God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him.
“
| — | Martin Luther, The Early Years, Christian History |
I have been looking through pictures lately and came across this picture that reminded me how not only the importance of the vine, but the essential guidance of the gardener.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunesso that it will be even more fruitful.”
John 15:1-2
photo credit goes to Jared Romine on his way through central California
I wish, brothers and sisters, that we could all imitate “the pearl oyster”—A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. It cannot reject the evil, but what does it do but “cover” it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl! Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians, so that pearls of patience, gentleness, and forgiveness might be bred within us by that which otherwise would have harmed us.
“
| — | Charles Spurgeon |
