You Bout To Get Cut!
God’s Word.
WHAT DID GOD SAY TO ME THIS MORNING
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It’s Spring Break in my house and it felt good to not have to do the Mommy duties this morning. Don’t you just love having a break from certain responsibilities? So while I didn’t have to do the “get the kids off to school” routine this morning, I was still up and at it for my 5 a.m. prayer time. I shared with you all before that I am leading a life group at church called the 1 Hour Prayer Challenge and this morning, we went up a level to the 50 minute praying mark! That’s right! This morning, we started praying for 50 minutes! Last week it was 40 minutes and today we added 10 more minutes. Of course the goal is 60 minutes and we are only a week away from that!
As I was finishing up my prayers and reading my Word, I heard the Lord say: Some people are not putting me first and it saddens me to watch them struggle through their day, when I could have told them exactly what to do; and how to handle the situation that I already knew was coming up. I just want to be the first on the schedule since I am the one touching you every morning to wake you up! I woke you up, therefore I want to be the first one that you talk to.
Now I know the Lord wasn’t talking about me personally, because I am waking up, but it made me realize that even though He is first on my schedule because I wake up and pray, it doesn’t mean I keep Him in first place on the rest of my schedule. Case and Point. When I get ready to go somewhere or do something, am I talking to Him first about it? Admittedly, not all the time. Especially if I think I can handle it or if in my mind it doesn’t warrant a conversation with Him. But what He said to me was that He wants to be FIRST. That means first one I talk to when I am driving. The first one I talk to when I am deciding. The first one I talk to when something good happens. The first one I talk to when something bad happens. Think about this…WHO IS THE FIRST PERSON YOU CALL no matter what the situation is, good or bad or indifferent? If you didn’t say God, then that’s what He is saying to US this morning! He wants to be FIRST in ALL OF IT!
The Holy Spirit also said: If you’re not finishing STRONG, then reconsider how you’re starting off. This is all about making adjustments to how you start your day. If you end your day feeling all weak and depleted, consider how that day started. Did it start with Jesus? Was Jesus first in everything you started working on? Was He first when you started a conversation with a co-worker? Was he first when you started a conversation with your spouse, or your business partners. Was he first when you started the car? He said if your finish is not strong, then reconsider how you’re starting!! Now that’s good right there, huh! God is amazing y’all!
As I was reading the Scriptural Surprise this morning in Luke 13, Jesus tells a parable about a barren fig tree! When you read the story, you see that God is the man who owned the fig tree. Jesus is the vineyard worker. And you are the barren fig tree.
Here’s the parable:
Luke 13:6-9 New International Version (NIV)
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.
9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” Luke 13:6-9 (NIV)
God has been looking for you and me to produce and he hasn’t been able to find anything but barrenness in your life, which means there is still some areas where you haven’t repented. But Jesus as a vineyard worker has been speaking up for you. He is saying in verse 8, “Hold on God, don’t cut them off yet. Let me dig around them and fertilize them. Then if they still don’t repent and produce fruit, then you can cut them off.”
Are you in that year where you are allowing Jesus to dig into your life and fertilize you so that you can grow in Him? God said I have been looking for you to produce for 3 years…some of us more years than that! But God has gotten to a point where He is tired of you wasting time and not producing. He is ready to go ahead and cut you off. But thank you JESUS…our Lord and Savior, is standing in the gap for you. He is saying, hold on God, let me work with them for one year and then if you don’t see any fruit, you can go ahead and cut it down.
In my spiritual imagination, I can hear…YOU BOUT TO GET CUT IN A MINUTE NAH! So go on and get yourself together!. I believe that’s what happened in my life. God was like, okay, she ain’t producing no fruit. From 2016-2018, I was barren! I was living in sin. I wasn’t producing NOTHING! I mean, no figs, no figures, no fish, nothing! Every time I thought I was getting ahead, I really wasn’t. Why? Because I had not fully turned away from sin, which is what repentance is. It wasn’t until the end of 2018 that I felt like God was at my tree saying…CUT IT DOWN! I was either gonna produce or get cut. I knew I had to cut some relationships. I could hear the Lord saying…CUT IT OR ELSE! So I did. I cut them. And 2019 was the YEAR that Jesus tended to me and fertilized me. It was the year of my spiritual growth where I started praying every day and spending more time with Him. He was digging out all of the bad things that I had put into my life.
What gets me emotional is that He did that FOR ME! He knew what I was capable of. He knew that this blog, and this assignment was in my future and the only way I could get it done was for me to surrender everything and let him WORK ON ME COMPLETELY!
Today, I want you to think about where you are in the parable. Are you in those years where you’re still sinning and not repenting? Are you sorta repenting but still doing that one thing that you know you need to cut? Jesus wants to WORK WITH YOU, but you have to let him. You have to first REPENT and turn away from sin and toward the Lord. That’s the first step. And then once you do…He will do a mighty work in you. I know because you’re listening restored fig tree. The only way I am able to feed you on this blog and this podcast is because I am now producing fruit…all because Jesus said…Hold on God, let me work with her.
ASSIGNMENTS
What did God say to you in your conversation with Him this morning?
What do you need to recommit to when it comes to producing fruit in your life?
Will you allow Jesus to work with you and take you from barren to fruitful?
Check out today’s Scriptural Surprise!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you’re not a believer and have a desire to be, openly confess and declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer out loud, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community and start having a conversation through prayer with God every day. And let me be the first to welcome you to your new life with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. YAAAAY!!!!! You made the best decision you could ever make! Feel free to email me at info@onassignmentbyGod.com and let me know about your newfound life or if you need prayer for anything.