John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (KJV)

Are you abiding? 

The gardener cuts a tree’s branches for a wide variety of reasons. According to the Washington County Forestry Board, those reasons are:

• To remove co-dominant leaders. Co-dominant leaders are two branches growing near the top of a tree that grow straight up and become equally dominant. Cutting off one allows the other branch to grow and become the dominant branch. This prevents the branches from splitting and tearing wood that is often a problem in heavy winds.

• To encourage fruit production. Any type of tree that produces fruit benefits from pruning. By removing dead limbs, you’re promoting better health in the tree, since dead wood makes the tree more susceptible to insect infestation and disease.

• To treat disease. Pruning can treat disease the tree may have. Also, pruning can prevent disease from spreading.

John 15:1-3 I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. (NLT)

You are a branch. God prunes you for the same reason the gardener prunes trees. There can be times when the anointing on your life flows with such an amazing manifestation of God’s power. If you are not careful, you can forget it is not you. You could find yourself, like Lucifer did, trying to be a co-dominant leader. If you don’t humble yourself, you will extend too far and God will have to prune you. 

Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ (NKJV)

There can also be times when you rest on what you did years ago instead of looking for God to continue to do work in and through you. By using those memories as fertilizer and not as a podium, you can make way for new and greater works.

Philippians 1:6  I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world. (TVT)

Finally, you can become defiled (diseased) in your heart when you forget who you are. When that happens, you worship the creation and not the creator; you try to use the gifts that belong to the Lord for your own purpose; you read your own headlines; and ultimately believe the same lie the devil believed. The Father must prune you to help you remember He is the one who is worthy to be praised, not you.

Romans 1:25 How? By choosing a foolish lie over God’s truth. They gave their lives and devotion to the creature rather than to the Creator Himself, who is blessed forever and ever. Amen. (TVT)

Whatever the reason for pruning, when the branches fall to the ground, they will die. Their color fades and they dry up and harden. Then they are swept up and made into compost or put on the trash heap. Your source, life, and existence are in God. You must abide in The Father at all times; if not, you will wither and die. You could end up being put into the fiery furnace.

Please agree with me as I pray. Then ask the Lord what your prayer should be and wait for His response:

Father, You have made it possible for me to abide in You at all times. I repent for those times when I lived as if I was the keeper of my soul. In You I live; I move, and I have my being. I thank You for teaching me apart from You I can do nothing, and I am nothing. Because of the time I spend with You, there is an anointing on my life. I honor You for it. I keep in mind; I am a branch. Father, the nourishment I receive, by Your Spirit, affects my entire life and comes directly from You. Without being connected to You, I will die. When I live in communion with You, I mature, I become stronger, and I become better. I want to remain an extension of You, and remain humble. I also pray that my life brings You glory more and more every day…

Ask the lord what he wants to say to you about today’s devotional and journal it here: