Trust and Obey
Spirituality/Belief • Books • Pets/Animals
This community is to share the Love of Christ. Discuss scripture and how it relates to the world today. I will be telling you about how scripture has changed my life.

I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to. 

I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
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John 15:2 / Verse of the Day & Daily Devotion

What It Takes to Thrive

In both gardening and spiritual terms, planting and harvesting are exciting seasons. Planting is the start of an adventure, and harvesting is the product of hard work. It’s easy to celebrate new beginnings and hard-earned completions—but one thing that’s not as much fun? 

The pruning process.

Who wants to acknowledge what’s dead and unproductive in their lives? Who wants to trim back what’s already blooming—leaving you smaller, awkward, and feeling extra weak?

But pruning is exactly what we need to keep producing fruit.

“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 15:2 NIV

Jesus mentions two separate actions in this process—cutting off what’s dead and pruning fruit.

Cutting out what’s dead makes sense. It’s extra weight, it’s unproductive, it’s blocking sunlight, and it’s stealing good energy from branches that could thrive. But without proper context, pruning fruit feels backwards.

However, the purpose of pruning isn’t to disable something, but to revitalize it. 

If a branch is weak or diseased, it could not only damage itself, but the surrounding trees as well. Without pruning, both the tree and the life surrounding it can never reach full potential.

Pruning creates room for more growth.
Pruning stimulates production.
Pruning keeps the plant or person strong.

God is a good Gardener. He wouldn’t be a good Gardener if He left you to yourself—overgrown, ineffective, and full of dysfunction. But He cares for those He loves. He cuts off what’s dead for your benefit. He lovingly trims back ineffective things in your life to make way for more fruit. 

You can trust God with your life because He cares about who you are and who you can become.

So what “dead branches” are you dragging around? Is it possible that God is pruning you for future growth? Take a few moments and talk to God about any areas in your life that you recognize need to change.

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Exodus 33:15 / Verse of the Day & Daily Devotion

There's No Peace Without His Presence

Moses was standing in the middle of a desert—both literally and spiritually. The people had just rebelled against God by building an idol of a golden calf, and now their future felt uncertain.

Yet in this moment of deep tension, Moses makes a bold request: If God’s presence won’t go with them to their destination, Moses says, he’d rather not go at all.

It’s not that Moses didn’t want the promised land. But more than the land, more than progress, more than answers, Moses wanted God Himself. He knew that no amount of success, comfort, or direction could ever replace the nearness of the Lord.

There are seasons in life when we find ourselves in our own wilderness: confused, dried up, uncertain of the next step. In those moments, it’s easy to crave clarity. But what we truly need is God's presence, not just answers.

Peace doesn’t come from knowing the plan. It comes from knowing He is with us in it.

God's presence is our distinguishing mark. ...

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