Pruning Time

 

Every branch of mine that bears no fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. John 15:5

    Gardening is one of my simple pleasures. The plants, shrubs, and trees in my yard reward our collective and my unskilled efforts. I rely on help from the family and a monthly guide for my geographical region written by horticultural experts. My principal dilemma is when and how best to prune the shrubs and trees. Dead branches and wayward limbs and shoots that weaken the energy of the plant and retard its growth must be removed. When pruning is properly done at the right time, the plants produce healthier blossoms and fruit. I am rewarded by a beautiful thriving garden.

As Christians, our branches are in the True Vine, Jesus Christ. Could anything be more needful to us as part of the body of Christ than pruning by the Master Gardener? For a season, trials and suffering serve to perfect us. We read in Romans 5: 2-5:

…we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

    As God prunes away the useless and the sinful things that draw our focus and strength away from Him, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) – sprout forth and grow. Beautiful fruit indeed. Renewed fellowship and joy awaits as well.

Dear God, help us not despise your pruning but trust in your loving care. May the fruits of the Holy Spirit grow in abundance in our lives and bless the body of Christ. Amen.

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The Divine Standard: Holy and Blameless

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You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 ESV

 

The disciples must have been surprised by these words of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the standard He sets before them is God Himself. Jesus doesn’t say tryto be perfect: He says be ye perfectas your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Jesus enjoins them and thus, all believers, to imitate God’s perfect kindness, mercy, and holiness.

Impossible indeed, but with God all things are possible (See Matthew 19:26). Besides, Jesus wouldn’t tell his disciples to be perfect if it were not possible. Through one man, Adam, the curse of sin entered the world. Through Jesus’s life and sacrificial death on the Cross, He took away the sins of the world.

 

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29 ISV

 

Through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, redemption, right standing with God is available to all those who believe in Him. By His grace, we can grow in unity with Him when we endeavor to keep his commandments and honor Him as the Lord of our lives. 

When asked which is the greatest commandment, Jesus speaks right to the heart of the matter.

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22: 37-40. ESV

Does it seem the whole of God’s moral law is comprised in these commandments? Although this seems like an unreachable ideal, it stands nevertheless as the ideal to which we must aspire. Our relationship with God is a process which works itself out in the details of our lives. Endless opportunities avail themselves for us to conform to the image of Christ in our thoughts, words, and deeds. A believer’s heart transformed into a heart of love, seeks God’s will, identifies with His interest in others, and extends His love and mercy to the world around him.

I encourage you to have confidence in God. The Apostle Paul said, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.(See Ephesians 1:4) 

Can we presume to seek perfection? How can we not when Christ gave so much?

 

My granddaughter Evie, November 2020.

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The Evidence of Things

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:26 KJV 

 Faith drops the letter into the mailbox and relies on its reaching its destination. Faith sits in the dentist’s chair and trusts it is for his good. Faith plants the bulbs and waits for blooms in due season. In each case, the outcome is out of our hands, but we’ve taken the first step. We’re put our trust in some unseen operation to accomplish something that we cannot accomplish for ourselves. Faith is the action that sets it all into motion. 

 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 KJV 

 Faith is irrelevant to feelings or impressions, or even improbabilities. Faith takes God at His word and believes Him to be true and unchanging. God can work in my life when I commit myself to Him. When I hand my petitions over to Him, confident in His infinite wisdom and power, He brings about whatever is good in His sight. If you are a Christian, you already have faith. Pray with the faith you have. Ask God to increase your faith. 

 Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! (See Mark 9:24) 

 Abide in Him, trust Him, and you’ll see the evidence of things hoped for. 

 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13a ERV

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TREASURE in CLAY VESSELS

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Helping Hurting Hearts

My Daddy's Bible

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. Proverbs 12:25 KJV 

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25 NIV 

Throughout the Proverbs, Solomon has much to say about the power of words to bring comfort. He likens them to silver, refreshing water, food, medicine, and a tree of life. Good words bring good to others and lift the hearts of those weighed down with depression or worry. 

I am reminded of the inscription written in the front of my daddy’s little black bible. It reads as follows:

    People need from us nothing so much as good cheer and encouragement. Life is hard for most of us and needs inspiration. The best friendship is that which inspires us to do better, to do our best. 

The tiny New Testament was a gift from his Sunday school teacher, signed sincerely in 1937. Her heart-felt words left a wise and enduring message. 

Someone near you could be blessed by your words of good cheer and encouragement. You never know the impact your words might make on a person’s day, on a person’s life. They may bring sweetness to that soul and heal a hurting heart. Maybe your words will even soften a sin-hardened heart and make it ready to receive God’s redeeming grace. Be ready to speak healing words to hurting hearts. 

   Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16: 24 KJV

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Fret not: you are not forsaken

Photo courtesy of Eileen DeCamp

Fret not thyself. Psalm 37:1

 

So begins David’s 37^th Psalm, one of my favorites for encouragement. David forbids the believer to fret over evil-doers and their prosperity.  The state of the godly person (who we hope to be ourselves) is juxtaposed with the short-lived prosperity of the wicked. As we often see, folks who care not a twit for God’s laws flourish and prosper by worldly standards. Rather than be perplexed, don’t fret.

 

Emotional turmoil is suggested by the word fret, one of its meanings being to gnaw away at or devour. Fretting over little matters or significant ones, personal disappointments or wrong-doing in general, wears away at contentment and peace of mind. Even for legitimate cause, fretfulness is not a wise state of mind. David extols us three times not to fret.

 

Instead,

Trust in the Lord, 

delight in Him and his ways, 

commit your way to Him, 

rest in Him, 

wait patiently for Him, and 

cease from anger and wrath. 

 

God is aware of the state of the world and everyone in it. He knows our days (v.18). I’d rather commit my way to Him, take my worries and concerns to Him, do the duty which lies nearest, and trust Him. That’s not always easy. Even devoted Christians fight spiritual battles with self and the world daily. But no day goes by that God doesn’t take account of our petitions and our actions.

 

For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. Psalm 37:28.

 

Allow the wise counsel of the psalmist to inform your days and give you peace and courage. There’s no need to fret, child of God. You are not forsaken.

 

 

Some of my family at Plymouth Rock. November 2020

Thank you for visiting Write Moments with God today. I've resolved in the new year to post more regularly. We could all use some good cheer and inspiration. 

 

Hope while the Storm Rages: When No Signposts Light the Way

Sunset on Oahu - May 2018

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Acts 27:20 NIV

The story of Paul’s voyage to Rome is a prime example of the trials and tribulations on the walk of faith all through the human story. Although it is a common theme in modern Christianity that the pathway of faith is strewn with riches and all good things while God lifts all His faithful followers out of the plane of difficulties, real experience is quite the contrary. Every one of the “great cloud of witnesses” lived lives of alternating trials and triumphs. (See Hebrews 11).

Paul is an example of how much a child of God can suffer without losing hope. Paul boosts of his suffering (See 2 Corinthians 11:22-33 for the list.) Though broken in body, he was never broken in spirit. The account of this particular shipwreck tells of his being tossed upon a stormy sea for days on end. Yet during this time he encouraged the others, even when no common sign posts lit the way. The other seafarers gave up all hope of being saved. Paul knew he couldn’t save himself; his hope was in God.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 KJV

For people to live in this everyday world in real surroundings with a hundred and one practical conditions which have to be met in practical ways, hope in God lifts us out of the plane of common sense and trials where our faith is perfected and His love and mercy see us through the storms. 

Like Paul, trust God, and many besides yourself will receive deliverance and salvation. 

For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4 NIV

Sunset on Oahu - May 2018