Holy Land Picture of the Day

Poppies in the Jordan Valley Today's picture is of Poppie flowers in the Jordan Valley,a common sight in Israel in the springtime. It reminds us of Genesis 13:10; "Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the  valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere-this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar"  “I am the vine and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me, that does not bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2). Hey Gang:  As I mentioned in the last gramps message, I love this passage of Scripture and just plain ran out of space to complete what I felt God was saying.  As I mentioned I have titled this chapter of John the IF chapter, it contains sufficient meat and potatoes to keep us here for several months to come. But is that not the mystic of the Word of God?  Have you ever read a book written by a human author that has a different meaning the second, third, fourth time you read it?  Or put another way, have you ever read a passage of Scripture a second time and you got the same message that you received the first time around? Getting back to the last gramps message, notice, it is not the desire of Abba Father’s heart to get out the pruning shears.  The most quoted verse in the Bible, (John 3:16) gives us the wondrous news of how very much He loves His creation.  Peter also emphasized God's great love for His children when He wrote, “It is God’s heart that none should perish but all would repent and accept His great salvation.” (2 Pet. 3:9 Hillbilly rendition)   Again, can you say, “WOW!” Thank You Lord!  Do we not all have loved one’s who have chosen to go their own way and need to come into God’s safety network? In verse 10 we find a power verse that contains the key to all of the 'IF's of this passage “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in MY love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (v. 12)   This power verse  follows another power verse that measures just how much we are willing to love our neighbor, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for  his friends” (v. 13).  The bottom line:  “This I command you, that you love one another” (v.17) Sooooo, my friends and neighbors, lets quit there.  We certainly do not like reading Jesus' next words, but I suspect in this day and age when we see our religious freedoms under attack from many sources, we need to learn the truth of what is to come.  Another 'IF' but with a very different message: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (v.18).  Really? You bet your sweet bippy! Blessings, Gramps