“This morning I felt a special burden for souls in Central America, and I am not sure yet, but Father may have called me to that field as I was at prayer out in the woods. As the call seemed to come I said, ‘Yes Father,’ and entered into groaning…

Bulgarian Churches in North America results from a comprehensive dissertation work on emerging Bulgarian American congregations. The book incorporates some twenty years of research, which the author began while involved with the establishment of the first Bulgarian Church of God in North America initially located in the city of Chicago. The work presents an overview […]

Sunday Morning at the Pigeon Forge conference, Matt Poole preached on the importance of developing a root system to sustaining a healthy Christian life. Let’s rehash some thoughts on roots…

The roots of a plant have two basic purposes:

Purpose # 1: Roots are the part of the plant that ATTACH it to the ground.

Purpose # 2: Roots CONNECT water and nourishment to the rest of the plant.

So how does that transfer over into the Christian life?

Your roots serve to ATTACH you to the ground, stabilizing you from falling over

Your roots CONNECT you to the source of nourishment and water necessary to survive.

So what are you rooted in?

If roots ATTACH you and CONNECT you, what you are rooted in matters.

If you are rooted into the things of this world, then the nourishment you are bringing into your tree will not support the fruit of a Christian life. But if you root into the things of Christ, you can grow into a healthy “plant.”

Some things you should root into…

1. Your Church- The community of life found in the CHURCH can help to keep you grounded. Here you can find strength during a storm, nourishment through preaching and support to make sure you are growing in the right direction.

2. Your Bible- The WORD is the single most important source of nourishment that you need for living a healthy Christian life. Get rooted in your Bible and watch as the Holy Spirit begins to feed you with the strength you need to grow.

3. Prayer- Prayer is the ultimate place of communion with God. It is through a root system deeply entrenched in prayer that the Holy Spirit can communicate with us, pruning our life to be more like him.

You branches cannot grow larger than your roots. If you attempt to grow branches that can bear the fruits of Christian life without first developing the root system to anchor you, your tree will come tumbling down. You will topple over with the pressure of trying to live the WORKS of a Christian life without being CONNECTED to the source of life.

2 kings 19:30 says “And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” Notice the order here-:

TAKE ROOT DOWNWARD BEFORE BEARING FRUIT UPWARD

I encourage you today to begin to strengthen your root system. Develop roots in your CHURCH, your WORD, and your PRAYER life with God. Then watch as your “tree” produces the fruit of a healthy Christian life

>Read John 15:1-11
John D. Smith
Shabbach Ministries

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