Ezekiel 31-33 A little refining goes a long way

September 9th. Ezekiel 31-33
              Everything tends towards chaos. Even healthy growth is in need of refinement once in awhile. Vines/branches needs immense pruning to be fruitful. Do you want to grow a vine, or are grapes the goal. I can't tell you how much good healthy vine I cut off of my grapevines every year.
       I'm in a refining moment with my bonsai collection. A year of good growth is followed up by a season removing much of that growth. Here's a Ponderosa Pine. Big and healthy, maybe too healthy if there is such a thing! It's hard to take that good growth of of these trees. In the end, if you want them to look their best, a little alteration is mandatory.

I cut the needles in half. Now instead of the foliage dominating the structure, it dresses up the structure. The flaky old bark and the great taper of the tree is what makes this tree. Some foliage to dress it up is now adding to the composition instead of dominating it.
        The call goes out in the prophets to reevaluate, refine, remember. The Israelites don't want to be pruned, don't want to be shaped by a master, they live in a struggle to assert my will or submit my will. They say God's way isn't just, isn't right...
       I'm inviting you to trust an artist. The before and after shots are really quite spectacular!