The good or the best

I've been thinking alot about the will of God lately. I used to struggle and work myself into a frenzy always questioning myself, "am I in the will of God, am I in the right place, am I pleasing God, am I fulfilling the calling that God has put on my life", etc...


I was put at ease a few years ago by something Christine Caine said. She basically was talking about being obedient to what God asks of us. So in other words, do what God says, and then do the next thing He says. And that's it! How freeing is that? Why do we make it so complicated? Why do we make it into a mysterious thing that only the super spiritual person can contain?


I was challenged the other day though, that we can have the good things of God in our lives, which are in themselves awesome and full of life, but then there is the BEST of God in our lives. Those opportunities that we need to grab with both hands. Those moments where we just sense that Heaven's eyes are watching us, those stirring times in our spirits that come and go like the wind.


Just sitting here now I think about how God asks us to step out of the boat and by faith, walk on the water. But you know what? We have to be in the boat to start with! Our boats must be on the moving water, going somewhere - which speaks to me about being obedient to God, and moving where His Spirit leads us.


If your boat is on the shore, then your stepping out will be on the sand. Which is familiar ground. Steady ground. But not ground that will cause you to grow. Because you already know that ground and what it feels like, will you need God to help you walk on it? I doubt it. You've already walked that ground, you cannot grow anymore on the shore. And life will become frustrating, maybe even boring. Like going through the motions.





Don't sit on the shore and watch others walk on the water.


"Lead me unto You
And let us run together..."

I like grapes...

"I like grapes", came from watching the latest version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For those of you who've seen it, this saying was a random one which came out of the mouth of one of the bedridden grannies. It cracks me up everytime!

This post is about a precious rev (revelation) which has touched my life in the last couple of days. I hope it encourages you as you read.




For most of my Christian life I've always read this next peice of scripture with a distorted view:

John 15vs1 onwards

"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...."

I've always read these couple of verses with a certain picture in my head where those branches not bearing fruit are clipped right off of the vine and thrown away. But in reading this portion of scripture again I've found something beautiful about the true heart of God. I hope you get my angle on this.




Where it talks about the branch that does not bear fruit, it says 'He takes away', the other meaning for this phrase is also "He lifts up." So picture this, The Vinedresser is looking at the branches, and those which aren't bearing any fruit He lifts up! There is no mention of Him snipping them off at all, infact He lifts them up maybe to examine them, maybe to move and adjust them on the vine so that they are helped to bear fruit.

Doesn't that just change your perspective about God? It does for me.

When we feel like we aren't bearing fruit in our lives, for example, being influential, using our gifts, changing people's lives etc, God does not remove us from Himself (the Vine), but rather He lifts us up to Himself, He moves us around, adjusts our lives, puts us in a new light or in a different position, so that we can start bearing fruit again.

He is not a God who takes to our lives with clippers to teach us a lesson, but rather one who gently brings us to Himself. He wants the best for us always, and sometimes the best for us is a simple heart change rather than a performance test. He doesn't compare us to others who may seem like they succeed at everything, so why do we?

Let Him lift you up today. Let Him reposition you closer to Himself so that you can be who He has made you to be. And maybe, just maybe He has you in the shade so that you realise it's not always about what you do, but who you are.....in Him.


You are the vine
We are the branches
Keep us abiding in You