Rooted- The Transplant

So the past couple of posts have been how to be rooted where you are. Today's post will be about staying rooted as you move from where you are to where you are going. Since this whole time we have been using an example of a tree, I'm going to continue with the steps that it takes to transplant a tree. There are four steps: establish a new location, prune, dig up, plant.

Location, Location, Location- Before you move, you need to establish a location on where you are going to move. You need to consider if this place has what you need to survive, whatever that may look like. It may be a place with a lot of people because you are social, or a place with lots of space because you like nature and being outdoors. Whatever you need in this new town to remain rooted in your faith, makes sure that it is going to be there when you move. 

The Trim-Pruning is all about cutting back in your life, taking out the unnecessary to make the move easier. This could be bad habits that you have or bad relationships that needs to end. That is what God is doing when he tests us. Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." By pruning the unnecessary, we are working on the way God planned for us, and it helps us to stay rooted in our faith.

The Dig- This is the painful part. There is a lot that can go wrong during the dig, and it hurts to be moved from once place to another. A key is to keep the roots. We all have our roots established by now, and when we are physically moving we need to keep those roots in one piece, so that when we are planted, we can start to grow and still remain strong. 

Planted- You did it! You have made it to your new home. There might be some damage, but you can still be strong in your new home, and confident in who you are in God.

This is a process I know, and it isn't always easy. But know that God is always with you. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" God is there and ready to help you, you just need to rely on him. 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for always being with us through the good and the difficult. I pray that this will be a smooth transition between where I am and where I am going. I pray that you will keep me strong during the move, and I pray that I remain rooted in you, like a tree planted by the water. Amen.

Rooted- Trees and Water

So in Psalms 1 we have this imagery of a tree being planted by the water. In the passage there are two trees, one by the water, and one that is not by the water. Verse 3-4 talks about the two trees. "That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away." Below I have two pictures, one tree by a stream of water, and one tree that is dried up. Next to them I have characteristics of each tree as taken from Psalms 1.

Blessed Man
-delights in the law of the Lord
-meditates daily
-yields fruit in it's season
-doesn't wither
-prospers in all he does
-righteous and the Lord knows their ways








Wicked Man
-the sinners and scoffers
-doesn't delight in the law of the Lord nor meditates on it
-chaff that the wind drives away
-way of the wicked will perish








So we can see that there are some differences between the blessed and the wicked man. Now this series is called rooted, and the first part of being rooted is knowing where you stand now, so that when you are transplanted into a different area, you don't lose who you are. So are you the blessed man, the one that is planted by the water, or are you the wicked one who is all dried up. It doesn't matter where you are right now, but we should all be working towards the blessed man. If you need a place to start on your way to becoming the blessed man, read my last two posts on meditating on the God's word and finding delight in his law. Sure it is not easy to be the blessed man, but when it is time for you to either go off to college, or move to a new town, or even a new school, it is important for us to know who we are in the Lord so that way we don't lose our faith in the transplant.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for wanting to give us life, and life to the fullest. I pray that you help me to become more like the blessed man who is planted by streams of water. Please spark that change in me so that I can be more like you and your love, Lord. Amen. 

Rooted-Meditates Daily

Last time I wrote about verse 2a. Today, I am going to continue that verse which goes, "And on his law he meditates day and night. Now most of us think of meditation as sitting in silence focused on the Lord, and that is one aspect of it. But meditation is more then just a few few minutes of silence. This verse is about making God your first priority. He should be what we think about most, and what we talk about most. When we make him the first priority, we are then able to grow strong in him, like a tree planted by the water. These last two post were setting the foundation of what I am going to write about later, and what it means to be rooted in a time of transition.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the love that you give me everyday. I pray that I will be able to make you the first priority in my life, and to meditate on you daily. Amen. 

Rooted-Delights in the Law

So if you had read Psalms 1, there was a clear distinction between the man who walks with God, and the man who walks without God. Focusing in the man who walks with God, we see that in verse 2a that "his delight is in the law of the Lord." I want to take some time today to talk about what it means to take delight in the law of the Lord. Most of the times when we think about laws, we see them as something to hold us back, or something that we are obligated to do or obligated not to do. Most of the laws we have in today's society is do not do this or do not do that. It becomes a huge list that we need to follow, and it can often times be very hard to follow it. But God's law isn't like that. If we were to look at the two greatest commandments, we will notice something different. They don't list things you shouldn't do, but instead they list what you should do. Matthew 22:37-39 says, "Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'" God's law is written to be positive, not to put you down with a list  of things you shouldn't do. It is there to remind you and encourage you on your walk with God. That is why a man who is with God delights in the law for he sees the encouragement that is in place to help him on his walk.

Now I know that it is difficult to find that joy or encouragement in the law for that is not how we are trained to think, but when you take time to read the Bible and to understand what God is saying, then it slowly starts to become encouraging. Sure it takes time, but it will be very helpful as you continue your walk with God in whatever stage of life that you are in, to have a place to find encouragement.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for writing your law in such a way that we may find encouragement as we walk with you. I pray that you will help me to study the Bible, and I ask that you help me understands what it says. Thank you for the encouragement, and I pray that I will be able to delight in your law. Amen.

Rooted-Intro

A couple of weekends ago, I went on a youth retreat with my church. The theme for the weekend was "Rooted." I found that message and that whole weekend to be truly amazing. So for the next four weeks I am going to write about what it means to be rooted in God. The verse that I am going to be using the most is Psalms 1 which goes,

Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

 

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that over the next four weeks that you will say what you want to say about being rooted in our faith and rooted in the knowledge of you who are. 

Follow the Leader pt. 2

Growing up, I bet many of us had played a game of follow the leader. And if you are like me, I bet you wanted to be the leader because you had to make the other kids do what you said. I bet being the leader was fun for many of us. The thing is that in real life, not many of us are choosing to be leaders, but we are just following the crowd and what the crowd is doing. Now I know that it is more difficult to be a leader now, then it was when we are playing a childhood game, but we need that desire in us to be a leader, just like the child who was in us when they were playing follow the leader. We need to be a leader in our faith, to show God's love for us, and to help draw people closer in to God. Sure it may be difficult, but God said that our life wouldn't be easy. Below are some Bible verses about leadership for you to read and meditate on.

1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."

Philippians 4:3 "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

Matthew 20:25-28 "But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”"

Romans 12:8 "The one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."

1 Timothy 3:13 "For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus."

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for setting a good example while you were on Earth of what a leader is. I pray that I can be a leader for you in my community. Amen.

Follow the Leader pt. 1

This is going to be a two part topic. The first part is actually an observation that I saw at a picnic that I went to a couple of weeks ago. I volunteer at an elementary school every other Saturday. This was an end of the year picnic that we had, for the kids and their families and the volunteers. While all the other kids played, I sat under a tree and watched them. I noticed this one kid, who wasn't even old enough to go to elementary school, walking around. I noticed that he would follow anyone who would give him attention. If you gave him a toy, he would follow you, but only until you stopped paying attention to him, then he would look for something else. All he wanted was to be loved and to be included, but where he looked, he didn't find anything like that. He only found the love and attention he wanted when he returned to his family.

Even though we are older than this kid that I saw, we still act like this when it comes to our faith. Just think of the many things that we try to chase that only leads us to be empty: popularity, boyfriend/girlfriend, money, etc. We keep trying to look for things that will fill a void in our hearts, and things that will give us love and attention. The thing is that these worldly items will fail us, because they are not from God. 1 John 2:16 says, "For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world." Things that are from God will fill you up, and he will stop your wondering around from thing to thing. Zephaniah 3:16 says, "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." God loves you and he wants to love on you and make you happy, but we don't turn to him but we turn to the things of this world. But we don't have to be that kid wondering from place to place looking for love, we can head back to God, or Christian family, and find everything that we need in one spot, a
 spot that will never change. 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for you love and compassion that will never change no matter how many times I walk away and come back. Help me to turn from the things of this world, and turn right into your arms for everything that I need Lord. Amen.

Back To The Basics

I don't know how many of you have heard about the paleo diet, but for those who haven't, the paleo diet is a diet where one eats only things that a caveman would have eaten, like nuts, berries and meats. You don't eat any processed foods, or any sugars, or any dairy. Many say this is a healthy diet because it cuts out the unhealthy foods that we eat. 
Now what if we took our relationship with God and stripped it down to the core, just like the paleo diet does. The early followers of Christ, had at most the Bible to go off of for their faith. They didn't have all the devotionals, and books, and articles that we have to go along with their faith, all they had was the Bible. Now don't get me wrong, having those things can be very helpful in our relationship with God, but they shouldn't be the only thing we rely on. All these other sources are the sugars and the breads in our diet, and sometimes they are over powering the nuts, berries, and meat, that are critical for survival. Matthew 4:4 says, "But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”" As believers we can't just rely on what other people say on a topic, but we have to rely on what God says, and that can only be found in the Bible, which comes from God himself. Man can merely interpret what God meant, and sometimes we are right, and sometimes we are way wrong. If we are just relying on outside resources, then we could easily be fed lies and deceits that don't fit with what God says. That is why it is important to read and understand the Bible so that you can compare what you are being taught and how it fits with what God says. 
Now for many of us, just reading the Bible is difficult and it sometimes can be rather boring. But I challenge everyone who is reading this, including myself, to take some time to just read God's word. Ask God before hand to show us what we need to learn for the reading, and for understanding of what the scriptures say. It may be difficult, but without a little challenge there would be no way we would grow in our faith as believers. So take some time this week, and read God's word. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your word to guide us in our lives. Help me to put more emphasis on what you say, instead of what man says about the Bible. I pray that as I read this week that you will grant me with understanding of the reading, and for an insight to more of who you are, and who I am in you. Amen.