Pruning... Part 1

A few years back (year 2000) I read a book by Bruce Wilkenson called, "The Secrets of The Vine"

This little book changed my life in a big way. Bruce came to our church for a large event called, "Breakthrough 2000" and he spoke on things that I'd never heard before. He shared statistics of Christian families in a topic called "the 3 chairs". You may be able to google it. I remember sitting in the audience and looking up at those chairs and hearing him explain the fall of the Christian home. I feared becoming one of the statistics.

You see, I grew up in a Protestant, Christian home. We went to church every Sunday morning, sometimes Sunday evenings, and every Wednesday night. It was in our blood. My parents both grew up in Christian homes too. In Nashville, EVERYONE goes to church... At least they did when I was a kid. There was a church on every corner. It was a huge social connector back in the day, and still is for many people.

Matt and I got serious about our walk with the Lord and our prayer life when we started dating back in 1995. Matt and his mom were probably the first people I ever prayed out loud with. Weird, I know. I don't remember my parents ever praying with me other than at meal time and when I asked Jesus into my heart at age 7. I'm not throwing them under the bus here, I'm just sayin'... It wasn't a pivotal part of our upbringing. We didn't read the Bible at home (I do remember one time when my Dad lead us in a family devotional and we did listen to a lot of Christian music in our home), or even discuss it for that matter. We were what is commonly referred to as, "cultural Christians". We called ourselves Christians, but our daily lives didn't truly reflect a deep love, devotion, and trust in Christ as our Savior and our Lord.

What does that mean? Well, it's real super easy to say, "Yeah, I believe in Jesus. He's my Savior. I'm saved. I said the sinners prayer. I go to church. I'm good..." It's another thing to say, "Yes. Jesus is my Savior and I daily surrender my life completely to Him. He is the Lord of my life. He died for my sins and I recognize the price He paid for a sinner like me. I'm so thankful. I want to spend the rest of my life learning about Him and serving Him and sharing His love with others no matter the cost. I am changed because of Him."

Before "Breakthrough 2000" I believed, but I wasn't putting that belief into action. It was like it was a distant committment I had made with the "big man upstairs". I went to Him when I needed something and I was always afraid of Him. I lived with constant guilt. I had no idea who I was in Christ. I had no idea that the 10 commandments weren't just a list of rules that I could break and then flippantly ask forgiveness for. You know the saying, "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission"? That was my motto.

When Matt and I got engaged in 1996, we threw ourselves into every Christian marriage seminar and class we could find. Through those connections we were asked to be a part of a brand new newly-wed class at church. It was there that we found our mentors, Wyatt & Tina and our best friends Kevin & Christy. We were flying high. Pretty soon we had lots of friends and lots of things on our social calendar. We all attended each others weddings and then gave each other baby showers as each one of us got pregnant one right after the other. Those were fun times:) So much excitement. But so self-absorbed. Looking back on my life, I think that was my most selfish era. It really makes me cringe.

But, a pruning was in the making...

So back to "Breakthrough"... Matt's parents invited us to go and we went. I sat there listening to all Bruce was saying, completely dumbfounded. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes and ears to his words and they went straight to my heart with such great conviction. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't get enough. It was like drinking water from a firehose. This event was an all-weekender, so I would come home and call Christy and say, "Oh my goodness! You have to hear this..." And then I would chat her ear off telling her every single detail, and she was like, "Uh-Huh..." It's just not the same when you're getting it second hand;)

By the end of the weekend, we were all on our knees; spread out on the floor of our huge sanctuary. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. You know it's good when the Southern Baptist's get emotional. (Ha) I remember exactly where I was. Right then and there I said, "No more, Lord. No more living life on the fence. I'm either hot or I'm cold and I want to be hot."

Did you know that there really is no such thing as a leukwarm believer? You either are a believer or you are not.  You are either walking in obedience to Him as Lord of your life or you are not. Perfection is not the goal here, but sanctification...being set apart for Him is.

So I continued pouring out my heart to Him and confessing my sins one right after the other. It just came and came and came... I re-committed my life to Him and vowed to follow Him whole-heartedly for the rest of my life.

That's when my new life began.

That's when I woke up.

That's when I read "The Secrets of The Vine".

I prayed that God would prune me back and produce more better fruit for His glory...

Watch out when you pray that prayer. I assure you that God hears our prayers and He promises to give us anything we ask according to His will. Evidently it was His will that I needed a little pruning... Actually, it was pretty big. It hurt big time.

Almost like an instant explosion, my friendships started falling apart. It was heartbreaking. I will not go into the details, but looking back on it now, I can see why. He needed to make room in my heart for Himself. I had many idols in my heart and my friends were #1. I have to say that I think they even came above my marriage. So, so dangerous. As I sit here typing this, I can not believe His goodness and mercy. I can not believe where He's brought me.

More to come...

Loving the journey,
Rebecca