What goes in the root will be in the fruit
Psalms 1:1-3 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
his delight is in the law of the LORD – A tree relies on microbes to discern what goes into the roots
- The root is the supply line for the tree/ vine Refers to whatever we “drink in” through our hearts
- Using all of our senses—what we later meditate upon becomes what we feed upon
Proverbs 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life
- Every issue of sorrow in our lives comes from a failure to be discerning of what our heart feeds upon
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Deuteronomy 29:18 so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.
- Serving other gods = substituting what God wants to feed us with a cheap substitute
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
- You have to choose which one to serve: God or mammon
- Mammon – opens the door to finding any way possible to satisfy the heart’s desires apart from God
- God’s ways require patience and discipline. He wants us to learn to feed from HIM.
Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
One root in particular can devastate our lives more than any other…
Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
Bitterness is the result of interpreting hardships without God’s perspective, and without God’s grace
- It is impossible that offenses should not come…SO – involve the Lord in your offenses.
- The EVENT = the seed of offense…HOW we meditate on it determines what happens next.
- Offended with a person – they can never do anything right. EVERYTHING gets judged through that lens
- Offended with God (like the Pharisees) – we doubt His lovingkindness
- The Pharisees wanted messiah to get revenge – he was after something much deeper
- With us, he is after conforming us to the image of love – that means the way of the wicked MAY prosper!!!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
