Pruning

by Audrey Wauson

We who with unveiled faces
all reflect the Lord’s glory
are being transformed into His likeness
with ever increasing GLORY
which comes from the Lord,
who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18

Have you ever heard or read something and thought, “Oh, I wish so and so knew that. It would really be good for them to hear that.” ? Well, I’ve spoken to groups of women where I thought, “Lord, so many women need to know this. Why didn’t they come?” Or maybe like me, you’ve sat in church and heard something from the preacher and nudged your husband, child, or friend…as if to say, “Pay attention to this, he’s talking to you.” OK, so I probably do that more than most people do ;) Anyways, last fall I was listening to a woman speak at a ladies’ retreat and she was talking about all the work she put into a Bible study that she was doing for this class. She began discussing this with God and said, “I’ve been working on this a long time and only one person showed up!” Then God told her, “It was for you!”

My mother was here visiting with me for a couple of days and she went with me to our church’s praise team practice. I had discussed with her before some of the areas that I felt like we as a praise team needed to work on and after it was over I asked her if she saw the things that I was seeing. Basically her answer was, “Yes and you’re the one doing it!” Ouch!

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
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

Well, today I feel like I’ve been pruned! However, there is some good news . . . I must have been bearing fruit! And I do truly want to be a fruitful Christian and not some plastic/wood imitation.

Lord Jesus, please purify my heart, create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. I want to be useable. Please help me to listen to You. Thank You for making me glorious! Amen.