IDOK Devotion for Monday, March 1, 2010
The Pruning
I have a plant. It’s a succulent, I think. And when it blooms, delicate, tiny bursts of yellow color delight me. But alas with time she didn’t look so good – yellowing leaves here and there, dried up stems, no tiny bursts of yellow anywhere – not pretty! And I thought, she needs pruning, but if I cut off all the dead and sickly stuff there won’t be anything left. She’ll be bare and look even more awful. And then. You know don’t you? Scripture came to mind. I AM is the vine and we are the branches and who ABBA loves He prunes. And when He starts cutting, we think we shall have nothing left. And we think we are going to be bare and ugly when He gets done. Not so with my little succulent. True she has been ‘cut down’ to size but what remains is healthy and green and beautiful and now she has ample strength to produce yellow bursts again. And in time she will. When ABBA comes with the pruning scalpel, let us trust Him. He’s only taking off the sickly and dead stuff and true we may feel and even look a little or a lot bare but what He sees is absolute beauty as He rejoices over us. Below is a link to a picture of my succulent – bare as she is; isn’t she lovely? And so are we. When we have been pruned even before the new fruit shows, we are lovely! And this we must know, the starker our pruning the more plenteous will be our fruit – let us rejoice even when it hurts and wait with patience for our harvest.
(Amplified Bible) John 15: 2Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.
8When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me].
ABBA, I hardly know where to begin to pray, so many needs, many really ill and without Your intervening, not long for this world it seems and a family grieving because one has left this world, and some rejoicing because a loved one is better and some grateful for limited improvement and wanting to see so much more improvement. You know the hearts of each, You know the condition of every one spoken here; You know the condition of our specific unspokens and even our unspecified unspokens. You know it all and You really care about it all. You really do and You want to enter into this with us. You want to comfort and help and heal and we ask You now to do that. We ask in Jesus Name as it is only Your Name LORD that has power to heal and save us. Thank You for saving us, thank You for pruning us. And I pray You will tend us in this devotion and make us fruitful for Jesus’ Name sake. We pray for our IDOK Troops for their safety and protection in hostile lands and for their safe and sound returns home. And for their families we pray peace and comfort and provisions of kind needed. Thank You for what You are doing among us and I pray again that every Christian Assembly will become a House of Prayer. Thank You for this ministry and I pray we will not fail in our faithfulness. Please give rest and growth to us in Jesus Name. Amen and amen.
Kathie
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