.

— David

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: Turkey Surprise!

After what we believe is a Spanish black heritage female turkey just showed up on our farm one day, and after finding a local heritage turkey breeder and fetching a tom for her, and after not really seeing much go on between them, something happened the other day…

Trina, our turkey hen, was prone to sitting on her eggs. She tried once in the orchard, but we got her out of there as that’s just a situation for her to get eaten up. She also had sat on eggs on our hay stack in the barn, but we had problems with a big snake that was eating her eggs. And then once more, she started sitting on her eggs in the hay manger we have in the barn stall. She also had a little chicken hen helper who would take her eggs and sit on them, and then Sue would move them back under Trina.

Well, what do you know! About 25 days later…little cheep, cheeps coming out from underneath Trina! Ha! How neat is that? What a nice and gracious gift from God!

I figured it was time to get her and them out of the barn as 1) they’re snake bait, and 2) once she goes mobile they’re cat bait. I didn’t really know where to put her other than the summer kitchen, but all we had were the little chicken cage-pens. So, I took a couple apart and strung them together to make a larger pen, and it created a nice area! And then we moved them — we had found one dead next to her, and we believe there were another two that didn’t make it out of the egg, but she had 3 live ones under her, which Sue scooped up as I grabbed Trina, and now they’re all in there very nicely, all still alive! How neat!

Here is a picture of them:

Our First Turkey Chicks

And a video of the adventure!


We are thankful to the Lord for this very nice, gracious and unexpected gift! May they go to good use, so God would glorify Himself in some way, and that maybe His people might benefit!

— David

A House – Update XLV – Bedroom Closet Clothes Hanging Rods & Pantry Shelves

The Lord has granted some more progress on the house, more internal furnishings to be able to continue the “move in” process!

Here are some clothes hanging rods for the bedroom closet. I used adjustable-length metal rods, and double stacked them for my clothes:

Bedroom Closet Clothes Hanging Rods

Clothes Hanging Double Stacked in the Bedroom Closet

And then extended the top rod to allow for Sue’s dresses:

Dresses Hanging in the Bedroom Closet

Also, we put up our first shelves in the pantry!

First Shelves in the Pantry

Once again, we are thankful to God for allowing these things. We always pray the house will be a place where His glory is brought forth, in our lives and through those in the community.

— David

The Orchard – Summer 2016 – Plums & Pears

It was a very light winter this past one. While I’m not a cold-weather person, it also appears to perhaps have affected the productivity of the orchard. By God’s graces, we almost always get peaches and nectarines, but nothing really this year. And we willingly submit to God’s providence in these things.

However, we did get quite a few plums earlier in the year! Several buckets-full like this, which we just ate on the fly:

2016 Orchard Plums

And for the first time I think, other than maybe an odd one or two over the years, God granted a few pears! Yea!

2016 Orchard Pears

We are always thankful to the Lord for whatever He grants. We deserve to receive nothing, anything granted is by His graciousness, and we submit, agree with, and are thankful for His perfect will in this and all things.

— David