The Pruning

Thursday, 01/15/26 at 09:57
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com

20260114

John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prunes) it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Are you bearing fruit? Is your life all that I desire it to be? Or has it become stagnant? Do you seem stuck in the same place, with no real vision as to how to proceed from here? Are you on a treadmill, mechanically performing the same things over and over, even as a stuck record?

I will show you why this is so. Some of you are facing a choice. My word says that unless my Father prunes you, new growth shall not occur. And what occurs when a gardener prunes a branch? Loss. Subtraction. At least initially. Before new fruit can appear, the exhausted, unprofitable and dead branches must be taken away. Else nothing new shall be produced. Just more of the same feeble growth, producing less and less fruit each year.

So what are the unprofitable things in your life that my Father wants to trim? Is it all the time that you spend online? How about those ‘friends’ who take up so much of your day, but are really nothing more than gossip clubs? How about always putting your kids first before him? Do you think my Father is pleased when anything comes between him and his garden that he is trying to cultivate?

What about those dead branches? Are you engaged in dead works, doing the same religious ritual or duty over and over, convincing yourself that this is truly ministry, and not simply a salve for your conscience, and a boost to your ego? Has your heart grown cold over vain repetitions? Have you lost your first love?

And what are those things that have left you exhausted? Are you paying too much attention to your hobbies? Do you spend far too much time on your video game? What other things of this world are you engaged in that have zero value, as far as the kingdom of heaven is concerned?

Some of you may have been fruitful in the past doing things that were appropriate for that day. But now I am calling you to do a new thing. Yet you still cling to that old way. Even though that branch has ceased producing fruit a long time ago. That branch’s capability has been exhausted, but it has become an idol in your heart. You refuse to let my Father take it away.

My Father is calling to you. He desires to prune. He is demanding that you be willing to accept the loss of something that you are holding on to. Are you willing to be pruned? Are you willing to suffer loss? Or do you refuse? Those who refuse the pruning eventually stop bearing fruit. And what does my word also say? It says that those branches who do not bear fruit are taken away. Taken away where? They are cast forth, away from the vine, where they wither. And once they have withered, men come and destroy them (Jn 15:6).

Religious ritual and repetition shall not save you in this time of great changes. Only those who humbly and sincerely submit to heaven’s gardening shears shall have their spiritual life renewed and reinvigorated.

But it always comes down to this. You have a choice. Shall you submit to the loss of temporal things, in order to gain the eternal? Or shall you continue to deceive yourself, rationalizing that you can still hold onto those dead branches, even as your fruit continues to dry up?

Wicked men have been unleashed to destroy my people as never before. They are looking for those ‘dead branches’ in my body. They make for easy pickings. If the righteous scarcely be saved, what do you think shall be the fate of those who refuse to let go of those dead things that weigh them down?

Submit to the Father’s pruning. Submit joyfully, and be glad. If the Father is yet decreasing you so that he may increase, it proves that you are one of his. If you believe that there is nothing more to prune, then that is the time to fear. Use these words as a warning and an exhortation. Allow heaven to lop off those branches that are not fruitful.

Scripture References

Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Luk_5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

Jos_24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Mat_10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

1Pe_4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Joh_3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

1Co_14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com