You must submit to the pruning process. \u2018He prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops.\u2019<\/i> Pruning entails cutting off<\/i> dead branches and cutting back<\/i> living branches. Both are necessary to shape the tree and stimulate growth. <\/p>\n
Professional pruners will tell you that most people are too hesitant when it comes to pruning. But God is not. He not only cuts off that which is sinful and superficial, He cuts back that which is alive and successful; a business that\u2019s doing great, a satisfying relationship, or a plan that seems to be working well. God doesn\u2019t just cut off the \u2018bad\u2019, but the \u2018good\u2019, in order to give you the \u2018best\u2019. It\u2019s not pleasant, but it\u2019s absolutely essential for spiritual growth. What does God want in your life? \u2018Much fruit.\u2019<\/i> (John\u00a015:8\u00a0KJV) So, you are going to be pruned! You may be undergoing pruning right now, and it may not all be deadwood. God cuts off things we view as productive so that more fruit may be produced in our lives. <\/p>\n
This can be perplexing. We believe we\u2019re being faithful, so we are puzzled, even frustrated, by His pruning. \u2018Why are You doing this, God? I have given my business to You, but it\u2019s unprofitable. I have committed my health to You, now I\u2019m in the hospital. I\u2019ve been tithing faithfully, yet I\u2019m going bankrupt.\u2019 What\u2019s happening? \u2018No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.\u2019<\/i> (Hebrews\u00a012:11\u00a0NIV) <\/p>\n
You\u2019re being pruned for greater fruitfulness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You must submit to the pruning process. \u2018He prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops.\u2019 Pruning entails cutting off dead branches and cutting back living branches. Both are necessary to shape the tree and stimulate growth. Professional pruners will tell you that most people are too hesitant when it comes to pruning. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}