BIBLE PASSAGE:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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.”
(John 15:1-2)
MEDITATION:
When Solomon built his temple, he employed eighty thousand stonecutters.
They chipped and shaped those stones in the quarry
before bringing them to the temple mound.
Why?
Because Solomon didn’t want the sound of the hammers
and chisels heard on the temple mound.
In the same way, you are part of the living stones of His temple
and God is shaping you down here in the quarry called “earth.”
Part of your shaping is in the form of persecution.
So, don’t look at your persecutors as enemies, but as God’s stonecutters.
Think about this: God loves you so much that He wants you to have a new life.
In order to ‘put on your new self’, some old things need to be chipped away
(things that prevent you from fulfilling His desires for you).
In the same way a stonecutter takes a block and creates something beautiful
that was hidden in the stone, God wants to uncover something beautiful in you.
ACTION:
Next time someone criticizes, mocks, or reviles you, offer this prayer:
“Thank You God for bringing me another stonecutter.”
God is shaping you to be what you ought to be, and what He wants you to be.
Learn to be grateful that He is an active part of your life.
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)
The scriptures tell us to be thankful in all circumstances,
and sometimes it means thanking Him for things you may not like
(in all honesty, it just doesn’t make sense to be thankful for them,
except for the fact that God tells us that is what we should do).
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for loving and caring for me so much that
You want to mold me into a new person for Your pleasure and for my
enjoyment. Help me to embrace Your methods of changing me rather
than resenting and resisting them. Teach me how to look with a new
perspective at the things I don’t like. Change my attitude from wrong
responses to the things you are chipping away from my new life through
Jesus Christ.”
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