God gives us profound but simple examples of His love when we are trained to see things through our spiritual eyes. Not everything is as it seems, and we shouldn't be so quick to judge or assume anything just because our natural eyes see it one way. There's a whole different story to unfold if we only can see the truth behind it.

I'm talking about a lesson I learned from a seemingly innocent houseplant. After a long cold winter, I set it outside for some sun and in my eagerness, I forgot to bring it in at night. The next morning I found it to be assumingly dead as the frost had turned all the leaves brown. It looked quite hopeless at this point, it was a goner for sure. At this point I think that most of us would've chalked it up to experinece and thrown it out with the garbage and bought a new one. It was a lost cause, or was it? Something in me just couldn't part with this lovely houseplant that had survived a long move already. Having nothing to lose, I chose to clip off the dead leaves and branches and see what would happen. Perhaps it would come back to life although I really doubted that it would.

But when you think about it, isn't that how we all appear to God before we are called back to eternal life through His grace? We have no redeeming value as we live in the carnality which leads us to do what comes natuaraly, and that is sin. Thank God, He doesn't say, "I'll just throw them out, they are useless to Me." No, instead He lovingly sees us as temporarily out of commission. He can bring us back to life with the proper love and care.

Just like our lives, I took the chance of pruning and finetuning this plant in hopes that new life would soon form again. Nothing to lose afterall. It didn't happen right away, just as our "re-birth" doesn't show immediately either. After a few weeks it began to grow new leaves! Instead of looking pathetic, it was now taking on the appearance of something that was meant to be alive. By pruning and finetuning it , it began to flourish. God has to do the same thing with us. As long as He sees the smallest bit of hope He will prune away the useless parts and then He will finetune the rest of us so that we can gain strength on the Truth of His Word and grow into a beautiful example of His love.

God knows our hearts and before He gets His hands on us, He knows there is not an ounce of goodness in them. He will gently bring us back to life by correcting us.

In 2 Tim. 3:16, Paul says that all scripture is God breathed, it's all inspired by Him. This scripture is so beautiful as you start understanding just how much God loves us and the plans He has for us. His Book of Instructions point us in the direction we are to walk. He convicts us of our sins and He also directs us on our obedience and righteousness. In other words, when He prunes and finetunes us, He conforms us to His Will. Isn't that wonderful news?

But also in His Word He tells that whatever doesn't bear good fruit, He will cast out and burn.

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Mt. 7:19 (KJV)

"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Lk. 3:9 (KJV)

Just as He casts out trees that bear no fruit, He will also prune those that will.

"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Jn. 15:3 (KJV)

"And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in; for God is able to graff them in again." Rom. 11:23 (KJV)

Notice in that scripture, when a man turns from his unbelief, God is able to bring him back in again. It has nothing to do with our worthiness, it's His free gift of grace that makes us worthy of being made new again. He grafts us back into the Tree of Life!!!

Not doubt that these are the times of our lives that hurt the most. Correction is never an easy process. As humans, our pride gets dashed to the ground, but it's this same pride that is one of carnality that God wants to correct us about. His gentle prodding and pushing and correction is necessary in order to grow and flourish into a showcase for His glory.

The whole reason God prunes us is to cut off the dead parts, our carnal desires that leave us exposed to sin. Unless this process is done, any growth we do as humans is utterly useless. A continual growth in carnality will rob us of our sprititual growth and we won't receive the spiritual nutrition that is necessary for our roots to grow deep and healthy. Christians always refer to their walk as being deeply "rooted and grounded". Love is what we get deeply rooted and grounded into. Love is the foundation of our growing process. If there is not love present, God's presence can not and will not exist. He can't tolerate sinful behavior.

Once God, the "Master Gardener" gets a hold of us, our sins are cast out and cut down and thrown into the fire. He feeds us with His living word and waters us with His Spirit of Truth, Righteousness, Grace, Glory, Supplication, Life and Adoption. If you thought Miracle Grow was good, wait until you get a shot of this!!! Once we are fed the "Miracle Grow", we take on a new body. It begins to flourish, becoming stronger, growing deep and illuminating love. This results in a person that radiates the love of Christ which is now in them. It's when others look upon them they will want what they have. When this happens, we are then to spread our seeds of faith around so God can start pruning and finetuning others in need of new growth.

"He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.: Prov. 11:28 (KJV)

In trusting material wealth, they will only bring us down into ruin. Things of this world can not possibly save us from the fire of death. An unsaved person would make one heck of a bon fire with all the dead branches that are on them. But as a man turns to God for pruning and finetuning, they are plush and green and therefore wouldn't burn very well. Think about that. If you were a tree, would you be chosen for a fire or would you be admired for your beauty?

If you don't know Jesus Christ today and would like to be saved into eternal life, consider asking God to forgive your sins. Admit that you are a sinner and can't live without Him to prune and finetune you. Confess that His one and only Son Jesus is your Savior and the Lord over your life, because without Him you can do nothing. If you believe this with your whole heart, it won't be long before you start noticing new life and will begin to flourish. You will be something that everyone will also want to be...a child of the King!!!

Only Living Water can quench the driving thirst of the soul.

Vivian Gordon is ordained by Christ to get His Living Word out to those who are thirsty and need to drink. She writes inspirational articles with the hope of reaching those who may have fallen away and need healing and regrowth. The truth is, God loves you. Let Him prune and finetune you today.