I am becoming rooted and grounded in God's love; connected to The Vine and bearing lasting spiritual fruit. I want those roots to grow deeper and stronger every day, while I get rid of any roots of bitterness or anything else that's choking my heart.
So I read The Shack recently -- didn't love everything about it (the author seems to ignore the existence of an evil force, of the very real enemy who hates and seeks to destroy us; and he puts words in Jesus' mouth far too often) -- still, I had several good revelations as I read it. In the story, the main character, Mac, gets to meet the physical, tangible human versions of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (only one of which actually exists in human form, but it's a metaphor). The Holy Spirit takes him to a garden and they work there together as they talk... uprooting some weeds, pruning some things, planting some new seeds, etc. The garden first appears to be a colorful mess, but when you see the whole thing from afar, there is an organized and extremely creative pattern to it. Mac mentioned that he felt very at home there, and the Holy Spirit told him he should because the garden was his soul.
That really hit me, because somehow I hadn't seen it coming. It made so much sense, though. God is very present lately... His Spirit is working with me on the things I am struggling with, and He knows exactly when to deal with each issue. Things are not perfect, but I'm growing and becoming more fruitful all the time. And when I feel like my life is just a jumbled mess, God sees the bigger picture and is directing my steps into His divine, amazing plan!
Jesus is the vine and I am simply a branch. He is the life source, and without Him, I am nothing and can accomplish nothing of eternal value. As hard as I sometimes make it, my only job is to stay connected to Him. I love the analogy that God prunes the branches -- cutting off those that bear no fruit and cutting back those that bear some to make them even more fruitful. God has "pruned" so many things out of my heart and out of my life. Several destructive relationships were cut off; my bitterness, anger, and unbelief had to be given to God. And with each pruning, I've been able to do more for His Kingdom than I had before.
I'm really working on getting to the root issues behind my problems; checking my motives and breaking and renouncing all agreements I've made with the enemy. It's a bit overwhelming because there are so many areas where I've had wrong and negative mindsets. It's pretty painful to work through that and uproot those destructive things and get rid of them... and it occurred to me as I considered the gardening metaphor today that when you do uproot something, it leaves a hole where that plant had once been. So I'm also asking God to fill the empty places inside me with Himself and the seeds of His Spirit, so that I will stop turning to false comforters to fill me or numb my problems. I want so much to break free from every sin and stronghold, and God's grace is the only way!
(This post may not make much sense to anyone else, and that's okay. I feel it so personally, and I love knowing that God loves me enough to work with me on refining everything that's corrupting my character... gradually TRANSFORMING me into the image of Jesus step by step, seed by seed... while I simply stay connected and abide in Him. ❤
So I read The Shack recently -- didn't love everything about it (the author seems to ignore the existence of an evil force, of the very real enemy who hates and seeks to destroy us; and he puts words in Jesus' mouth far too often) -- still, I had several good revelations as I read it. In the story, the main character, Mac, gets to meet the physical, tangible human versions of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (only one of which actually exists in human form, but it's a metaphor). The Holy Spirit takes him to a garden and they work there together as they talk... uprooting some weeds, pruning some things, planting some new seeds, etc. The garden first appears to be a colorful mess, but when you see the whole thing from afar, there is an organized and extremely creative pattern to it. Mac mentioned that he felt very at home there, and the Holy Spirit told him he should because the garden was his soul.
That really hit me, because somehow I hadn't seen it coming. It made so much sense, though. God is very present lately... His Spirit is working with me on the things I am struggling with, and He knows exactly when to deal with each issue. Things are not perfect, but I'm growing and becoming more fruitful all the time. And when I feel like my life is just a jumbled mess, God sees the bigger picture and is directing my steps into His divine, amazing plan!
Jesus is the vine and I am simply a branch. He is the life source, and without Him, I am nothing and can accomplish nothing of eternal value. As hard as I sometimes make it, my only job is to stay connected to Him. I love the analogy that God prunes the branches -- cutting off those that bear no fruit and cutting back those that bear some to make them even more fruitful. God has "pruned" so many things out of my heart and out of my life. Several destructive relationships were cut off; my bitterness, anger, and unbelief had to be given to God. And with each pruning, I've been able to do more for His Kingdom than I had before.
I'm really working on getting to the root issues behind my problems; checking my motives and breaking and renouncing all agreements I've made with the enemy. It's a bit overwhelming because there are so many areas where I've had wrong and negative mindsets. It's pretty painful to work through that and uproot those destructive things and get rid of them... and it occurred to me as I considered the gardening metaphor today that when you do uproot something, it leaves a hole where that plant had once been. So I'm also asking God to fill the empty places inside me with Himself and the seeds of His Spirit, so that I will stop turning to false comforters to fill me or numb my problems. I want so much to break free from every sin and stronghold, and God's grace is the only way!
(This post may not make much sense to anyone else, and that's okay. I feel it so personally, and I love knowing that God loves me enough to work with me on refining everything that's corrupting my character... gradually TRANSFORMING me into the image of Jesus step by step, seed by seed... while I simply stay connected and abide in Him. ❤
so i'm looking forward to reading that book... anyway.... love your post & your honesty.
ReplyDelete