In the Process of God

Often we set forth our prayer request before the Lord, but instead of responding to the request like we thought He would, God does it in a completely different way. You may need a job, higher income, or some other blessing, but instead, the Lord directs your pastors to engage in a teaching series about marriage and family. Why would God put you in such a position?

Well, Psalm 133 says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.... For there the LORD commanded the blessing—  Life forevermore."

Could it be that the Lord desires to bring your family into unity first, so that He can command the blessing upon it? He has been sending the answer to your prayer, but the answer comes according to God's designed plan. That's why He will send you to a ministry that's talking about the healing of hearts and homes and not about financial breakthrough. Yes, He's answering your prayer. It's just that the answer doesn't look like your desired solution until you begin to accept the WAYS of God.

We see it like this. If you ask the Lord for an apple, He'll give you an apple seed. Jesus Christ said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. God will place something very small and seemingly insignificant into our hands, but we have to see its ultimate potential in spite of its small size. That's how God's answers come to us. You can expect that type of answer when you pray and ask the Lord for something. Most times He will respond with a seed that has the answer within it.

Some of us have been praying for healing in our families, but instead of getting an instant manifestation of heart changes in our spouse or children, God direct us to a ministry where His Word is going forth like seed.

An apple farmer doesn't go out and buy apples. He plants apple seeds to produce an orchard. That's what we're trying to say to you today. For a while, the Lord may have given you apples, but as you mature, HE starts giving you seeds so that you can begin to grow an orchard. The harvest you are looking for is in the form of seed right now. But if you keep allowing the Word to be seeded into your life, you will start to see your field produce.

The issue becomes this: What kind of soil is that seed going into? If the soil of your heart is hard or filled with debris, the answer to your prayer won't have an opportunity to start growing.  If you allow the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches to grow in your heart, like thorns, they will actually kill the answers that were planted.  Other times we may have an enthusiastic response to the seed, but it turns out that we really only received it on a very shallow, emotional level. When the answer gets tested and opposed, we get offended by that very answer. Sometimes we even get offended by the sower (teacher) of that Word.

We share this with you so that you don't allow discouragement to tell you that it's pointless to attend church gatherings and listen to sermons that seem to have nothing to do with what you are facing.

Remember, you're going through a process. Orchards, fields and vines don't reach maturity and bear fruit overnight, but they do grow.  It takes a little while to renew your mind and change. It took many years to develop your current pattern of thinking and behavior. Give yourself time to grow and develop into the new direction God has for your life.

Again we're going to be a little controversial as we make this point about your process in God. John 15: 1-2 (NKJV) reads: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

Many preachers and teachers quote this scripture in such a way that portrays God as an intolerant being who has no compassion for His people's growth process. We have been taught that anyone who does not bear fruit is cut off.

In our study of this scripture, we discovered that the meaning of the Greek term for takes away has four definitions. Three of the four definitions mean 'to lift up' and one of those three means to lift up in order to carry. Only the fourth definition means to remove, and even that removal is talking about what is removed FROM the branch, NOT the removal OF the branch itself.

These four definitions describe the actual practice of what takes place when a vinedresser has nonproductive or under productive branches on their vines. The more accurate meaning would be: Any branch that is not producing fruit, the vinedresser lifts it from its current position on the trellis and trains it to grow in a different position, where it can become fruitful.

One of the reasons this is done is so that branches that are not receiving enough sunlight can be moved to spots where they are able to receive it. There is also a season of removing shoots, leaves and unproductive sections of the branch to help it to become fruitful.

Many preachers and teachers have been misinterpreting the removal aspect and not understood the entire vine dressing process. Historically, vine dressers in the time of Christ, spent a great deal of time lifting and moving branches on the trellis. They did not instantly cut off unfruitful branches. They would give new and young vines a season or two, to become productive.

For some of you, that's why God is moving you to a different church assembly. You had become unfruitful in your last place, so HE is shifting you. He's simply moving you to a different position on the trellis where you can receive the radiant light of His Word; from which you can finally become fruitful. He didn't cut you off the vine because HE knew you were in a place where you were not able to bear fruit. In this season of your life, HE is lifting you, just like a vinedresser.

Now that you are in a different position and environment, don’t get discouraged and don't give up.  Yes, it is uncomfortable and nothing is like what you are accustomed to, but you are in the process of God. He is committed to seeing you through the process. He is committed to rebuilding, restoring and renewing your heart and home.