The thermometer read 6 degrees this morning on the Oklahoma plains and the weatherman told me that it felt like 10 below zero with the windchill factored in. That's cold! I've spent the morning getting my home ready for those that will gather in it's warmth tomorrow, which will be a full day of the door opening with tea and coffee being poured, scripture opened, and prayers offered, a day that for this keeper of home is delicious and wanted. Im checking things off my list so that I can spend the afternoon doing something that is like medicine to me. As soon as the last chore is checked off I will sit with a cup of steaming sweet and spicy tea and all of my seed and plant catalogs to plan my flower and vegetable gardens. There is something wonderful to me about doing it on a very cold and wintery day, the wonderful part is the dreaming of the faces of pink peonies, yellow sunflowers, and blue hydrangeas dancing in my yard come spring and summer. And there is the thought of baskets filled with red tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs. It all paints a picture in my mind that is quite delightful. If it was only as simple as dreaming it up, planting a seed, and it would be exactly as I see it in my mind. Any of you that have done gardening know it takes work. Sometimes even growing a tomato in a pot in Oklahoma is difficult!
We moved to a different home a few weeks ago and even as we were remodeling my eye was on the garden area in the backyard. It hadn't been tended in over five years and yet the sprinkler system had kept everything green and growing. Everything, even the weeds were healthy! So I started the process with some professional help of removing what needed to be removed and only keeping a few things that could stand the extreme pruning. Extreme pruning....there's a mouthful.
The word ABIDE has been a word that Father has been tattooing on my heart for years. You will always find the word somewhere in my home, not for anyone else but for me, to serve as a reminder of what my posture is to look like in the divine relationship. Abiding is dwelling, living, making a home in Him and Him dwelling, living, and making a home in me. John 15 is usually loose in it's binding in most of my bibles. There is something that we often don't like to talk about but it comes along with abiding and that is pruning. Pruning is the cutting, scraping, and separating that happens in an effort to cause something to grow and to produce more. It's costly. It seems painful to me to go and chop off the top of something that has growth, but it has to be done for more growth. I talk almost weekly with someone who is being asked for something or sensing Father is wanting them to step away or lay down someone or something. Maybe they can see the scars of past pruning on my life, for sure it's a part of my story, I pray they see the growth that He has brought about as well. It's real and it's painful and yet what it produces is more of Him and more abiding and that is beautiful.
What is it for you? What is that thing or that person that has become an idol to you, that you hear the Father gently saying, "it's time to let me cut that off". Maybe it's something that you are pursuing harder than God and he is prompting you that you need to let Him do some surgery before more growth will happen. Its a new year, a time to hit the refresh button but in so doing it will require participation with the Master Gardner, for new growth to happen in this new year.
Below is a story that I always think of when contemplating what my abiding looks like and what the cost of pruning will result in my life. I also attached a wonderful message from Pricilla Shirer that is on the message of separation which looks a lot like pruning!
Always learning.....
My cup overflows,
Kim
Once upon a time, there was and Old Grapevine Branch. He had been growing in the vineyard for a very long time and his fruit was the biggest and sweetest fruit around! People came from far and wide to taste his fruit. The Young Branch beside him looked up to him and said, " I want to be just like you when I grow up. What can I do to have fruit as big and sweet as yours?" "Tell me what I have to do and I promise to be committed!" The Old Branch said, "Be Willing". The Young Branch thought, "that's strange...be willing"? The next day, the gate opened and the gardener walked in. The gardener bent down and on one knee reached into his back pocket, pulled out what looked like sharp scissors, and moved toward the Young Branch's friend down the row. The Young Branch watched as his little friend cried, "No, no, why are you doing this to me? Haven't I been sweet? Please, don't cut me!" The Young Branch looked up at the Old Branch and asked, "What's happening....why did the Gardner do that? Is it because he didn't like her?" The Old Branch replied, "No! What you just saw proves that the gardener loves that little branch very much." The Little Branch replied, "Oh, is it because my friend did something wrong and the gardener is punishing her?" The Old Branch answered, "NO. Your friend is being pruned. Not because she was trying to do things wrong, but because she was trying to do things right. Not because her fruit was not sweet but because the gardener wants it to be even sweeter." The Young Branch replied, "Well, you don't have to worry about being pruned. You have the sweetest fruit in the garden!" "Oh, I want to be pruned!" the Old Branch said. "You what? It must hurt, and you're going to look bad." The Old Branch chuckled and replied, "Yes, it is quite uncomfortable. But it is necessary. You see, my young friend, I have a fungus growing on my underside and that no one can see. Pruning will keep me healthy. So when the gardener comes to prune me, I won't pull my leaves back. I'll lift myself high in the air to make His job easier. And always remember, the very fact that you're being pruned means you will bloom again." Just then the gardener stopped by the Old Branch, and the Young Branch saw the old branch raise his leaves high up in the air. He heard a snip, and the Old Branch lay on the ground...all except for the nub. Then the gardener turned to the Young Branch. His little leaves were shaking, and tears rolled down his side, but with every ounce of strength, he raised his leaves high in the air, looked up into the gardener's face and said, "Kind and gentle gardener, I'm willing."
This is a great message from Pricilla Shirer, Its an hour long so get you a cup of tea, your bible, and some pen and paper and soak.
Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer - A Place of Separation
We moved to a different home a few weeks ago and even as we were remodeling my eye was on the garden area in the backyard. It hadn't been tended in over five years and yet the sprinkler system had kept everything green and growing. Everything, even the weeds were healthy! So I started the process with some professional help of removing what needed to be removed and only keeping a few things that could stand the extreme pruning. Extreme pruning....there's a mouthful.
The word ABIDE has been a word that Father has been tattooing on my heart for years. You will always find the word somewhere in my home, not for anyone else but for me, to serve as a reminder of what my posture is to look like in the divine relationship. Abiding is dwelling, living, making a home in Him and Him dwelling, living, and making a home in me. John 15 is usually loose in it's binding in most of my bibles. There is something that we often don't like to talk about but it comes along with abiding and that is pruning. Pruning is the cutting, scraping, and separating that happens in an effort to cause something to grow and to produce more. It's costly. It seems painful to me to go and chop off the top of something that has growth, but it has to be done for more growth. I talk almost weekly with someone who is being asked for something or sensing Father is wanting them to step away or lay down someone or something. Maybe they can see the scars of past pruning on my life, for sure it's a part of my story, I pray they see the growth that He has brought about as well. It's real and it's painful and yet what it produces is more of Him and more abiding and that is beautiful.
What is it for you? What is that thing or that person that has become an idol to you, that you hear the Father gently saying, "it's time to let me cut that off". Maybe it's something that you are pursuing harder than God and he is prompting you that you need to let Him do some surgery before more growth will happen. Its a new year, a time to hit the refresh button but in so doing it will require participation with the Master Gardner, for new growth to happen in this new year.
Below is a story that I always think of when contemplating what my abiding looks like and what the cost of pruning will result in my life. I also attached a wonderful message from Pricilla Shirer that is on the message of separation which looks a lot like pruning!
Always learning.....
My cup overflows,
Kim
Once upon a time, there was and Old Grapevine Branch. He had been growing in the vineyard for a very long time and his fruit was the biggest and sweetest fruit around! People came from far and wide to taste his fruit. The Young Branch beside him looked up to him and said, " I want to be just like you when I grow up. What can I do to have fruit as big and sweet as yours?" "Tell me what I have to do and I promise to be committed!" The Old Branch said, "Be Willing". The Young Branch thought, "that's strange...be willing"? The next day, the gate opened and the gardener walked in. The gardener bent down and on one knee reached into his back pocket, pulled out what looked like sharp scissors, and moved toward the Young Branch's friend down the row. The Young Branch watched as his little friend cried, "No, no, why are you doing this to me? Haven't I been sweet? Please, don't cut me!" The Young Branch looked up at the Old Branch and asked, "What's happening....why did the Gardner do that? Is it because he didn't like her?" The Old Branch replied, "No! What you just saw proves that the gardener loves that little branch very much." The Little Branch replied, "Oh, is it because my friend did something wrong and the gardener is punishing her?" The Old Branch answered, "NO. Your friend is being pruned. Not because she was trying to do things wrong, but because she was trying to do things right. Not because her fruit was not sweet but because the gardener wants it to be even sweeter." The Young Branch replied, "Well, you don't have to worry about being pruned. You have the sweetest fruit in the garden!" "Oh, I want to be pruned!" the Old Branch said. "You what? It must hurt, and you're going to look bad." The Old Branch chuckled and replied, "Yes, it is quite uncomfortable. But it is necessary. You see, my young friend, I have a fungus growing on my underside and that no one can see. Pruning will keep me healthy. So when the gardener comes to prune me, I won't pull my leaves back. I'll lift myself high in the air to make His job easier. And always remember, the very fact that you're being pruned means you will bloom again." Just then the gardener stopped by the Old Branch, and the Young Branch saw the old branch raise his leaves high up in the air. He heard a snip, and the Old Branch lay on the ground...all except for the nub. Then the gardener turned to the Young Branch. His little leaves were shaking, and tears rolled down his side, but with every ounce of strength, he raised his leaves high in the air, looked up into the gardener's face and said, "Kind and gentle gardener, I'm willing."
This is a great message from Pricilla Shirer, Its an hour long so get you a cup of tea, your bible, and some pen and paper and soak.
Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer - A Place of Separation
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