Dearly Beloved,
What are you rooted and grounded in? Today’s culture, fads, fashions, and traditions? Every human being possesses a Worldview. The Worldview to which we hold shapes the bulk of our identity and is formed over time by family, friends, community, education, and our life experiences. Our beliefs, values, principles, and convictions form our root system. Our roots are like trees that stabilize us during the floods, storms, and trials of life. Trees and plants wither and die due to poor nutrition as well as lack of water. When it comes to deepening our roots in truth and in our relationship with God, it’s in the inner room of our hearts where we encounter His love, and where our love is ignited.
Consider the following if you are passionate about your roots being grounded in biblical reality.
“But blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
“So, it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches: for its roots extended to many waters.” (Ezekiel 31:7) The reason it is such a magnificent tree is because its roots go deep down and reach “many waters.”
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7)
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19) It is only as our roots go deeper and deeper into Christ that we are being filled up to all the fullness of God!
This Sunday we continue our study in John 10 regarding the Lord Jesus as our Good Shepherd. He is good and longs for His sheep to taste and see just how really good He is! Remember that the beauty that is evident above the ground is a result of the unseen roots beneath.
I strongly encourage you to read and mediate on John 10 before Sunday. If you have some extra time, read Ezekiel 34. I always encourage you to invite a friend or two. Sometimes we have not because we ask not.
Abiding in the True Vine,
Glen