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.
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judæa, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituræa and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to ...
Cultivating Honest Conversations with God
Prayer is one of the most important habits we can develop. Not only does Scripture command us to pray often, but there are tremendous benefits to building a life of prayer.
Prayer connects us relationally to God. We can thank God for who He is and what He has done for us during our prayer time. We can ask Him for things that we need.
Even though we know we should pray, we often don't take the time to do it. Unless we set aside time to talk to God, it doesn’t always find a way into our daily schedules. But Paul, the writer of the letter to the Ephesians, urges Christians to build a life of prayer. He says that every occasion is a chance to talk to God.
All of our requests and needs should be given to God. However, our time praying should not only be asking God for things. We should also spend part of our time in worship—thanking God for who He is and all He has done.
Paul also encourages us to pray for other people. In fact, part of our ...
