Feb 2, 2021 … Pruned for Fruitfulness

Berry Patch Devotions in 2020 - Day 33 

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from an anonymous group leading in worship and singing … We See the Fruitful Harvest …  worshipfully singing how we, in Christ’s service, become fruitful for His harvest. 

Bee taking from God's fruitfulness ... 

==============

Highlight Passage:   John 15:1-2 [ESV] ... 

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 

… Jesus tells us that pruning is necessary for us to be more fruitful.           

=============  

Highlight Passage [Context]: …  John 15:1-12 [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… Jesus shows His disciples (and us) how God, the Father, must prune His branches (us) from the Vine (our Lord) so that they (we) can be more fruitful. 

==============             

Reference Passage: … Isaiah 28:16   [ESV] ... 

5 … For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches He lops off and clears away.  

…  God prunes away the dying branches to make way for more fruitfulness.    

Reference Passage: … Romans 8:28   [ESV] ... 

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. 

…  We must recognize that all things we confront are for our growth and His purposes.   

Reference Passage: … Galatians 5:22-23  [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK … 

…  Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit which we can expect to bloom from those who are connected to and living in Christlikeness.   

Reference Passage: … Hebrews 12:9-11  [ESV] ... USE THIS LINK … 

… God’s word teaches that discipline in necessary for us to become fruitful for God’s kingdom.  

My Devotional Journal:  Today's Our Daily Bread author, Adam R Holz, AT THIS LINK described seeing a bee taking sap from a beautiful flower (see photo) and remembering how his wife’s parents used to prune their flowers so that they would produce even more blossoms. 

And so it is with our Heavenly Father, … Who in preparing us to be fruitful in Christlikeness (see Gal. 5:22-23), and will prune and discipline us (see Scriptures above) so that we become more and more fruitful.  

And oh how yours truly identifies with that process, having been taken thru a pruning process of discipleship for years after surrendering to Christ’s Lordship so that I could serve our God fruitfully in ministry (USE THIS LINK). 

And I pray that all reading with me here realize that the challenges we face in life are truly ALL being used by God’s discipline for our good and His glory (see Romans 8:28 and Hebrews 12:9-11).  

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for pruning us to be more fruitful for Your kingdom. 

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray that all reading here will join me, …to surrender to our God’s pruning process so that we can be more fruitful for His glory.   … Amen

=============

Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.