This week, as a community, we’d like to pause between plans and refresh the way rhythms we use to read God’s Word. Join us as we dig into some familiar (or not so familiar) pieces of scripture and seek our Father together by reading and processing this truth.
Today’s passage is John 15:1-11
First, let’s pray. Ask the Lord to open your heart and your mind and to help you focus on Him. Confess the things that might be keeping you from really truly experiencing His presence and submit your time to His will.
Second, let’s read Truth! Take your time and see what catches your attention. Make notes of what impresses you and moves you. Try to see the whole picture of what the passage is conveying. What does it say about God?
Next, reflect on what He’s saying. What does this passage mean for you and for the body of Christ? Is there anything you feel like He is personally communicating to you for your exact season, situation, or circumstance?
Lastly, let’s respond. Prayerfully and humbly, see what’s next. What do you need to do in light of what you’ve read? How will it affect your day, your life, and your walk with the Lord?
And as always, feel free to share with us in the comments below!
It is our joy to read Truth with you all.
I really enjoyed reading this passage! It reminded me that I cannot be fruitful without Jesus. Jesus loves us and He wants us to love Him as well as others. In fact, if you read ahead He states that as His commandment for us to live by (John 15:12). If we follow His commandment God will continue to prune us to develop a strong faith and discipleship for the body of Christ. We can't do it alone! We need Jesus and he doesn't want us to be cut off from Him! I want to be pruned and tended in God's garden through His love so I can share that love with others! :)
The part about what’s God saying to you in your circumstances….Abiding takes discipline which I struggle with when it comes to my quiet times with God. In relation to the vine/nature analogy, I feel like I compare to a simple oak tree in my front yard. You don’t have to do much to it to maintain it once its planted. in comparison, with a banzai tree- daily care and maintenance is necessary, I need more discipline to abide!!
I read in to verses 12-17 and I'm so glad I did. I needed to hear verse 16: "you did not choose me but I chose you." I am struggling to discern God's will for me right now. I needed the reminder that He has chosen me for a purpose. If I abide in Him and walk in love, He will make his plans clear.
Sarah, I struggle with this a lot too! Thanks for sharing your insight. :)
Please i fall in sin and rise again but i don’t have someone to talk my spiritual life with please i need friends whose faith are stronger. My facebook username is Deborah Eyoh,twitter handle @ladydehbohrah and bbm pin is pin:23A62FCB. Please help me.
I'd be happy to chat with you, Deborah. You can find me on Twitter @sjedwards.
Excited to be doing this with you guys. Also, Russel Fragar just produced a new cd called "Worship Now" it is on iTunes and I think the music can really speak to people. Really, really recommend it! Hope everyone has an AWESOME week!!
I’m so thankful for She Reads Truth. Truly, God is illuminating new insights into scripture that is speaking to my heart. This passage in John is so familiar but this time a round I saw this…all this staying connected to the vine, all this abiding in Him, it’s for this …..”so that you JOY will be complete”! He cares about joy! I have been seeking Him on my failure to steady my wavering emotions, I know the key lies in continual abiding in Christ. When my mind, or will, or thoughts begin to stray so goes my joy. This passage reminds me to go back to Christ by spending time in His word. Reconnecting with Him when I lose my way, and He will restore the joy this world seeks to deystroy.
These verses are some of my all time favorites as I love to garden. The imagery is so beautiful to me. I've posted here quite a bit about the pruning I experienced last fall & winter. I've come to learn that pruning is never a one-time thing, whether we're talking about spiritual/emotional/mental pruning with The Lord or the physical pruning of a tree or bush. When I was younger, I associated pruning with pain, withholding, and even punishment. I often cried out to God "Why can't I have _____, when everyone else seems to always get what they want! Why am I always the one waiting! Why am I always the one for whom so much is withheld!" I cringe at these memories but that mindset which I held for so long played a part in who I am today. Now I see pruning, while still painful oftentimes, as cathartic. Beneficial purging of the toxins that build up inside me. SRT's Soul Detox plan really started me down that road. It was the first plan I read with SRT although I was not taking part in the community comments at the time. Anyway, pruning is a real blessing for me now. I imagine it's one of God's clearest ways of communicating with me – He gets straight to His point in a way I can clearly understand. He clears out all the straggly, weak vines that interfere with my healthy growth. He clears out all the junk and distractions that I place between us, so that there is usually nothing left except Him and me. And that's where the healing begins. It's no band-aid quick fix. My life is certainly not all rainbows and butterflies. But post-pruning life is still beautiful, healthy, strong, sturdy, and ready to grow because I'm standing on His good soil in the arms of my masterful gardener. My joy is complete when I entrust it to Him.
Wow…talk about God wanting to get a message across! We just read through this in church last few weeks. I've been thinking over it a lot lately and it just keeps coming up. I love what one of the ladies wrote that was in her grandpa's Bible. Made me think of my grandpa.