Devotionals for the Heart: When our garden needs to be pruned by God

Sometimes Our Spiritual Garden Needs a Little Pruning
A devotional by Alicia Searl

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”—John 15:5 (NIV)

When I was a young lady in college, I remember sitting in a small church, listening to the pastor explain this verse, and thinking to myself: Am I a true follower of Jesus Christ? 

At the time I didn’t think so. The loneliness I experienced in those years brought me to a place of longing to know who I was and who God really was.

Honestly, it’s a journey we must all face. However, if you have currently (or have ever) questioned your faith, it can be comforting to know that we have the Bible that gives us glimpses into the lives of Godly people that also encountered trials in their faith. Some doubted God, others denied Him, many drifted or went astray, and a few failed to see the purpose of this life. Thankfully, God’s Word (The Holy Bible) provides answers and delivers the hope we need to soothe our aching hearts and confused souls.

In John 15, Jesus Christ is teaching His beloved disciples one final invaluable lesson. As He dined with His friends for one last meal, He wanted to make sure they understood the importance of how much He loved them, but also how much they would need to rely on Him to mature in their faith.

Jesus, being the greatest storyteller, uses the illustration of a vine and branches to demonstrate the precious relationship with Him and their Heavenly Father (God). While He is addressing His disciples in this passage, it easily pertains to us as believers. Jesus refers to Himself as the vine, the sustainer of life. While referring to God as the gardener (John 15:1). Then Jesus implies that we are the branches, and God cuts off branches that do not produce fruit, while pruning others to produce more fruit.

As a girl who dabbles in gardening, I can tell you pruning is essential for growth and life. Some branches need to be completely cut off to help the plant survive, while others show signs of possible life and only need a good trim to help the plant thrive. God’s love for us is similar because He sees our potential as He shapes and molds us, pruning and cutting away things that don’t serve us, so that we can be more of a reflection of Christ.

If your faith is in question or you find yourself in a spiritual drought, go back to the basics and reclaim the truth out loud for your heart, mind, and soul to hear: God is our ultimate sustainer of this life and He exists in three persons: Father (Gardener), Son (Jesus Christ as the Vine), and Holy Spirit (our spiritual guide to tend to us as the garden). Allow God to do a great work in and through you to revive and awaken your faith!

The truth of the matter is that we cannot thrive and produce “good fruit” (Galatians 5:22-23) of the Holy Spirit without being “rooted” in Christ. Our personal connection to Jesus doesn’t allow us to just merely get by; it allows us to flourish and live this life abundantly. We are designed to connect intimately with Jesus. And through that connection we are reminded that we are chosen. We are loved. We are a friend of God.

Let’s Pray:

Faithful Father,

You are so very good to us! We are grateful that You tend to us in every shape and form—from the nature of our hearts to the foundation of our faith in You. Give us the ability to soften the soil in our spiritual gardens so that we can grow deeper in our faith walk with Jesus Christ and draw closer to You. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

~*~
Song of Reflection #1: “The Garden (Acoustic)” by Kari Jobe. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “Graves into Gardens” ft. Brandon Lake | Live | Elevation Worship. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #3: “Friend of God” by Israel Houghton & Churchome Music. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

Alicia Searl is a Christian author, writer, writing coach, and speaker who is passionate about sharing God’s Word to spread hope and healing. 

She has an educational background and a master’s degree in advanced literacy. She is a contributing writer for iBelieve, Crosswalk, Christianity.com, and Your Daily Prayer. She has authored two devotionals, a children’s book of grief, and several Bible studies and prayer journals.

Alicia enjoys helping new and aspiring writers follow their calling and pursue their God-given purpose and shares personal faith stories on her blog. Her heartfelt words and authenticity are portrayed in each of her literary pieces in hopes of bringing her readers a sense of understanding, comfort, and encouragement on their faith journey.

Alicia resides in Texas where her family is currently fixing up a tiny home in the Piney Woods in East Texas to spread hope, bring healing, and share God’s love with others.

Devotionals for the Heart: Hope for your heart in troubled times

Hope in Desperate Times
A devotional by Christa MacDonald

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

How are you holding up these days?

As I write this, the world is in the midst of a pandemic. My husband has been furloughed from his job, and at mine, my staff has had their hours cut and the administration has let me know that I will likely be next.

Our family is facing the fear of illness and death as well as a financial disaster, just like so many others. Those are the plain facts. But it’s also spring, my favorite time of the year. I’m a gardener, so these weeks ahead of summer are all about preparing and working for the future. It’s hard not to be cynical and fearful of the days ahead right now. It has been a struggle to keep ahold of the joy this season usually brings.

Planting a garden is an act of hope. Every year I am amazed at what comes from the tiny seeds that I stick in the dirt, hoping for the best. I have trays of seedlings sitting next to me now, stacked on shelves in a window, straining towards the sun. That sight usually fills me with an expectant joy. But this week I had read too much of the news and started to feel hopeless, that the virus would eventually reach us no matter how hard we’re trying to keep it at bay and that I’d die before I could see them transplanted in the ground. I let fear take over completely and drag me down with it.

Normally, I’m a practical person, and when it comes to things that scare me I like as much information as possible so I can make the best decisions. Like so many others, I want to know what the worst is so I can prepare. Typically, I find some comfort in that. Not this time. It might be because I was already dealing with a number of crises in my extended family and stress has been my constant companion since November. Perhaps I burned through whatever reserves of calm and rationale I had. Hope is already an audacious thing in this broken world, and it seems impossible in times like these.

After days of struggling with flashes of panic and hopelessness, I realized where I went wrong in all of this. There’s no plan I can make, no human power I can access, no steps I can take to save myself or my family. I am not in control. But, if my control is an illusion, and if my strength is gone, that’s okay.

God is in control, God gives us the strength it takes to live, one day at a time, moment by moment. For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, hope abounds. The real stuff, too, not wishes or dreams. Hope of Heaven, secure in the knowledge that this time of suffering is God’s will and whatever happens and however it ends it will be for the good of those that love Him.

We persevere, bringing the Gospel to the world around us, serving others as we are able in the time and place that He has given us. Not despairing, not tiring, but pressing on in hope.

~*~
Author Bio:

Christa MacDonald is a 2017 ACFW Carol Award finalist for contemporary Christian fiction.

A native New Englander, she was inspired by her travels through the north woods of Maine to write The Broken Trail, which would become the first in the Sweet River Redemption series published by Mountain Brook Ink.

Christa's writing focuses on the real-life challenges of the modern world, love’s sometimes crooked path, and the redemptive power of Grace.

When not working or writing Christa can be found ferrying her kids around, reading, or attempting something crafty.

She and her husband live with their three kids, two cats, and one dog along the coast of New England. Connect with Christa at www.christamacdonald.com.

Devotionals for the Heart: Blossoms

Sixty Blossoms
A devotional Paula Moldenhauer 

“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 15:1-2 NIV

The snip, snip of scissors punctuated the tiny ache I felt as the blossoms, now faded and drawn, toppled to the ground scattering pastel petals across the concrete of my driveway.

Necessary though it was to cut away the old blossoms so new ones could quickly replace them, it was hard to let go of the glory of that rosebush, which now stood taller than my head. Never had it been as beautiful, never had it produced this many flowers. Those sixty plus roses, lying in clusters at my feet seemed to whisper a truth I didn’t want to think about.

I gathered handful after handful of fading blossoms and tossed them into the trash. I struggled not to mourn too deeply at their passing.

Glancing back at the bush, a bit of satisfaction pushed at the loss. The bush now looked fresh and vibrant. Newly budding roses popped out, no longer hiding behind fading flowers.

My life had many blossoms I thought would live forever—jobs I’ve done, friendships that grew, talents I discovered. And yet many times they opened up, let off their beautiful fragrance, showed their moments of glory, and were then cut away.

And yet I remained. Pruned. Shaped. With room for new blossoms.

There is perhaps no greater analogy in my life than my recent steps into an empty nest. Letting each child go and become his or her own bush includes loss. I miss them. I miss my role in their journey. I let go of directing and soothing and teaching. I allow distance where I long for closeness. As I hear the snip of time’s pruning shears, I begin to see new blooms. Relationships slowly shift from mom-in-charge to mom-held-at-arm’s length, to mom-as-friend. Schedule that once was crammed full of children opens up to space to more fully become me. A marriage that was strongly child-focused discovers the joy in being two-focused again.

Each of life’s blooms is glorious. I long to tell the young to embrace every bloom the Good Lord sees fit to produce in them, to stretch to the Son and let that flower grow to its full potential, bringing joy to all who delight in its beauty and perfume. I want to encourage them to also allow the Master Gardener to cut away blossoms at His will. He alone knows which buds need space to grow and open to the Light and which old blossoms are hindering new growth.

Come to think of it, this blossom cycle continues forever. Like the rosebush that produces season after season, there will always be buds, full blooms, and fading flowers. We need only the grace to surrender to the Master Gardener to be a bush that flourishes, always full of blossoms.

My Prayer: Lord, help me enjoy the mature blossoms in this season of life. I surrender to Your shears, willing to change as new seasons come. Give me excitement for the buds. Prune me and shape me so that I can consistently produce beautiful, fragrant offerings to You.

~*~
Author Bio:

Author, speaker, and mom of four, Paula Moldenhauer encourages others to live free to flourish. She shares this message when speaking at women’s events, and it permeates her written work. 

Paula has published over 300 times in non-fiction markets and has a devotional book series, Soul Scents. Her first published novella was a finalist in the ACFW Carol Awards, and she now has six published works of fiction. 

Paula and her husband, Jerry, are adjusting to a sometimes-empty nest in Colorado. Today’s devotion was adapted from her devotional book, Soul Scents: Rooted. 

Visit her at www.paulamoldenhauer.com and sign up for her newsletter to get a weekly Flourishing Moments and periodic updates on free days for her books. For daily Flourishing Moments, “like” Paula’s author/speaker page.

Join Paula in Denver at the Whole and Free Women’s Conference coming this September. Register here!

Devotionals for the Heart: A Life Lesson taught by gardening

Breaking Up The Fallow Ground
A devotional by Patrick E. Craig

As the first buds began to form on the trees here in Idaho, it’s time to start thinking about working on my garden. You gardeners out there know the routine—bringing in compost, rototilling, getting the seedlings started, getting the watering system up and running, putting in new plots – it’s a lot of work to get ready.

As I was thinking about all I had to do I remembered something I learned years ago at our last home. We always had a big garden but we never grew melons because we lived in a foggy area that did not have a lot of sunny days. One year I planted a Crane melon plant in a small area of my garden. That particular melon was developed specifically for my county and it produced three delicious, sweet melons. So I decided the next year to year to expand and put in a whole melon patch. That meant I had to tear down the fence around part of my garden and add a new ten-foot by twenty-foot plot. The place I chose had been a pasture for years. I used it mostly to let my sheep graze, an unused area full of tall grass and weeds that I occasionally mowed down so the sheep would eat.

In order to prepare the ground, I had to weed-eat 200 square feet of tall grass down to the roots, and then get out the rototiller and turn it over. The roots of the grass were deep and intertwined and the soil packed down and it was real work, as my aching legs and back attested when I finished. After I tilled it twice, I raked out all the leaves, and clumps of grass roots that had been torn loose and turned over. As I uncovered the plot, I realized that it was dark, rich, fertile soil; perfect for my melons and whatever else I wanted to plant there. There it was, a goldmine of nutrients that had been just sitting fallow for eleven years!

As I worked the soil, I began to think about the condition of my own “garden”, and then I heard that still, small voice speaking to my spirit. “Is there any area in your life that has lain dormant? Let me break up the fallow ground of your heart, so that you might bear fruit, thirty, sixty, one hundred fold.”

Do you have fallow areas in your life that need plowing up so they can be made available to the planting of the Holy Spirit? I sure do.

"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you."~Hosea 10:12 (KJV)

~*~

Author Bio: 

Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. 

In 2011 he signed a three-book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his Apple Creek Dreams series. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles. The first book in the series, The Amish Heiress, a romantic suspense novel, was published by Patrick's company, P&J Publishing, in August of 2015 and remained on the Amazon Top 100 best sellers list in three categories for seven months.

The second book in the series, The Amish Princess, a historical romance novel, was released in December of 2016 and was on Amazon's Hot New Releases for over a month. Harlequin recently purchased the print rights for both books for their Walmart Amish series. Patrick also just released Cracking The Indie Egg—A Recipe For Publishing Your Own Book and it is available in most major digital bookstores.

Patrick and his wife Judy, make their home in Idaho. They have two married children and five grandchildren. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

~*~
Connect with Patrick:
Website - www.patrickecraig.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PatrickECraig
Twitter - https://twitter.com/PatrickECraig
Amazon Author page - http://tinyurl.com/n6sfagg

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Devotionals for the Heart: On Waiting

The Power of Waiting
A devotional by Patrick E. Craig

Judy and I worked in our garden a lot last fall, cleaning out the finished plants, burning piles, adding amendments and turning the soil over. We collected all our grass and leaves over the summer and laid them down as mulch on the beds to keep weeds down and get the garden ready for spring. Now the beds are all tucked away waiting for those first warm days to stir the life in the soil. It got me to thinking...

Fall is the time in Idaho when the agricultural community slows down and the fields all over the valley are waiting for spring. By the time the first snow falls, we will be spending a lot of time indoors by a warm fire, doing catch-up work around the house and generally just waiting for spring to come. Sometimes we get anxious to get the winter season over and get onto the activity of spring and summer. But I say, wait.

Fall and a winter are a great parallel to seasons in our lives. There are times when the Lord speaks to our hearts and sets us out on great adventures. Our hours are filled with activity and doing. Then sometimes He has us wait and the waiting time is just as valuable as the "doing" time. It is during the waiting time that the Lord refreshes and renews our lives. As we sit with his word, wondering, "What's next, Lord?" we find new strength and wisdom just sitting at his feet. Mary discovered that secret long before Martha did.

So my counsel is this: don't let this fall and winter season be a time where the limitations of inactivity make you anxious or unsure. The Lord always has something new for us, and it often takes a season of waiting to give us the strength to go on. So rest in this time and know that He's got something for you just around the corner. And when it happens, you will run and not be weary, you will walk and not faint, and you mount up on eagle's wings.

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." 

~Isaiah 40:31 KJV

~*~
Author Bio:

Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. 

In 2011 he signed a three-book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his Apple Creek Dreams series. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles. The first book in the series, The Amish Heiress, a romantic suspense novel, was published by Patrick's company, P&J Publishing, in August of 2015 and remained on the Amazon Top 100 best sellers list in three categories for seven months.

The second book in the series, The Amish Princess, a historical romance novel, was released in December of 2016 and was on Amazon's Hot New Releases for over a month. Harlequin recently purchased the print rights for both books for their Walmart Amish series. Patrick also just released Cracking The Indie Egg—A Recipe For Publishing Your Own Book and it is available in most major digital bookstores.

Patrick and his wife Judy, make their home in Idaho. They have two married children and five grandchildren. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

~*~
Connect with Patrick:
Website - www.patrickecraig.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PatrickECraig
Twitter - https://twitter.com/PatrickECraig
Amazon Author page - http://tinyurl.com/n6sfagg