A few times these last few months I’ve heard the statement saying “I think God is pruning you”…. This was said in the context of explaining some pretty frustrating scenerio’s that have been happening in my personal life.
Because of my lack of understanding about pruning, I felt angry at God and wanted to remind Him in case He has forgotten that I have tried to love Him with my whole heart and that I desire to live a life that brings Him glory.
And then, I took a closer look at John 15
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;[a] 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. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
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The Holy Spirit suddenly opened my mind as I read this scripture this week and I felt the affirmation of the Father speaking truth to this passage as I realized that the only reason a pruning has been taking place is because I have ALREADY been bearing fruit.
I can imagine a conversation between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit taking place as they look at the life of someone who is committed to living a life worthy of the calling. …..We will call this person “Ben”……
Father: “Son! Have you taken note of our faithful servant Ben ? Have you seen how He obeys our commands and have you seen the amount of impact he has because of his obedience to follow us?” “Oh how I love the life that he lives and the way that he honors my name”
Son: “Father, I have also been watching Ben and he has made great strides in his life, bearing fruit and bringing glory to our name” “Father, I know that he is able to bear even more fruit”, Father! May I cut his branches back so that is capable of handling more and bringing us even more glory with the life that he lives so faithfully?”
Holy Spirit: “I will go to Ben and bring him comfort and encouragement during the pruning process, I will bring him hope and strength to allow us to complete this task that You, Father may be glorified and that many more souls would come into the kingdom through this life lived faithfully. And I will continue to remind Ben of the things you have spoken Father, I will let him know that it is because of your great love that you “strip away” and “cut back” some branches so that the fruit that is already there may be multiplied!”.
….. In my mind previously, when I heard the word prune, I felt that it was somewhat of a slap across the face, as through I had failed in some way and this was the punishment. That is a direct life from the accuser of the brethern and when the Holy Spirit revealed truth to my heart I was about to start jumping up and down in excitement!
To know that I have the Father’s acceptance and approval is the driving motivator of my life. It carries me through days when I fail as a believer, when I do not represent the Father well. When I know deep in my heart that I can come to the Father and ask His forgiveness and KNOW that He sees the motivations in my heart and that he extends forgiveness and wipes the slate clean again…. I can walk with my head held high instead of bowed down in shame, and most importantly I can be a voice to tell others of this great love.
This leads me to this other passage while on this subject: Hebrews 12: 5-11
“ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”[a]
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
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I think also it’s important to have the correct theology of God’s heart towards us as children of God. He is not angry or mad or perpetually unhappy with us! Yes, the bible tells us that His anger lasts for but a MOMENT but his favor lasts a LIFETIME!
Here’s what Hebrews 4:15-16 says:
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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Personally, I know that I desire with all that I am to live a life that is pleasing to my heavenly Father, and that yet the flesh still rises up some days and I make mistakes. So I think the process that happens with alot of us is the the accuser comes to remind us of our shortcomings and try to cause us to think that the Father is angry and that when He looks at us He just remembers all the things we have done wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth! If we confess our sins He is FAITHFUL to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So when God looks at us, He sees His son Jesus, He sees righteousness!
——1 John 4:18 –There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
As someone who has struggled immensely with listening to the lies of the enemy and believing that I had to EARN God’s approval and love, this is one subject I really understand. God has been setting me more and more free and it has been the TRUTH that is setting me free. These are truths that are all really interwoven because one thing leads to another and the foundation is : GOD IS LOVE, it’s just who He is.
While I was still lost in my sin, He sent His son to die for me. Therefore it’s not contingent upon what I can or cannot do. God is not man that can lie or change His mind, He says “I AM that I AM”. . .. This is the difference between living under the law or living under grace. I chose Grace.
One last verse I want to throw in before ending this.
Psalms 105: 17 He sent a man before them—
Joseph—who was sold as a slave.
18 They hurt his feet with fetters,
He was laid in irons.
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the LORD tested him.
—————-As we are in a season of pruning and God bringing His refining fire to a lot of our lives, it seems it’d be easy to lose sight of our dreams and begin to question the faithfulness of God concerning so many promises He has made to each of us.
We MUST remember the life of Joseph and know that God will not give us more than we can handle, and this is on both ends of the spectrum! He will not give us to much success that it would cause pride to enter our hearts, He will not allow us to be too pruned or too tested that we would die of discouragement. He knows the perfect formula for each of our lives and most importantly He knows our destiny and the paths we will each take. So until the day that the promises of God come to pass, in God’s faithfulness and goodness He will allow us to be tested and tried that we might come forth as GOLD REFINED!!!
