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PRUNING POWER – 11/14/2019

By November 14, 2019Daily Devotionals

PRUNING POWER
November 14, 2019

Prayer:   God, show us what you want pruned out of our personal and professional lives so we may bear more fruit. Give us the courage and strength to remove these things.

Scripture:  “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
John 15:1-2 NIV

I have been conducting an experiment with tomato plants. Last year they were not staked or pruned; I let them grow “naturally”. I wanted to see, if left to their own nature, how much fruit they would produce. The multiple vines which grew from each plant produced little fruit.

This year I continually pruned the little “sucker” branches from the main stem so that each plant could grow only one primary vine. Tall wooden stakes were driven next to the plants deep into the ground. The vines were tied to the stakes so when the tomatoes grew they would be off the ground. This year the plants produced two to three times the amount of fruit they did last year!

Is it time for pruning in our personal and professional lives? What does God want to prune in your personal life? Is it the amount of food you eat? Is it the amount of time you spend with technology or social media each day? Are there drawers and closets full of clothes and things you haven’t used in years that could bless someone if they were given away? Are there relationships which need to be cut back that are not bearing good fruit? Does the amount of extra-curricular activities your children are involved in need to be cut back? Do you need to cut back on spending in certain areas or credit card use? Do you need to cut off the work you are doing on the Sabbath? Ask the Lord what needs to be pruned and do it.

What needs to be pruned in your professional life in education? Do you need to cut back on the hours you are spending on school work, beyond the eight hour work day, in order to have more time with the Lord, your spouse, children or friends? What programs, materials and strategies need to be reduced or removed? Is there murmuring, complaining, gossip, careless words, repressed anger or self-pity that need to be removed? Does self-righteousness, an “I am always right” attitude, need to be pruned? Ask the Lord what needs to be pruned and do it. Fear not when administrative decisions cut off or prune things in your professional life! God has pounded a stake, the cross of Jesus Christ, next to you. He has bound you to this stake with mercy, forgiveness and unconditional love. Let Him pinch off all the “suckers”, the good things you are doing, which are not God things. Let him remove material things to make room for His spiritual things. You will then bear more fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) A big harvest is coming!

Copyright Don Clark. Email [email protected]