Jude 21, John 15:4-5 and Isaiah 64:4

Greetings dear and precious sisters-in-Christ, Yesterday I needed to attend to my flower garden because it no longer looked like a flower garden but instead it had become a weed patch. So on my knees I was trying to pull the weeds out and ended up using a small hand shovel to dig them out. Their roots were deep and some of my flowers were being choked out. In fact two of my lilies were really in need of assistance. I had to almost uproot them to get the weeds. This took patience and perseverance on my part! I am so thankful that it is a small bed located in the front of the house. My chore had been done for the day so I went for a short walk in the park to loosen up my lower back from kneeling so long. After my walk I needed to trim the bush that was growing in the flower garden also. My husband had explained that the branch that looked diseased was actually a broken branch and it needed to be removed. I could not see where it was broken off but my husband could so he helped me find the two branches that were diseased and taking a closer look at the tiny branches I could see where it had been broken and tried to grow back. Which brings me to my night time devotional reading, Jude 21, "Keep yourselves in the love of God,..." and John 15:4-5, ""Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."" In reading those verses I was remembering the small bush that I had to prune for the branch had been broken and had become diseased. This morning I needed to look up the definition of abide, "to dwell, remain, be present, to be held and kept. Also yesterday, I was asked a question from a dear sister-in-Christ that I follow on my social media site. The question was, "What is your life verse?" I did not respond to the question but thought about it and this morning I was still thinking about that question. In the writing of this post the Lord reminded me that He had given me Isaiah 64:4 several years back and I cling to that verse. It reads, "For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him." Yes, my dear and precious sisters-in-Christ, I am only able to be "me" by keeping myself in the love of God, abiding in the Lord, and by waiting for Him." Let us pray - Abba Father, Gracious Lord may each dear and precious sister-in-Christ abide in You and keep herself in the love of God all the days and nights of her life. O, Lord, the abiding and waiting for You in the midst of the pain and suffering brings peace and a quiet knowing that You are her Savior, her healer, her deliverer and her sustainer in every breath that she takes. May each one bear much fruit!! In Jesus Name, Amen. Abiding in His Love,

LydiaSue