Devotional - 23rd June 2026

REVEALING GOD DEVOTIONAL - PRUNED FOR GREATNESS

I want to say God loves you, and that is why I think it is a good time to praise Him for seeing another wonderful day. I want to discuss today is more on fruit-bearing, but this time it is not about just bearing fruits, but bearing more fruits. There is a difference between bearing fruit and bearing fruit to your full capacity.

Imagine if you planted a mango tree, and after it reached its season of production, it just brought one fruit! If it was a business, that person would be at a loss, because production would not be able to meet expenses. It is just like imagining a Coca-Cola plant that is spending thousands on production resources but only producing one crate of Coca-Cola; it certainly will be running at a loss. So even though a Christian might not be barren in the work of Christ, he might not also be as productive as God desires. This was what Jesus was pointing out to His disciples in His last set of counsel — the responsibility ahead of them as He concluded His ministry.

In His discussion, Jesus talked about four categories of fruit bearing: the no fruit class, the less fruit class, the more fruit class, and the much fruit class. In the below two verses, we see the four categories of fruit bearing. The scripture says, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away

1. No Fruit

: and every branch that beareth fruit

2. Less Fruit

, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit

3. More Fruit

” (John 15:2). And it also says, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit

4. Much Fruit

; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8)

In our previous discussions, we talked extensively about the no fruit category and how such a person is separated from Jesus by the Husbandman (God), so that other people who are more serious about the work of the Lord are grafted in their stead.

Many Christians are frequently called to serve the will of God, but only few answer this calling. We really need to pray that God will raise up more willing Christians to serve His will on the earth because the work is still very much in spite of the numerous churches around, and the time left is so short. The Scripture says, “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

For us to understand more about what Jesus was saying here, let us compare the parable of the sower and the seed with that of the vine and the branches. In the parable of the sower, Jesus talked about three ways in which seeds that are planted will not produce fruit. He said this was because they did not have good soil. But when He spoke about the category of seeds that produce fruit, He said they were able to produce because they had good soil. Nevertheless, they produced fruits with different results: some produced 30% of their full potential (less fruit), 60% (more fruit), and the last produced 100% of its full potential (much fruit).

The “much fruit” category of fruit bearing is what really pleases God, and that is why we must not be satisfied or too comfortable where we are presently. Many times you might excel to a place in Christ or ministry where you feel comfortable and don’t want to leave that comfort zone. At that point, God resorts to the method called pruning.

Pruning a tree involves cutting and trimming off dead or diseased branches, leaves, and buds so that it can produce more and better fruits. Pruning is a technique that can be painful, but it evidently produces better fruit bearing. God uses the pruning technique on Christians to increase their fruit bearing by shedding off weights or making their comfort zone uncomfortable, so that they can move forward.

The truth is that not every trouble that comes our way is from the devil, especially when we know we are in the will of God. Sometimes God allows troubles to come so that we leave one place for another place He wants to take us to. We just have to be sensitive to God’s leading and not try to resist the trouble. The early disciples were getting comfortable in Jerusalem and were growing in number daily, but the gospel was only restricted to Jerusalem. What God had to do was stir up trouble through persecution to scatter the disciples from their comfort zone. This scattering led to the spread of the gospel to other regions because the disciples began preaching as they went. The scripture says, “And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1).

During pruning, we must be ready to sacrifice what we are holding onto by giving them up, because they might be the things preventing us from doing more work for God. Pruning makes us die more to self and live more for God, till the greatness of God in us is revealed to the world until we bear much fruit. Have a blessed day and I pray God teaches you to bear more fruit than you are bearing right now.

Today’s Reading:

Matthew 13, Proverbs 14

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Nevertheless, if you are not born again you can do so today by saying this simple prayer below out with your mouth in faith, believing that Jesus Christ died and rose again for your sins.