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.
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.
“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the ...
Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia 8 AM Streaming Service
Pastor Joe Focht or Guest
Genesis 38
Healed by His Wounds
Brokenness. We see it all around us. We experience it ourselves—in our relationships, in our dreams, in our bodies. And yet, something happened over two thousand years ago that still has the power to heal that brokenness.
1 Peter 2:24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took the weight of our sins upon Himself. He carried them to the cross, giving up His life not because of His own wrongdoing, but because of ours. This is the essence of the Gospel. Through His sacrifice, He offered us a path out of darkness and into His light—a life transformed by His grace.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we’ve been given a profound healing of our spirits; new life taking the place of sins and darkness that separate us from God. Through His wounds, we are offered forgiveness and a new relationship with God, healed and ...
