Father and Fruitfulness

I have been in John 14-16 for the last few months, with a focus on John 15 where Holy Spirit has been highlighting some fresh revelation.  I love the flowing vine picture of John 15 it sounds poetic but there is also deep meaning for us in this season of life.  I was particularly struck by Father being the Vinedresser, in light of a recent revelation that when Jesus pronounced God as "Our Father" that God took personal responsibility to Father us for the rest of eternity.  Father being the Vinedresser also struck me in light of Genesis 1:28 where God blesses Adam and Eve saying, "Be fruitful and multiply,..."  We were created to be fruitful and here Father steps in to guarantee our fruitfulness by being the Vinedresser that prunes us as we grow.

A vine that is unpruned will grow leaves first, then fruit, and then eventually wood.  When it gets to the point of growing wood it will put all it's sap and energy into growing wood choking off sap to the fruit.  The wood actually is dead but the vine will put all it's sap (life) into something that is dead without having the Vinedresser prune it.  When the Vinedresser goes to prune the vine, He will prune off 80-90% of the last year's growth all the way to the base of the vine.  This actually ensures that you will get the best quality fruit.  Thus the Vinedresser maintains a tension between fruitfulness and expansion.

Moving into the realm of our lives, we are the branches on the vine and Jesus is the vine.  It is the Vinedresser who prunes the branches on the vine for maximum fruitfulness.  Even pruning us back where there has been growth, so that we will bear the best fruit.  As Bill Johnson once said, "God rewards all growth with pruning."

What is God trimming in our lives so we can bear the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives?  I have found He is trimming off beliefs (lies or traditions of men), thoughts, attitudes, and perspectives that fuel the way I live but are no longer bearing fruit or never did.  We cannot be transformed without the renewing of the mind.  Holy Spirit spoke to me this last week saying, "you can't think like an orphan and live like a son."  Father will use His Word, reaping bad fruit, other people in our lives, or the Holy Spirit speaking to us directly to prune us.  Remember you are being pruned for greater fruitfulness.

Greater Fruitfulness,
Bret

The Mind of a Son

In 1 Corinthians 2:16 we are told that, "...we have the mind of Christ."  There are many Scriptures that refer to this theme of having the thoughts of God, renewing the mind, and basically thinking the way Jesus thinks.  Since as sons and daughters of God we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ dwells in us by faith, and we live with access to continual fellowship with the Father our thinking must be different than the world around us.  Being seated in heavenly places with God in Christ (Ephesians 2:6) means that all our thoughts should come from heaven and not earth.  Further in Colossians 3:3 the Word says, "You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  We are no longer to live thinking, seeing, and having perspectives that are ruled by the natural realm.  Yet as believers I have found that we often believe we can think "old" and walk in "new life".  I admit I have tried this much more than I would like to admit.

If we are to exchange our natural mind (which the Bible often calls the carnal mind) for the mind of Christ, then we all need a radical upgrade to our thinking, believing, and our expectations.  In Romans 12:2-3 where Paul is talking about being transformed by the renewing of your mind, this means the complete or total transformation of how you think.  God is not interested in you thinking a few thoughts from His perspective, say about political hot topics like abortion or legalizing all drugs, but about progressively transforming all your thinking, believing, and expecting.

If you are a little overwhelmed by that thought, join the club.  After 30 years of being a follower of Christ, I realize I have a lot of "stinking thinking".  I am so grateful to Father that what He asks of us He also supplies from His great love and heart.  We have the third member of the Trinity living inside us, in the person, power, and Presence of the Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit is so outrageously good at being able to transform our thinking that what seems like a huge job and overwhelming is more like a game to Him.  I am not trivializing "the game" because it is an important role for the Holy Spirit, but He is God and for Him to think the thoughts and perspectives of God is innate in His very being.  Holy Spirit loves to take from all Jesus is for us and has done on our behalf and reveal truth to us on an ongoing basis to the point where we experience a river of daily revelation from Heaven.

Seriously, did Jesus constantly think about what God wouldn't do, couldn't do, or wasn't willing to do for Him.  No.  Jesus being a Beloved Son of His Father knew that the Father as God Almighty as well as His intimate Father.  From knowing the Goodness and Kindness of the Father Jesus knew how extravagant, generous, powerful, and unrelentingly loving Father is.  Yet as a Son He was always submitted to the Father's great heart, will, and desires.  Jesus did not think in terms of limits, problems, and impossibilities.  How could Jesus be God and the Father's Son to think this way?  You and I have been made sons (gender neutral), should we not think the same way as the Firstborn among many brethren.

Thinking as a son,
Bret

Living as an Orphan vs. Son and Joy

The Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about joy and took me to Psalm 16 where it says that "in His Presence is the fullness of joy."  At times I think I am looking to experience joy more as an orphan that as a son.  As an orphan joy comes from circumstances and life going the way you want it to go, in other words joy is dependent on the world around you.  Yet no matter how many times things see to go your way, inevitably there are the difficulties of life that don't seem to cooperate.  From an orphan heart I get frustrated, disappointed, and angry when I can't control my world around me to get what I want.  What is it that we really want, we want joy, peace, love, freedom, hope, dreams coming true, and knowing our life is significant (just to name a few).

Getting all those dimensions of life when I am living from an orphan heart seem dependent on me and then I need to figure out a way to get them.  Yet this is living life from my soul and even from my physical body (especially when it's not getting it's needs met).  Living from our soul and body realms means that I look to the world around me, people around me, me being successful to get affirmation from those around me, or even if I look to material things to fill the emptiness.  Yet as I attempt to fulfill my need for joy in an orphan way, the negatives of the world bombard our soul and it is a constant uphill battle.

As a son of God, the joy I need is found in the Presence of my Father and being intimate with Him.  Yet my soul has been twisted to expect that joy will end because some negative circumstance will come my way to short circuit my experience of joy.  This has been my soul's experience- to fly high with good circumstances, affirmation, or life going well but then to plummet when the negatives of life (external) seem to swallow up the joy.

As I slow down to rest in His Presence, the Holy Spirit begins to show me where this expectation, negative situation, disappointment, and feeling of failure cycle began as a little boy.  When you live from the externals in life, you will be subject to the values, perspectives, and even results it has on your soul.  In the midst of this Father is calling us higher to a place where we experience the fullness of joy connected to who He is for us and what He is doing in us whether the circumstances of our life seem to be going well or are negative and overwhelming.  I am struck by the reality that God is the One who gives true joy but there is a journey with connecting with Him to experience His joy.

Learning Joy,
Bret

Developmental Spirituality

Through a book and several meetings the Holy Spirit has highlighted the need for the revelation of Father's love to become worked into every dimension of life.  There are those who believe that revelation of the Father's Love comes through a Conference, personal prayer ministry, soaking experiences, time in a small group, or a ministry time of the Father's blessing.  Actually all of these can be ways that people come into a revelation of Father's love and I celebrate all of them.

Celebrating all these ways that Father brings people into encountering His love does not mean that He is limited to these ways.  I believe Father is challenging His Body to think more developmentally about our spiritual journey, then focusing on specific events or even individual encounters.  I believe He is adding more revelation, not abolishing how He has been moving.

John Eldredge in his book "The Way of the Wild Heart" talks stages of growth for a man, being Beloved Son, Cowboy, Warrior, Lover, and Sage.  These stages often overlap one another or even can happen at similar times.  Yet there is also a clear progression when a man moves from say living out an identity of a Cowboy (pushing limits, taking risks, and having fun), to being a Warrior to stand for and battle for the hearts of others to be free.

Looking at the growth in our identity throughout our lifetime begins to show us how Father sees our life, He Fathers us in the moments of healing and restoration but also sees our whole development.  Understanding the season or developmental stage people are in help leaders (spiritual moms and dads) to know how to help people grow and what challenges they may need in the next season.

Whether you or a man or a woman, you are on a journey with your Father where He has taken responsibility to oversee every dimension of your growth and development.  He sees the completed New Creation, the brilliant and beaming person you are in Jesus, and also knows how to get you there.

Growing as a son,
Bret