Welcome back. We talked today
about the process of pruning.
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I know that pruning is painful,
and pruning is definitely not
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pleasant, but it produces
in you and in me, an abundant
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harvest of
righteousness, and of peace.
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It produces more fruit.
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It opens our hearts up
to receive more of Jesus,
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more of the air, the Holy
Spirit, more of the washing
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of the water of the word.
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That is a beautiful thing.
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At the end it's a
beautiful experience.
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I have here my
journal open before me.
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And for this week what I would
encourage you to do is to take
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your journal and to write
down three different things:
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1. What area of my life
is God pruning right now?
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Go to God and ask.
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You might already know.
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In the past, one of the programs
in the past, I shared with you
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Greg and I, our own
struggle with infertility.
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So I put that down as 1.
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It might not be for you.
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Whatever it is for
you, you put it down.
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That might be my trial,
or my struggle, infertility.
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Then figure out what is
God asking you to surrender?
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What does He
want you to surrender?
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For us it was
surrender the desire for kids;
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surrender the desire to
be parents; to have that.
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Then look at the end result.
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What good could
come out of that?
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What is God trying to work?
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In our experience, it gave us
more time to devote to ministry.
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It gave us more
empathy with other people.
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It developed in me a
closer walk with God,
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and an even tighter
relationship with my husband.
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But maybe
that's not your battle.
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Maybe, my next point here, maybe
its a child who's left Jesus.
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And God says, Surrender my
control over their choices;
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Surrender your
control over their choices.
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What could God work out of that?
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Maybe deeper faith and trust in
Jesus, a stronger prayer life,
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more empathy with other people
who suffer, maybe a decision to
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follow Jesus regardless
of even if my kids do.
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I'm following Jesus regardless.
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Maybe more doors open
to ministry to other people
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in similar circumstances.
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Whatever it is, identify what
God is asking you to surrender.
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Surrender that to Him, and try
to look ahead and see what God
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is working in your
heart and in your life.
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Our next program has to do
with the spirit filled heart.
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As always, in conclusion
our Scripture is Romans 15:13.
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May the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace
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in believing, that
you may abound in hope
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by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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