“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit, so they produce even more. John 15:1-3 Pruning! I think this would be the hardest part of gardening. I have plants, I have learned that the dead leaves are to be removed, and the plant will be healthy again. Sometimes I wonder if I am pruning my plants right. I wonder if God feels the same way when He has to start pruning in our lives? What is His motivation for pruning in our lives? Why is it so…
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Jesus The True Grapevine
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. John 15:1-3 How much do you know about vineyards? I know nothing about vineyards. In ancient times it was common in Palestine to have vineyards. The people would even ornately the temple with grapevines. In the Old Testament, God used the vine as imagery to describe Israel. Read Psalm 80:8-9 As we know, the Israelites became a wild vine because they wandered away from God’s covenant relationship with God. God makes a few comments, referring to His people as the vine and being planted. Look at verses Jeremiah 2:21 and Isaiah 5:1-2. When we are not abiding in God,…
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The Bride of Christ
“For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20 Are you ready to be the Bride of Christ? Jesus is communicating that He has a purpose of a special relationship of oneness with Him. Look at Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to…
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Know The Lord
And no longer shall act one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31:33-24 God gave a distinctive feature of the new covenant. A gift of a new heart and a transformed nature. He gives this to those who surrender their lives to Him. We get a new heart and transformed life by the Holy Spirit’s work in our life. The Holy Spirit enables us to respond to God and gives us a desire to…
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Rahab: Part Two
Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites—no one leaving or entering. The Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its fighting men over to you. March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets. When there is a prolonged blast of the horn, and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the people will…
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Sarah: Part 2
“Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” Genesis 18:14 Do you ever move ahead in God’s plans? Do you tend to do what you think God wants you to do, to realize that it wasn’t at all what he wanted you to do? This what Sarah did. She allowed unbelief in God to keep His promise of a child and did her own plan, trying to achieve God’s plan. It didn’t go well for Sarah, and it doesn’t go well for us either. We face a challenge of God’s plan…
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Sarah
“In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the world, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. And let not your adornment be merely external – braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used o…
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Advent: Day Eleven
So, Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to David’s house and line. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to marry him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. Luke 2:4-6 . A pilgrimage. Have you ever went on a pilgrimage. Leaving behind the familiar life that you know and venturing into the unknown?? Having to hold onto God as your provider! This makes me think of missionary life. Joseph and Mary were called on a pilgrimage. They left behind…
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Advent: Day Nine
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Matthew 1:21-24 Obedience!!! Do you find this to be hard or easy? I find this to be so hard, and I am a rule follower most of the…
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Advent: Day Eight
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Matthew…