Hi there,
So there is something interesting thematically in the words of Jesus. Jesus said His Father is "like a gardener" (John 15) that He "prunes". Elsewhere in the Bible it talks about being grafted onto to the natural tree (letters), which we can only assume is the work of God too. Elsewhere Jesus says that the sower sows (gospels) and we may imagine the sower is a metaphor for God. Lastly, Jesus tells the parable of the Landowner that expects the gardener to cut down a fruitless tree - here also we may assume the gardener is a metaphor for God. What is interesting about all these references is that they are closely related "functions" of God.
When we have the upper hand over the Devil, in the world, were it not for God we might lord it over the Devil, to no avail; but God being God, He sows the seed of appreciation and urges us to pity the fool that might run in to such a Devil (and have no one to help him). So the seed sown bears the fruit of resistance to the Devil, not merely refusal (as is only effective in a fleeting sense).
When we are just starting out in faith, we can lack the right ingredients or aides to produce fruit; the Devil can argue that we just be cut off, for lack of fruit. But God being God, defends us and says "let me fertilize it". So it is when we have resisted the Devil, as with the previous act of God, this next act of God encourages us to question what it was that we resisted the Devil for, what we want to stand for. We start to use the fertilizer of the Word of God, to nourish our souls and to build up strength for consistent resistance to the Devil.
Such as it is when we are fertilized, we start to wonder what would be a better foundation for our growth, what we could be grafted on to. If we are grafted on to the stronger, our growth will be stronger. This leaves room for a mystery: "what would we have been?", but interpreted in a way that asks "how much more greatly could we become?" So it is that righteousness comes into focus; righteousness we can share with all the other branches. Our new foundation cleanses us from the sin we became conscious of in the resistance we learned was necessary.
Lastly, God prunes us. We cannot remain comfortable in our strength, as we could not (be comfortable) in our weakness. The whole tree is expected to flourish. All the branches, natural and foreign are pruned. This is revealed day by day and it is God's doing. God the Gardener, is with us the whole way, stirring us up to faith, for faithful reasons, with faithful hope (to faithful ends). The more we are with God, the more we learn this, in ourselves, and with the bretheren who learn it with us. It is the bond to one another, that God makes strength out of. Praise God!
So it is possible, to become a branch of great flourishing in God, if we grow with Him as He works (as Gardener). I hope this has been of some encouragment.
God bless.
So there is something interesting thematically in the words of Jesus. Jesus said His Father is "like a gardener" (John 15) that He "prunes". Elsewhere in the Bible it talks about being grafted onto to the natural tree (letters), which we can only assume is the work of God too. Elsewhere Jesus says that the sower sows (gospels) and we may imagine the sower is a metaphor for God. Lastly, Jesus tells the parable of the Landowner that expects the gardener to cut down a fruitless tree - here also we may assume the gardener is a metaphor for God. What is interesting about all these references is that they are closely related "functions" of God.
When we have the upper hand over the Devil, in the world, were it not for God we might lord it over the Devil, to no avail; but God being God, He sows the seed of appreciation and urges us to pity the fool that might run in to such a Devil (and have no one to help him). So the seed sown bears the fruit of resistance to the Devil, not merely refusal (as is only effective in a fleeting sense).
When we are just starting out in faith, we can lack the right ingredients or aides to produce fruit; the Devil can argue that we just be cut off, for lack of fruit. But God being God, defends us and says "let me fertilize it". So it is when we have resisted the Devil, as with the previous act of God, this next act of God encourages us to question what it was that we resisted the Devil for, what we want to stand for. We start to use the fertilizer of the Word of God, to nourish our souls and to build up strength for consistent resistance to the Devil.
Such as it is when we are fertilized, we start to wonder what would be a better foundation for our growth, what we could be grafted on to. If we are grafted on to the stronger, our growth will be stronger. This leaves room for a mystery: "what would we have been?", but interpreted in a way that asks "how much more greatly could we become?" So it is that righteousness comes into focus; righteousness we can share with all the other branches. Our new foundation cleanses us from the sin we became conscious of in the resistance we learned was necessary.
Lastly, God prunes us. We cannot remain comfortable in our strength, as we could not (be comfortable) in our weakness. The whole tree is expected to flourish. All the branches, natural and foreign are pruned. This is revealed day by day and it is God's doing. God the Gardener, is with us the whole way, stirring us up to faith, for faithful reasons, with faithful hope (to faithful ends). The more we are with God, the more we learn this, in ourselves, and with the bretheren who learn it with us. It is the bond to one another, that God makes strength out of. Praise God!
So it is possible, to become a branch of great flourishing in God, if we grow with Him as He works (as Gardener). I hope this has been of some encouragment.
God bless.
