TIME FOR UPDATES

John 15:1-2 NLT “ “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

I was in the middle of reading my What’sApp messages when it suddenly popped up that I needed to update it as this version was stopping in a few days! If I wanted to continue I needed to update!

I think our Christian life is a bit like that. If we want to continue walking by faith and not by sight, to follow the Good Shepherd and allow Him to lead us along the paths He wants us to go, and to produce fruit, then you and I need constant updates.😊

Jesus said it this way, ‘He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.’ You could say God updates us so we bear more fruit.

John 15:4 NLT Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. When we don’t stay connected to Him we wither and dry up and we struggle, but God says even in old age we will be green and full of sap, if we stay connected! 

God gets glory when we bear fruit and as long as we abide in Him we shall be like Isaiah 58:11 NLT The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. In other words, He will update and refresh us!😊

God wants His love and joy and peace to fill us up which is what abiding looks like. He wants us to have regular updates so His power can flow.

So where do we go to be updated? We go to the water of the Word, which nourishes and keeps us strong and vibrant. We go to the throne of grace every day for mercy and grace. 

Updates protect our computer equipment from viruses and bugs and we need updates for the same reason, so we don’t become infected by the world or bugged by the enemy! 

So if you’re feeling a bit sluggish and dry lately, let me encourage you get reconnected and go for your update today.😊 In Jesus name. Amen.

ACCEPTING GOD’S PROMISES

2 Samuel 7:28-29 NLT For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

Have you ever had someone tell you something but it seemed too good to be true and you found it hard to believe? A bit like being told you’ve inherited a vast estate! Well, God’s promises to us are just like that but they’re true!😊

In Chapter 7 we find Nathan the prophet went to David with a message from God saying He would build him a dynasty, a place for God’s people of their very own, that there would always be one of his descendants on the throne. For a former shepherd boy that must have sounded astounding but he accepted it by faith and what was the result? Jesus Himself is of the line of David and He is the King of Kings!

No wonder David was a man after God’s own heart because he believed the promise and came into agreement with it all, thanking God for it. He had the promise, and we also have thousands of promises in scripture, but David showed us the principle of agreeing with the promise and accepting it, in order for it to show up.😊

We can know all the promises but they’ll still do us no good unless we believe them and say, “Yes Lord, I receive it!” In verse 29 David was saying in effect, ‘Let it be so, bring on the promised blessings because they are forever Lord.’

Next time we read or hear a promise of God let’s be like David and come into agreement with it, embrace it, believe it, and say, “All the promises are yes and amen in Jesus so the promise God has just given me in His word for healing, provision, protection, or whatever, is a promised blessing for me, it’s true, I accept it. It will be so. Thank You Lord.” Amen.

Photo: Ben White on Unsplash