Years ago I sawed off a low hanging branch on a tree in my backyard. It exhausted me and I went in to lay down. I went out a half hour later to drag it to the dumpster in our mobile park. It was totally wilted. I was amazed.

Once the Lord prunes a fruitful branch it will bear no more fruit. It is done. In 1999 He pruned one of my fruitful branches. He stopped that ministry with His pruning shears. Perhaps you can relate.

God’s goal in pruning a fruitful branch was stated in verse 8. It says “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples.” The test of discipleship is fruit borne as we abide in Him. Verse 5 Amplified says, “…Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me (cut off from vital union with Me) you can do nothing.”

Last night I came to John 15 in my daily reading. As I read verse 2, I stopped and looked it up in other translations. The Greek for “He takes away” means to raise, lift up, take away, and to remove. In my mind I envisioned Him picking up the branch and inspecting it.

Verse 2 clarifies that John was talking about believers. It says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Only a believer can be IN Christ.

Fast forward to Ephesians 1. I encourage you to circle the word ‘in’ or write it down. Here are two. Verse 3 says that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Verse 4 says, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…”

Psalm 119:7 says, “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.” I want to make something clear. This verse is talking about our progressive sanctification ~ a learning process.

Our standing was stated clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:21. It says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are given His righteousness. This verse stated an instant impartation.

Walking upright is a process of reading God’s word and applying it to our lives. It is an ongoing work that bears fruit. Isaiah 32:17 says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

Psalm 11:7 says, “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.” As we behold the One beholding us, we are transformed according to 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Any hidden sin defiles our walk, as well as contaminates those we are around. We cannot represent the Lord with inner defilement. Hiding His word in our heart and walking in it, will purify our thoughts, words, and actions.

A leader with hidden sin, does not lead in righteousness ~ but in defilement. Sobering thought. Beware of the doctrine of this world from getting mixed into the meal of your life. What we hide in our heart will permeate into every aspect of our lives ~ for righteousness or unrighteousness. 

Here is the fruit of walking upright. Proverbs 3:32 Amplified says, “…His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the (uncompromisingly) righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him).”

Fresh revelation of truth comes as we meditate on His word. Psalm 25:14 Amplified says, “The secret (of the sweet satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner) meaning.”

In my first book I have a chapter called Inner Defilement. Colossians 2:8 says, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, not according to Christ.”

Man’s philosophy is empty. One who walks upright does not embrace the world’s ways. We are called with a holy calling. 2 Timothy 1:9. Paul warned his readers to not be conformed to the world. Romans 12:2.

John wrote in 1 John 2:16 that, “For all that is in the world…is not of the Father…” We cannot be imitators of God and walk in the darkness of this world at the same time. Ephesians 5:1.

How bright is your light to those around you who live in darkness?

I was meditating on Psalm 119:1. It says, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord!” When we read the next two verses we gain understanding on the walk of the upright.

The upright walk in the law of the Lord, keep His testimonies, seek Him with their whole heart, do no iniquity, and walk in His ways. Here is another example. 1 John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 Peter 2:22  says of Jesus, “…nor was deceit found in his mouth.” 

One part of being undefiled is the freedom from bitter root judgments. A bitter heart, according to Hebrews 12:15 says that they defile all those around us. Like one rotten apple in a barrel, it will defile all the other apples. When we daily apply God’s word, we will remain free from satan’s entrapments. 

Faith is the foundation of our walk with the Lord. The enemy of our soul does everything possible to shipwreck our faith. Faith is believing though we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith…” Fresh faith right now, not faith from yesterday ~ moment by moment faith.

The verse says that our present faith, “…is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Abraham believed God when He promised he would have a son. Years went by. Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands. Her scheming created an Ishmael.

What lie did she believe? We have no power to fulfill God’s promises, nor any that we make to ourselves or others. Only the Lord is in control of all things. The Lord never draws away from us, but when we believe a lie, we are drawn away. James 1:14 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

I encourage you to write down all the things that you are still holding in your heart as unmet. These may be promises by others, promises from God that you have claimed and stand in, or desires you have for others.

Examine your attitude towards them beside this Scripture. Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” Waiting is a trial that causes the buried lies we have believed to surface. Impatience is the fruit of believing a lie. It is crouched in the subtlety of our own timing for the promise to be fulfilled.

Intimate communion with the Lord is a life-time pursuit of One. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” It is imperative that we release our broken expectations to the Lord.

Our lack is His opportunity to reveal Himself to us in ways we have not known Him before. Jesus knew what He was going to do to feed the multitude. He knows the journey we must travel to prepare us for His provision for our longing. Every aspect of our journey has nuances of spiritual truths. Through our intimate communion with Him, He will fill our deepest longings with Himself.

Long term unmet longings cause hidden emotional pain to come to the surface. We might unconsciously try to ignore it through self-protective ways. I’ve written before about emotional fillers. They are counterfeit fulfillers that block the Lord’s work in our heart.

Jesus came to set the captives free. We become captive through our own thoughts by clinging to our own ways. God’s way is perfect. He will continue to intercept our ways to redirect us into His ways. He calls for surrender.

With the Lord there is no lack. He meets our deepest longings through our relationship with Him. Do you have unmet longings? Our unmet longings are often from misplaced expectations. 

Let me disclose a trap of derailment. We take our longing before the Lord. We then expect Him to fulfill it. When He doesn’t, the temptation to become bitter and resentful looms before us. If we take satan’s bait, we will be hooked ~ captured in a trap of broken expectations.

Our longings are God given. They are part of our progressive sanctification. It is crucial to keep our expectations on the Lord. When our lack becomes our focus, we will miss out on the essential lessons for our spiritual growth.

In the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples only saw the lack. They compared the five loaves and to fish to the multitude of 5,000 plus folks. Yet Jesus used the circumstance of their lack as an opportunity.