I learned a godly truth from a bunch of cilantro.

Sitting in my fridge for a week or so, I noticed some of the leaves had rotted before I got to use them in my food. My first instinct was to chuck the whole thing.  But I love cilantro, and it isn’t cheap. So I decided in order to keep the lush green ones from being contaminated, I’d pluck them away and sealed them in a storage baggie. Much less icky that snapping away the  slimy, brown ones and getting the gunk on my fingers.  Blech.

As I pulled the fragrant, dark leaves, I realized there were a lot more “good ones” than I originally thought.  That made me sigh with relief because I hadn’t wasted all my money after all.  Yet immediately my eyes had detected the bad ones and thought the worse.

It took a while to pluck all the tasty leaves away,  and I had to be more methodical and careful about doing it, but I felt better about ditching the rotten remnant once I had finished the task. A bulging baggie proved to me how much good remained. And my kitchen smelled amazing!

Of course this became a God-lesson for me.

Thank goodness our Heavenly Father doesn’t see only the bad in us and decide we need to be trashed. Instead, He sees the good in us as His Son points out, “These abide in me and I have made them worthy to save for Your use, Father. Do not cast them out.”

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).

Our precious, loving Lord carefully and methodically plucks away the sin tendencies in our lives to keep them from contaminating us, and uses the good He has found in us to do His will.  Then He bags and seals us in His Spirit to protect us and keep us fresh until He can use us.

Instead of concentrating on the bad, rotten and yucky in me which needs to be thrown away, perhaps I need to see how much good God sees in me through His Son, Jesus. He is viewing each leaf in my life to determine if it is worth keeping and using. There may be more good for Him to use than I originally thought. It makes me more thankful of the process, no matter how long it takes.

Thank you Lord, for taking the time to save what is good in me and not chucking me in the garbage because of the sin which has tainted my life.  Seal me through Your Holy Spirit. It is through and by Your Son, who has made me worthy to save, that I pray: use me to draw others to You. Amen.

By Julie Cosgrove
Used by Permission

Do you know this love that is found in God alone, through Jesus?  Would you like to give your burdens to him and have a relationship with Him?  It doesn’t mean that life will be easy but it does mean you have Jesus walking by your side. It starts with a simple heart felt prayer:

Lord, thank You for dying so we can be set free from all of guilt and sin — no matter how big or small.  Your blood has erased all of our sin. Thank You so much! Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen

It is the first step.  Keep learning more….

FURTHER READING

• Chains of Perfectionism – by Kristi Huseby

• Aphids and Sin – by Katherine Kehler

• Fruitful Gardening – by Caran Jantzen

The post Pluck It and Bag It appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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 15:1-2

For me, gardening is an exercise in trust.

I drop tiny seeds into ground, believing that most of them will sprout and grow into ample food for my family and myself.

In faith, I thin out my rows of seedlings, pulling out perfectly healthy plants to make room for others to grow, confident that this will actually give me a better yield.

One of the more difficult parts about gardening is pruning. I find myself second-guessing how much of a branch to cut off, or if I really need to get rid of all but a couple of raspberry canes.
It seems counter-intuitive that less branches would equal more fruit.

In the same way, God takes His clippers to me, His branch. He doesn’t hold back; He prunes away all of the unfruitful parts of my life.

Any desire that would take glory away from Him is snipped off. Any plan that feeds my ego rather than a Christ-like spirit is stripped away.

He would rather that I would be a spindly stalk that produces fruit than a lush bush covered with leaves that produces nothing of value. And when I really think about it, so would I.

God, help me to accept the pruning You do in my life, and trust that You know what is best for me. As You prune, may Your Spirit work in my life to make me more like the true vine, Jesus Christ. Amen.

By Caran Jantzen
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• Prickly Cactus
• Aphids and Sin – an interesting comparison

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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 15:1-2

Have you ever walked through a vineyard? In John chapter 15, Jesus’ words to His disciples about enduring fruit reveal that He had clearly passed through many vineyards while paying close attention. He had no doubt observed a caretaker faithfully preparing the grape vines for harvest: tenderly and thoroughly examining each vine and its branches to ensure maximum yield for the growing season and for many seasons to come.

Jesus uses the metaphor of the vineyard to emphasize, among other things, the necessity of the Father tenderly trimming fruitful branches so they can produce even greater yield. The Father’s shears separate the unproductive branches from the vine, enabling the remaining branches to flourish.

What do you need pruned from your life to become more fruitful? Pruning can be painful and perplexing, but every believer, regardless of call or creed, and as long as he or she remain organically connected to the true vine, is commissioned and pruned to bear eternal fruit — fruit that glorifies the Lord of the harvest. Would you consider yourself a fruitful believer? If your answer is yes, then ask the Lord to tenderly and thoroughly trim your life and empower you to thrive and flourish as you faithfully abide in Him. If your answer is no, then choose to make Jesus the center of your life once again.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your enduring love. Help me to discern and to surrender to the daily pruning process so that I can faithfully and effectively bear fruit for Your kingdom. Empower me for maximum yield in the harvest fields of my sphere of influence. Amen.

By Allan Mitchell
Used by permission

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