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This Week’s Devotional Topic
PRUNING – IT’S ALL GOOD
Have you ever done pruning on plants? Most of us take the pruning shears in hand and start cutting branches based upon what we think looks good or to get rid of parts that are in the way. I remember taking the shears to a hedge in front of our property. I was a teenager and a ‘perfectionist’. This was about 60 feet long and in a straight line. I remember driving a pole in the ground at each end and tying a string between them so I could cut it back to a nice straight line along the top and sides, shaping it as I went along.
My most valuable insight came many years later as I planted a few grape plants. Of course, I made sure that they were provided with the right soil, fertilizing and watering to help it get off to a good start. Then as branches started growing it required a constant and sometimes daily task to prune and direct them. There were times when I had to cut off some in order to help other limbs go a better direction and be healthier. My efforts were rewarded as they grew and produced fruit. It helped me to learn a lot about how God is constantly working in my life, taking some “branches” away in order to focus my efforts on areas that are according to His plan not only for me but also in a way that He could bless others around me.
As the Spiritual gardener, God’s goal for us is spiritual maturity, bearing fruit in our lives. During this process, He doesn’t want to hurt the plant so it dies! He wants it to grow and be healthy and so it doesn’t cause any harm to other plants around it. Think about how this pruning applies to you spiritually as a Christian.
The Apostle Paul was constantly aware of his shortcomings, mistakes and sin. Listen to his confession and as He rejoices in God’s understanding, faithfulness and love.
Romans 7:21-25 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Romans 8:1-3 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
Here is a description of us as the branches, Jesus the vine and His father the gardener. Listen as Jesus describes this relationship in John 15.
John 15:1-5 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Romans 8:28-39 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yes, there are times when we question ‘why’ a door of opportunity closes or something is taken away from us. We can trust the “Gardener”, His plan for us and His infinite love for you and me.
This week’s Scripture:
Romans 7:21-25; 8:1-3, 28-39 and John 15:1-5
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