Prunes

P 2943 Signs of spiritual death

/ DVH

1. Lack of breathing –

We can easily ‘run out of breath’ as we walk with the Lord, especially when we do things in our own strength. Genesis 2:7:“And the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Without the Holy Spirit’s breath on and in us – we will die. He is the breath of life and He is our new best Friend. John 15:5 says:“We can do NOTHING without Him.”

2.Pupils fixed and dilated –

I don’t know about you but nothing ‘fixes my pupils’ like watching TV or playing a video game! You can stare at it for hours and lose half your life doing absolutely nothing! Matthew 13:13:“This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].” We need new eyes to see and new ears to hear. Ephesians 1:18 says: “… the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, …”

3. No heart beat –

Hearts grow cold and stop functioning when we hold onto grudges, or bitterness toward others, we short-circuit the new life blossoming within. Ezekiel 36:26-27: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” When we are born again we are given a brand new heart – we need to watch over our hearts. Proverbs 23:26 states: “My child, give Me your heart and let your eyes delight in My ways,…”

4. Rigor mortis – stiff and cold –

Boy this one is far too easy, we can become so accustomed to other people’s hardships we don’t see them anymore. The passion of God thrives in a ‘red hot heart.’ Jesus said in John 10:10b:” I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”We cease to really live this new life when we stop following Him. Matthew 24:12 says: “And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity, …”

5. No response when shouted at and shaken – 

Some people once heard God Himself speak, but they only heard His voice as thunder because their hearts were far from Him. Romans 13:11 states:“And this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for NOW is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”The repeated, every day rhythms mean we are often lulled off to sleep. We need to be awake at all times, because temptation can sneak up on us. Ephesians 5:14-16: “This is why it is said:“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

6. Cells and organs start to die –

Our relationships with other Christians get weaker and weaker. Church becomes a chore to be performed, instead of a meeting place of refreshment. Psalm 118:17 says: “I will not die, but live, And declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the LORD.” Our destiny is not to live ‘dead’ lives, but to be living testaments to the goodness of our God. John 15:1&2. “I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.”

7. The blood has ceased to flow –

We stop even thinking about the state of our spirit and just keep right on doing the same old same old, every day —one thing following another. Hebrews 9:14 explains, the blood of Christ, shed for our sake, cleanses  “… our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”1 John 1:7 states: “but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].” 

I urge us all to live this life, the only one we have, in the cleansing flow of His blood, filled with His Spirit.  Our new life in Christ transforms everything that would make us into ‘zombie’ Christians, as we leave our old dead life behind us. Wherever we go – His glory follows us instead. Don’t be caught DEAD with these spiritual ‘signs.’ 🤣 Bye for today. 

P 2354 CULTIVATION matters …

/ DVH

We need to pray, then ACT as well, that’s the cultivation. And that is the hard bit. The power to overcome comes after using your faith. However we often do it like this: “Dear Lord please help me with my quick temper,” Amen. Sadly, we’ve learnt to walk away, literally not looking back, because, after all, we’ve asked Him for His help;  and it says in the bible to ‘ask and keep on asking’ — so if He hasn’t answered that prayer then maybe we need to just keep on asking! Tell yourself over and over again – He is looking for us to ACT in faith. In this instance by shutting up and dealing with our own emotions and asking for His help! God is looking for ongoing, involved, relationship. 

Of course we also understand that the Word says we are to be slow to anger – and every time we read stuff like that in the bible we probably feel bad, but if we pray another quick prayer then that should sort of cover our end of it! After all, we know for sure that we are praying His will and now it is up to Him. And if He doesn’t fix it then maybe He understands that we just can’t help it!

Yeah. HOWZAT working for ya? It does not work for me at all. All I know is that many of us use our inability to humanly change stuff, as an excuse to dismiss anything we don’t like or we can’t face about ourselves. We avoid the issue. BUT!! NOW WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. And He’s here to help us do wa-ay more than participate in miracles, speak in tongues, and multiply fish and bread! HE’S HERE TO PREPARE THE BRIDE!! Working in co-operation with Him is the best way to facilitate our total transformation – not just feeling good after being prayed for when we fell on the floor!  

Lying to ourselves, or pretending stuff is not a problem for US with regard to our faults – (we all have them) – cements those things further into our lives. Meanwhile, bad luck about anyone else who happens to live with that stuff and US doing it!!  Plus we will totally miss out on working with the Lord personally, in ways we can see for ourselves. We can see what He can and will do in our hearts when we stop pretending we don’t have any faults! There is nothing like suddenly finding you have strength in an area where you know had none – as in … bupkis, nyet, nil, denayda! 

I find this kind of stuff that I can’t personally change, even with super hero effort – often … like ten times a day … and that’s on a good day! That’s when I remember that I am up for cultivation. In the story about the vinedresser and the vine (John 15:1-5) we get some clues about how God cultivates us. He prunes some things and gets rid of others completely. (Matthew 7:19-23); (Luke 13:6–9). 

John shows us in his parable about the vine that the Lord prunes for more growth, and eventually for fruit production. We can all totally rejoice about that – because this world needs more GOD-fruit. We must remember that our God is always so careful and mindful of our potential – so He will not remove stuff that has within it the potential to bear fruit. This means if a branch etc. disappears — then we didn’t need it. Bear in mind the fruit that eventually comes from the pruned bits is the Holy Spirit’s fruit and His fruit lasts.

Fun fact to remember, if something gets chopped off then it was going nowhere. There is no point in mourning it, we are better off rejoicing because these scriptures show us that He has a purpose in all things and we need to trust in His purposes! Conversely, if something quite weak and wobbly still remains, then He intends for the sap of His Spirit to strengthen us, because ‘His strength is made perfect in our weakness.’  So we now have an opportunity to experience His provision and power personally, for ourselves. But first we need to recognise what is actually happening – and let HIM help us.

Finally, fruit production needs fertilisation, water, sunshine and clearing away any weeds that spring up around the tree. Obviously we are fed and watered daily by His living Word. Simply reading the book without applying what it says into our lives does not water or fertilise our fruit tree. We also need to take the time to bask in the sunshine of Who He is, and what He has done for us – not because we want or need something, but because we need to be near Him – just like our ‘tree’ needs sunshine. 

The weeds around our tree are our responsibility and they can come from a lot of places. Weeding is part of cultivation, and ignoring weeds means our little tree will be malnourished. We can get some weeds by authenticating behaviour Jesus would not authenticate. And if someone is unhappy with you about this or that fault, remember – whatever that thing is – it is holding up fruit production. Time to ‘confess our faults’ and aim for humility – I tell myself ‘everybody else has to do this stuff so why not me?’  Plus it is totally worth it to walk around with Him.  👋🏻

P 2323 Fruit inspection.

/ DVH

John 15:1-4 “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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” Matthew 7:18-20 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

When things go upside down, one of the first things we need to look at is what kind of fruit is being produced from our lives. That’s a big clue for us to diagnose whatever is coming OUT of us! God good … devil bad. Bad fruit = not God. Don’t blame someone else –  instead face your own flaws. A-N-D … please don’t make excuses for yourself either: – “I’m sick.” “I’m tired.” “Life’s too hard.” “My family is like this!” “You’ve been mean to me.” Excuses. Face whatever has happened with honesty, humble yourself and repent.

The place where we can fall over is when we analyse or judge what other people are doing. Learn to accept that your reactions are just your reactions – they may be born out of experience and pain – but they are not always truth! Our feelings, or even any mental knitting we might do, are not good spiritual barometers. The minute we start analysing situations so we can defend or even explain ourselves – is the minute we start walking away from His guidance.

Sometimes fear gets in the way of facing reality. Our God took CHAOS and made something glorious out of it. And we are still enjoying His Creation today. God is not scared of, or intimidated by CHAOS. Even the chaos of our thoughts. That kind of stuff can become His building materials for a brand new day and world. So don’t be afraid of chaos … HE CAN TRANSFORM ANYTHING. He is Lord over any chaos. 

Evidence of the Holy Spirit’s fruit does not rely on external circumstances. Rather each one of these fruits is an expression of our Heavenly Father’s nature. His Personhood, His Character. His love can touch places inside us we didn’t even know we had, and when it does it does something permanent. Plus it opens our eyes to Who HE is. Then slowly but surely, that revelation takes His knowledge out of the realm of feelings into fact. 

God’s love has never relied upon US. It is a product of Who HE is. It is simply part of Him. Likewise His joy is not dependant on circumstances, like ours is. “For the joy that was set before Him, Christ endured the cross.” Hebrews 12:2. Joy is not human happiness, or satisfaction, it is actually a product of His ability to see further ahead than we can! We are often focussed upon the immediate and how stuff effects us – sometimes the greater good is coming towards us.

Lastly the Lord’s peace does not rely upon circumstances, because it is an INTERNAL thing. Jesus Christ said: “peace be still” to a stormy sea. He spoke out what was already inside Him, into this earth’s atmosphere and changed it. Understanding this will change how we pray for the sick. Peter said to the lame man, right before the guy was healed: “Silver and gold have I none but such as I HAVE give I thee.”

We can struggle and strain to BE something Christ’s death has already given us.  All we need to do is to follow Him, do what He says, and yield to the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus Himself did. We must stop trying to fit the Holy Spirit into our plans and instead find out what HE is doing, and do that.  

Christians can become obsessed with anointing and gifts – and skip over character. We’ve gone after the gifts instead of the GIVER. We desperately want the gifts, but we expect God to do all the work of transforming us. Both things will happen as we yield, and live our lives for the sake of letting His kingdom come. Inside and out! We have to learn to co–operate with the Holy Spirit. That’s when we will produce fruit that LASTS.

Each time we say ‘yes’ to His way and ‘no’ to ours – we die to self.  This is the pruning process, the stripping away of our own concepts and hopes for ‘self.’ So when we read His book, we discover what God’s love really looks like – human emotions are no substitute for it. Then we need to look at our own lives, as well as what we give away. Start with the way you treat those closest to you. Sadly we can all look good – superficially. 👋🏻