Скачать или смотреть The Blessed Life - part 2 : The Process of a Blessed Life

Series Title: The Blessed Life
Week 2 Message Title: The Process of a Blessed Life

Philippians 1:6 (NIV) He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The good life fills your hands; the blessed life fills your heart.

John 15:1–2 (NIV) 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 prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

POINT 1) Pruning isn't punishment; it's preparation.

John 15:2 (NIV) He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

You don't prune something that's dead, you prune what's alive and producing.

Hebrews 12:10–11 (NLT) For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God's discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening - it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Genesis 50:20 (NIV) You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

God doesn't prune to hurt you, He prunes to position you.

POINT 2) Not everything that gets cut is God

Not everything that hurts is holy. Not every loss is divine.

John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

The enemy cuts to destroy; God trims to develop.

POINT 3) God cuts what's working, not just what's broken

Genesis 12:1–2 (NIV) The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father's household to a land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”

Fine isn't the same as fruitful.

Growth doesn't just mean adding new things; sometimes it means releasing old ones.

POINT 4) Blessing grows through surrender, not comfort

James 1:2–4 (NIV) Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Pain → Process → Purpose

2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

The pressure you're feeling might be the proof you're growing.

POINT 5) What God removes always makes room for something better.

Hebrews 12:11 (NIV) No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Job 42:10, 12 (NIV) After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before... The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part.

What feels like decrease now is often the setup for double later.

Galatians 6:9 (NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

The cut isn't the end of your story, it's the evidence that your next season is about to bloom.

#springschurch