November 18th, 2022
by Jon Cochran
by Jon Cochran
Good morning with a word for the day-
John 15:11 says, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you."
The question would be, how would the joy of God remain in us as we grow in Christ and live in this world? The answer lies in the verse above. Jesus said, "I am the vine, and My father is the vinedresser, every branch in me that does not bear fruit He prunes." The joy of the Lord is a fruit of God, and joy remains in me as long as I am being pruned by the vinedresser.
Allow God to prune away those things that could and would steal my joy.
Sin is still sin, bad habits are still bad habits, and bad company is still bad company. All will steal my joy. Only the Father knows what needs to be taken away and when it needs to be taken away. Only the vinedresser can clip away from my life those things that do not honor the vine.
To remain in the joy of the Lord, one must do two things. First, place myself in the loving hands of the vinedresser. No clipping, no pruning feels good at the time. Taking away those things of which we have become attached to or even fruits we have grown ourselves seems right at the time. But to yield to the hands of the vinedresser is to become stronger in the things He leaves, and the fruits are always sweeter after a pruning than before. Joy is a by-product of pruning, and life will never taste as sweet until the vinedresser does His work. The pruning has a single purpose, the Bible says, and that purpose is for the producing of a sweeter fruit called the Joy of the Lord.
Secondly, it is to submit to the loving hands of the vinedresser those things that He is trying to prune from our lives. Allow Him to take away that which keeps us from producing a sweeter fruit. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit." (John 15:5)
Joy is a by-product of one who has been pruned. To remain in the joy of the Lord is to be continually pruned.
John 15:11 says, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you."
The question would be, how would the joy of God remain in us as we grow in Christ and live in this world? The answer lies in the verse above. Jesus said, "I am the vine, and My father is the vinedresser, every branch in me that does not bear fruit He prunes." The joy of the Lord is a fruit of God, and joy remains in me as long as I am being pruned by the vinedresser.
Allow God to prune away those things that could and would steal my joy.
Sin is still sin, bad habits are still bad habits, and bad company is still bad company. All will steal my joy. Only the Father knows what needs to be taken away and when it needs to be taken away. Only the vinedresser can clip away from my life those things that do not honor the vine.
To remain in the joy of the Lord, one must do two things. First, place myself in the loving hands of the vinedresser. No clipping, no pruning feels good at the time. Taking away those things of which we have become attached to or even fruits we have grown ourselves seems right at the time. But to yield to the hands of the vinedresser is to become stronger in the things He leaves, and the fruits are always sweeter after a pruning than before. Joy is a by-product of pruning, and life will never taste as sweet until the vinedresser does His work. The pruning has a single purpose, the Bible says, and that purpose is for the producing of a sweeter fruit called the Joy of the Lord.
Secondly, it is to submit to the loving hands of the vinedresser those things that He is trying to prune from our lives. Allow Him to take away that which keeps us from producing a sweeter fruit. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit." (John 15:5)
Joy is a by-product of one who has been pruned. To remain in the joy of the Lord is to be continually pruned.
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