Holy Land Picture of the Day

Donkey Today's picture is of a donkey in the hills near Jerusalem. It reminds us of John 12:12-15; "On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the  branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, "Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel." Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it;  as it is written, "FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY'S COLT."  These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be made full.”   (John 15:11) Hey Gang:  In my last epistle to you I zeroed in on the little words of significance in the Bible that can be life changing.    As a little squeezer in Sunday School, Ada Alloway, our esteemed teacher often said if you really want joy in your  heart, place Jesus first, Others second and You last which adds up the word JOY. To die to self and place others part is part of the word Joy.  Question, Would you call Paul a joy filled man.  Even after you read Romans and the letters to the Corinthians.   In Romans seven he wrote, “For what I am doing, I doing I do not understand: for I am practicing what I would like to do, but OI am doing the very thing I hate.” (7:15).  He goes on and says “For the good that I want, I do not do but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (v. 19)  He caps this off with these words “Wretched man that I am!  Who will set me free from the body of this death?’ Joy filled?  But lets dig a little deeper.  Many refer to the epistle he wrote while chained to a wall in the basement prison of someone’s house in Philippi gives us a totally different picture of Paul.  He begins by saying “I thank my God in remembrance of you”.   He goes on to say “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (v. 6). Throughout the epistle we find Paul referring to joy in no less than nine different situations.   He says “there is joy in offering prayer for you all” (1:4).   In verse 1:18 he says “where Christ is proclaimed, I rejoice”.     In verse 25  He says there is ”joy in the faith” and in 2:2 “there is joy in unity of  the body and our fellowship with believers.”  We might take Paul a wee bit to task with his next reference to joy when he says  “even when I am being poured out as a drink offering , I rejoice and share my joy with you all” (2:17).  In verse 28 he tells us we should “rejoice when we receive good news.”   Our hearts should be filled with  joy “when we cross paths with  a brother or sister in Christ” (v.29), and “there is the joy of remembering and being  with saints of God” (4:1). What powerful words we find in verses 4 and 5, Rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice, Be anxious for nothing , but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let  your requests be made known to God.”    And finally he says “Rejoice when someone comes to your aid in times of need”  (v.10) Soooo, my young friends always, always, always remember when the rubber-begins-to-sag and you find your back against the wall, “Your God is your strength”,  You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you” and He will provide for all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”  (4:19).  Wow, and you can take that to the bank!!! Blessings,  Gramps