We’ll spread some top soil, plant some onions & radishes, start setting up for the tomatoes, work on the compost, maybe work on the fence, and dig further into John 15.See you there!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Gardening Saturday, April 26--See you there around 9:00 AM
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Things are coming up
Checked the garden late this afternoon and things are coming up: some beets, turnips, collards, mustard greens & bok choy.
Pray for good weather to help those grow and so we can get the rest of the beds planted.
Also, thank God for all He has done & continues to do!
Monday, April 7, 2014
John 15:3--More About Pruning
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the
gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already
clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
The text and context of the highlighted phrase
describes at least three other things about how God prunes us into
fruitfulness.
A point of clarification is needed before we get to those things. Although
v. 3 does not use the word “prune,” the Greek word translated as “clean” (katharos) has the
same root as the word translated as “prune” (kathairo), and
their meanings are functionally synonymous.
We can therefore infer things about being pruned from what Jesus said
about being clean.
All right, on to the substance.
First, the text stresses the importance of God’s word in pruning. Jesus tells
us that one way we are pruned/cleaned is through “the word” He has “spoken.” That is consistent with scripture. It repeatedly stresses the
benefits of and need to meditate on God’s word. Psalm
1:1-2; Psalm
119:6;
Psalm119:99; Deuteronomy
11:18; Joshua
1:8.
See also 2
Timothy 3:16-17;
Hebrews
4:12.
The more we think abut God’s word the more it identifies what is and isn’t
fruitful in our lives.
Second, the context tells us that we play an active part in being
pruned/cleaned. The folks Jesus is speaking to here were cleaned by the word He
had “spoken to” them, and that only happened because they were there to hear
it. They had to give up other things, things that were not bad in of
themselves, to be able to spend that time with Jesus. We too have to give up
other things to be pruned/cleaned.
Third, the context also tells us that being pruned is not the same thing as
being perfect. Jesus was speaking to His original disciples here, and we know
that they were not perfect. For example, Peter will deny Jesus within hours of the
instruction preserved in this passage. We also know that from the rest of
scripture. Abraham, Moses, and David were all pruned to extraordinary
fruitfulness, but they were not perfect.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
John 15:2--Pruning through Counsel
Jesus
said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my
Father is the gardener. 2He 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.
Another way God prunes us into fruitfulness is by using fellow
believers as His shears. He knows that we, like vines, need pruned to be
fruitful and directs us to submit to pruning from others who have better
insights
There is no doubt that we need that pruning. Vines left to themselves
will put energy into unproductive things rather than fruit; “left
unattended, grapevines can become unruly, and fruiting will be poor due to
overproduction of vegetation.” Basic Principles of Pruning Backyard
Grapevines (Ohio St. Univ. Extension 2004).
God knows that humans are the same way. He therefore does not mince
words about our need to be trimmed back into productivity and what happens if we resist that trimming:
“He who ignores reproof goes astray”
“He who hates reproof is
stupid”
“Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects
discipline”
“Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way;
He who hates reproof will die”
“He who neglects discipline despises himself”
“He who hates correction walks the sinner's path”
God also makes it clear that a lot of that pruning comes from fellow
believers. He does that by repeatedly stressing the benefits that come from
listening to what other Godly folks have to say:
“A man
of understanding will acquire wise counsel”
Proverbs 11:14
“Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory”
“A
wise man is he who listens to counsel”
“Wisdom
is with those who receive counsel”
“Without
consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed”
“Listen
to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days”
“Prepare
plans by consultation”
“Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise”
“For
by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is
victory”
“Oil
and perfume make the heart glad, so a man's counsel is sweet to his friend”
“Go
where the old people are; find someone who is wise, and stay with him”
“If
you find someone with understanding, get up early to call on him; wear out his
doorstep with your visits”
“Pay
attention to what old people say, for they learned from those who came before
them. You can learn from them, and they can teach you how to have an answer
ready when you need one”
“Engage
in conversation with intelligent people, and let the Law of the Most High be
the topic of your discussions.16 Choose righteous people for
your dinner companions”
“A
wise person's knowledge is like a river that never runs dry, like an everflowing
stream of good advice”
“It is
a pleasure to hear what intelligent people have to say.17 The
assembly will be eager to hear from an intelligent person and will take his
opinion seriously”
“Sound
judgment, good advice, and gray hair go together beautifully.5
Wisdom, understanding, and sound counsel are appropriate to the aged and the
respected.”
“When
you find yourself with stupid people, look for some excuse to leave, but when
you are with serious-minded people, stay as long as you can”
Sirach
37:12 (NJB)
“Have
constant recourse to some devout person, who you know to be a keeper of the
commandments”
“Gold
and silver provide security, but good advice is better”
That
makes sense. Others see things that we miss, and we are therefore wise to
listen to them.
There
is one caveat to this however. We should seek counsel from wise, Godly, people,
not fools or those that do not cleave to God’s precepts. Compare Sirach
6:34, Sirach
6:36, Sirach
9:15-16, Sirach
21:16-17, and Sirach
37:12 with Ecclesiastes 7:5, Ecclesiastes 9:17, Sirach
21:16, and
Sirach 27:12.
Friday, March 7, 2014
John 15:2--Part 5--How To Respond to Pruning Through Adversity
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my
Father is the gardener. 2He 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.
So what
does scripture tell us about how to respond to, fruitfully get through, the
times God uses adversity to prune us? It
stresses at least four themes.
First, we
must remember—while while we are in the midst of it—that there will be good
results on the other side of it. The passages dealing with correction through
difficulty repeatedly stress that the rewards will far exceed the interim pain.
Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17,
Hebrews 12:2, 11, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Genesis 45:4-8, Genesis 50:19-21,Wisdom 3:5, Sirach 6:19, 28-31.
St. Paul put it well: “our
present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed
in us.” Romans 8:18. Scripture therefore instructs us to keep those
rewards in mind as we go through the pain. Deuteronomy 8:6-10,
Wisdom 3:5, Sirach 2:9, Sirach 6:19, Hebrews 12:2-3. As Sirach 2:9
puts it, “you that fear the Lord, look forward to his blessings[.]”
Second, we
must not just seek to avoid/end the pain, but must realize that there is a
lesson to be learned from it and work at learning it. James 1:2-5 tells us to “think
of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After
all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let
this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and
lacking in nothing.” James is not alone in that view; it runs throughout
scripture. Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 12:3, Hebrews 12:7, Hebrews 12:12-13, Sirach 2:10, Sirach 2:16. We are therefore instructed to
persevere in the midst of adversity. Hebrews 12:2-3, Sirach 2:2-3, 7-13-14,
Sirach 4:17-19, Sirach 6:19, and
of particular import, we are told to actively look for the lesson God is giving
us. See Hebrews 12:7, Sirach 6:27, Sirach 6:32-33 (“if you apply yourself … and if
you pay attention you will become wise.”).
Third, that requires
us to control our emotions. God recognizes that our natural reactions are
anger, fear, and doubt so He repeatedly tells us that we must work at
suppressing them. Proverbs 3:11, 2 Corinthians 4:16,
James 1:6-8, Sirach 2:2, Sirach 2:4, Sirach 2:12-14, Sirach 4:17-19.
Fourth, we must
remember that God is doing this for our good and will help us through it. He is acting as a loving parent
who is trying to get the most for his children. Deuteronomy 8:5, Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:5-10, Revelation 3:19. He
therefore tells us to come to him for instruction through prayer, James 1:5, through
his word, Sirach 2:16, by
looking at how He has acted in the past, Sirach 2:10, and
by considering how Jesus dealt with adversity. Hebrews 12:2-3.
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