Walking With Jesus

Why We Change

“He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control.” (Philippians 4:21 NLT)

There are many avenues of incentive when it comes to change for a human being. Some come naturally as the result of aging, some good, some not so good. Many come as a result of neglect. We get in a pattern of eating what is destructive to our body, but we too often ignore the clear signals until permanent damage is done. The pounds begin to mount up, but we dismiss them until we have a heart attack or stroke.

We do the same thing spiritually. We like to run on the energy of the flesh until there’s a crisis we can’t handle, then we beg God to help us, pledging to do better, and we do, until we don’t. We so easily slide back into old patterns, our proverbial “blind eye” never seeming to “see” our spiritual life isn’t designed to coast any more than our physical life.

They’re called spiritual disciplines for a reason – they demand ongoing discipline. Yet, discipline must be a choice, a change in the pattern of our daily process that we invite, embrace, and allow to inspire us to be better, more effective as a child of God, living a life that honors God and glorifies our Savior. True, Spirit-directed change must come from within, motivated and prompted by the Holy Spirit, not simply by a human desire to improve.

Lonnie Free writes: “A change of behavior only glorifies God if it is motivated by a change of heart.” Repentance sets us on a course to life change that is prompted, fueled, and driven by the Holy Spirit. It is a change of mind that leads to a change of heart and life that is Spirt-directed and God honoring. If we’re not sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, what began as a very good intention can quickly become simply another fad we soon forget and from which we fail to benefit.

Motivation for change can too often be merely a means to impress others, rather than an opportunity to honor our Savior. Adam Ramsey reminds us: “We hide weaknesses because of a desire to impress. And we desire to impress because we fear weakness. So, how can we know what change is needed and that the change we desire is for the right reasons?

Mo Isom gives us a clue when she writes: “When we invite the Holy Spirit to censor our lives and make sensitive our eyes, His response changes our vision.” True, lasting, spiritually beneficial change must be motivated and led by the Holy Spirit in order to effect lasting change.

When considering needed change we must ask the Lord to sensitize our understanding, illuminate our spirit, and inform our mind. The questions to ask are: Why? “Lord, why are you leading me to change in this way at this time?” Then consider what’s going on in your life that may be motivating the necessity of this change in this season, making sure it’s the Lord leading the change.

Then ask: “What change(s) are You seeking to make in and through me?” Is it a change personally? Diet, exercise, schedule, routine, study, leadership, etc. or is it more global, in the sense You’re asking me to relocate? Consider foreign missions? Vocational change? Etc.

Change is rarely easy, but needs to be prayerfully evaluated, considered, weighed in light of what else the Lord is showing or teaching you, then pursued with full intent to carry out the Lord’s will in the matter.

Ultimately, we change to more effectively honor and glorify our Savior.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Whose Kingdom? And Who’s Building It?

“Jesus also said, ‘The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed spouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.’” (Mark 4:26-29 NLT)

If you are born again of the Spirit of God, you are a member of the Kingdom of God. Church membership and Kingdom of God membership are two completely different things. You can be a member in good standing of a very active, alive, and anointed fellowship, but if you haven’t yielded your heart and life to Jesus, you’re not a member of God’s eternal Kingdom.

We sometimes wrongly assume that doing work in and through the church is Kingdom work, but that’s not necessarily the case. I can live, eat, sleep, and work in my garage, but that will never make me a car. Humans and cars are two completely different entities.

I can attend worship, serve, and even be employed by the church; I can know all the doctrine, recite all the creeds and catchy phrases and give sacrificially of my finances; I can teach and even preach powerful sermons, yet still not be a member of God’s Kingdom. According to Jesus in Matthew 7:22 we can even prophesy in His name and cast out demons and perform many miracles in His name and still not be a member of His eternal Kingdom.

So, who IS a member of God’s Kingdom? Jesus said in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” WHOA! What does that mean? As Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3, it means to be born of the Spirit of God. It’s a spiritual process initiated and accomplished by God alone.

Our only part is being available and willing to receive the gift of God’s presence into our lives. The Kingdom of God isn’t a building or organization, it’s a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ and His eternal Family. When we, by faith, accept the Lord’s invitation to receive His Holy presence into our life we are, as the Bible describes it, born again.

It’s a spiritual process accomplished through prayer and illustrated by water Baptism. In Romans 6:4 Paul writes: “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” Please understand, Baptism doesn’t save us, it simply illustrates in an outward, visible form what transpires between us and God by faith when we voluntarily choose to “die” to our sin and become “alive” spiritually in Christ alone by faith alone.

We do not create or build God’s Kingdom, He does, we just pray for the honor and opportunity to be a small part of what He is doing. Francis Schaeffer says it well when he writes: “We are not building God’s kingdom. He is building his kingdom, and we are praying for the privilege of being involved.”

There is so much pettiness in the Church today, largely because we fail to realize whose Kingdom it is and Who’s building it. The Church is the compilation of all those born again of the Spirit, but it’s GOD’S Church it’s GOD’S Kingdom, we just have the privilege of being a part of what He has done and what He is doing.

Let’s please live like we understand that; like we’re a member, not the owner!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Blessing of Psalm 84

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!” (Psalm 84:1 ESV)

*On the 15^th of each month I feature a devotional by Sylvia Gunter. Please read with more than your eyes and listen with more than your ears. The Lord is speaking. Are you listening? Blessings, Ed 😊

May you be blessed with the deep longing and desire for the presence of the Lord Almighty, as the psalmist declares, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!” (v. 1). May your soul yearn and faint for the courts of the Lord, your heart and flesh crying out for the living God, drawing near to Him in every moment.

May you find your true home and place of rest near the altar of the Lord, just as the sparrow and swallow have found their nests (v. 3). Be blessed as you dwell in His house, continually praising Him, for “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you” (v. 4).

May you be strengthened in the Lord as your heart is set on pilgrimage, journeying toward His presence with steadfast purpose. As you pass through the valleys of life, may they become places of refreshing springs, where the rains of God’s grace cover your path with pools of blessing (v. 5-6). May you go from strength to strength, growing ever closer to God until you stand before Him in Zion (v. 7).

May the Lord hear your prayers and look upon you with favor, as the psalmist prays, “Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob” (v. 8). May He be your sun and shield, bestowing upon you favor and honor, withholding no good thing from you as you walk blamelessly before Him (v. 11).

Finally, may you be blessed with the assurance that those who trust in the Lord are truly blessed, for “O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you” (v. 12). May your trust in Him grow deeper and your walk with Him grow stronger, as you experience His unfailing goodness and love. Amen.

The Basis of Faith

“So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7 NLT)

Though every person in every generation has and does exercise faith in something, we still wrestle with the whole issue of what faith is and why it’s so vitally important. What is the foundation upon which our faith in Christ is built?

People who have no faith in the Lord Jesus are quick to criticize those of us who do walk by faith in Him, faulting us for needing a “crutch” to lean on. Yet, those very same people will go to a doctor they have never met, who prescribes a medication they’ve never taken or know nothing about, then have it filled by a pharmacist who is a complete stranger, then take the medication believing it will help them with their illness. Talk about faith!

Photo by Asad Photo Maldives on Pexels.com

Everyone walks by faith. It’s not a question of whether we have faith, it’s only a matter of what will be the object of that faith. Non-believers in Jesus still get married, believing their “love” will carry them through, not understanding who the Author of that love really is. They jump in their car, having faith the brakes will work, the steering wheel will guide, and the doors won’t fly off mid journey.

We apply for a job, set up an interview and have faith there will be someone there to meet us and offer us a job. Life is filled with “faith” opportunities, but when the Bible says: “we live by believing and not by seeing,” it has something very specific in mind.

Being a Jesus follower entails a focus on the Person and completed work of the One we’re following, the Lord Jesus Christ. But we don’t see Him with our physical eyes, only with the eye of our faith. Physical sight is limited to material things, but the things of the Spirit are invisible to the human eye, only to the eye of our heart.

Craig Groeschel addresses this when he writes: “Our faith isn’t based on what we see. Our faith is based on who God is.” So, the logical question then becomes: “Who is God?” Who is this God in whom we can put our trust to save us from sin and give us eternal life? Is He trustworthy? Does He tell the truth? Can He be counted on in a crisis?

Make no mistake, there are many gods who vie for our attention, our worship, but only One of them is the God of the Bible, the true and living God. That’s why our faith isn’t built on what we see, but on who the God of the Bible actually is.

Okay, so who is He? What does the Bible say? He is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional heavenly Being who is invisible to the human eye. He is love, laughter, longing, leadership, and the provider of thousands of other human needs, but best described in the Person of His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul writes in Colossians 2:8-9: “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”

Jesus came in a human body to give physical substance to the invisible God. The basis of faith is trust in the living God, illustrated and defined by the person and work of the living Christ. He is the One who gives visibility to our heavenly Father and substance to our Faith.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Power

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes – the Jew first and also the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16 NLT)

What first comes to your mind when you think of power? Ashamedly, I must admit, the power of God wasn’t first to enter my mind, and I suspect, it wasn’t in yours. But why? The power we live by each day as a new creation in Christ should bear a powerful witness to us that God is on His throne and actively invested in His children, but, unfortunately, we too often forget the source of our real power and lean instead upon our own.

Power can be defined and evidenced in many ways. An Atom bomb displays great power, but not as much as one of God’s volcanoes. “Powerful” people hold office and weld “power” over the masses, yet a word from the Lord and all of man’s power is dissipated. The power of sin over a person is inescapable except at the whisper of a repentant heart.

Craig Groeschel’s powerful words spoke to me when he said: “You don’t always have the power of control, but you always have the power to surrender.” Can we even begin to count the times we’ve “lost” our temper, resulting in untold damage, but how grateful to know we can find grace and forgiveness as we surrender our failures to our Savior.

History has shown many times over the power of evil in the hands of unscrupulous men and women yet has too often failed to reveal the power of a faithful parent’s prayers for their children. While we can only begin to fathom the efficacy of our prayers, may we allow it to stimulate our heart and stir our spirit to pray more fervently for those in our spheres of influence.

Prayer matters! The power of prayer is incalculable! YOUR prayers matter! Life can be debilitating, discouraging, ravaging, so much so we can lose sight of the power of God at work in small ways. Even as I type these words my body is begging me to go to bed. I just don’t feel well, but there are things to me that are more important than how my body feels.

Some of you who faithfully read these words inspire and encourage me to keep fighting, keep moving forward. Your struggles and how you stand strong in the face of them, inspire and give me strength to keep fighting. What I’m facing is miniscule in comparison to what some of you have to deal with on a daily basis. I applaud you and thank the Lord for your faith and stamina in the face of great hardship, pain, and suffering.

Thank you for courageously displaying the power of God through your faithful perseverance. By God’s grace and by His might you will win! You are victorious in Christ your Savior, Lord, and Leader through this season of great difficulty. Thank you for displaying the peace of Christ in the presence of turmoil and conflict.

We can only guess at the vast power that resides within the earth, planted there by our Creator. But that pales in comparison to the reservoir of strength that God has planted in you, my faithful friend. The power for good that you possess is beyond description yet is being displayed every day in the way you live and love. Thank you for the faithfulness, kindness, goodness, mercy, and love that you allow the Lord to channel through your life. You are making a major difference.

That’s the power of God the world doesn’t see and cannot explain. That’s the power of the Gospel being put on display in and through His faith-filled people…like YOU!

Blessings, Ed 😊

I Told You so!

“Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true.” (Isaiah 48:3 NLT)

To me one of the most undeniable proofs of the truth of Scripture is the fulfillment of Prophecy. Through the accounts of God’s messengers the birth of the coming Messiah was described in unmistakable detail. Ray Majoran describes it this way: “And while Your works in the past are undeniable, what stands above them all is how clearly You pointed to Your one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Hundreds of prophecies, scattered across generations, all found their fulfillment in one Person. He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1), betrayed for silver (Zechariah 11:12–13, Matthew 26:14–15), pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5, John 19:34–37), buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:57–60), and raised in victory (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:31). Not one detail missed. To ignore it would be to close our eyes to truth.

Father, You don’t make predictions; You make promises. And when You act, it’s never random, but always part of what You’ve already made known (Acts 2:23). So please help us live with that in mind, grounded in what You’ve already spoken — steady in our faith, thoughtful in our choices, and ready for whatever You set before us.”(See He Spoke. It Happened. 06-22-25)

While that’s amazing and helpful, the best part for me is that the Lord knows exactly what’s happening and is going to happen in my life and yours. Why is that helpful? We worry and fret about our outcomes, but they’re already a “done deal” for the Lord. He sees the ending as clearly as the beginning and knows every detail in between.

And you may be thinking, “Well, yeh, but how does that help me to know how to walk through what I’m going through right now? Yeh, sure, I’m going to heaven, but how is that helping me navigate my troubles now?” And, of course, I get it but think about it. If the all-knowing, all-loving, all-seeing Lord of Creation lives in your heart, don’t you think He can give you sound guidance through the maze of your present circumstances?

Isn’t the Holy Spirit’s presence a vital resource in helping you make decisions from day to day, illuminating your mind and heart, activating your faith, strengthening your confidence in the adequacy of the Lord’s insights, wisdom, and understanding? Not knowing what the future holds may be among the best gifts the Lord has given us.

What if, as an ailing grandfather, I sat my only grandchild down and said: “You’re young and full of promise, but one day, sooner than you can imagine, you’re going to be an old, worn-out shell of your former self. There’s no use applying yourself or making an effort to improve, it’s not really going to matter in the end.”

While that might be an old person’s perspective, it’s not only discouraging, it’s also a lie. Because of the grace and mercy of God, and because He knows the end from the beginning, He can and will guide us in the best ways we can invest ourselves in His eternal Kingdom in such a way that nothing we do for Him is ever wasted. It becomes an investment in what He is preparing for all who love and honor Him.

Then our grandkids who learn to follow Jesus can look back on their life and say: “My Grandparents were right. Following Jesus is everything they said it would be. I’m so glad I learned to love and follow Him!”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Decluttering

“When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.” (John 14:3 NLT)

Especially when we’re old, moving is an opportunity to “downsize.” That’s just another word for decluttering or getting rid of things you no longer need or want. It’s also helpful to declutter our mind and heart. But how?

Having a proper focus can be very helpful in weaning our mind and heart from things of this world that have no eternal value. If you want to get a sense as to what will last here is the proverbial “litmus” test: If it’s physical: i.e. if you can see, hear, feel, taste, or touch it, you won’t be seeing it in heaven. If it’s a material object it won’t get through the pearly gates.

“All Things New” “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”

What does that have to do with decluttering our mind? It helps if we don’t think only of the things of this world. For example, Eugene Peterson suggests: “If our future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, it declutters our lives.” If we viewed everything through the lens of eternity few things would bother or burden us.

Whatever’s weighing you down, ask this simple question: “What difference will it make to me in a hundred years?” Very likely, it won’t matter at all. But how does that apply to someone who is ill? I’m ill and I’m not burdened by the eternal impact of my illness. It may kill me, but it only serves as an avenue of deliverance so I can be in the presence of my Savior.

But what about the time between now and then? I can’t fret about that. Worrying only robs me of the good moments I can experience now. My concern focuses more on my caregivers. How will my potentially debilitating disease rob them of their strength and vitality? How will their focus on my care deplete them of opportunities to care for themselves and more fully enjoy their lives?

That involves choices only they can make. My dear mom cared for my dad at home for as long as she could, but there came a point she had to entrust him to the care of others. She continued to visit as much as she could and care for him in ways she alone could, but in the end, he died in a strange bed while his loving family, that he no longer knew, stood by watching helplessly, but not hopelessly.

My dad knew Jesus, and though he may have forgotten every earthly connection, the Lord Jesus would never in eternity ever forget him. That’s why much of my thinking focuses on my life in Christ. Perhaps a lot will change in the way I think and the things I can recall, but I pray I will never forget the Lord, because He is my life.

But even if I do, I have peace in this season knowing He will never forget me. It’s His hand I will grasp when I pass to the other side; it’s His face I long to see; it’s His loving arms I so desire to have wrapped around me as I worship and adore Him throughout all eternity. He’s my focus on this side of heaven and I pray He’s yours as well.

Please allow your love for and dependence upon the Lord Jesus to declutter, not only your mind and heart, but your life as you prepare to put it all behind in your unencumbered effort to give all and be all you can possibly be to your Savior’s glory and honor – in this life and the next!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Road to Fruitfulness

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” (Colossians 1:9-10 NLT)

What comes to mind when you think of fruitfulness? The first thing that comes to my mind is winning souls to the Lord, but I’m convinced fruitfulness involves much more. How about the disciplines of reading and studying Scripture and intercession on behalf of our loved ones, friends, and those who are hurting or lost?

Notice in the verses above Paul mentions his intentional and persistent (faithful) prayers on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Colossae. He asked the Lord to give them knowledge of His will, spiritual wisdom and understanding. “Then” he said their lives would reflect honor for the Lord and would be lived pleasingly before Him and out of the context of those kinds of lives will come “every kind of good fruit.” But that’s not all. The growing and learning process never stops because those are the avenues over which we get to know the Lord “better and better.”

Fruitfulness grows out of faithfulness that focuses on our relationship with the Lord. Notice the progression Paul outlines. Nothing happens in the building of our faith without believing (faith-filled) prayer. Fruitfulness is a by-product of prayerfulness. No prayer, no fruit.

But prayer alone isn’t enough. Our prayers are the avenue of gaining complete knowledge of his will. Do you want to know what God wants you to do? Ask Him! Because it’s out of the context of prayer that we grow in wisdom and understanding of His intentions as He grows us up in Him and His plans for us.

Those are the steps to building a strong foundation in the Lord. Without that foundation there can be no fruit because there can be no real faith. As J. D. Greear explains: “Fruitfulness matters, but the only road there is through consistent faithfulness.”

The fruit of a Spirit led life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control, are only evidenced in the life of someone surrendered to the Lord and seeking daily to walk in His will. Faithfulness, as well as the other “fruit” of the Spirit, are the pictures that are painted when God’s will becomes pre-eminent in our prayers and in our pathways, the way we order and live our lives.

What fruit do you want your life to bear? The only way anyone bears anything of value is by clinging to the Vine, the Lord Jesus. There are no “Lone-Ranger” Jesus followers, only slaves longing to obey their Master. The more we learn to value intimacy with our Savior, the more our lives will grow in their likeness of His.

We must not discard or discount the byproduct of fruitfulness: “you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” The fruit is secondary to the intimacy we long to have and must maintain with the Lord Jesus. There is no reward for which I long more than closeness with my Lord.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Greater Work

“Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with His disciples, they asked Him, ‘Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?’ Jesus replied, ‘This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:28-29 NLT)

What do you consider the “greater work” of a Jesus follower? Casting out demons? Leading someone to the Savior? Healing the sick? Raising the dead? Speaking in an unknown language?

Each of those things demands faith, but is faith alone what fuels those activities of the Spirit? What grips the heart of God? What gets the Lord’s attention? Yes, of course, faith, but where does faith originate? According to Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV): “For by grace you have been saved through faith.”

What does that mean? Grace is the unmerited favor of God, but grace alone doesn’t save us. Grace makes salvation available, but it must be activated by faith. What is faith? Faith is the exercising of our will to seek something that we deem valuable and worthwhile. But when it comes to faith in Christ, where does that faith originate? How is that faith activated? Appropriated?

There’s only one way: through believing, childlike prayer. God’s response to believing prayer casts out demons, enables someone to open their heart to Him, in essence, raising the dead to new life. Every faith-oriented goal of a believer originates and is launched through prayer.

No one is saved without prayer. No one is healed except through believing prayer. No one is sanctified without sacrificial and agonizing prayer. No one is called to Christian service, set apart for duty, save by the prayers of the righteous. No one stands (or should stand) behind the sacred desk to deliver God’s anointed messages to God’s people unless bathed in prayer.

As Oswald Chambers so rightly says: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.“ Nothing of eternal value happens in the Kingdom of God unless and until it first originates in the heart of God and is accessed by believing prayer. We can spout words into the air day and night, but until our words align with the will and plans of God, we’ve babbled in vain.

Remember how Jesus prayed before Lazarus was raised from the dead: “Father, thank You for hearing Me. You always hear Me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe You sent Me.” (John 11:41b-42)

We want to believe that “we can ask anything in Jesus’ name” as we’re told in John 14:13, and we can, but unless that “anything” will bring glory to the Father, it’s empty and void of power. What brings glory to the Father? Faith activated by believing prayer, the kinds of prayers Jesus prayed.

The work of prayer is seeking the Father in quietness and solitude that the fruit of our relationship with the Him and the glory of His Holy Name can be made manifest in and through our lives. We don’t pray to get what we want; we pray to glorify the Father as He gives us what He wants. He wants to glorify His Son in and through our life the way He put His power on display so often in and through the life of His Son.

We can’t use prayer to make a name for ourselves, but only and always to exalt the Name that is above every name, the Name of our Lord Jesus. The work of prayer is bringing death to our old nature and allowing the resurrection of the new nature of our Savior to become preeminent in the ways we honor and glorify Him, not ourselves. Then when we pray, we’ll get what we really want – whatever the Lord wants for us!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Purpose of Pruning

“I am the true grapevine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of Mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me and I will remain in you.” (John 15:1-4a NLT)

If you’ve ever had a serious cut, you understand that it isn’t pleasant. There’s a lot of blood and pain and the healing process can be long and troublesome. Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of “pruning” the Lord does in our lives. I say “unfortunately,” because in many, if not most cases, physical pain is much easier with which to cope than spiritual and emotional pain.

The anguish caused by loss often involves a lifelong process of healing. Our own illness or that of a loved one can be stressful, painful, and hard to deal with its implications. Why does the Lord allow us to suffer in these painful ways? Why would He allow us to go through these often long and heart-wrenching trials?

As is often the case with the hurtful, painful issues of our walk with the Lord, His purpose is never to make us bitter, but to make us better. Gunner Gundersen says it this way: “The vinedresser prunes the branch not to multiply hurt but to multiply fruit.” What does that mean?

It essentially means the Lord allows us to struggle to make us stronger; He allows pain to make us more compassionate and caring for others; He allows disappointment to build our trust in Him, not in our own plans; and He postpones answers to our prayers to build our perseverance and confidence that He knows best, and His clock keeps perfect time.

In some ways it’s like learning to ride a bicycle. Few take off riding on their first try. It took me many times to gain balance and learn how to ride, but even after gaining some measure of skill, I still had “wrecks.”

The “pruning” process of learning almost anything is painful. It involves trial and error, learning what works and what doesn’t, who to listen to and learn from and who to ignore, where to find resources that are helpful and useful and where not to waste our time looking.

We must learn to view “pruning” as training. In our walk with the Lord, we must “train,” for example, to be students of God’s Word and spend time in prayer. It takes time to do those things, which means we’re going to have to “prune” our schedules. There’s only 24 hours in the day, so we have to work with what we have.

If I’m accustomed to spending “X” numbers of minutes or hours a day watching TV, scrolling through my phone, iPad or computer and conclude I don’t have time to read the Bible or pray, what needs to happen? I need to “prune,” I need to carve out time from my otherwise “busy” schedule to make time to do what I believe the Lord wants me to do.

In my life I’ve found there are few things as helpful, meaningful, and satisfying as allowing the Lord time to speak to me through His Word or have Him listen as I share my heart with Him in prayer. These bring nourishment to my soul, as important as eating is to my body.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊