A call to get 'connected' to the Lord and receive His heavenly rain!

I heard these words from the Lord recently:
"The key to walking in your God-given destiny is how connected you are to Me. 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!"

In John 15:4-5, Jesus says, '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'. The word 'abide' here is 'meno' in Greek, and it can mean 'to dwell, to stay, to remain, to continue, to be connected to'.

I had a dream the other day that pointed to the importance of looking to the Lord and being connected to the Lord. There were three scenes in the dream. In the first scene, I was in a situation when man-made water supply ran dry in hot weather. No water supply meant no water to drink, bathe, or do any washing. In the second scene, I was among the many people who went into a lake. We were all floating in the lake. The lake was congested with many people, and it became contaminated with human activities. Finally, the Lord brought me to the third scene, the final scene. I saw myself coming out of the lake, and rain started falling from the sky. It was refreshing, and I saw myself drinking fresh water from the sky, and being washed with clean water from the sky! It was definitely a good change, after having endured the man-made tap running dry and the contaminated lake!

I asked the Lord what this dream meant. And that's when I heard these words:
"Many of My people have been looking to the wrong sources and relying on the wrong sources for the advancements in their lives! They seek man, but not Me! They seek man's ideas, but not My ideas! They seek man's comfort, but not My comfort! They seek man's solace, but not My solace!"

By the way, the 'man-made tap running dry' speaks of 'man-made systems or structures', whereas the 'congested, contaminated lake' speaks of 'man-made ideas'. But the 'rain' comes directly from the Lord!

I then heard further:
"Seek Me while I am found, and call upon Me while I am near! Return to Me, and I will show you My way, My heavenly rain!"

The words above brought to my remembrance Isaiah 55, which I believe is the key chapter in this time and season. In Isaiah 55:1-2, to begin with, the Lord says, "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good. And let your soul delight itself in abundance."

'Without money and without price' because Jesus has paid the price when He died for you on the cross! As for wine and milk, 'wine' here speaks of 'joy', and 'milk' here speaks of 'peace'. Unfortunately, many in the world these days go around looking for joy and peace in all the wrong places and through the wrong sources. For instance, going around 'connecting' to the wrong man, wrong woman, fortune-tellers, horoscopes, idols, or whatever they can buy in this world using their money! Yet, true (lasting) joy and peace still seem elusive to them!

For the church as a whole, let us keep looking to God and keep seeking God for His ways, instead of looking to man and man-made systems (i.e. Babylonian systems) for the advancements in our godly entities! As a matter of fact, good ideas (of man) may not necessarily translate to God's ideas!

Now, look at what the Word of God say in Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55:6-7 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."

And in Isaiah 55:8-9, the Lord says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

In Isaiah 55:10-11, the Lord says further, "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Notice the word 'rain' here? And the words 'water the earth'? This speaks of His word that falls on the 'earth'! And 'who' are the 'earth' here? The Bible says you and I are the 'earthen vessels'! (see 2 Corinthians 4:7) People of God, will you let this heavenly rain of the Lord fall on you right now? Blessed are you if you do, because this water from the Lord will cause you to 'bring forth' and 'bud'!

And that's how true (lasting) joy and peace comes, because you never run out of His spoken word in your life! In Isaiah 55:12-13, the Lord then concludes, "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name (for the Lord's renown), for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

Amen!

A time of pruning before you see good fruit

I heard and released these words from the Lord recently:
"I am the vine, and you are the branch. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. As you connect with Me, like the branches to the vine, there will also come a time of pruning. But fear not the pruning, and despise not the pruning! For the pruning is not to harm you, but so that you will bear more fruit!"

'Pruning' is not a bad thing, or something that you should dread. If you understand this principle of pruning, and if you allow the Lord to do His pruning work in you, the next thing you'll see is fruitfulness.

As a matter of fact, when you abide in (or connect with) the Lord, there will always be occasions (or areas in your life) where He will prune you. It is in order to make you more effective in life (or ministry).

In John 15:1-2, Jesus says, "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."

And then in John 15:4-5, Jesus says, "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."

The word 'abide' here is 'meno' in Greek, which can mean 'to connect, to stay, to remain, to endure, to dwell, to continue, to be present'.

The vine is a climbing plant in the grape family, and the vinedresser is someone who cultivates the vineyard.

The word 'takes away' here is 'airo' in Greek, and in this context, means 'to put away (from its initial position), to lift up, to bear up'. Psalm 3:3 says, 'But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head'. He is the One who lifts up your head when you are down.

The word 'prunes' here is 'kathairo' in Greek, literally meaning 'to cleanse, to purge', from the word 'katharos', which means 'clean, clear, pure'. As you can see here, 'pruning' is good for you, because it clears you from any hindrance to your fruitfulness in life!

To understand 'pruning' better, let's do a little study on the characteristics of the grape plants. Grape plants are vigorous plants and (therefore) need to be pruned, removing more than 70% of its branches in order to get the best production of grapes. Pruning is normally done in winter time (dormant time), just before growth begins in spring time.
Source: National Gardening Association, United States of America.

Here are some definitions of 'pruning' found in dictionaries:
1. To trim the tree by cutting away some branches in order to encourage growth.
2. To cut the unnecessary parts in order to make the tree more effective in bearing fruit.
3. To cut away branches that have borne fruit before, but have now become old/hard/deadwood, and therefore cannot bear quality fruit.

What are some of the areas in your life that the Lord 'prunes'?
Fear, griefs, sorrows, hurts, insecurity, worries, anxieties, bodily ailments/infirmities, uncontrolled anger, and the list goes on.
These are negative forces that debilitates you (i.e. makes you weaker), takes up your time and energy unnecessarily, and hinders you from growing healthily in the Lord.

Don't resist the 'pruning' of the Lord
In John 15:1-2, the Lord has promised to cut away every area in your life that has no use, no purpose, and brings no benefit, so that you can now move on to bear more fruit in life. See the heart of God here? Never meant to harm you, but always in view of what is good for you. This is the heart of your Abba Father in heaven who loves you and spares not even His own Son to die for you (Romans 8:32).

Beloved of God, let Him take away all those fear, griefs, sorrows, hurts, and even condemnation from your life today. Isaiah 53:4-5 says, 'Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed'.

Indeed, this is a time of pruning before you see good fruit in a brand new season of your life. Amen.