“On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.”
Memory Verse: “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 15:2
Many of us see Christianity as some sort of shortcut! We assume that being a Christian means following a rule book containing sets of do’s and don’ts and while this might have been the case before Jesus’ intervention, this rules have through Christ, been fulfilled. Through the help of the Holy spirit, we are now able to live our lives daily in totally untraceable ways but according to the will of God.
This for believers means no two days are the same because even though we may have many plans, we know that the spirit of God daily leads us through new routes, sometimes unexpected to us and differs from our initial plans and thoughts; that for many, is a problem. It can be dramatic when one yields to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and instructions and then hit a roadblock while at it. Does this then mean moving in a direction contrary and out of the will of God?
The first response to this question is maybe the most common from people, you hear them immediately say “You better ask God for forgiveness”. This is assuming that those challenges are some sort of punishment. We read where Jesus’s disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2 and like the good teacher that Jesus is, He told them in response , “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” John 9:3.
One of the best sermons I’ve heard was from a young lady who spoke about how God prunes us and for this reason I have gone back to look at what it truly means to become pruned. The best definition I retrieved from the dictionary is “pruning means to remove dead or living parts from (a plant) so as to increase fruit or flower production or improve the form.
Sometimes, even when we are in the will of God, we still go through life challenges with God involved. Remember Jesus asked them to cross with him and they obeyed His voice but were still faced with the storm.
You may still be faced with Challenges, but this is your path to becoming more fruitful. God is still on your side, you have nothing to fear!
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for grace
- Thank You for dying for me, for the grace to accept you and for access to all goodness that comes from the throne of Heaven
- Help me to be fruitful on all sides, adhere to your instruction and direction and never waver in faith
- I nullify every spirit of failure and near success syndrome.
- I will finish well!
- Forgive my iniquities Lord and help me to live a purpose driven life
- Thank you for going ahead, Father, I am grateful for all!
- AMEN!
