Sometimes life can be messy, so let's have a cup of coffee and talk about...

  Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11, NIV) Our daily bread. Years ago, I had the privilege of having a conversation with Joni Erickson Tada. At the age of 17, Joni was the victim of a horrific swimming accident, when she dove into a shallow lake and broke her neck. As a result, Joni was paralyzed from the neck down, becoming a paraplegic. By the time I met her, 28 years had gone by, and Joni was an established author and leader with a successful and impressive ministry, through which she has ministered to thousand of people in tons of different situations. That day, Joni said that many times people would ask her how she had been able to endure 28 years in that wheelchair, depending on others for every aspect of her life. She then said that her answer was always the same, “One day at a time. One day at a time.”                 When Jesus gave his disciples the prayer we now know as The Lord’s Pr...

  “I am the vine, and my Father is  the gardener. He cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit, while every branch in me that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word." ( John 15:1-5). I have spoken to you. Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” So, here is Jesus talking about cutting off some branches and pruning others. I got curious. Is there a difference? I didn’t think so until I struck me that He cuts some off (the ones who do not bear fruit), and prunes others (the ones that do). Of course, I went to see Mr. Google and asked it if there is a difference between cutting off and pruning. Well, lo and behold, there is. Trimming (another term for cutting off) applies to removing overgrown branches. Excessive overgrowth is harmful to the plant because it reduces the amount of moistur...