Oh, the pain of the pruning hook! Yes, it has been inflicting some jabs and prods lately. John chapter 15 is one of the most thought provoking and comforting references in the Word. Verse two, though, requires facing some truths about our lives: "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
John Wesley's study notes on this verse are illuminating, "Every one that beareth fruit, he purifieth - by obeying the truth, I Peter 1: 22, and by inward and outward sufferings, Hebrews 12: 10. So purity and fruitfulness help each other." Purifying or Pruning - both of these processes say, "Less of me and More of Him". Awakening to my mistakes, whether they be in thought or word, is painful. But, simultaneously there is a release, a freeing of my efforts to walk in a direction that otherwise would not lead to healing or completion. Victory can be realized as the pruning hook does its work.
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