{"id":5914,"date":"2022-05-26T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=5914"},"modified":"2022-04-28T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:57:40","slug":"branch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/05\/26\/branch\/","title":{"rendered":"BRANCH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Branch-1003x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5915\" width=\"330\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Branch-1003x1024.jpg 1003w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Branch-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Branch-768x784.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Branch-1504x1536.jpg 1504w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Branch-2005x2048.jpg 2005w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 330px) 100vw, 330px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Daily Reading:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2+Samuel+9%3A1-11%3A27&amp;version=ESV\">2 Samuel 9:1-11:27 ESV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+15%3A1-27+&amp;version=ESV\">John 15:1-27 ESV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm+119%3A49-64+&amp;version=ESV\">Psalm 119:49-64 ESV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Proverbs+16%3A1-3+&amp;version=ESV\">Proverbs 16:1-3 ESV<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Daily Verse:<\/strong> \u201cEvery <em>branch<\/em> in me that does not bear fruit&nbsp;he takes away, and every <em>branch<\/em> that does bear fruit he prunes,&nbsp;that it may bear more fruit.\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+15%3A2&amp;version=ESV\">John 15:2 ESV<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>KLEMA (2814): <\/strong>\u201cA limb or shoot (as if broken off).&nbsp; Denotes a tender, flexible branch, especially the shoot of a vine, a vine sprout.\u201d<a id=\"_ednref1\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Flexible branch.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Growing healthy fruit requires pruning, taking away the dead, the fruitful pruned becoming even more productive.&nbsp; God, our gardener, tends to the soil of our hearts, planting seeds of love.&nbsp; Jesus, blending truth and grace perfectly, exposes our sinful nature, replacing it with His affection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christ, the true vine, connects us to the gardener, God.&nbsp; Sprouting from Jesus, our branches will multiply the more we follow Him.&nbsp; As we grow, we\u2019ll learn flexibility; we must so we can love others.&nbsp; The more flexible we become, the more loving our actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Become bendable.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Growing branches bend and wave in storm winds, but they don\u2019t break.&nbsp; Attached to the true vine, God won\u2019t let you go.&nbsp; As the wind whips, and the rain pounds, Go holds you tight in His grasp, always with you.&nbsp; And when you need pruning, God will do the clipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Talking to a friend about why people lie, I didn\u2019t have the answer.&nbsp; When I feel tempted to lie, God nudges me.&nbsp; Maybe the person won\u2019t know I lied, but God does.&nbsp; From within, He prunes me, reminding me of the Holy Spirit\u2019s presence in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same thing happens when I feel proud.&nbsp; When I hit the golf ball on the sweet spot, sending it flying in the air, I immediately feel like a pro.&nbsp; But then, on the very next hole, I dink it, barely hitting the ball, &nbsp;instantly feeling humbled.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How God prunes us, only He knows. In order to grow, we must accept the pruning. Bending, twisting, and flourishing, our branches grow. With Jesus&#8217; help, we&#8217;ll produce good fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"_edn1\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]<\/a> Strong, J., &amp; Strong, J. (2010). <em>The New Strong&#8217;s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible<\/em>. <em>Greek Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em> (p. 139) Thomas Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Three-Word-Prayers-Everyday-Living-ebook\/dp\/B09JT3B6CW\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18UKNZFIIDIEA&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=three+word+prayers&amp;qid=1635775169&amp;sprefix=three+word+prayers%2Caps%2C69&amp;sr=8-2\">Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 minute read. Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 9:1-11:27 ESV, John 15:1-27 ESV, Psalm 119:49-64 ESV, Proverbs 16:1-3 ESV Daily Verse: \u201cEvery branch in me that does not bear fruit&nbsp;he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,&nbsp;that it may bear more fruit.\u201d (John 15:2 ESV) KLEMA (2814): \u201cA limb or shoot (as&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/05\/26\/branch\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">BRANCH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5914"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5918,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5914\/revisions\/5918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}