Pruned to Be Fruitful: Building up Your Spiritual House

By Jacinth M. Dunkley

Living a life of great expectation and spending quality time in the Word of God will open our hearts and minds to the supernatural things that God has in store for each of His children. When we open our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Devil will view us as a threat, and then he will do everything in his power to destroy us. Many think this is the end of all our troubles, and in a sense this is true, for we dont have to carry the heavy burdens any more. The Bible tells us the battles belong to the Lord; we have seen how God fought for the patriots, and He is the same God today, for He never changes; He will do the same for us.
This book was written to encourage everyone faced with any form of difficulty and having a desire to grow spiritually. The testimonies shared are experiences we will face at some time in our lives. It is not the amount of trials we overcome that matters; it is the way in which we overcome these trials that reflects who we are as Christians.
I reflect back to when Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Having all power given unto Him to do what is right, Jesus Christ remain humbled, speaking only the Word of God. The Bible teaches that the Word of God is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, but unless you have had a personal experience with it, the powerful effect of Gods word will remain unknown to you.
The inspiration written in this book will enhance your spiritual walk and prepare you for advanced growth. If you are walking in spiritual deficit, be encouraged, for it will be over by the time you finish reading this book. I have seen too many victories to let fear, doubt, and defeat have the last word. God is ablemore than able. Turn the pages, and find out for yourself!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504944991

Jacinth M. Dunkley

Jacinth M. Dunkley was born in Jamaica, West Indies, in 1963. She attended the Belvedere and Windsor Castle All-Age School, and later Nordic Commercial and St Michael Academy. In 2002, she migrated to the United Kingdom, where she presently resides. An administrator and personal assistant by profession, she is an active member of the Brentford Bibleway Apostolic Church, where she facilitates the young adult Bible class and is also the acting president of the women’s ministry. In 2005, she surrendered her life fully to the Lord Jesus Christ. Since that time, she has faced many challenges which sometimes overwhelmed her, but armed with the determination to know more about the Lord, she enrolled in the Bibleway Training Institute. After three years, she obtained separate certificates in theology, eschatology, and leadership. In her spare time, she indulges in writing short poetry, usually about God’s love and the intimate relationship she shares with him. She often shares her writing with her online friends. She utilizes networking opportunities to evangelize, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ wherever she can. She believes there is more to ministry than the church, and counts it a real privilege to be able to reach hundreds of people through the Internet. In April 2014, she enrolled in a short writing course with Future Learn, a subsidiary of The Open University. Upon receiving some positive feedback on the works she submitted, she was encouraged to start writing. This resulted in Pruned to be Fruitful, in which she shares some of her many experiences and encounters with the Lord. God has opened a petal, and it will become a full blooming rose aiming to brighten the lives of others.

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© 2015 Jacinth M. Dunkley. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/01/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4498-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4497-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4499-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015910154

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

CONTENTS

Chapter One A Heart for a Crown

Chapter Two Desiring the Infilling of the Holy Spirit

Chapter Three Put Away the Hindrances

Chapter Four Spiritual Growth

Chapter Five Walk in the Spirit, Not in the Flesh

Chapter Six Living by Faith

Chapter Seven Prayer and Fasting

Chapter Eight Love Expressively

Chapter Nine Praise and Worship

Chapter Ten Put on the Whole Armour of God

Chapter Eleven Cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit

Chapter Twelve The Anointing

To the Lord Jesus Christ, for the love He has bestowed upon me and the favours He has shown. I could not have done it without His inspiration and guidance.

To my faithful–to–the–end parents, Mr Theophilus Dunkley and Mrs Adina Walker, my life has been richly blessed because of you both.

To my loving sister and friend, Mrs Ileene Palmer, thank you for your encouragement and the love you showed. You are priceless.

To all my nieces and nephews, who check up on me from time to time and show so much love.

To my godchildren, thanks for the experiences you taught me; my life would not have been the same without you.

To Estevia, my precious gem, for bringing so much love and joy to my life. I love you. Thank you for all the encouraging words and for your unconditional love. God bless you always.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to:

My dear friend Sangean Allen, who encourages, motivates and helps me out tremendously on this assignment.

My second mother, Evangelist Linnette Bruno, without you and the Lord Jesus Christ, this would not be possible. Thank you for your encouragement, support, and prayer, and for the love you show me; I am blessed to have you in my life. May God continue to bless you.

My prayer team – Evangelist Sullivan, Evangelist Sutherland, Missionary Williams, Missionary Garvey, Missionary Sullivan, Sister Adella, Sister Maxon and Sister Catherine for keeping me prayed up.

My Pastor, Elder Desroy Cameron and my home church– Brentford Bibleway Apostolic Church. Thanks for your constant prayer and support.

Evangelist Joy Bernard-Edwards, because of the love you showed I am a better person today, thank you so much, may God continue to bless you.

All the men and women of God who prayed for me, believed in me, and supported me along the way; I truly appreciate it. Thank you for the simplest to the greatest contributions. Your input means so much to me.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The inspiration to write this book came to me when I was going through some trying times in my life. I knew the Lord didn’t want me to feel sorry for myself, but rather to use my experiences to encourage others who might be going through similar situation. God took me on a journey known only to Him. My life was like a torn rag doll which had been tossed away. But someone saw the torn pieces and decided to repair it, without thinking about the time and effort it would take to get it back to the way it had looked before it was torn.

I had some very intimate moments with God while writing this book. Even though I am giving information, I also have received some valuable information which helped me to adjust my walk of faith. Many things have become clearer, and my desire to live for the Lord was also refreshed.

Over the years of processing, I have learnt to live on Humble Street, right around Humility Corner. I just love to be used by God; to Him I owed everything, and everything belongs to Him. I have nothing of my own, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The apostle Paul understood this. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us, And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I can relate to that scripture. My life was an empty shell before I came to the Lord, but real living came when I surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I often wonder why my life was different to others around me; why my trials were harder. My best effort was unappreciative, I just could not get it satisfactorily and even though it was done to a high standard, more was expected. This had me feeling discouraged at times – that is, until I had the full understanding.

Gold is precious and rare. When you dig deep into the muck to retrieve a piece of gold, it has to be washed several times to get the mud off it. The jewellers then put it through the crucibles to bring out the real value; this process is not felt by the gold because it has no feelings. However, when we humans are pruned to be fruitful, we are conscious of the procedure because it is very painful.

There are many nights of tears, and many days wherein there is no energy to go any further. But when we reach the end of ourselves, God steps in to be our strength. As His chosen vessels, we must represent God well. We were selected to be His representatives on earth; our lives must be a reflection of our Lord and Saviour.

Our individual reaction to the process determines how long our ordeal will last. If we are quick learners, then we go through many different ordeals in a short period of time; however, if we don’t learn quickly, we could face these ordeals over and over, until we are well processed and ready for the Master to use. How we react to this process is very important, it can build and strengthen our relationship with God, or it can hinder us from coming to God. If the relationship we already have is not solid this can also weaken it and cause us to become lackadaisical in serving God.

I made a decision ten years ago to be the vessel that will bring glory unto the Lord. Because of that decision, I have faced many conflicts, but the Lord my God has seen me through them all – and I know He will continue to do.

My encouragement to you today is simply this: whatever we do and say has a significant implication on the lives of others around us, so let our words and actions be rays of light that lead others to Jesus Christ. Be a reflection; be honest; and also be ready to share Christ at every given opportunity.

Let others see the attributes of Christ within you wherever you go, and also let them hear the goodness of God through your testimony; build a relationship with Him. I must make it clear that every testimony and experience shared in this book is not to bring attention to me or anyone else mentioned; rather it is all for the glory of God. I believe everything I have been through is for a reason, and this is true for you and everyone else too. Although we may not understand the process at the time, the end result is quite clear: God must be glorified. I hope this book will bless and inspire you as writing it has done for me.

I join with the songwriter and say, I have Christ; what want I more? I am now living in the Spirit and not in the flesh. All the experiences I have been through have prepared me for a time like this. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His direction in this phase of my life and for His guidance that this book can be seen by others. I truly hope this will enhance your walk with God and encourage your sweet fellowship with the Holy Spirit. There is no sweeter feeling than knowing that the Holy Spirit of God is living within us. I believe in the Holy Spirit’s power to rejuvenate, revive, and restore, so even when my flesh is weak, my spirit is alive and keeps me going.

I desire to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and to show how He has made a difference in my life. He has changed my life tremendously, and He can do the same for you – if only you would let Him.

Love and blessings always,

Chapter One

A HEART FOR A CROWN

Giving our hearts to God seems easy to do, but until we come to the realization that sin has no more dominion over us, we are still bound.

I had a desire to serve the Lord many years ago. I had been to every crusade, to church services, conventions, convocations, open-air meetings, and all night prayer meetings, and I just couldn’t resist sinful desires. I would come home feeling sorry for the sinful things I had done, but I lacked the power to stop doing them. I tried to change my life by myself, but it doesn’t work that way; let go, and let God have His way.

When we give our hearts to Jesus Christ, He will do a complete job; there is no room for mistake, for He is a perfectionist. Proverbs 23:26 says, My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. God created us in His own image so we could have a personal relationship with Him and get to know Him, but sin has separated us from God. We don’t have to remain separated, though. Jesus Christ has bridged the gap between us and God, and given us hope in that if we surrender our lives to Him, we have the assurance that we will live and reign with Him in eternity.

It doesn’t matter how broken our lives are today, God can gather the broken and missing pieces of our lives and put them together fittingly to make us whole again. The blood of Jesus has the power to make the changes effective. But we need to do the 360-degree turn around – most commonly known as repentance – and let God have His way in our lives. There are no regrets in turning from sin and turning towards God; it is the best decision to make.

When I think of the goodness of Jesus and what He has done for me, I just want to be drawn closer to Him. He is the only one who can offer me love, joy, and peace that surpass all understanding. Jesus has made such a big difference in my life. When I look back over the years and remember the path I was on, I have to give God thanks; had it not been for the Lord on my side, I don’t know where I would have been or what I would have done.

In 1991, I was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst, and the doctors suggested a major operation. I was so scared because my family all kept telling me that if I had the operation, I would die. I didn’t want to die, but I couldn’t live with the discomfort this cyst was causing, and the doctor told me it could be cancerous as well. So I made the date for the operation, against all advice from my friends and family.

I was admitted on Monday, 5 August 1991, at around 8.30 p.m. There was no available bed, but the nurse in charge told me that there would be an empty bed at 9 p.m. At around 9.30 p.m., Nurse Brown came to tell me that my bed was now ready. After saying goodnight to my friend Audrey Ayres, I sat in the middle of my hospital bed, crying.

Just at that moment, a lady came up to me and asked if she could pray for me. At that time, I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I knew I was frightened and feeling alone. She laid her hands on me and started praying, and suddenly the Holy Spirit took over: she was cutting and clearing, denouncing and destroying every plot and plan of the enemy; she also prayed in tongues, which I didn’t understand at the time. When she finished praying, she told me that everything was going to be all right.

After she left, I felt this great peace. I wasn’t frightened any more, and I could feel that calmness all around me. I didn’t understand it then, but I later realized that God had placed His divine peace in my heart. There was no more fear; the loneliness was gone, and I was totally at peace.

On the following Thursday, I was prepared for surgery, along with three other girls. Two of the girls had stillbirths,