Apr 22, 20235 min read

Short BLOG as this is a busy day

Saturday 4 - 22 - 23

Verse(s) for today:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

1 Peter 5:8-9 KJV

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

John 10:7-9 KJV

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

John 11:25-26 KJV

Thought(s) for the Day:

The Vine

April 22, 2023 J.R. Hudberg

Theme of the Week: Who Is Jesus?

Bible Verse: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. . . I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:1,5 Scripture Reading: John 15:1-17 Our six grapevines give us more grapes than we can handle . . . almost. Concord grapes are my favorite, and, in my opinion, make the best grape juice. We have 4 concord vines, and two muscadine vines. The oldest of our vines is 9 years old. Every year, in late winter, the vines need to be pruned. New fruit only comes on vines from the previous year’s growth. What that means is that fruit relies on the previous year’s growth. Vines that produced fruit last year will not produce fruit this year but will grow new vines/branches that will grow fruit. This means that the pruning process is very important. Leaving too much old growth will result in growth that does not produce fruit, but instead simply sucks life-giving sap from those canes that do. On the flip side of that, even leaving too much from last year will result in weak fruiting. The key is to leave just the right amount of old growth so that the new growth produces the biggest clusters with the juiciest fruit. The one thing that never gets touched is the trunk. That is the essence of the vine. Through it, all the rest of the growth receives its nutrition to grow both new branches and new fruit. Perhaps you know this analogy that Jesus made. He is the vine, and we are the branches. He is the source for all our life and growth. In the passage in John 15, he even discusses pruning. But there is something to remember about that. We cannot assume that it is only those branches that prove unfruitful that are pruned. On a grapevine, even those branches that have previously proved fruitful need to be pruned in order for that branch to continue bearing fruit. Far from a warning about perennially barren branches, this passage also speaks to those who have been fruitful. A season of fruit does not spare the branch. Instead, it virtually guarantees future pruning so that the branch can remain fruitful. Leaving growth that no longer has the ability to fruit, but only leaf, sucks the vital, life-giving energy away from the fruit that is the object of the vine. In the same way, we may be pruned to remove those parts that no longer support the growth of fruit. As a result, we end up with branches that produce the biggest, juiciest, and most valued fruit, physically and spiritually. Prayer: Jesus, thank you for being the conduit through which life flows. Help me to remain connected to you. Help me to understand that even fruiting branches need pruning to remain fruitful. I know there may be places that need to be pruned in my life. Help me to receive pruning in its season so that I can be more fruitful for you. Reflection: What may need to be pruned in your life? [IMPACTUS]

Trump Calls Out the IRS | “That Is Not a Coincidence…” [VIDEO]:

https://www.redvoicemedia.com/video/2023/04/trump-calls-out-the-irs-that-is-not-a-coincidence/

Donald Trump posted a video on his social media platform ranting about the IRS on Thursday, invoking Matt Taibbi to start it off but moving on immediately to himself.

Trump shared a link and quote from a Wall Street Journal article along with his clip in a Truth Social post Thursday afternoon.

In the video, he started out with the WSJ headline and called the actions of the IRS “brazen and somewhat stupid.”

“So interesting to see the IRS make a Strange House Call — that was the title of the article by the Wall Street Journal on Matt Taibbi — during his House testimony on Twitter and all of the bad things that the government has done,” Trump began. “That is not a coincidence. It’s just plain brazen and somewhat stupid.”

Taibbi is one of the journalists who published Twitter Files posts, a collection of past Twitter documents and communications which suggest users were censored before Elon Musk took ownership.

“An agent shows up at the home of the Twitter files journalist who testified before Congress,” the WSJ wrote in the March 27 article. It goes on to talk about “new evidence that the Internal Revenue Service may be targeting a journalist who testified before the weaponization committee.”

Trump then quickly turned the spotlight on himself.

“But even more brazen and stupid is the way they have handled me, leaking information, which is totally illegal, and making a deal and then breaking it for strictly political reasons,” Trump said. “I had a done deal before running for president. They broke it. They treated me worse than they treated the Tea Party or the evangelicals. I could have easily made a very good deal with the IRS during my four years as president, but I thought it would be inappropriate to do so. Maybe a conflict of interest. I didn’t want that.”

Trump has an interesting history with the IRS. He refused to release his tax returns as he ran for president in 2016, saying he couldn’t because he was “under audit.” In 2022, the House Ways and Means Committee released documents that showed Trump paid $0 in federal income taxes in 2020.

Trump did not go into specifics about the “deal” he should have made.

“Besides, I already had a deal from before my presidency,” he said. “A deal which they chose not to honor. So now I’m demanding the original deal without late changes in the rules and regulations. So that deal would be harder to make.”

Trump then accused President Joe Biden of taking “advantage of government.”

“Most people would say that after watching the Biden family take advantage of government, I should have made a deal during my term. To me, it was a conflict. I thought it was inappropriate, so I didn’t do so. But this is the price you pay for being honest in the USA of today.”

Watch the clip above, via Truth Social.