PSALM 80:14-19
14 Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Take care of this grapevine
15 that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself.
16 For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of your frown.
17 Strengthen the man you love, the son of your choice.
18 Then we will never abandon you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
John 15:1-6
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
How's your vines & fruit? Are you bearing much fruit? Maybe it's time for some pruning/cleaning. This is my Monday challenge to you. There's much work to be done. I for one need to seek God's face and give all my cares to HIM. I need to clean my mess up and let the fruit grow.
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Thanks Kimberly for posting God's powerful words--and your challenge. I need to seek His face consistently first thing in the morning, otherwise other things crowd in and He gets pushed aside.
ReplyDeleteLuanne, the same for me. Life tends to take over and it's not so kind and forgiving in allowing us time for our LORD. We must take control of our time and give a bit to the Lord. Once I do this the rest of my day goes so much smoother.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say Kimberly except, PRAISE THE LORD!
ReplyDeleteI fell into this message tonight. When I clicked on your blog I fell into the image first! My goodness it's beautiful. I immediately could hear John 15 which is almost entirely memorized in my heart over the years.
Then to read your post...O my! and the video. I love it!!!
I so thank GOD for the woman that you are. You walk with great humility and a heart of reverential fear and honor unto our LORD.
Do you know that He is pleased with you? Do you know that He adores you? I write that as He laid it upon my heart.
I love you and I'm honored to be at HIS feet with you.
Praise YOU Father God for laying my blog post on Lisa's heart. I pray Father that we could all seek Your face and clean up our messes so Your fruit with bear and grow. Thank You Father for bringing each person here to be blessed how You want & need them to be. I pray that You use me in the most righteous way You can. In Jesus' name, amen.
ReplyDeleteI started a new Bible study last night and one of the participants made a comment about the importance of abiding that just spoke to my heart. Then this morning I see your beautiful picture of the grapes and think of a sermon our pastor preached using the illustration of grapes and bearing much fruit. Kimberely I keep a NT on my table with a marker in John 15 to pray several verses before mealtime. There is much work to be done. Thank you for the challenge to do it.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you!
Amen! Amen! Amen! my friend. Bless you and thanks for your response and PRAYER. Love ya.
ReplyDeletePraise you Father God for the work you are doing here in this blog!!!
ReplyDeleteMy dear bloggy friends.... I'm so blessed by God that each of you have been touched by coming here and reading posts. I'm no doubt a rich woman! Praise the Lord and I love each of you for your humbleness before the Lord. Praise God!
ReplyDeleteOh, the painful pruning of my Father's hands...necessary, but never pleasant at the time. Still and yet, I long for his pruning because I long to be a fruit bearer for the kingdom of God!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kimberly, for this beautiful picture and words of representation. You have blessed my heart today.
peace~elaine
I will be back to watch this video. But know I love this vine verse. There's so much truth. The pruning process is painful, but the reward comes. Fruit!
ReplyDelete