Word of the Week - Abiding (Disciplining and Pruning)

“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.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15: 1-5

Happy Father’s Day.  On this special day that is set aside to honor and celebrate our fathers, I cannot think of anything more meaningful to share than the love of our heavenly Father and His deepest desire for us, to be connected to Him through the vine of Christ.  As I mentioned in my “Word of the Week – First Fruits” last week, see below, I was recently reminded of the power abiding/remaining in Christ and the depth of this spiritual truth and how it has impacted my life over the past 20 years.  John 15 is by far my favorite chapter of the bible because it touches the essence of what I believe is the most important thing in our walk of faith as Christians - having an abiding relationship with Jesus and making that the priority of our lives each and every day.  The following are the first of several key principles from John 15 that I have experienced and were highlighted in a book I just completed by Bruce Wilkerson titled “Secrets of the Vine – Breaking through to Abundance”. 

Disciplining vs. Pruning – Our Abba Father loves us so much that He both disciplines and prunes us His sons and daughters.  Similar to our earthly fathers who discipline us in love through our formative years of life so we can grow and develop into healthy, mature and productive adults, so does our heavenly Father discipline us in the spirit, especially if we are on a destructive path of sin.  Discipline and pruning are two different concepts that can feel the same at times.  Where discipline is about getting rid of sin, pruning is about less of self.  “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” Proverbs 3:11-12   The purpose of discipline and pruning are entirely different, and the consequences of confusing them can be counter-productive.  Bruce shared some ideas in his book to discern between these two concepts.

• Discipline and Pruning both involve pain but the pain from discipline is the consequence of sin, where the pain of pruning is a result of doing something right and God preparing you to grow to a new level of producing Kingdom fruit.
• Generally we are not producing Kingdom fruit when we are being disciplined due to sin but when being pruned we are typically producing Kingdom fruit just not to our full God potential
• When we are in sin and being disciplined, we typically feel guilty and sad; if we are being pruned and know it we should experience relief and trust that God is doing a good work in us for His purpose. 
• The proper response to discipline is repentance, turning to God and away from our sin.  If we are being pruned the best response is releasing our lives to the Lord and giving him access and permission to do the pruning. 

Pruning is Part of the Process to Maturing – If we truly desire to be all God has called us to be then we must embrace the principle of cutting and pruning.  “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.”  This is not necessarily a fun process and surely not a refrigerator scripture for most of us but it is part of the refining process of our walk of faith and maturity in Christ.  Pruning is how God answers our prayers when we pray for God’s abundant blessings and that He will make us more like Jesus.  When we are praying that our lives will please Him more and have a greater impact for eternity.  In desiring to grow and go deeper in the things of God, if we choose and allow Him, God our gardener cuts and prunes to remove things that are dead and not productive from our lives to make room for sunlight and nutrience to get to all fruit-bearing branches;  to increase the quality and quantity of the fruit; and to encourage new fruit to develop.  This is the only path to abundance, we must all be cut and pruned.  He must first cut away parts of our lives that drain precious time and energy from what is truly important.  His plan for pruning is not random – He works in each of our lives uniquely to find what needs to but pruned so that we might bear our best fruit.  If we understand that this is part of the process then we can “Count it pure joy” as outlined in James 1:2-4 “whenever you face trials of many kinds (cutting/pruning), because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Our Response – If we truly desire to live to our full potential in Christ and maximize Kingdom fruit while on earth, we should acknowledge to God our Father that we are grateful He loves us so much that He is willing to do the hard work of pruning our lives.  If we have resented the pain of God’s discipline and/or pruning in our lives, we should acknowledge this and let God know we appreciate His deep love for us.  The truth is that our heavenly Father loves us so much that He won’t stop tending our lives as long as we stay connected to His vine. This is simply the process of spiritual maturity and “Breaking through to Abundance”.  So on this Father’s Day, let’s embrace our Abba Father and all He has for us because He truly is a good, good Father that knows what is best and His plan for our lives is much greater than ours.  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For whom He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren”.  Romans 8:28-29

Next week I will share different areas that God typically prunes us of self and what it looks like to Flourish under the shears. 

Happy Father’s Day,

-Duane