Psalm 40:11 "Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me."

Making fruit preserves or jam and jellies require different processes. You use all the same ingredients, but cook the fruit down reserving only the juice for jelly. For preserves or jam, you mash the fruit and use it and the juice in the mixture. One is spreadable and sweet. The other is best eaten by the spoonful. We like both with Greek yogurt. Yum!

The prayer issued by David in Psalm 40 verse 11, request God not to withhold his tender mercies. There are times we will go through the fire in order for God to refine us for his use.  Prayer and reviewing the scriptures will firm up our belief that God will sustain us and enable us to endure the process.

At times, his loving kindness, may hinder the fire, but he allows us to be pressed and squeezed so we can be comforted by him. This is how we learn compassion. We then develop the ability to share that sweet flavor with others.

When making jelly or preserves, you must follow the recipe exactly to get the desired results. If the mixture doesn't firm up you have to rework it or throw it out. That is time and money wasted!

The truths in God's word are to firm us up. We must believe God loves us. We must walk by faith and not by sight because without that action it is impossible to please God. We must believe he is the Creator and Sustainer of our lives in order to develop that relaxed spreadable kind of faith.

After my husband and I make strawberry preserves, we always make a pact not to eat any for a month or two. We want to wait, at least, until the fresh fruit is not available. To tell you the truth, we have never been able to keep that promise. The next morning we are in a jar, lifting out a large spoonful, ready to reap the rewards of our labor.

As Christians, God leads us from faith to faith. He wants us to be preserving his word in our hearts in order to have a heaping spoonful on hand when the fires are looming or the pressure is building. Beginning each day in his word helps to sure up his truths in our minds. Then when faced with life's processes we are preserved in his ways, ready for service to him and for him. May we be sweet and well preserved today!