Wounded in Love

"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


prune v. "To cut off that which is not wanted or not necessary" (Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus, p. 199).


These two verses from John are so fascinating to me for several reasons. First, are they not so very true? Do they resonate so painfully deep within you as they do me? God has been doing a work within me ever since He saved me, and I have seen Him take objects, thought-patterns, and people out of my life so that I can be even more fruitful, displaying the greatness of the Vine. That in itself is such a fascinating reality: God is active in my life, and He is the one removing things. There is an initial temptation to be angry with him for these upheavals, but I need to fight to see His work for what it is - to cause me to shine brighter.

My eyes were opened the other day to the word "prune" in John 15:2. This word should be important to all who are in Christ, for we are the branches in these verses (John 15:5). We are the branches and we are being pruned by God. This reality is what prompted me to look up the word "prune" in Webster's Dictionary: "To cut off that which is not wanted or not necessary." I don't know about you, but that word "cut" does not pass by me with ease. When God prunes us, he is cutting us deeply; he wounds us in love to make us more beautiful. If He did not, we would not produce more fruit. We would not be all that we are intended to be.

In the book The Hidden Smile of God by John Piper, Piper outlines the lives of three extraordinary saints: John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd. In it is a quote from John Bunyan that I think is beautiful and highlights well what I am trying to say. It reads,

"Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think....It is wounding work, of course, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving....Where there is grafting there is cutting, the scion must be let in with a wound; to stick it on to the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back, or there will be no sap from root to branch, and this I say, must be done by a wound" (p.65).

What a beautiful passage, one in which may have inspired this entry. Are you being pruned? Or perhaps a better question would be, can you feel the pruning work of the Lord? It hurts. It is sad work that sometimes brings tears. Know that your heavenly Father is pruning you. Know that He loves you. Know that He is a perfect "gardener," and His pruning work always produces the best of fruit.





Works Cited

Piper, John. The Hidden Smile of God. Crossway Books. Wheaton, Illinois: 2001.

Webster's Two In One Dictionary And Thesaurus. Nichols Publishing Group. U.S.A.: 1999.

Where Is Joy?

There was a man who lived, once upon a time. As he grew up, all of his dreams came true. He got the woman he desired. She was beautiful, and a faithful wife. He became the leader of an organization that was one of the most powerful organizations in the world. It was the job that he had always wanted. Before marriage, he and his future wife dreamed and talked often of having children together; specifically three boys and two girls. After fifteen years of marriage, their dream was fulfilled. All of their children were healthy in every way, and they grew up to be very successful men and women. When the man turned 50 years-old, he had attained so much wealth that he was able to retire from work. He and his wife moved to their favorite vacation spot; another dream becoming a reality. The man and his wife saw their children often, and were blessed with many grandchildren.

There once lived another man, alive during this same time. He was born into the world with a rare disease; one the doctors said would take his life around the age of 30. One day, he fell deeply in love with a beautiful woman, a woman he had known and admired his whole life. He had always dreamed of being with her. They were great friends. He finally poured out his heart to her one day, hoping that she would return his affections, affirming his dreams for them. She, however, did not love him back. He eventually moved on, and engrossed himself in his baseball career. He was a superior college athlete, who everyone said would one day end up playing major league baseball. Unfortunately one day, during a game, as he dove for a ball, he broke his leg so badly that he was unable to play baseball again. His dreams of playing baseball professionally were over. Of course, with his disease, how long would he live anyway? He finally fell in love again and married. He and his wife always dreamed of having a family; specifically three girls and two boys. One day the doctor broke the news to them that they were unable to have children. After the sadness, in time, they adopted two beautiful children. Meanwhile, though the man worked harder than most men at what he did, his job did not provide much money for his family. Yet there was always enough. As the years passed on, this man, this husband, this father, passed away from the disease that he was born with; he was 38 years-old.

There was another man who lived once upon a time. We find him sitting on a beach, writing in his journal and enjoying the ocean breeze. Hearing joyous laughter, he looked up, peering over his glasses. He saw two families, and observed them intently; he enjoyed contemplating things. It so happens that these two families were the two families from earlier in this story. He noticed one family shining brightly and bursting with joy. The other family, he observed, seemed to be sad and empty. Still contemplating the situation before him, he stared at the family that shown so brightly and thought to himself, "where is the father?" After a few of his own quick answers to this internal question, something else along the beach caught his eye, and his mind wandered towards other things. Only later would he come to grasp what he had seen that day, something that he would later tell his grandchildren...


"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36

"Then will I go to the alter of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God." Psalm 43:4

Man Does Not Live On Bread Alone...

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " - Matthew 4:1-4



"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." - Deuteronomy 8:2-3



When Jesus was tempted, as we also have been and will be again, he wielded the sword of the scriptures. He used the truth of God to resist temptation. He not only set an example for us to follow, but also showed us the way to battle temptation: by the word of God. In order to battle this way, we must know the word of God, trust the word of God, and use the word of God as a weapon against the blows of the enemy. Psalm 119: 9-11 says: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let my stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." How can we live pleasing to God if we do not know what He says? How can we battle the everyday temptation to succumb to our flesh, in turn pleasing ourselves and the devil? We must devour His word daily. Not as a law, but as life! Our Lord Jesus, the maker of us and all things, whose love knows no bounds declares: "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Therefore, let us seek God in His word, let us fill up with spiritual food, and let us prepare for battle against the enemy! If we do not, because He loves us, He may along with the Israelites humble us and cause us to hunger, so that we will learn that man does not live on bread alone...

Naked Before God

"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts..." (1 Chronicles 28:9)


"Then they prayed, 'Lord, you know everyone's heart...' " (Acts 1:24).


We cannot go anywhere that God is not. We cannot hide from Him physically or mentally. He knows our deepest thoughts. This means that He knows the depth of our sin. Just because I have never done "so and so" does not mean that I haven't thought about doing "so and so." That is sin: "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment" (Matthew 5:22), and "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). Our God is so awesome and huge that he knows all things. This is why we must make it a habit of refining our thought lives. God knows our motives. We must live knowing that we have an ever-present accountability. I do not mean to paint a picture of God as waiting with a whip for us to "mess up." He is way better than that. But I do want to recognize that our thoughts do matter, and we should consider that God knows all of them!

I want to also mention the greatness of God knowing us so intimately. The fellowship is great between two beings who know one another well enough that one can anticipate the other's next word. However, even my best friend does not know me like the living God. Jesus knows all of our tendencies, and can sympathize with our weaknesses in our thought lives. Knowing that God knows all of my thoughts helps me to understand the never-ending fellowship that I have with Him. We always have access to Him because of Christ. God is so awesome that we can pray to Him without speaking a word. O how joyful it is to know that the One who knows us better than ourselves loves us beyond comprehension.

Does Our Father Have Favorites? Will I Be Left Out?

Have you ever feared as a child of God that you are going to be left out? I guess as a youngest child, I can relate to the reality of being "left out" of things. Growing up, it seemed to come around often that I was "too small to play," or "too young to come along." Perhaps this reality in my life has developed within me a tendency to believe the lie that I will be "left out." Can you relate? Now that I am older, I am no longer bound by the fear of being left out of games or events or friendships, though those too can tend to wound me. Now, I tend to slip into the fear of being left out of the awesome things that are happening in God's kingdom. There is a longing inside of me to know that Jesus has a specific plan for my life and that He will use me amidst His amazing plans to glorify God. I must admit that these fears rear their ugly head most often when I turn my gaze away from God and onto humans. I see what others are doing and begin to covet; then, I begin to fear being left "behind" or being "left out." Ultimately, I think that I fear that God has favorites, and that I am not one of them. If you are one who struggles with these fears alongside me, go with me to God's Truth. It is there that we will see the truth and be set free:

As the Lord declared to those "...carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon...'For I know the plans I have for you'..."(Jeremiah 29:4,11), so I believe we can hold onto the same declaration today: that God has a plan for us.

"Then Peter began to speak: ' I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right' " (Acts 10:34-35).

"For God does not show favoritism" (Romans 2:11).

"And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him" (Ephesians 6:9).

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism" ( Colossians 3:23-25).

The Bridge

Vast armies of men have walked across this bridge. In fact, every single human has passed it. The bridge is wide at its beginning. At this point men laugh often and dream many dreams about their future glory. However, a curious things happens as the bridge continues; it gets increasingly narrow. As certain men continue walking it, they notice that some of their companions have fallen off. They laugh less now, yet when they do it is wonderfully joyous. Their focus continues to turn from themselves to what is in their hand. Their thoughts are not about their future glory, but the future glory. Their senses are much more alive than when they first stepped onto the bridge. They begin to notice that their bodies are eroding as they stagger towards the end of the bridge. It is now evident that many are turning back, longing for the beginning of the bridge. As these turn around, they stumble off the bridge. Yet those who continue on notice their joy increasing as they approach the end of their journey. At this point, they cast off anything on them that hinders them from sprinting to the end. The one thing that they do not let go of is that which remains in their hands. The end is coming, and the bridge is so narrow now that only a few are standing side by side. At the end is a massive hand, and a deep chasm. They jump, but their bodies are too feeble to make it, and they refuse to let go of that which remains in their hands. Alas, the hand grabs them and takes them to the other side of the deep chasm. Some look over the side of the hand back towards the bridge. Seeing many men falling off they yell, "Pick up the stone!" For what they saw surprised them: men of all races stumbling over the stone which they themselves had picked up; the cornerstone which they cherished.

"For in Scripture it says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,' and, ' A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' They stumble because they disobey the message - which is also what they were destined for."
1 Peter 2:6-8

Identity

To whomever left a comment on the last post...Thank you! It encourages me that you have been encouraged. In response to your comment, I have found a sheet of paper that I received a year or so ago about who we as followers of Christ are in Him. I don't know who put it together, but it is beautiful! This is what it says:

If you are "in Christ" you have a new identity:

You are a friend of God. John 15:15

You are already a citizen of heaven. Philippians 3:20

You are safe because you are hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3

You are chosen by God. Ephesians 1:4

You are adopted by a loving Father. Ephesians 1:5

You are forgiven. Colossians 1:14

You are included, never to be left out. Ephesians 1:13

You are a saint. (imagine that) Ephesians 1:18

You are the salt and light of the earth. Matthew 5:13-14

You are a minister. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

You have access to God. Ephesians 2:18

You are called by name. 2 Timothy 1:9

You are prayed for by Jesus. John 17:20-23

You have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

You are protected. John 10:28

You are rescued from a dark kingdom. Colossians 1:13

You are not cursed. Galatians 3:13

You are victorious. 1 Corinthians 15:57

You have a new birth certificate. John 3:3