Day 3-Abide In Him

John 15:1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

This is the theme of today. If it were not for our desire to abide in him Anjie and I would have never made it. We had our hearts torn out this morning first thing. As the doctor gave the report I had an overwhelming fear that it was not going to end on a good note. We were told first of all treatments that were being done just to substain his life. In the end the Doctor unloaded on us our worst fear. Levi has stage four bleeding in his brain. Could it be any worse? In our eyes no it can't. We were forced to deal with the reality that Levi is not as healthy as we thought he was. Anjie nor I have ever dealt with pain as we did today. Let me tell you though at the end of this day Levi is still with us and so is God. Just as Jesus told us will happen our joy remains full. It was not in his will that Levi will be without bleeding. It was in his will that the name of Jesus will be glorified through Levi's life. So you ask what branch did he prune today? How could this possibly be a positive experience in our lives? God took the branch that we were holding that said Levi is ours not His. He took the branch we were growing that said no God we don't have to turn everything over to you just some of it.  We rest in Him and only Him. Speaking of rest We need it terribly bad. Don't waste one more second of your life. Its way too precious.

For the prayer warriors:

Levi-Pray the medicine will work and his valve will close without need for surgery. Pray that the bleeding in his brains stops immediately and that there will be no permanent damage. Pray for one more day of life for our precious Levi.

Anjie-Still healing physically. Please pray for her rest and mental stability as we truely begin to grow weary.

Trent-I must not be proud. I need prayer for rest and positive thoughts. I need strength from God above.