Father God is Pruning the Body of Christ-Part 2

Part 2 Today, November 22 is my 57th spiritual birthday. When I was eight years old, my parents led me to His Son, and I prayed asking Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. This was the best decision of my life and continues to be so. Each year around November 22, Father God asks me what I want for my birthday. I’ve asked for many different things throughout the years. But this year when He asked me, I suddenly was thinking of Elisha. I began thinking of the story of when a dead man was thrown into Elisha’s grave and the dead man touched the bones of the prophet. Suddenly, the dead man was resurrected and he lived because of the glory that was still in the bones of Elisha. As I pondered these things, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to ask for such a gift of a life that was so full of his glory that if someone was dead and near me, they would be resurrected. I said with fear and trepidation, Lord this sounds like it would cost a great deal. But not my will but your will be done. Whatever that looks like Lord I will receive by faith and trust you to accomplish in me your will. So yesterday on Sunday the 21st, I am outside worshiping my Lord, when I notice my neighbor has come outside to prune back a vine that’s become quite unruly. I watched and listened to his chainsaw as he tore out what he was cutting down from the vine. Then, he took a machete and began to hack at the Vine. This brought tears to my eyes as I thought about how hard it is to be pruned by our Lord. Before long the vine was removed and cleared away. I asked Father God to do what he needed in my life so I could bear more fruit for his glory; that it would be fruit that would remain. It was not easy to hear the sound of the chainsaw and to see the machete work. I thought of places where I had stumbled and been weak. I was reminded of his longsuffering with me and of his grace. God in his mercy had showed me a post on Facebook that very morning about Elisha, the very story of the cave where he was buried. How his bones had brought resurrection to a dead man. What were the chances of my reading that this morning? God knows everything before it happens and he uses his people in ways beyond our imagination. So now I would like to close with John 15 from the passion translation. And I pray for you my friend that whether you are in the process of losing everything or whether you are in the process of being cleansed and pruned please know God‘s hand is upon you. When I think of the many Christians that have already passed away due to the corona, I see pruning and cleansing going on even within the body of Christ. Some of our greatest warriors have gone on to glory. But God, in his great mercy, is going to use the remnant to bring about the greatest harvest this world has ever seen! He will exhibit mighty exploits through those who know him and fear His Name. the Passion.