Trust

In what do you put your trust?

Family
Friends
Career
Money
Health
Talent
Beauty
Government
Instinct

You can peruse this list and think about each one and come to realize that they all can or have failed you in one way or another.

People come and go, family members pass on or move on, careers end abruptly, money is lost, illness debilitates, beauty fades, governments fail, talents dim and instincts are often wrong.

There is One in whom you can trust.

Christ Jesus

Name above All Names

If you seek Him you will find him and He alone will satisfy. As your foundation of faith you are secure and your life in Christ will prepare you for any times of trouble. He is your help. He is the author and finisher of your faith and there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. You will have contentment and confidence as well as Joy from within in spite of circumstances. Your priorities will become those of love and service to others. He is trustworthy and His love for you will set you free.*

*It's all in the Bible :)

There will come a time Jesus said:

Romans 14:11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.

Be blessed beginning today to live a life in Christ.

He's waiting - He's calling

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

there's just something about that Name,

Master, Savior, Jesus

like the fragrance after the rain.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all heaven and earth proclaim

Kings & Kingdoms shall all pass away

but there's something about that Name.

Can you EVEN imagine?

And the angel came unto her and said, "Hail, thou that are highly favored.

The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.

And when she saw him she was troubled at his saying

and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her, "Fear Not, Mary; for

thou has found favor with God.

And behold, thy shall conceive in thy womb

and bring forth a son, and shall call his name

JESUS.

Luke 1:28-31

For with God, nothing shall be impossible.

Luke 1:37

And Mary said, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord;

be it unto me according to Thy Word."

And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:38

Can you EVEN imagine? For the life of me I cannot!!!!!

Oh that I would someday have the heart of Mary: one of true submission and trust in my Lord and my God.

The Grapevine

I live in the beautiful Wine Country of Northern California about a mile away from Kendall Jackson Winery and enjoy a lovely ride through many vineyards out to the Korbel Champagne Cellars from time to time which is about 10 miles down the road. They have a great deli! One of their champagnes was Jackie Kennedy's favorite! I am not a wine drinker (unless you count Sangria)..so certainly not a connoisseur!!!

Now, while I enjoy things from a garden, I am not a gardener either. I have grown tomatoes, lemon cucumbers (yumo), mint, scallions and other easily adaptable-to-neglect vegetables and herbs. Currently,the lemon tree looks sick, the tangerine tree dead, and the limes are doing okay. The pear tree is glorious and fully laden and needs to be picked TODAY before all the pears fall off. I take no credit for anything that does well in the garden - the drip system was in when I moved here. Animals in the night often scurry about and knock the drip deals out of the barrels that hold the miniature lime, tangerine and lemon trees, so I take the blame for not checking on those often enough...if ever.

I had asked the real gardner to rip out most of the mint because it was overtaking the raised bed and interfering with the grapevine so I sauntered over to check that out and noticed that much to my dismay many of the clusters of grapes were already past their prime.

Sidenote: A fun memory I have of the grapes is picking them with my grandson and making grape juice...he wanted me to squish them with my feet but we just pushed them through a sieve with our hands and drank the wonderful fresh juice.

So here I was with a big problem: icky sticky grapes....some dried and shriveled. There are a few clusters hidden that are almost ready and you can bet your farm I will go and check on them every single day until they are perfect. Then I will pick them and eat them and all free and fresh, not $3.99 a pound. I used my scissors (ok laugh) beause who knows where the small hand clipper deals are...and the scissors worked fine. For the most part the clusters really almost fell off in my hand and into the garbage bag i had ready to bring in the overdone crop.

I have a friend in Oregon, Nance, who has a farm and raises cows. She is one of the funnier woman I have met on line!!! She can take a normal everyday occurrence and use words so explicitly funny you feel like you are with her in person laughing til your sides hurt!! She also talks about getting up early and harvesting this or that, green beans, fruit, etc. Her poor cow went to the butcher the other day too, but provided the family with mucho lean meat. She tends her garden and she tends it well. Smart woman. She has provisions to keep through the entire year to next harvest.

ALL THAT TO SAY: The parables about the vine and the fruit and all that never meant much to me in literal terms. I understood what the point was, but I had no working knowledge of it until today! Think how many times I might have heard a study on this subject from the book of Matthew since 1974!!!

The vine is one my son planted when he bought this house in 1999. Now its sturdy, gnarly even..strong and its expanse is about 20 feet in width. He would have been quite proud of that vine and its fruit. He would have tended to it better than I have. He loved gardening. He planted that pear tree that is bearing so much fruit today as well. He wanted to live off the land as much as he could while contained in his tract home with a small backyard. No cows!

The first time grapes are mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 9:20 - cultivated in Noah's day after the flood. Scripture contains many references regarding grapes and vineyards. Jeremiah 25 refers to "shouts of joy" during the grape harvest. I wish I had taken better care of the grapes so I too would have had shouts of joy this morning instead of disappointment.

In John 15:1-6 Jesus uses the vine to illustrate the spiritual union between He and His followers.

1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned."

Let's remember that without Him we can do nothing on our own...we are just sticky splitting grapes, past our prime, ready to wither on the vine and fall to the ground. We all know what pruning feels like as we sojourn together on earth, and we know that pruning produces the best fruit possible...it's all worth the pain, disappointments, trials and tribulations. We need to tend to our walk by abiding in Him continually so that the fruit He produces gives Him the glory." GREAT SHOUTS OF JOY AT HIS HARVEST!!!

Ok, gotta go pick those pears!