FRESH START TODAY - God Prunes His beloved Followers

FRESH START TODAY – God Prunes His beloved Followers – 11-22-2014 By: Lenni Nordloh John 15:1-5, "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. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing NKJV On April 10, 2014 my beloved husband entered the hospital through the emergency room after we had just spent three weeks going to people’s homes to pray with them as they were headed back to their northern, cooler, homes for the summer. My husband began to feel very ill, so sensing a whisper from the Holy Spirit, I insisted that he get dress, taking him to the emergency room. After many hours in the emergency room the medical staff determined that he had sepsis due to an inflamed gallbladder. He was admitted to the ICU department. At the same time my daughter was in the emergency room at another hospital with my granddaughter having her first asthma attack! I was tired, but very numb to my own feelings as to what was happening. The last thing I was concerned was about myself. The Lord had whispered His warning and I was obedient. The next day, as the hospital staff prepared my husband for surgery to remove his gallbladder, and with my daughter at my side, he had a heart attack! We were both were asked to leave the room. My daughter called our son who decided to head to Arizona. The medical staff was able to get my husband stable, but they decided to check out the condition of his heart first. Our son arrived from Oklahoma two days later. My husband had a tube place through his liver to drain his gallbladder and eight days later he had triple bi-pass surgery with my husband’s brother and sister arriving from Washington State. There were eight of us in the waiting room while the surgery was taking place. When I went home that evening I cried alone. The scripture that Jesus was the true vine came to me as another whisper to my heart. “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit!” I knew my husband would recover, but I knew then that I owed God more of my life then ever before! As a believer, we must make the decision to abide in the power, protection and grace of Jesus Christ. We cannot do anything without Jesus. He brought to me His Kingdom people to comfort me both physically and through their prayers. Jesus made the way for all believers to become interdependent to each other. Today is my son’s birthday and I want to thank him for staying with me for over a month and for being the rock of faith to all the rest of the family. The strength of God’s Holy Spirit fell strongly on him as he denied himself to serve and care for His mom and dad. The hand of God is on him, even though sometimes he does not think of it very much. Our daughter was an amazing woman of faith as well. Please understand that both good things and difficult things happen to all believers. I want to encourage you that if you are in a difficult situation, trust the heart of a loving God. How do we continue to abide in Jesus? We pray, read the Word of God, seek answers from Him and ask for His wisdom. God’s Holy Spirit may be in the process of pruning you to become more fruitful that will further His Kingdom. My husband is back preaching and teaching God’s Word. I am leading the music as a worship leader and teaching a woman’s study again. My book ‘Simply a Whisper’ was just released on 10-21-2014. God does prune His beloved followers!