"...every branch in me that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." I am still studying in John chapter 15. Verse three goes on to say, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." I came into this study with some misunderstandings. The Lord is teaching me that 'purging' or 'cleansing' or 'pruning' is not always done through affliction. Today, when I read verse three, I see more clearly how this cleansing can be accomplished through God's Word. Of course, I realize that the Bible does say that tribulation works patience; patience, experience; and experience, hope. John 15:3 simply says that the Lord can cleanse or prune us by using His Word alone. It is not a new thought, it is just that I had not coupled it with this section of Scripture before. I think back on how many times I have read something from the Bible and said, "I have been disobedient in this area!" then go on to confess that to God, receiving the forgiveness that only He can give. When I leave from those teaching-times, I know that I have been rebuked by Him, like a spiritual "spanking", and restored to the fellowship of a child with her Father. For many years I have known that God's Word cleanses us, but when approaching John 15 in past studies I have thought about the 'pruning'--cutting away, in a more severe manner; as in affliction or adversity.
May I be an obedient child who hears her Lord's 'faintest whisper' and rushes to please Him. It does not free me from future adversity but it keeps me clean before a holy God. He wants me to come to Him 'as a little child'.
I hope that you have a beautiful day. It is a sunny one on the Hill!
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