John 15: 1-3 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
John 15 is my favorite passage of scripture in the Bible. All of us want to be used by God but none of us likes being pruned.
In December of 1988, I sold my chiropractic practice in Fredericksburg, TX. Gerri and I moved to a small Texas town where we spent time seeking God through fasting and praying. We ministered in small churches in Central and South Texas for most of 1989. We kept all of our commitments but spent all of the money we had from the sale of the practice. We even used the reserve we had set aside to start a practice in San Antonio.
In November of 1989, we opened a new practice in San Antonio where we still owned a house. We had about a hundred names and addresses of friends and other acquaintances we had made when I ran for US congress in 1987. Without our name being in the yellow pages book, we printed and mailed some postcards with our new address and phone number and we opened for business. We were amazed at how quickly the practice grew.
Many pastors and church leaders had supported my campaign two years earlier. My platform was based on moral issues and my “quotes” which were printed in the newspaper were scriptures that pertained to righteousness and repentance. When they and others associated with the campaign, heard I was practicing full-time in San Antonio, they referred their members and friends to me. The cash flow our first year in San Antonio was the same as our 8th year in Fredericksburg.
The following year the increase was 100 fold in business and cash flow and in 1991, after Demos Shakarian appointed me International Director of FGBMFI, I held my first crusade in Lahore, Pakistan where over 5000 people came to the Lord. In India, we have seen over 10,000 accept Christ and in Nigeria a whole church of 6,000 prayed out loud in the Holy Spirit.
I want to encourage you, that if you are going through a period of pruning, rejoice! The Lord is getting you ready to be used in the great harvest. Your ministry will yield 30, 60 or 100 fold in salvations and prosperity. Remember Jesus fasted and prayed 40 days before beginning his public ministry — a type of pruning you can do to yourself. When God prunes us, He cuts deep and even gets rid of our good fruit, but He grafts us to the True Vine where our production of fruit will be greater. Pray and fast some more.
Terry H Peters DC
12242007
www.godsarmytx.com