Dead Leaves

Dead Leaves

5:32

“I am the vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭1-‭4‬, ‭NIV‬‬.

In the Greek the other word for pruning is to clean. Not wash—but like clean up those dead leaves that still cling to the branches.

The pruning or cleaning is done by us as we remain in God’s Word. For example,

we read— “forgive as I have forgiven you,” Ephesians 4:32. Let’s say there are dead leaves of unforgiveness still clinging to our branch. Our job is to hear God’s Word “forgive as I have forgiven,” and do as He has told us. Then God waits for us to look at our own branch. Removing those dead leaves by obeying His Word. Every time we forgive—a dead leaf falls to the ground.

We can’t clean ourselves up without remaining in Jesus. He directs us to the dead leaves. We then obey His direction, and we end up with a good clean branch. We are now ready for new leaves to grow.

This is not easy, but a visual today has helped me. Instead of thinking God’s going to take an axe to my branch, I realize He just points out what I can remove through obedience. No axe, just love. A gentle pointing out of what He sees that I do not.

He is so kind!

I’m still struggling with whether or not it’s our job to point out dead leaves on someone else. If a person is listening and following with a desire to clean themselves up, they might really appreciate a helpful loving comment about a missed dead leaf.

Whereas someone who is struggling to hear God, might need to learn to discern His voice first, so they can agree with it, before being corrected by someone else. Hearing God takes time. We need to begin knowing His Word, the Bible, as the Holy Spirit begins whispering His truth to our hearts. We definitely don't want to discourage anyone one, by prematurely pointing out the dead leaves that are still attached. After all, we all need to grow in God's grace at our own pace.

As students of King Jesus, our teacher, we need to be in the practice of asking: “What would You have me do today?”

"I know You want me to love others; how do I do that well?"

"If I notice something, do you want me to speak to them today or just pray for them?"

"Do I have dead leaves still on me?"

"Help me remove those dead leaves as I grow closer to You."

"Help me to be a good student today, I need Your help to do this well."

Are we able to hear God in order to help us clean and prune ourselves? Are we asking God how we can love others better than we are currently doing?

Father,

You are a great teacher. You are kind and generous. Always looking out for what’s best for us. You see what we do not see. Please help us to listen and trust You so we can remove those unseen dead leaves on ourselves.

If we see dead leaves on others, help us to ask You if we are to comment or not. But always in love. Help us to remember to pray for them and our own heart attitude as we notice.

Help us when we are approached by someone who wants to correct us. Help us to have ears to hear Your Words in their statements. This is more challenging for most of us, because of our protective pride. We foolishly get defensive when we should listen to learn. We need Your help here, as well.

Lead us King Jesus, not into temptation, but to what You would have us do—for Your glory.

Amen.