Scripture

In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout,
and they will fill the whole world with fruit.

~Isaiah 27:6, NASB

Quote

Things are ruled, not just in Washington, Moscow and Peking, but things are ruled–even things on earth–entirely from above, from heaven above.

~Karl Barth

I read a few days ago that there are three types of plants: those who blossom but bear no fruit, those that blossom beautifully and have fruit and those whose blossoms are not very noticeable but bear much fruit. The blossom today is fruit for tomorrow. The azaleas blossom but bear no fruit. A peach tree has beautiful blossoms; eye catching and a wonder to behold and the blossoms which began as a bud eventually turn to fruit. Israel was never known for rasing peaches, but the grape vine is popular in Israel. A grape vine does bud and it does blossom, but unless you are paying close attention, you will never notice the blossom. It is small and not very colorful, whereas the peach is bright and glorious; you can’t help but notice a peach tree in bloom.

I guess you could say there are three kinds of Christians. First there are those who blossom but bear no fruit. They look good on the outside but never reproduce. I was convicted to witness before I was convicted to preach. My pastor Calvin C. Inman taught me how to share the gospel. I will never forget the first person who prayed to recieve Christ after I had presented the gospel. I was shocked. Later I would come to realize, it was not my presentation but the Holy Spirit who did the real work. Then we have the Christians who blossom like the peach. They have a glorious testimony and very impressive presentations. Then there are those who are not flashy, they go almost unnoticed but they bear fruit, lots of fruit, like the grape vine.

That is the practical application but there is also a prophetic note here: Israel the nation will bud and blossom and fill the world with fruit. I believe this is going to happen. I keep praying for the LORD to do it in my life time. It is true that because of Christ and the Church, the world has already been filled with fruit, but I think there is another fulfillment in the future. Before the end, I believe many Jews will turn to Jesus and become avid witnesses for Christ. Of course, this is my personal belief. I don’t know if anyone else believes it or not but I will continue to pray for Israel, that their eyes will be opened and that they will see Jesus as the Messiah.

Extra

The number one exhibit in last night’s Trunk-A-Treat goes to the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. I don’t know the man’s name, but it was very impressive.

Another great LORD’s day. We had as big of a crowd as I can remember. We even had people sitting on the second row. DBC had a great crowd. They had 81 in children’s church. They had there Trunk-A-Treat last night and it was unbelievable. It is one of those things that you have to see to believe. June and I left at 6:30 dew to my tooth ache and people were still coming in. Two of the three DHS parking lots were full. I quoted Keith all the way home…”Unbelievable…Unbelievable…Unbelievable!

We were honored to have Deidra, Lisa and the girls with us at the Point and we us as the Bailey Sunday dinner. I told Deidra that we want on her 2025 calendar. It was a JOY to have her, Lisa and the girls in our home. June loved it! June had prepared her green beans for Tuesday and the girls got them out, warmed them up and by the time June got home, half of them were gone. Aubrey and I hit it off: neither of us believe in making up beds every day. I think she is the one most like her dad. None of the three had ever had much to do with me, but they all warmed up to me a little yesterday. I am not in Jason’s class yet but our relationship is getting better. They are sweet girls and growing up in a hurry. What gave me so much joy about Aubrey is that her mom and her granddaddy or OCD to the max. They make Lexi look like a Girl Scout. You can’t just sit things in the frig, there has to be an order to how they are placed. I guess you could say, they are highly ordered and I am highly disordered.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

By the way, I wrote this blog this morning and it is hard to proof my stuff on the same day. You will probably see some mistakes.