Receiving
God's Word as undeniable Truth is the first requisite for a life infused with
love, joy, peace and power. When we doubt, we are in sin (Romans 14:22-23).
Yet,
God lets us off the hook with one particular story. It is a man requiring a miracle
and he humbly requests. "Lord, I do believe, but help my unbelief" (Mark
9:23-25).
How
can he have faith and doubt at the same time? Didn't you ever feel this way? In
your spirit you knew without a doubt that God could, but in your soul - your
mind, choices and emotions - you wondered if He would.
Faith
can move mountains and it often does. Faith can change lives, if the person
humbly submits to God. Faith can give us hope in a hopeless situation.
Regardless
of the amount of faith we have, God is not an Aladdin's lamp at our disposal to
grant all of our wishes. He has a perfect plan for our life and some of that
plan includes struggle and strain.
Not
because God is mean of an ogre or vindictive, but He knows that our struggle
makes us stronger. Look at a butterfly emerging from its cocoon or a chick
coming out of its shell.
The
struggle increases their ability to live in this world. If we help them and
make it easier for them, they will most likely die. God planned for every
struggle to bring us the strength to survive.
God
connects us to the Vine of Christ. We draw every nutrient we need for an
abundant life from the very blood of Christ. We bear fruit not by our own
effort, but by the life of the Vine flowing through us.
Then,
what does God do? He prunes us so we can bear more fruit - a temporary trial
which makes us stronger. Yet, He does not stop there. He prunes us again so
that we will bear much more fruit.
Prayer:
Father
God, in the productive stages of our life, when we have learned the lessons
brought to us through our pruning, we have an abundance of Your Spirit running
through us from the Vine and we love who we are in Christ.
We
do not need to be a separate plant in order to feel pride in our
accomplishments. We are thrilled to have the privilege of abiding in our union
with the Vine of Christ. Thank You for caring so much about the whole world
that You chose to become Emmanuel and pay our sin debt for eternity (John
3:16-17).
Thought
for the Day:
We
love who we are in Christ and we rejoice when a new branch is connected to the
Vine along with us. The Body, the Bride of Christ all intimately united with
the amazing Son of God.
