Satisfied
Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Out of control? Sucked into a life where you have no idea why you do what you do or if it really matters? You sign up for more activities to fill up your empty spaces. You volunteer for causes you don’t even believe in because of peer pressure. You go through the motions of home, work, volunteering, and even church without passion, heart, or feeling. You look around one day and go, “is this really my life?” Some may call this a mid-life crisis. I hit the fourth-decade marker and realized, “Well, it’s half over if I live to 80, what has counted? What can be marked as something that mattered?” Some people buy sports cars, some dress decades younger, some have makeovers. There are a lot of other scenarios, some much more tragic and serious.
Life can quickly become a series of meaningless events, filled with false vines and no fruit. Temporary pursuits can take over our lives, and leave us with very little that is real or of any eternal value. I am not making a blanket assumption that everyone driving a sports car or anyone who has a day at the spa is going over the edge. So the question for us is: How do we begin to uncover what is meaningless in our lives and what is eternal?
I believe Jesus gives us the answer to a meaningful life in John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." In light of this fruit-bearing, think about the branch. It doesn’t eat the fruit that grows on it; it doesn’t produce the fruit to say, “Look at all my fruit!” It provides fruit that will feed someone else. We are the branch. We should produce fruit that feeds others spiritually. It should never be about my results, my ministry, my stuff, or what I can do. It should instead be about obedient surrender and what God’s power can produce in and through my life. With this type of surrendered life, I see clearly that I desperately need Jesus to do anything.
For us to have a life full of spiritual fruit there is a catch: We must allow God to prune our lives. Ask God to show you what needs to be pruned in the garden of your heart. Look up Ephesians 4:25-32. This is a list of some things you would need to prune from your heart. This would be any sin that God brings to mind. Ask God to help you be honest as you read through the questions and answer them specifically:
Do I lie?
Do I cause disunity?
Do I sin in anger?
Do I hold and justify a grudge?
Have I given the devil a foothold through a divided relationship?
Do I steal (Don’t forget about stealing time, glory, reputation, or credit)?
Do I share with the needy?
Do I grieve the Holy Spirit sinning knowingly and habitually?
Have I held on to bitterness, rage, anger, or brawling in a relationship?
Do I slander others?
Do I withhold compassion, kindness, and forgiveness based on my own judgments?
I know that is a tough list to pray and work through and it might take you a while to get to the bottom of your stuff on that list. It is an ongoing list that God convicts me of and my prayer now is to keep a short record of sin with Him. I want to know what grieves His heart so that I am convicted when I begin to sin in one of the above areas. A life of freedom comes to those who are willing to hold nothing back from God and trust Him abandonedly!
Be encouraged that conviction is awareness of our need to confess sin and be restored with His forgiveness. Go back and see each yes as a branch ready to begin producing fruit as you ask God to forgive you and genuinely change you. Your fruit is going to be incredible and nourish and refresh the souls of all those around you! The pruning is worth it in the end and the fruit is soul-satisfying!
Life can quickly become a series of meaningless events, filled with false vines and no fruit. Temporary pursuits can take over our lives, and leave us with very little that is real or of any eternal value. I am not making a blanket assumption that everyone driving a sports car or anyone who has a day at the spa is going over the edge. So the question for us is: How do we begin to uncover what is meaningless in our lives and what is eternal?
I believe Jesus gives us the answer to a meaningful life in John 15:5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." In light of this fruit-bearing, think about the branch. It doesn’t eat the fruit that grows on it; it doesn’t produce the fruit to say, “Look at all my fruit!” It provides fruit that will feed someone else. We are the branch. We should produce fruit that feeds others spiritually. It should never be about my results, my ministry, my stuff, or what I can do. It should instead be about obedient surrender and what God’s power can produce in and through my life. With this type of surrendered life, I see clearly that I desperately need Jesus to do anything.
For us to have a life full of spiritual fruit there is a catch: We must allow God to prune our lives. Ask God to show you what needs to be pruned in the garden of your heart. Look up Ephesians 4:25-32. This is a list of some things you would need to prune from your heart. This would be any sin that God brings to mind. Ask God to help you be honest as you read through the questions and answer them specifically:
Do I lie?
Do I cause disunity?
Do I sin in anger?
Do I hold and justify a grudge?
Have I given the devil a foothold through a divided relationship?
Do I steal (Don’t forget about stealing time, glory, reputation, or credit)?
Do I share with the needy?
Do I grieve the Holy Spirit sinning knowingly and habitually?
Have I held on to bitterness, rage, anger, or brawling in a relationship?
Do I slander others?
Do I withhold compassion, kindness, and forgiveness based on my own judgments?
I know that is a tough list to pray and work through and it might take you a while to get to the bottom of your stuff on that list. It is an ongoing list that God convicts me of and my prayer now is to keep a short record of sin with Him. I want to know what grieves His heart so that I am convicted when I begin to sin in one of the above areas. A life of freedom comes to those who are willing to hold nothing back from God and trust Him abandonedly!
Be encouraged that conviction is awareness of our need to confess sin and be restored with His forgiveness. Go back and see each yes as a branch ready to begin producing fruit as you ask God to forgive you and genuinely change you. Your fruit is going to be incredible and nourish and refresh the souls of all those around you! The pruning is worth it in the end and the fruit is soul-satisfying!
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