PRUNING IS THE PITS...BUT NECESSARY

In the words of Paula Dean...Hey Yaaaa'll. In our last episode...we discovered the joys of BUD-NIPPING...AND THE FOX PATROL (sounds like a T.V. show like the Rat Patrol...or Swamp Fox). Whatever happened to that version of Christianity called GRACE, MERCY AND THE EASY LIFE? You know the one...the one where I turn from my sin...and from that point on it's EASY LIVING...until the Lord comes back and delivers us from the the world falling apart.

There is GRACE (unmerited favor, free gift, divine influence in the heart, manifested in the life). This is that wonderful work of God in us...from the inside out. It is nothing that we can do from the outside in. "He saved us NOT ON THE BASIS of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." But that's where the fun part starts. Until He comes back...not only is He working IN us....but He is working ON us. ENTER THE PRUNING.

Notice the character Dick Tracy known as PRUNEFACE. Do ya know why he is called PRUNEFACE. Because he is wrinkled up like a PRUNE. I had an eighth grade teacher named Mrs. Pittard. She was also prune-like. When her back was turned...I could get a laugh by singing..."Whose the creature from the Black Lagoon...Look out it's Pittard the Prune." The question is...what does prunes have to do with pruning? Well...actually nothing...unless you consider the work of the PRUNES from the inside out...as what was once clogged and blocked... would BE LOOSED!!!! The PURGING...by PRUNES...is not a pleasant experience...but in some cases...necessary...if you want to live life to the fullest...or would that be the emptiest. There may be some cramps...some creaking sounds...the release. I don't know about you...but there is nothing that feels so good...as when the PAIN STOPS. So it is with the rebuke, chastening, discipline of the Lord in our lives.

Another picture of the maturing process in the life of the believer is the ART OF PRUNING. As we said, tongue in cheek...PRUNING IS THE PITS...BUT NECESSARY...if you want to BEAR FRUIT.

RECOMMENDED READING: I would highly recommend the book SECRETS OF THE VINE. It is written by Bruce Wilkinson...who included this book in his Breakthrough Series...including THE PRAYER OF JABEZ and EXPERIENCING SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGHS. I first came into contact with Bruce Wilkinson back in 1976 when I went through a seminar called WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE. This was one of the foundational seminars in my Christian walk.

SECRETS OF THE VINE is a journey through John 15 as we find out why Jesus is the Vine of life and explore the four levels of FRUIT BEARING. One section is especially good as Bruce goes through the differences between DISCIPLINING versus PRUNING.

He covers: (1) How do you know it's happening (2) Why is it happening? (3) What is your level of fruitfulness (4) What is the Vinedressers desire? (5) What needs to go? (6) How should you feel? (7)What is the right response? (8) When does it stop? Some of the answers are the same...like the answer to the first question of "How do you know it's happening?" The answer to both discipline and pruning...PAIN. The Vinedressers desire is also the same...fruit and more fruit.


Even before you get the book SECRETS OF THE VINE...you can read the original SECRETS OF THE VINE for yourself by turning to The Gospel of John chapter 15:1-8.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

1. The true Vine= Jesus
2. The Vinedresser= The Father
3. The branches= You

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

Keith Green sang that He is deVine...and we are deBranches. We (the branches) are called to ABIDE in the Jesus (the vine). The cause and effect and desired result it for the branches (us) to bear fruit. Fruit production is classified into: (1) NOT bearing fruit (2) bearing fruit (3) bearing MORE fruit
(4) bearing MUCH fruit

To go through the various stages of FRUIT BEARING...there may need to be A PRUNING. This is different from someone who is walking in disobedience and rebellion...who needs to be rebuked, chastened, disciplined. Jesus is teaching branches who ..."are ALREADY CLEAN because of the word I have spoken to you." (John 15:3) Read John 13 to see about them being cleansed by His words. These FRUIT BEARERS...are already BEARING FRUIT... but Jesus wants to take them to the next level of NOT bearing fruit...to bearing MUCH fruit. The bottom line is that APART FROM HIM...THE VINE...WE CAN DO NOTHING..NO THING...ZILCH...ZERO.. NADA...GOOSE EGG.

According to Mr. Wilkinson...many people talk about John 15:2 where it says..."Every branch in Me that DOES NOT BEAR FRUIT...He takes away." The phrase TAKES AWAY..is the airo which means TO TAKE UP...or LIFT UP. It means that sometimes...the fruit gets heavy...and falls down into the dust, dirt, mud...and the growth process is impeded....SO...the loving Vinedresser...takes away...take UP, lifts up...OUT OF THE MUD....binds up...and ties the branches closer to the VINE...so that it can continue to BEAR FRUIT...MORE FRUIT...AND MUCH FRUIT. It does not mean to TAKE AWAY and be done with that BRANCH.

The Vinedresser...then begins the CULTIVATION process...including pruning. This is where there is a cutting away...of the dead wood, pruning back in preparation for GROWTH. In the eyes of the uniformed...it looks like Edward Scissorhands gone WILD. It is like the Chainsaw Massacre on foliage. It's like me trimming my bushes...and Brenda coming out with a shocked look of unbelief...as what was to be a slight trim around the edges...ends up to be to a nub coming up out of the ground. Now I did not mean to do it....BUT...lo and behold...those bushes grew back thicker than ever...THANKS TO MY EXPERTISE AS A PRUNER.

Like discipline...pruning is a painful process...but it is momentary....with the outcome become stronger, more fruitful, with proven character in our lives. We will bear the fruit that will be crushed and made into a fine wine...that will be poured out on the altar of sacrifice.

Well...Okay Lord...a little of the top please.

Love and Prune Danish Kisses
Rodney "I Said A Little Off Of The Top...Not A Flat Top Lord" Boyd

OF SOIL, SEED, ROOTS, FRUITS

Greetings and Salutations fellow gardeners, farmers, and cultivators...how does your garden grow?

In the beginning...there was a GARDEN...and it was GOOD. Man...and WOman were placed there with the authority to KEEP it...as good stewards of what God had trusted them with...and they gave it away with high treason. Disobedience was the ROOT of ORIGINAL CROP FAILURE. (Read Genesis1-3) This CROP FAILURE reverberated down through history to all man and womankind.

"Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin (cause and effect) and thus death spread to all men (that would be you and me), because ALL sinned." (Romans 5:12)

The soil of mankind was tainted...polluted...corrupted. The SOIL had to be recaptured. It was lost by one man...and one man regained it back for us.

"God the love of Christ compels us...because we judge thus...that if ONE (Jesus) DIED for ALL (that would be you and me)...then ALL DIED; and He (Jesus) DIED for ALL , that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." (II Corinthians 5:14,15)

"But now Christ is RISEN (D.B.R...NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS) from the dead, and has become the FIRSTFRUITS of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man (Adam) came DEATH (cause and effect)...by MAN (Jesus) also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all DIED (cause and effect)...even so IN CHRIST (Jesus D.B.R.)...ALL (you and me) shall be made alive." (I Corinthians 15:20-23)

Now that the spiritual garden has been restored IN CHRIST...we begin to tend our spiritual gardens again. In Mark 4...we see that the soil is our hearts, the seed is the Word, the roots represented the process, and the harvest is the fruit or production of God working in our lives.

NOTE: Read Mark 4:1-20; Matthew 13:1-15; Luke 8:4-10 for full details of the Parable of the Sower/Soil/Seed/Harvest.

The SOIL...is the heart. The seed is the Word.

The soil sample is (1) by the road (2) rocky soil (3) thorns (4) good soil. The seed enemies are (1) birds/satan (2) tribulations or persecution (3) cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things.

The good soil...hears the word...accepts it...and produces results at various levels. In Luke 8:15...the good soil is described like this: "But the ones that fell on the GOOD SOIL/GROUND...are those who (1) having heard the word (with a noble/good heart) (2) keep it (2) bear fruit with patience/perseverance.

We must cultivate...and till the soil of our hearts in preparation for the reception of the seed. As powerful, as good, as wonderful as the seed/Word is...it can still be made of no effect if the heart/soil is not prepared. Not only are we to prepare the soil for the initial planting...but also as the growth takes place.

NOTE: In the seed is the everything needed to produce what it is suppose to grow. If you plant seeds of doubt...you will produce doubt in your life...if you plant the word of God by faith..you will produce faith.

Once the soil is prepared...and the seed (proper seeds ) are planted...you will not necessarily SEE if anything is taking place. The process of growth is first beginning UNDERGROUND. Just because you don't see crops...does not mean crop failure. Even when there is activity above the soil line...there still is a process going on where you do not see any FRUIT...or PRODUCE. That does NOT mean something is wrong about the GROWTH PROCESS. Even when FRUIT..PRODUCE is MANIFESTED...it still may be not RIPE.

So many times we INTERRUPT the process or attempt to EAT the fruit before it is ready for its PURPOSE. We take a bite of an apple that is not ripe...spit it out and curse the apple. Poor apple. It is only doing what it was created to do.. to grow...ripen and then do what its destiny is...sweet delicious APPLE PIE.

We don't go out and DIG up the SOIL...to see if anything is growing...because we would be no better that a bird, or thorns, or scorching sun...negating the process of growth of the seed.

"And He (Jesus) said, the Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground...and should sleep by night and rise by day...and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." (Mark 4:29)

God's HEARTBEAT...is FRUIT PRODUCTION. In this cursed and fallen world....satan is out to do everything he can to stop production of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control in our lives. (Gal. 5:22,23)

The heartbeat (if he has a heart) of the devil, satan, the accuser, the liar, the murderer...is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus came to give LIFE and that more ABUNDANTLY (fruit production) (John 10:10)

The desire of farmer devil is OPPRESSION...the Vinedresser God wants OPPRESSION REMOVED.

"And you know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God ANOINTED Him (Jesus) with the Holy Spirit and power...and how He (Jesus) went about doing good...and healing ALL who were OPPRESSED by the devil...for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38)

Jesus layed out his Garden plan..."The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has ANOINTED ME (See Acts 10:38) to preached the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19/Isaiah 61:1-3)

This ANOINTING that Jesus was anointed with...that he quotes about in Isaiah 61...is the same anointing...that Isaiah spoke of as His (God's) people were under the oppression of an earthly oppressor (the Assyrians). "It shall come to pass in that day that his BURDEN will be TAKEN WAY from your shoulder and his YOKE from your neck, and the YOKE will be DESTROYED because of the ANOINTING OIL" (Isaiah 10:27)

Anointing was oil that was poured on, rubbed into, smeared on...to mark the anointed for the purposes of God. In the believers life...this is symbolic of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

This ANOINTING...that was on God's people...that was all over Jesus is the YOKE DESTROYING...BURDEN LIFTING OPPRESSION REMOVING POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST.

Finally...the key to good fruit production versus crop failure is staying connected to the vine.

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 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. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ABIDE (continue in, dwell in, take up residence) Me, an dI in you. As the branch cannot BEAR FRUIT of itself, unless IT ABIDES IN THE VINE...neither can you, unless you ABIDE IN ME. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who ABIDES IN ME, and I in him, BEARS MUCH FRUIT; for WITHOUT ME...YOU...CAN...DO...NOTHING." (John 15:1-5)

NOTE: Read The Secrets of The Vine by Bruce Wilkenson.

Believer, Believer...how does your garden grow?

Love and 30,60,100 fold Kisses
Rodney "Farmer Boyd" Boyd

OF SOWERS,SEEDS,AND SOIL

Salutations Oh Ye Saints and Sinners. I find myself falling in both categories at times...that would make me a Sainner.

Jesus was a wonderful teacher who would relate spiritual truths of The Kingdom with comparisons that the common man could relate to. He used what was known as parables. One of the parables used was known as The Parable Of The Sower. His disciples came to Him after he had taught a group using the Parable of the Sower. They began asking Him about the parables. "He was saying to them, To you has been given the MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD; but to those who are OUTSIDE get everything in PARABLES." (Mark 4:10-11) Jesus then gave the reason, why He spoke in parables..."IN ORDER that while seeing, they may see and NOT perceive...and while hearing, they may hear and NOT understand lest they return again and be forgiven."
(Mark 4:12) That on the surface is an odd statement...but the things... the mysteries of the Kingdom of God...are not toys to be played with and then discarded...they are not like pearls that are cast before swine...where the swine turn around and run you down. They (mysteries of the Kingdom) are for those who are sincere in their faith. Those who will hunger and thirst for the things of God.

Jesus then questions them..."Do you not UNDERSTAND THIS PARABLE? And how will you UNDERSTAND ALL THE PARABLES?"
(Mark 4:13) Remember...Jesus spoke in many parables. He implies here that the key to understanding them lies with understanding this parable. Let's take a look and see what's to understand...so we can unlock other KINGDOM PARABLES.

The first character is the SOWER. The sower is the one who goes out into the fields...and BROADCASTS, scatters...SOWS this thing called the SEED.

Jesus begins to speak of the things that would HINDER the seed from PRODUCING what it was designed to grow.

He mentions 4 types of SOIL.

(1) Packed Soil/The Road (2) Rocky or Stony soil (3) Thorny soil (good soil). Each of the 3 soils had a quality about them that would hinder the seed from doing what it was designed to do...produce. The GOOD SOIL would produce.

In Jesus' explanation of the parable He identifies the various components.

1. The Sower: This could be the Father, the one who speaks the Word.

2. The Soil: This is the heart of the one who receives the Word.

3. The Seed: This is the Word of God
I have often wondered why there would be such an attack on the SEED/WORD in the life of the believer. It is amazing to me...that as powerful as the WORD is...that it can be made of none effect in our lives. The mustard seed...the smallest seed...can be planted and a tree can grow to house birds of the air.
Our faith only has to be the size of a grain of mustard seed...but even that can be hindered. Why is there so much OPPOSITION of the SEED/WORD being planted in the SOIL/HEART. Because FAITH comes by HEARING...and HEARING by the WORD OF GOD. The reason for the opposition is the devil knows that if the WORD/SEED is planted in our SOIL/HEART...the FAITH COMES...and if we are men and women of FAITH...we are a tremendous THREAT to the kingdom of the devil. We will become men and women of FAITH that will PRODUCE/BE CARRIERS of the KINGDOM OF GOD (righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost)...here on earth as it is in heaven...and the gates of hell shall not prevail. No seed...No faith...No threat.

As disciples/believers...we have the ability and authority to deal with the things that would pollute our soil and make it GOOD SOIL

In the parable...the soil types are defined:

1. Beside the road: The seed/word is sown...the birds..aka the devil. The devil comes and snatches the word heard immediately.

2. Rocky/Stony: The seed/word is sown...the word is heard and immediately received with joy...but it has NO FIRM ROOT in themselves and AFFLICTIONS/PERSECUTIONS arise because of the word...and they immediately FALL AWAY.

3. Among the Thorns: The seed/word is sown...the word is heard...and the WORRIES OF THE WORLD and the DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES and the DESIRES FOR OTHER THINGS enter in...and CHOKE the WORD ...and it (the Word) becomes UNFRUITFUL.

The final SOIL is GOOD SOIL. Of course the good soil is free of packed ground, rock, thorny soil. In Luke 8...the good soil is defined as..." the ones who have heard the word/seed...in an HONEST...and GOOD HEART...and HOLD FAST...and BEAR FRUIT...with PERSEVERANCE. (Luke 8:15)

In Psalm 37:3...we are encouraged to...in the face of evildoers and wrongdoers...to trust in the Lord...do good...and CULTIVATE faithfulness. The word cultivate means to feed securely or feed on His faithfulness. In our soil we need to cultivate...weed out thorns, pick out rocks, shew away birds, and fertilize our soil (1) be honest (2) hold fast (3) persevere. This will insure GOOD SOIL...that will produce 30 fold, 60 fold, and 100 fold.

In John 15...we are encouraged to keep hooked into the branch (Jesus) and the branches (us) will BEAR FRUIT. The amount will be dependent on how we allow the vine dresser (The Father) as He takes away...lifts us up out of the mud...washes us off...ties us closer to the branch...and prunes us (cuts away the useless stuff). The amount of fruit production is (1) No fruit (2) Some fruit (3) More fruit (4) Much fruit. Much like our parable of the sower/seed/soil...Fruit production/crop production is the WILL OF GOD IN OUR LIVES.

I recently was going through some rough times mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I wrote Bruce Coble...and vented...and he called me...and did the Bruce thing (aka encouragement). In the encouragement...he pointed me back to the Word of God...and specifically told me to read Mark 4... and then asked me to tell him...which soil did I think that I was. I ask you the same question. Whatever you are going through...what soil are you. Do you need to cultivate the soil...and then PERSEVERE.


Love and "Happy Fruit/Crop Bearing" Kisses
Rodney "Fertilized" Boyd