QUIET MOMENT
Jesus tells us in John 15:2 that any branch that does not bear fruit is removed. This statement is a warning so that we will examine our hearts and our actions to be sure that we are in Him, to be sure that we are bearing fruit. If we are in Christ, we will never be removed! But we need to take a careful look; if there is not a single iota of fruit of any kind in our lives, that could be a good indicator that we are not in Him.
Jesus also says in John 15:2 that every branch that does bear fruit will be pruned. Be ready to be pruned! When we are in Christ, we are a part of the stem of Jesse (see Isaiah 11:1-2, 5), we are a branch of Christ.
How incredible! Listen carefully. Be sure that you are in Christ. If you are in Christ, draw near to God, lay yourself before Him, and allow Him to do what He needs to do so that you will bear fruit. Make that your prayer this week. Ask Him to be your Immanuel. What do you fear when you think of Him pruning you?
GOING DEEPER
Read of God’s lovingkindness as expressed through His warnings in Isaiah 30:1-17 and Isaiah 31. What does God say through Isaiah in each passage?
Now read God’s encouragement in Isaiah 30:18-22. What did you learn? How can you apply this to yourself today?
REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Let this be your prayer today: Lord, may I trust in you, your Word, and your power more and more each day. May I look to you and not to the answers and solutions of this world. Pour over me, in me, and through me, Lord. Be my all in all.
TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART AND BRINGING IT TO LIFE
Choose one truth from today and apply it to your heart. Take it with you throughout the day.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:2 NKJV
Behold, the Lord, The Lord of hosts, Will lop off the bough with terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
Isaiah 10:33-34 NKJV
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord .
Isaiah 11:1-2 NKJV
Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
Isaiah 11:5 NKJV
“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord , “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation. For his princes were at Zoan, And his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, Or be help or benefit, But a shame and also a reproach.” The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, From which came the lioness and lion, The viper and fiery flying serpent, They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, And their treasures on the humps of camels, To a people who shall not profit; For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth. Now go, write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the Lord ; Who say to the seers, “Do not see,” And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.” Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, And trust in oppression and perversity, And rely on them, Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern.” For thus says the Lord God , the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses ”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill.
Isaiah 30:1-17 NKJV
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the Lord ! Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, And will not call back His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of those who work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together. For thus the Lord has spoken to me: “As a lion roars, And a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice Nor be disturbed by their noise), So the Lord of hosts will come down To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it. ” Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold— sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. “Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, And his young men shall become forced labor. He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,” Says the Lord , Whose fire is in Zion And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 31:1-9 NKJV
Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”
Isaiah 30:18-22 NKJ
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