#252 - Are You Being Pruned?

John 15:1-7 (GNT) “I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. ³ You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. ⁴ Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵ “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. ⁶ Those who do not remain in me are thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burned.⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it.

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks. 

I got a Word this morning from the Lord that ROCKED me to the core! Not every morning is a morning that rocks me to the core... but this was one of those mornings! The revelation that I'm going to share with you will ROCK you and CAN change your life if you let it! Strap in my friend, strap in.

Tyler & I are coming out of a 4 year valley... a 4 year lull... a 4 year blah. After this mornings time in the Word, I have found it was a 4 year pruning! Now THAT is some pruning!!! Let me tell you a story...

For a little background, Tyler and I met on a mission trip in England in 1998. After 18 months of waiting and pleeing with the Lord, I finally saw Tyler again for the first time since our mission trip December 23, 2000. A little over a year later, we were married. Tyler gave a salvation message AT OUR WEDDING, offered the opportunity for people to accept Jesus as their Savior, and we were then married! That's different, huh?! We became youth leaders at the church we attended.... and 18 months after we were married, we also started our own business where we spent several years aggressively growing and having great success. Until 2008.

Over the next four years, we continued with our business at a less aggressive pace, but immersing ourselves in the Word, especially Tyler. I remember coming home from work on Wednesday and loving it! Tyler took off on Wednesdays during that time, committing to having a Day of Rest (DOR). He grew, changed, meditated on the Word... but continued to feel a strong sense that he was not released yet to build our business again with intensity. Though every bone in his driver body wanted to go and grow, like reigns on a horse, he was pulled back in.

Here is the Word I got this morning.

A bulk of the pruning is complete. Do you realize why? You both went for several years with NOT having a solid Quiet Time. You sought Me only out of need and desperation, not out of pure love and desire. Amy, the pruning was GREAT because the garden had been untended for a LONG time! A great gardener prunes daily! You never have to go through YEARS of pruning again IF you only allow Me to DAILY prune you!! Stay in communion. Stay in counsel with Me & you won't ever get too far off track!! It doesn't have to be painful. It will just be like daily maintenance. Daily maintenance is not like a MAJOR pruning of an untended garden. We had to do an overhaul, that's why it took so long. Weeds, even unwanted trees were growing up in your garden.

Wow. Talk about a wake-up call. I envision a garden with trees and tall weeds growing up everywhere.  A courtyard that could be beautiful, but instead is a weed-stricken mess. Do you remember the original movie, "The Karate Kid"? The one with Mr. Miyagi? Envision him trimming his Bonsai bushes in his courtyard. He had tiny scissors, trimming with accuracy and perfection. To the ordinary eye, you couldn't even tell anything needed to be trimmed. Why? Because he pruned daily!

What a revelation! If we STAY connected to the TRUE VINE, Jesus, like Mr. Miyagi's bonsai trees, we will never have to undergo major pruning. When we stay connected to the vine, when we allow the Holy Spirit to prune us daily, in a daily quiet time, large weeds or even trees won't have a chance to grow up in our garden. The Master Gardener will just daily trim with perfection. Bitterness, unforgiveness, envy, gossip and any other ugly thing will not have a chance to take root and begin to decay the inside of our hearts.

Allow yourself to be pruned, then STAY pruned! Allow the Master Gardener to prune you daily!

My challenge to you. Find a time, make a time, to be in the Word daily. Commune with your Father daily.