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September 2001 Table of Contents
From My Heart To Yours
A Time To Be Lifted Up... A Time To Be Pruned
By Jackie Evans
 Once again it's 'article time' and once again my mind is blank. It seems like it was just yesterday that I sat in this same spot with this same blank mind trying to squeeze out something Gary could use to fill up the page assigned to me in The Communicator. I hate to admit it but if The Communicator misses its mailing date, it probably is my fault because I didn't get my article in on time. I seriously thought about doing a Summer Re-run... If TV can get away with it, surely I could too. But instead, I thought I'd share a little with you of what God is teaching me and maybe, when you find yourself in need of these Bible truths, this will be a help to you.
Since I have few original thoughts of my own, I have to depend on the insight God gives to others and learn from them. I have been working through the Beth Moore Bible study, "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place" and reading Bruce Wilkinson's new book, "Secrets of the Vine". The last section of this Bible study coincides with the underlying theme of "Secrets of the Vine" which is about how God needs to 'prune' his children from time-to-time and the text is from John 15 where Jesus teaches about the vine and the branches and God being the gardener.
Beth tells us that there are two conditions for fruit to bear: 1) the branches must stay attached to the vine and 2) they must be pruned so they can bear a greater crop of fruit. Now I love to stay attached to the vine but the pruning is not so pleasant! John 15:2 reads, "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." I was always a little bothered about the part that states "He cuts off..." because I equated that to 'He does away with...” After reading the explanation Bruce gives, I have a new respect for this passage. He tells of a time at a West Coast pastors' conference when a man who owned a vineyard asked him if he understood John 15 and offered to help explain these few verses. He stated that new branches of the vine have a tendency to trail down on the ground leaving them muddy, mildewed, sick and useless. Since they are much too valuable to be cut off, they are instead washed off, lifted up tied to the trellis and soon they are healthy. Bruce also states that the Greek word, ario, used as 'cuts off' or 'take away', actually means to' lift up' or 'take up' but never 'take away' or 'cut off'. So God actually lifts us up when we do not bear fruit, cleans us off with his word (v. 3) and makes us so we can bear fruit for Him.
Beth states that there are two ways God prunes us: 1) by His Word and 2) through circumstances. When we do not learn what God wants us to through His Word, it sometimes becomes necessary to prune us through circumstances. How are we to react to this type of pruning? Two scriptures come to mind: 1) James 1:2 which says to count it all joy and 2) I Thessalonians 5:18 which tells us to give thanks in everything. She sums it all up by telling us that when pruning by circumstances is unavoidable, the Word makes our circumstances even more bearable. That's good news to me!
We know that whatever God allows us to go through, He is going through with us. We know this is true because He tells us He will never leave us nor forsake us. We also know that when our circumstances are relieved, we will emerge much stronger and able to bear much fruit for Him and isn't that what we are here for?
Jackie
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