Devotions from Judy’s heart

Yesterday I gave all our bushes and shrubs a haircut!  Some really needed it as they had branches growing rather wild and sticking up to be noticed rather than symmetrical. Others had dead leaves and branches that needed to be cut out. As I was clipping away, I thought of how necessary it is for the Lord to also prune us and cut off those things in our lives that are out of balance with the whole. At first it seems cruel to cut away but as it says in John 15 “Every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit,”  When we allow Him to trim us and shape us, we will be more fruitful and blend in to the whole. When we do our own thing or stand out from the center, we ruin the shape. He should be central in our innermost being and we are meant to bring glory to Him, and not to cause the focus to be on ourselves.  He wants to bring us back when we insist on our own way and wander off on our “wild” course. How important it is to draw our nourishment from Him so we do not dry up and wither away. He is also very willing to trim off what is old and dead and no longer fruitful, even though it may have born fruit at one time.  Let us allow the Master Gardener to shape us, and the beauty of what His hand does will bring much glory to Him.