God’s Pruning Process

How Is God Pruning You?

The prospect of pruning can be pretty upsetting if are attached to the things that we know God is telling us to separate from. But the active pruning is done out of love, in order to stimulate growth. Understanding the purpose of pruning is key if we are appreciate it as a positive extra life when we are called to do it in our lives.

I know when God prunes me it is horrible, I usually feel like I have a rock in the pit of my stomach, and something is just off.

The dictionary define pruning as “to trim by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, esp to encourage growth,”and this definition works pretty well when you think about pruning in a biblical sense.

For us to grow spiritually, become purposeful and remain in a healthy relationship with Jesus we have to cut the bad influences and distractions out of our lives. We can’t continue to pursue worldly values which don’t correspond with godly values if we choose to prioritize God and put Him at the center of our lives.

The world and its desire to pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:17).

What Jesus says in John 15: 1-4 is a great reminder of the positivity and purpose of pruning:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch and knee that bears no fruit, wild every branch that does bear fruit, he proved it so that I will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remaining me, as I also remain in you. Essentially, the things which don’t lead you to Jesus cannot remain in your life if you choose to remain in Jesus.

John 15: 1-4

The process of pruning is really easy but reminding ourselves of the point of it, The fact that it frees us up to fulfill God’s purpose for us, can help us adjust to the changes we are called to make.

Things To Thank God For Daily

It’s easy to be thankful on Thanksgiving. It’s an entire holiday about gratitude. Across America, families will watch parades, eat big meals, and celebrate God’s provision over the past year.

God wants us to be thankful, but His vision for thankfulness is so much bigger than a once-a-year celebration.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks all the time and for everything. We are called to be thankful daily, not just once a year. This verse actually states “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.”

Be thankful For

1. A Savior

Jesus died for us (John 3:16). He paid the price for our sub so that we didn’t have ti. Jesus’s sacrifice is a beautiful example of how much God loves each of us.

2. A Fresh Start

Every day is n new beginning (Lamentations 3:22-23). We have a God of grace whose mercies begin new every morning. Our past does not define our future.

3, A Purpose

God is not done with you (Ephesians 2:10). He created us purpose, wirh purpose, and for a purpose. We ate God’s handiwork, uniquely designed to carry out His plans.

4, A Beautiful World

God’s creativity is on display 24-hours 7 days a week (Nehemiah 9:6). How many times do we drive from point A to point B and never seem to stop and look at the beauty of God’s creation?

5. The Ability To Worship

We have the freedom to worship Jesus everyday of the week (Psalm 100:4). We sing lullabies to our children and can belt out our favorite music in the car, who would we not sing to our loving Savior?

6. Peace In Any Circumstance

God does not promise that life will be easy, but He did promise us peace (John 14:27). When we take our eyes off our circumstances and focus on Him, He gives us peace,

7. A Full Life

Jesus does not want us to just endure life; He wants us to enjoy life. John 10:10) says Jesus came so that we could not only have life but to have it abundantly.

8. The Bible

The Bible does not just speak of things in the past; it speaks us today (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16). Through the Bible, God instructs us, encourages us and guides us.

9. The Church

We do not have ti walk through life alone (Hebrews 10:24-25). The church is a community of people doing the best they can to follow Jesus’s example. In the church, we find the encouragement to grow in love and good deeds.

10, A Reason To Hope

We serve a God Whois not only a promise maker, but also a promise keeper (Numbers 23:19; Romans 8:28), He promises to work all things together for our good. There is no greater hope than in a promise fulfiller who has conquered death.

4 Life Changing Lessons

What’s Inside You Is More Valuable Than Anything

Learn from other people’s experiences. Learn from objects, people, nature around you. A smart person grasps every lesson and avoids every mistake made by their counterparts.

The Above Advice Is A Shortcut To Become Successful

Let’s look at an ordinary tool used by small children. some children draw stick figures but by adult hood they are sketching art.

successful

If you observe closely and think about it with all your brain power, you will be about to change this world for the better.

A Pencil Can Change Your World

1. The magic lies within you.

What’s truly important lies within you.

A pencil is beautiful, and colorful from the outside but the purpose for it is it’s lead. Without lead, a pencil is a waste.

Similarly is our lives, a person constitutes both inside and outside. Outside appearances represents – personality, charisma, looks, and possessions.

Inside appearances include – character, being genuine, values, ethics, and principles.

People commonly fall for outside appearances, which are often false and deceptive. It’s temporary. No one look as good as their social media profile, or as bad as their driving license or ID photo.

Stop Being Materialistic

Sadly we are accepted for the things we have, rather than for who we are.

Remember, looks, money, and personality won’t last forever. Values, character, and well- being are what truly shine in front of other throughout your life.

School aged children are typically teased or bullied at school for how they look, but later in life the things change, it what’s inside that counts.

Our focus on the outside, should not be at the cost of our inner world. Find a genuine balance

2. Showcase your inner self.

Unless what’s within you comes out, you cannot make an impact.

A example of this is when Thomas Edison came back from school and handed a letter to him mother. It was from his school principal. His mother opened the letter and cried while reading it. Thomas asked his mother “Mother what does the letter say.”

His mother replied, Thomas, your principal has written that you are a great genius student and that this school is too small to educate you. They have given me the authority to nurture you.

Years after, Thomas Edison became the greatest inventor of the century and after his mothers death, he revisited the house and found the letter.

It stated “Your child is dumb, stupid, and mentally ill. He is no longer eligible to sit in our classes and study. He is expelled from our school. Please don’t send him back.

Lesson learned

His mother doesn’t have a massive personality, a super good charisma, no valuables. But, she was a genuine person, with great character, and amazing values.

Look at the impact she had made on her son, Thomas Edison. She nurtured her child with everything she had and changed her son’s destiny.

Showcase what you have inside ti make a difference for your and your loved ones

3. Tough times are bliss.

Unless you go through sharpening, what is within you will never come out.

No Pain, No Gain.

Will a pencil write better with a pointed tip or a rough one? To make it pointed you have to sharpen it frequently,

The same applies to our lives – We will all fail at something, but we need to learn from mistakes (ours and others) to succeed.

We cannot become successful overnight, success is a simple formula to abide by. Execute – Fail – Learn – Execute.

We have to be formless like water. Shape ourselves to every situation. Make ourselves flexible. Always be ready to sharpen our skills that we lack.

Learning is a constant journey, which has no destination. That journey is called life.

If your going through tough times, embrace it, and keep going. Why stop yourself? Keep learning and climbing and you will have a successful life.

4. Normalize making mistakes.

When you write, you will certainly end up making mistakes.

We all love pencils. Why? We do random sketching with a pencil not a pen why?

Because it has got an eraser behind it, you usually erase the mistakes and draw again. Same with life, when you try something new, it could be setting up a new habit, achieving day-to-day goals, eating healthy.

But eventually we fail, it’s totally okay.

I have failed many times in my life, It’s been an achievement for me. At least I am trying.

Here’s the deal:

Don’t repeat your mistakes. Make infinite mistakes in life. Don’t repeat the same period as pencils have erasers behind them to hide their mistakes, we get new opportunity to see all of our old ones.

Add those opportunities and showcase yourself as the best person out there

The take away:

Pencil can do wonders for you. I can help you improve mentally and spiritually and nourish you and your personal development.

What you are as a person, it’s a reflection of how good you are internally. Have a good character, amazing values, be genuine, and have ethics. Don’t fall from the looks and personality. It will fade away with time. Find a genuine balance.

Live a life that’s worth remembering. Speak out positive words, perform optimistic actions, and thing about everyone’s well- being. Love everyone. Be understanding and calm.

Embrace and love failure. Keep learning in life. The day you stop learning it’s a day you freefall. Even if you were cute great success in life, well you will always be your best friend. Learn from your mistakes, correct them, and execute your plan.

Life is harsh. Don’t take it too seriously, have fun, and work hard. Keep trying different things. And most of all Enjoy The Journey.

The Chain Breaker

Chains are an obvious symbol of bondage.

In physical terms they restrict us, hold us down and signify our captive state.

In spiritual terms they do more or less the same.

Well many of us won’t experience physical chains, By no means immune to the impact of spiritual chains with harm our spiritual growth.

What are a few of the chains that keep us in bondage?

  • Fear
  • Anger
  • Pride
  • Bitterness
  • Unforgiveness
  • Hardness of heart
  • Legalism
  • Unbelief

Jesus proclaimed from Isaiah 61:1-2 and John 8:31-36, That He set us free from the chains of bondage and sin.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He broke the chain of sin, death, and the power of the devil.

The resurrection of Jesus means we can be unchanged from the bondage of sin and delivered from its power and walk in newness of life.

But why every time we try to rise above our situation, some unknown resistance renders us unproductive or devalued? We smile, but our actions and reactions all stem from a source seemingly out of our control. Everyone desires change, but default to the same ways. Maybe some deep in better issue surfaces and causes us to have mood swings or even become enraged.

If you’ve experienced this in anyway, maybe you feel like you’re in prison. You’ve accepted this as a normal life cycle. It is called bondage and it can affect everything in your life.

When we think of bondage we see pictures of battling addiction such as drugs or alcohol. Those chains are very apparent. But what about someone who lives every day fighting or failures of their past? What about someone who can’t rise above from the loss of a loved one or a past abusive situation? These issues are not always evident and are often overlooked, especially when they can be easily camouflaged.

1 Corinthians 6:12, states, “Everything is permitted for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permitted for me, but I will not be controlled by anything.

This verse gives us a great biblical explanation of bondage. This scripture tells us that we certainly have a free will to do whatever we desire. However, some things may not be in our best interest. It is important that even though all things are lawful for us, we are not to be controlled by anything. Sometimes that has been unsuccessful in breaking our chains. We always have the urge for one last time “then I’ll stop.” every temptation seems helpless and controlled by the power of the situation, or product. No matter how admirable and strong we tell ourselves we are there’s always a result of relinquishing right back into our old ways,

I want to have a friend who was delivered for mini years of abuse in mind control, she went through counseling, went to church, and tried to change your life after the divorce. But if you still lived with fear and insecurity. It is not just about removing someone from a physical presence but starting the process of inner healing and affirming our worth. Today he continues to live in that bondage of fear and depression. Her life is still under control of that abuser without the actual abuse. This is bondage.

Sometimes we find ourselves withdrawing from the world around us. Our thoughts of our past hurts, fears or tragedies always rise to the surface and cause unwanted actions or reactions. When we hold onto guilt and shame for something we have done or we made a promise to someone that you are unable to keep, we tend to become withdrawn. Don’t accept the thoughts and feelings that you were destined to be this way. When you think that this is your new normal, living in misery and sadness, hiding your true feelings and feeling like there is no way out.

John 8:36 Tells us that Jesus sets us free. This is not a cliché. This scripture gives us the truth about His provision in freedom.

Things that keep someone in bondage have become so intertwined with their daily lives that they are almost unrecognizable as a problem. It becomes hard to see the imminent danger these vices possess. Many people deny that they even have a problem, because this has just been their normal way of life. I lived this way for 40 years, thinking “this is just the way it is, I don’t have a problem.” I proceeded with my my every day routine and the things that chained me. I battled the same misery and then happiness as I did as a child. Shaking it off to find ways to cope with difficult. My failure to live a surrendered life to Christ kept me from the freedom provided by Christ Himself.

A Surrendered Life

The depression, fears and emotional traumas of our past are the chains that must be broken in order for us to pick up the pieces in thrive. Jesus truly offers the peace, comfort, love and stability we need to walk and true victory. The question is:

Are you willing to take the diligent steps toward Christ and relinquish control totally and completely to Him?

He knows how to break and want to change and takes pleasure in your healing and complete freedom.

I know this is hard to believe, I didn’t believe it at first either. But these chains nearly took my life. I think God that someone like me, took the time to help me break the chains of bondage in my life.

When I chose not to hold onto it any longer, not to live way down by the heavy chain. I started healing, well it wasn’t until I had built up the strength to say “Here Jesus. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.” I believe everyone can find comfort in the freedom and comfort of giving our burdens away to Jesus. It’s a brand new way of living for those who completely let go and give it to God.

When Satan Wants You To Re-Live Your Past

One of the most common ways Satan attacks us is by making us we have our past. He doesn’t by digging up memories and temps them to be in trapped by the memories like a caged animal.

His tactics are to bring up an event or memory in which you are reminded of some particular event or sin, even after you’ve repented for them.

Every now and again the nerve damage on the side of my face flares up. Reminding me of the abuse of my childhood. It triggers memories and events I tried to forget and move on from. Even after I’ve forgiven my mother, Satan tries to torment me by bringing up old events from the past.

Sometimes Satan himself to relive the past events as if we are on trial. He recruits us to be his co-prosecutor against our own soul. He paints God in such a picture as if He as a ruthless judge who is not yet quite finished with us and our past. If you’ve done something wrong or even think we have he will plague us with some thoughts of:

  • There’s no hope for grace
  • We’re Guilty for presuming upon God’s forgiveness.
  • If anyone find out they will shame you.
  • God‘s discipline hanging over your head to strike at you when you least expect it; discipline doesn’t work like loving fatherly disappointment it looks like condemnation (Hebrews 12:7-11).
  • That you have committed an unforgivable sin. You really haven’t forgiven the other person. It may not be the unforgivable sin but he will paint it in such a way that it seems like no person could ever recover a relationship with God after such an act.
  • Your forgiveness or repentance of your path makes you unusable for God.
  • You should never feel at ease until you paid your penalty.

I reliving the past, Satan wants to keep you forgiving and forgetting and forgetting what lies in your past (Philippians 3:13-14). He wants to keep you from remembering what your current identity in Christ is (Romans 6). he wants to keep you from living in faith (Galatians 2:20). He wants to keep you from rising up from the depths of despair to go out in the peace of knowing your faith has save you (Luke 7:50).

What Re-Living The Past Does

He wants you to feel trapped by the past. He wants you to dwell on every event everything that you have ever done. Dwelling on this causes us to skip out on seeing our savior. Who knows that the longer we dwell upon the glory of Christ we will have peace and become more like Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). and therefore, more able to tear down his Satan that thwarts his tactics. You must remember that this is a war. There is no neutral ground. There is never any “no man’s land.” As long as you are honest earth Satan and his forces will seek you.

He will pull up a specific memory from your past and then tell you defeat him he will continue to hound you with those thoughts. “Am I innocent? Did I really do that? If this went public, what would people think? Is God going to get me back for this? Have I really dealt with this as I should? But be sure, once you have power off that one memory, he will bring up another.

When your past keeps bringing up events or sins. Satan will make you feel as you are the incarnation of sin. He will make you fee, as if no one has a more evil, darkened and hardened heart like you. Make you feel like your an abnormal sinner. You are a hopeless sinner with no chance to get God’s grace.

Even if you feel that everything was fixed. Satan will try to play on your triggers no matter how small they seem. If you have repented for everything in the past. Satan has no claim on you.

When Satan Tries To Bring Up The Past, Remind Him Jesus Has Dropped The Charges.

Satan Likes to pinpoint our bad memories. He will try tell you your memories aren’t accurate. He will try to take things out of context and blow them out of proportion. “You forgot about this part of it.” “You forgot how much it hurt the other person, or offended God. Satan will always use the “what if?” against you.

When you realize this is not God doing this to you. You must called it what it is. This is a satanic attack!

When we look back on such events and realize the we have not dealt with a certain situation well. Satan will pester us. And open one crack in our armor that he will keep throwing his forces out. He’s like a box or a coupon for that one week spot on his apartment and beat it into submission by hammering on that one spot. It will darken your view so that you lose sight of the forgiveness God has given you. He will make your sin much bigger than your Savior. He will try to grip your thought lie with such force that it feels you can never escape. It will feel more real than every moment and which you were living. Anything that reminds you of anything remotely similar to that memory will feel like spiritual PTSD. He will fire 1000 areas in that area under her conscience. If he can take you away from your salvation he will certainly try to take away your experience of it.

In the Bible Jesus says he will leave the 99 and go look for the 1 that has been led astray. You are that 1 (Matthew 18:12).

Maybe this is why God tells us to examine ourselves. The Lord hates sin more than anyone. All of this needs to be dealt with on this earth. Isaiah 43:18-19 Says remember not the former things nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing. Does God fix your past then you can experience grace? Does He who is gentle and lowly in heart seem like the type of Savior who could hound tender souls who are overloaded by the crushing yoke of the past. If He Get this why would anyone want to go on from living a life where they do everything to forget their past to go to Savior who would hound them for the rest of their lives on earth with their past. God wants you to live in freedom love and forgiveness.

Forgiveness Gives Liberty

Would you rather live in bondage or freedom?

Forgiveness – vs – Unforgiveness

We all have a choice of forgiveness, for better or worse. Which path will you choose today?

I’ve spent 49 years in unforgiveness and bitterness. And it nearly destroyed my life. Don’t let this happen to you.

To forgive or not to forgive that is the question. As you want any journey in life, you’ll find yourself at the fork in the road at some point. You need to decide for yourself which way you will go. Both ways may very well take you to the same destination, but one will take a little longer than the other. Or one of the ways will take you in a different direction all together and form your desired and intended destination.

It is always your choice whether you will choose forgiveness or unforgiveness.

I was so angry and bitter that I chose to hate my parent. The bitterness was so sour inside me, I allowed it to eat me up. I allowed darkness to take over my spirit and my soul. It destroyed me mentally and physically. And my life will never be the same because of it.

Don’t take the fork in the road that leads away from forgiveness. Instead take the way that leads to forgiveness.

Stop and take a moment to breathe and remember you were also forgiven. Consider the power of forgiveness. It is an act of pardoning and offender. It is an act of extending mercy. The act of canceling deserved punishment. Forgiveness is freely extending mercy to someone who has offended you. But we must realize that we are only hurting ourselves not the other person.

Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. We have to forgive and let go, to dismiss and cancel the debt.

Forgiveness Is

  • The releasing of something owed to you.
  • Letting go of a grievance you may have against another.

Consider the bondage of unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness

  • Leads to bitterness, resentment, anger, hatred, and often regret.
  • It is a form of bondage.
  • It is holding a grudge against another.
  • It is the inability to let go of the hurt or pain.
  • Often result in physical issues. Such as sickness, chronic pain, cancer, ulcers, and blood pressure issues.
  • It often results in broken friendships, broken relationships, and broken marriages.
  • It is a sin that can cause punishment.

Do you put limits on forgiveness?

In Matthew 18, we find Peter asking Jesus a question about forgiveness.

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sends against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, A man who owed him 10,000 bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master order that he and his wife and all his children and all that he had be sold to pay the debt. As a servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me you begged and I will pay back everything. The Servant’s master took pity on him, cancel the debt and let him go.”

“But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 silver coins. He grabbed a man and began to choke him. Pay back what you owe me! He demanded. His fellow servant I hope you have knees and beg him be patient with me and I will pay you back. But he refused, instead, he went off and had a man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told her master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. You wicked servant he said, I cancel all your debt because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant guesses I had on you? In anger his master handed him over to the jailers be tortured, until he should pay back all that he owed. This is how the heavenly Father will treat each of us unless we forgive our brothers and sisters from our hearts.

Not surprisingly after I forgave my parent with all my heart things began to improve in my life.

Peter might have thought he would get a positive response from Jesus when he asked you just about forgiving someone up to seven times.

Peter would have known the rabbinic teaching: A person must be forgiven three times and on the fourth time they did not need to forgive the person anymore. This teaching was taken from the book of Amos where God was seen to forgive me three times but not the fourth. Yeah idea is that if God only for game three times, the person only needed to forgive three times. After all a person is not better than God. If forgiving three times was not good enough for God is good enough for Peter and all mankind.

Peter might have thought that extending forgiveness twice as much as what the rabbi thought was being very generous and that Jesus would commend him for going beyond the rabbinic teaching. But no.

Let me just say that I am personally glad but forgiveness does not stop with three times.

We must learn there is no debt that is so large that it cannot be forgiven, there is no limit to the number of times someone should be forgiven, and forgiveness must come from the heart.

It is here we see, haven’t been forgiven ourselves we are to forgive others. It is also here that we learned that unforgiveness is dealt with Hartley by God.

It seems that Peter went looking for a number. How many times should I forgive you? What was the legal or required number of times that Peter needed to forgive? Most people have a limit with regards to forgiveness.

Peter with wanting to know acceptable my breaking point for extending forgiveness.

Forgiveness is more than just a number, but rather it’s a matter of the heart.

However, that is not how we act or live at times. For many, there is a limit to the size of that or the number of times. Thank the Lord, the number of times matters a little to God and the size of the debt matter little to God.

“ The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Every father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:8-13).

Jesus: The Ultimate Example Of Forgiveness

Jesus hung on the cross, suspended between heaven and earth; all man’s sins placed upon him; past, present and future sins. This is when Jesus said this:

“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots” (Luke 23:24).

Jesus, God one and only Son, sought forgiveness for those who nailed him to the cross. The one Jesus wanted to extend forgiveness towards where the one who also drove to nails and to his hands and feet. The one who had no idea that they had just crucified the Son of God.”

Jesus also had in mind forgiveness for you and me. It was because of our sins that Jesus went to the cross. It was a debt that we could never pay ourselves.

For god so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Forgot did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s One and only Son.

John 3:16-18

This is the message of the Gospel, in simple terms.

It is out of love, mercy, and grace of God that we can and do experience forgiveness of sin.

“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, who sins are covered. Blessed is the one who sin the Lord will not count against him” -Romans 4:7-8).

We will never be able to atone for our sins ourselves. The death of our sins is too great.