Pruning

I’ve been slowly reading an amazing devotional book called “Secrets of The Vine” by Bruce Wilkinson. It focuses on the scriptures found in John 15 where Jesus uses a grape vine as an illustration to describe how God has to prune us in order that we may produce even more fruit.

Here is the scripture, and below are some excerpts from the book. They have been an incredible encouragement to me and have helped me to understand why I am going through this trial…

John 15The Vine and the Branches

 ¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

   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. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

(The following excerpts are taken from pages 78-87 of “Secrets of the Vine”.)

Mature pruning is God’s way of helping you put into practice His command to “seek first the kingdom of God.” This is why God will always prune those things that we slavishly seek first, love most, and begrudge giving up. Again, His goal isn’t to plunder or harm, but to liberate us so that we can pursue our true desire—His kingdom.

This kind of pruning goes beyond rearranging priorities to the heart of what defines us—the people we love, the possessions we cling to, our deep sense of personal rights. These are the very arenas God must rule if we are to bear fruit…

…God may be asking you to give up your “right” to be married, to have children, or to achieve a particular kind of success. God may be inviting you to follow Christ without the support of your closest family members—possibly even enduring their hatred and rejection because of your faith. If so, He is pruning closely to what really matters to you—not to take something good from you, but to become Lord of all you desire…

…We go through long seasons in our faith walk when we’re unable to answer questions like Why? and How long? We only know Who—our loving Father—and He has proven worthy of our trust. He asks us to let go of reasons, of rights, of fears, and simply throw our arms around His neck. At those times we can pray: “Father, I’m hanging on to You. You can do whatever You want. Just carry me through.”…

…The prize at stake here is your God-given need for a sense of worth and purpose. For Abraham, it was his miracle son, Isaac. For Gideon, it was his large army. What is it for you? ...

…Here is a testimony to the goal of mature pruning: that you will finally be so surrendered to God that everything you now love dearly—even worthy activities and goals—will be let go into God’s sovereign keeping. What remains in your grip is one passion, one goal, one unhindered opportunity: to bear more fruit.

The truth is, Christians who have experienced deep pruning don’t focus on what is left behind anyway. They’re given to courageous, hope-filled, forward-straining prayers on the order of this one from author John Piper: “Lord, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am.”…

…I am not inviting you to ask for pruning. Trials will come. The question is simply whether or not you will let the purposeful pruning of God do its work in you, or let it go to waste.

In pruning, how you respond makes all the difference. You can complain, rebel, compromise, or run away. Or you can experience the joy, comfort, and rest that come to disciples who keep their eyes on the prize, not the pain. Listen to Peter describe how some Christians in his day were triumphing in the middle of severe testing:

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:6-8)

I am definitely being pruned, and I pray that I may grow stronger and be able to produce more fruit through this trial, and that God would be glorified.

Be encouraged my friends, be encouraged my soul!

With love,

Amanda Q

This song has been stuck in my head all day. It's called "Beautiful Things" by Gungor.

"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things,
you make beautiful things out of us."

Click here to here the song on YouTube.