JMD Daily Devotional 137 John 15:1-8 Not Afraid to Prune and Be Pruned
I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.
You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you]. Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
We live in a performance-oriented society; and in general, the Church tries to be free from looking at individuals through the worldly measures of social status, pecking order and 'payback.' A true measure of an individual's value to God's Kingdom has primarily to do with their connectedness to Jesus Christ, of living a life that exhibits growth in spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) These things are not particularly tangible, but are spiritually discerned, and they are acutely tested by our interaction with other people, making our deficits painfully clear. When a believer violates a clear moral boundary, the Church rightly makes an issue of it, as in the case of adultery. On the other hand, we do not beat people up for being 'unloving', we just persuade and encourage them and demonstrate love to them when they are unlovable, and leave the pruning to God. However, when evaluating the performance of a program, here is nothing 'unspiritual' about critical analysis. Good stewardship of time and resources should have us examine how effectively we are serving the Lord and should always be asking the question, "How can God's Kingdom be better served?" I have seen programs institutionalized and maintained out of tradition, past glory or ego that used to meet a need but no longer seem to accomplish anything positive. Does 'roping in' some poor sap into leading or attending a class that nobody benefits from really serve the Living God? The Church should be willing to prune and burn the deadwood programs. If we really did this, you would see everything else invigorated. We would not settle for so little value-added in our professional life; so we should be more zealous for making the Church work better. The work of the Lord should be dynamic, adaptive, inspiriting and consuming: free to respond to God's work and the Holy Spirit's movement in the community. God prunes the individual; but we prune the Church programs.
Dear God,
My heart bears restless discontentment with so much of what I have experienced in the Church. Am I unspiritual for wanting it to be better, for its activities to be more significant? Help me not to judge and discourage those who are working hard, doing the best they can to serve You; may I not snuff out a 'smoking flax.' But I pray that You inspire your people to take your work in this world seriously, and for them to be diligent, accountable, effective and compelling in their service. In all of Your creation there is nothing lame by design; may your Church be made more glorious for Your name's sake.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you]. Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
We live in a performance-oriented society; and in general, the Church tries to be free from looking at individuals through the worldly measures of social status, pecking order and 'payback.' A true measure of an individual's value to God's Kingdom has primarily to do with their connectedness to Jesus Christ, of living a life that exhibits growth in spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) These things are not particularly tangible, but are spiritually discerned, and they are acutely tested by our interaction with other people, making our deficits painfully clear. When a believer violates a clear moral boundary, the Church rightly makes an issue of it, as in the case of adultery. On the other hand, we do not beat people up for being 'unloving', we just persuade and encourage them and demonstrate love to them when they are unlovable, and leave the pruning to God. However, when evaluating the performance of a program, here is nothing 'unspiritual' about critical analysis. Good stewardship of time and resources should have us examine how effectively we are serving the Lord and should always be asking the question, "How can God's Kingdom be better served?" I have seen programs institutionalized and maintained out of tradition, past glory or ego that used to meet a need but no longer seem to accomplish anything positive. Does 'roping in' some poor sap into leading or attending a class that nobody benefits from really serve the Living God? The Church should be willing to prune and burn the deadwood programs. If we really did this, you would see everything else invigorated. We would not settle for so little value-added in our professional life; so we should be more zealous for making the Church work better. The work of the Lord should be dynamic, adaptive, inspiriting and consuming: free to respond to God's work and the Holy Spirit's movement in the community. God prunes the individual; but we prune the Church programs.
Dear God,
My heart bears restless discontentment with so much of what I have experienced in the Church. Am I unspiritual for wanting it to be better, for its activities to be more significant? Help me not to judge and discourage those who are working hard, doing the best they can to serve You; may I not snuff out a 'smoking flax.' But I pray that You inspire your people to take your work in this world seriously, and for them to be diligent, accountable, effective and compelling in their service. In all of Your creation there is nothing lame by design; may your Church be made more glorious for Your name's sake.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 4:42 AM
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