ZAP AND THE SUPER VINE COMMENTARY

Thank-you for holding and reading my book whether you purchased it or received it as a gift. My prayer for you: that God’s love, favor, and blessings are apparent all around you as you deepen your relationship with Him.
Together let’s check it out, as we look for the Christian/Biblical connections on the pages of “ZAP and the Super Vine.” Remember, in all the Trinity Editions of the Gamma Series, the key animal represents the attributes, characteristics, traits, personality, or the nature of God, the Father; God, the Son; or God, the Holy Spirit. As His children, we should also reflect our Father in all areas.
So, let’s get started:

  1. Starting with the title, “Super Vine” is explained by the opening Scripture verse, “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 15:5
  2. On the first spread, we see a young boy looking up at the heavens. There you can see a cloud that resembles a lion’s head = the Lion of Judah. Have you ever looked to find shapes or images in the clouds?
  3. Notice in the hand of the boy is a magnifying glass. “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Psalm 34:3
  4. On the next spread see if you can find the elephant (the nemesis) “hidden” in the bushes. Hint: start with the light green tusks and green trunk. Find his ears. And you can see the dark, menacing clouds off in the distance. Interestingly, everyone can see and glorify the Lion of Judah; we all have a sky above us. But, we all deal individually with our struggles, sins, obstacles or roadblocks in our own bush.
  5. Next spread, Zayith wants “to learn more and more.” Let’s all reach a higher and higher level of hunger. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
  6. Look closely at the rug as you turn the page for a few little stars. God created the stars and the heavens.
  7. The next pages show the compassion in Lion’s eyes as He looks at Zayith. The words, “Lion and Zayith made a great team.” We are on God’s team, the winning team. Here it also speaks of Lion’s wisdom and knowledge.
  8. Turn the page, a little trivia was inserted as it states a group of lions is called a pride. It’s also brought up His reign as King and His Sovereignty (top of the creation as Creator).
  9. Here you see a little foreshadowing with the rock cracked as a Z. And, it’s a sweet family of lions. God loves the family!
  10. The following page shows the playful side of Lion. They have a race. Now, we all know Lion could win that race, but He let Zayith win and even cheered him on. Isn’t that just like our Father to want the best for us and always be in our corner?
  11. Turning the page – We see God’s nature to carry us when we’re tired, weary, or burdened down.
  12. The next pages show the river, fashioned after the Jordan River. This is part of God’s “plan” to “save” the day. When we look at the Jordan River – at its southern point is the Dead Sea, where nothing “lives” – pretty much like our spirit till we recognize our sinful nature and
    accept God’s plan of salvation. As we move up the Jordan River, baptisms take place, even Jesus’ baptism by John, the Baptist. We hopefully grow and mature in our faith, being baptized ourselves. At the Northern end of the Jordan River is the Sea of Galilee and we
    read about all the miracles that took place there. Moving up we go against the current or swim upstream, this is often how the Christian walk appears.
  13. As we move on through the story, Zayith climbs some trees with branches and vines, again referring back to the opening Scripture Verse, John 15:5
  14. Next, an elephant, our nemesis, roadblock, problem or such is coming toward Zayith. Z grabbed the vine for protection. How often do we need to reach out for Jesus to find our solution or protection?
  15. Moving along, we see Zayith being “transformed.” He becomes a Super Hero, “righting wrongs and performing wondrous acts.”
  16. Notice in his transformation, his pajamas change from blue with white pinstripes to white with blue pinstripes.
  17. On the flip page now we see the transformed Zayith, even glowing, as he points his finger making kindness flow. (As Christians, kindness should flow from us.)
  18. As we approach the end of the book, we see a Z with chaos and calmness contrasted. On one side of the Z, it describes the unhappy elephant approaching. Zayith puts his hand up, and due to the power within, the strife and struggle turned to peace.
  19. And even better, compassion, harmony, and love were increasing.
  20. And finally, we reach the last page of the story. This tells us, we can all be superheroes. We just need to step up and do what’s right.

Just an FYI there may be more connections than those I have listed. I’ll add them if you let me know.
The Bookend Scripture verses for this story are:
ALPHA SCRIPTURE: John 15:5. “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.”
OMEGA SCRIPTURE: John 14:27. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Take Away From This Story:
“We’re all superheroes who can make a difference if we just do our part.”
T-Shirt (heat pressed) saying on the lion:
BE A SUPERHERO EVERY DAY
Book’s GEM:
See if you can find the page you have to turn sideways (as we are to “turn” away from our sinful life and follow Jesus).
Please check out the Points to Pause, Ponder, and Pursue at the end of this book.
Thank you for taking the time to read my book.
My hope is that you enjoyed Zayith’s allegorical, whimsical adventures. But, even more, my goal is that this book becomes a catalyst for discussions with children bringing God’s Word and His deep love for us into the conversations, hopefully leading to a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ.