The Pruning Process

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit (John 15:2).
 

            Some living organisms such as plants and even the hair on our heads must be cut to ensure proper growth. When you think of a gardener snipping away and digging up, this is all done to make sure that what is planted grows. Jesus says that,” every branch that bears fruit He (God) prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Let us establish what fruit Jesus is talking about. Galatians chapter 5 explains that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you are bearing these fruit in your life under the power of the Holy Spirit, beware, there is more pruning to come.

            For the life of me, I have been trying to figure out why things get harder the more I try to do right. When we start to walk in the Spirit instead of our flesh, we begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We start to bear the fruit that Jesus was talking about. Then, the pruning begins that we may bear more fruit. Just because you do good things doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen to you. In Mark 4:17, Jesus tells the parable of the Sower. He says, “Since they have no root (those plants again), they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away. Because of your faith in the Word, you will have trouble. Take comfort in the fact that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. The pruning is for our profit.  

            The more I think about my former years its trips me out. When I was doing some of everything and dealing with everybody, I had more friends, more relationships, and more phone calls. There was always excess. What happens is when God begins to prune us, He begins to cut off the dead things in our lives. The word dead has many meanings but the following few stuck with me. The word dead means:

a.       Not having the capacity to produce or sustain life; barren.

b.      No longer having significance or relevance.

c.       Idle; stagnant

            If we are honest, when we are operating in the flesh those dead mindsets, relationships, and attitudes seem alive and right to us. When we walk in the Spirit the dead things are cut off from our lives because they don't help us produce any good fruit. We are separated from some “friends” because they don’t have any significance or relevance to where God is taking us. Some of us need pruning to gain new mindsets because the ones we operate in leave us idle and stagnant. We know that attitudes are contagious. Some attitudes of the people we hang around have no capacity to produce or sustain any life whatsoever. Pruning or cutting off is necessary in our lives. It may hurt, but it helps us to grow. It matures us in the things of God.

            No trial or test is pleasurable. We don’t want to hurt or experience disappointment. However, God allows it so we can grow. The only way to grow is to remain in Him. Because apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus told His disciples, “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” (John 15:5). The growth process is never easy. However, remain in Him. Let God do what He wants to do with you. Trust that in the end, He is going to make it all worth it.

Stand on this: 1 Peter 5:10 - And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.

God Bless