No Minimum Requirement

[S] John 15:2 --
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

[O] After carrying out certain actions for some time it is so easy to forget about the purpose that was set forth in the first place. Living out my Christ-following life often falls into this mode for me and Jesus' proverb reminds once again the ultimate purpose is to bear much fruit which God is pleased with.  In fact, short of bearing Godly fruits, I am bound to bear fruits which pleases our enemy.  From what Jesus goes on to say, there is no minimum requirement in bearing God's fruits because no matter the quantity or quality, He will increase it by taking care of me (pruning) -- I just have to get it going.

[A] So many times, I get swept up in the whirlwind of task management, I lose focus of why I'm doing everything and bearing God's fruit falls to the bottom of the list.  I need not be too concerned about the "project management" but be more intentional about spending my energy to produce His fruits.

[P] Dear Jesus, as I abide in You more and more through my personal time with You, please instill in me a focused mind to bear much fruit for You rather than spending all my energy on non-essential things which seem important and yet only temporal.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

No Prune, No Fruit. More Prune, More Fruit

[S] John 15:2 --
2  "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit

[O] Fruitfulness of my spiritual life and ministry to others is the measure of how much God is pruning my life.  Just because I am grafted into the vine Himself does not mean I will automatically bear more fruit.  God does not want me just to be hanging in there but be growing further with increasing fruitfulness.

[A] If there is one area I should not be content with would be my spiritual fruitfulness not because I am ungrateful and achievement-oriented but because I can always be more fruitfulness as long as I abide in Him and allow Him to prune my life so more of my life's energy will funnel to bearing more fruits for God.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for pruning my life.  It's no fun or painless but through that process my life will be equipped to bear more fruits.  In my four major areas of my life -- personal life, family life, church ministry, and workplace ministry -- I can see that God's been increasing fruitfulness slowly but surely and this means He has been pruning my life and that explains some of the pressures I feel in my life to make some major adjustments for Him.  God, please continue to prune away that my life will be bombarded with Your fruits.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Proof of Abiding in Him

[S] 1 John 3:24 --
 ²⁴The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

[O] Abiding in God takes more than the willing heart although that is a good starting point.  It must be complemented by keeping (action) His commandments. This act of obedience can only be done by the Spirit given from God because on our own it is impossible to complete.  So in order for me to abide in Him, having the Spirit in me is a must and so the fact that I can abide in Him means I have the Spirit in me.  Jesus came 2,000 years ago in order for me to abide in Him through the Spirit He sent us after His ascension into Heaven.  And I am glad I had received His Spirit into my life many years ago, however, the fact that I still struggle to abide in Him on daily basis points out that my inner struggle between my self will vs. the Spirit is an on-going phenomena that I have to observe carefully and guide wisely to bring out His Spirit's fruits.  In many ways, I must minimize my will power and submit to the leading of His Spirit because in the end by revealing the works of the Spirit in my life that I will prove that I belong to Him.

[A] As I daily meet with Jesus, I need to learn to hear His voice teaching me in which area I need to let go of my will-power and to surrender and submit to His Spirit.  This is not to put a show to others, but this way others will recognize that it is His Spirit working in my life that sustains me.

[P] Dear Spirit, thank You for coming into my life and working in me.  I know I need to surrender more areas of my life to reveal my abiding in You.  I desire this very much and I also realize this is a "dangerous" request because You will answer my request and that potentially means I need to face some challenging circumstances to burn away the impurities in my mind -- i.e., difficult.  Continue to give me strength, wisdom, and healthy outlook to carry on with my life highlighting Your wonderful fruits in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Shielding from Condemnation

[S] Romans 8:1 --  ¹Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[O] I have read this verse many times before but today, my heart was excited to read about having no condemnation from God as long as I'm in Christ Jesus.  It may be because I've trying hard at my role in doing ministry and yet not seeing the fruits yet.  Paul's point of putting the significance in abiding in Christ Jesus and not of works seems to hit the right chord in my heart.

[A] Even before doing the ministry for Jesus, I must be in Him and abide in Him.  That means daily devotion with Him and also to memorize God's words to be engraved into my heart.

[P] Dear God, I praise You for shielding me from condemnation as long as I pursue to be abiding in You because I know there is no way for me to exclude me from You condemnation on my own but I can work on being in You.  Thank You for giving me an option which is achievable by me.