By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:8 REFERENCE John 15:1-8 Being rooted in Christ gives you the assurance of sharing His glory in this life and in the hereafter. Paul said in Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” A life rooted in Christ increases in influence. The branches of a rooted tree are the symbol of the tree’s influence. They reach beyond the place of its planting, they are the reason why birds nest on the tree and people sit under its shade, and they are...
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 REFERENCE John 15:1-5 One characteristic of life is that ‘all living things grow and develop.’ God planted you in this world because He desires you to grow and be fruitful. However, as a Christian, growth and fruitfulness only comes when you are deeply rooted in Christ, as seen from the previous topics. In-between roots and fruits is the phenomenon called ‘growth.’ After a while, what you are doing underground should begin to show above the ground....
Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:7 (AMPC) REFERENCE Colossians 2:6-10 (AMPC) The need to be rooted cannot be over emphasized. Being rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of mankind.” Being rooted is indeed one of our basic needs because it is only when we are rooted that we can grow. When we grow deep in Christ,...
And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; and they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away. Mark 4:16-17 (AMPC) REFERENCE Mark 4:1-6, & 16-17 We live in an age where there is an increased effort by the devil to uproot Christians and cause them to fall...
And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. Isaiah 37:31 REFERENCE Isaiah 37:31 Rootedness is the quality of being rooted or firmly established. The root is the part of a plant that attaches it to the ground, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibers. It also means the source, foundation, or essence of a plant’s life; and also true for man’s life. For everything you see on the visible side, there is an invisible system of roots. The durability, health,...
“Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”” Matthew 27:64 REFERENCE Matthew 27:45-50 & 62-66 Jesus died on a Friday, but He had promised a Sunday morning resurrection, but what happens on Saturday? How do we handle that place of mourning a loss, yet anticipating a resurrection or restoration? How do you cope when you are in-between a promise and its fulfillment? How do...
Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful - I Corinthians 4:2 REFERENCE I Corinthians 4:2&7 A steward is someone employed to manage the property of another person. Every true believer must know that all He has belongs to God and he has only been given those things to manage. C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give...
And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. - II Kings 7:5 REFERENCE II Kings 7:1-8 God never planned a day of defeat for you. He did not plan for you to always beg, lag behind in life, struggle to survive, or to be under Satan’s oppression. You are blessed and not cursed because it is a pronouncement of God over you from the very beginning and the blessing is in your DNA. But ‘why...
Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing…and the Lord is with him. I Samuel 16:18 REFERENCE 1 Samuel 16:14-23 It has been said that between you and the person you need to see are just four people. It will shock you to know that, for the things you are praying about, someone knows someone that knows someone that might just have the answer. If you think back to some of the things you have received in life and the people you have met in life, you will realize that...
So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this…’ Matthew 13:27-28 REFERENCE Matthew 13:24-30 Some Christians sometimes erroneously believe that when something evil happens to them, God is behind it. They claim that He is trying to teach them a lesson or is punishing them for their shortcomings. However, a truth that must always be kept in mind by every child of God is that, it is not in God’s constitution at all...