Abiding and God's Word -Part 32

To understand this we need to go back to our discussions of purging.  What is it that purges?  The Word of God.  If my life doesn't harmonize with the Word all the way through, I am fooling myself.  We can internally fool ourselves by being overly influenced by positive or negative feelings; in the one case feeling purging is unneccessary, or in the second case feeling the pain and consequences that might come with purging, and therefore have an unpurged and unfruitful branch that may eventually be cut off.  But we also recognize that the cutting off doesn't occur until the burning takes place.

If I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, my name can be blotted out only when probation's door closes.  That will also be the time when the purging takes place.  Does God write my name on His list today, only to take it back off tomorrow?  Isn't it the same with the 'tare'  I am told, 'Let both grow together (the wheat and the tare) until the harvest".  Matthew 13:30.  When is this?  Should I be purging it out now?  No!  Jesus said to let it grow.

Security does't come by way of feelings, nor does it come by way of having my name on the church books.  It isn't how I feel that counts; rather it is how the Word has done its work in my life that matters, to what degree I have allowed the Word to do its purging work.  It is this that determines whether I am abiding in the Vine or not.  The branch that refuses the purging is not going to bear fruit, even though it may bear a little fruit--at least bearing what seems like fruit--on its own.  But is it real fruit?  No!

If we know in our hearts that we are not obeying the Word of God, then we know that we are not accepting the purging that the Word does in our hearts.  We must let the Word purge out all our sin day by day, it is called Sanctification and Sanctification we are told is the work of a lifetime, so each day we are to be over-comers as God shows us in His Word.  We cannot attain this over-coming in a day, month or year.  God is merciful and is gentle with us as long as we surrender what He shows us needs surrendering, we must surrender as we are shown the things in our life that do not belong there.  I am so happy that when we slip and fall, we have a merciful, kind, gentle, loving Savior to lift us back up and connect us again the Vine.  Aren't you thankful for that too.  Grandma Joan