The I AM sayings of Jesus

This devotional is written by Anita Jones. Marylebone dweller. Light sleeper.

The vine and the branches 15 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

Recently I've had the opportunity to prune some plants. The first "pruning" was of some very dead looking geraniums in my neighbours' window boxes. Each little branch, as I pruned further and further, was brown and dead inside.......Will they ever flower again? I don't know.
The stumps are possibly dead. The other plant I pruned was an overgrown grape vine in Dorset. There was SO much life! The stump of the vine is thick and strong....it is growing out of soil that is actually outside of the greenhouse, with roots no doubt spreading far and wide into God's earth, His nature. The greenhouse was built around this ancient (well, hundreds of years old...) vine stump, to shelter the growing branches and fruit. I had to cut away so much in order for the vine to focus its energy and nourishing power to create quality branches....which would then become full of grapes that could grow to maturity, full of richness and goodness. It reminded me that pruning is in the best interest of the plant and the fruit. We are those branches. The stump from which we grow is Jesus. He's ancient, rich and ALIVE. God prunes us so that we can produce the best fruit - the fruit of the Spirit - joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, self-control, gentleness, and most of all, LOVE. Can you think of a time when what felt painful, or a loss, actually produced in you this kind of fruit, or greater maturity, growth, skills, vitality? Sometimes the painful processes we go through, produce exactly the person God wants us to be. If we 'remain in Jesus' our fruit will be sweet, even amidst life's difficulties, struggles, "prunings". And if we remain in Jesus, we're not like those geraniums that are dead inside. Because Jesus brings life.