Category: Keep The Faith News

HOW INSPIRING John 15:2

God Directs our Growth

John 15:2

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Several nights ago I dreamed that everyone I knew was approaching me to tell me how great my hair looked. I thought, ‘geez, what’s so special about my hair today from any other day?’. When I passed a mirror I hardly recognized the woman I saw. It was me! My long hair was cut above my shoulders and the color was changed. I couldn’t understand how my hairdresser, someone I trusted, could have cut away a part of me without my permission or knowledge.

After I caught my breath, I looked back at my reflection and realized the hairstyle and color actually was quite beautiful – better than the old self! And that made me think of God and His Spiritual Pruning.

God is the Master Gardener at work in us. He knows the beauty that He hopes we can become. He works on pruning for our well-being to remove the ‘bad wood’ … to encourage fruitfulness and future growth. The new growth creates strong branches to weather the storms and be productive.

After this analogy, I appreciated the message in my dream. Just as the hairdresser removed the dead ends and rejuvenated my hair, God has also been getting rid of my dead ends. He has been changing me without my realizing it.

I now understand that because I truly trust Him, I need to allow Him to work in me knowing I will emerge with stronger branches, growth in new and unexpected directions, and be more resistant to weather the storms. In essence, I will become a better version of myself.

So the next time there is a change in your life that takes you by surprise, reflect on what God’s intent and message is. Look in the mirror and see what and who He wants you to become.

Everything happens for a Reason!

How Inspiring Matthew 7:1-3

Judging Others

Matthew 7:1-3 
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? “

I had some issues with my eyes recently which necessitated several visits to the optical specialist. As I’ve always been a believer of the mind/body connection, I pondered how the defect that appeared in my eyes could relate to a ‘defect’ in my physical world.

I realized I was becoming critical of my physical self, which does happen every now and again. Because of that, I externalized it and became critical of people and things around me.

The wakeup call for me was on Good Friday after the evening church service. There had been a woman who sat several pews forward with 4 very young children who kept crying and whining loudly. Although the mother did try to manage her children, it became obvious that the congregants were become annoyed by all the disruption preventing us from hearing the service we came to be enriched by.

That evening something dawned on me and I dropped to my knees in shame. Just like the others, my critical ‘eye’ was judging how this woman seemed to be disturbing the service instead of me getting up to help her, which would have been doing the service of God … especially that particular evening!

We are taught to show our love for God through how we love our neighbors. Had I taken the ‘log’ out of my own eye, I would have remembered that.

Let’s do our best to always keep our ‘focus’ on the Lord. When we begin to judge how someone is doing something, maybe that’s our signal to volunteer to show God’s love and help them.