Last July God gave our church a WORD about PRUNING. Ouch! Pruning is such a painful word – am i right? It means God is about to expose character issues, sins attitudes, motives. It is a messy but it is a great thing. Everybody needs pruning. I need pruning as much as the guy sitting next to you. Pruning makes us better Christians. It is God taking the excesses and baggages in our lives so that we may become blessed and Christ-like.

Now how we react to the PRUNING process is another story. Some react really well and some don’t. Those who react well to the pruning process experiences fruitfulness.

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.  John 15:2

But sadly some don’t react well to the pruning. Sometimes shame or pride gets in the way of the pruning process. Some might think that longevity in ministry exempts them from the pruning process. Some think their bible knowledge excuses them from God’s pruning. But as for my experience, the more I get to know Jesus the more pruning I get. The more painful soametimes and defintely more humbling as we grow in the Lord.

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.  Isaiah 48:10