The Giant Sequoia trees in California, USA, are some of the oldest trees in the world (1200 to 3200 years) and grow to a height between 200 to 300 feet when they are full grown. What is it that allows these trees to grow so large from a very small seed? Their root system is massive, and they will work their way deep into the earth in order to find a water source. This huge subterranean structure cannot be seen on the surface. It is hidden from the eye of man.
As we think about these trees in Psalm 1, “planted by streams of water”, we begin to understand that God is pointing to a very important principle that is necessary for our spiritual growth. Often water in Scripture is used to point to the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). As John 14 clearly shows, we need this water to be taken up through our spiritual root system so we are “strengthened in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend…and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). It starts with the “inner man”, where the heart and soul develops a personal relationship with the Lord. It does not come from mere knowledge or human wisdom. No one sees your private life, that root system below the surface. What is it feeding on? What rivers of pure spiritual food have you found that daily nourish your growth? There are many polluted rivers that run underground that dwarf and poison our lives, and over time it will show ‘above ground’. This ministry is dedicated to helping you get your roots deep into God’s Word where spiritual life, growth, maturity and fruitfulness become manifest to others. In this, God is glorified (John 15:8).
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The writer of Psalm One makes a comparison between the wicked and the righteous by saying that the wicked are like “chaff” and the righteous are like a “tree” (1:3-4). But no tree will properly mature without a good root system. In this case, the trees are “planted by streams of water”. In the next few days we will look carefully at verse 3 to discover why the roots are so important to our spiritual growth. Looking at where you are planted will determine what source your roots gain food for growth.
Until tomorrow, meditate on the words of Paul, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6–7) From time to time we need to look at the lives of those who have gone before us to see how they lived by faith and received needed grace. Annie Flint wrote this hymn, He Giveth More Grace, out of the many trials of her own life, including the loss of her parents at an early age. Allow these words to minister to you personally:
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength when the labors increase, To added affliction He addeth His mercy, To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun. His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men, For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again. Perhaps you are facing trials that have dampened your faith and you have allowed the trials to cause you to miss the supply of God’s grace that you need right now. Please reread this hymn and realize that God wants to add His mercy, give His strength, and help you see once again the riches you have in Christ. God gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34). We say with Paul that God has given us grace “to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). One of our great desires is to help those in the church become ignited with the understanding of God’s plan and purpose for His church. This requires spiritual vision given by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. So many labor for years and see little or no fruit from their work. Why?
This takes me to the portion of Matthew 17 where “a man came up to Him (Jesus) and, kneeling before Him, said, “Lord have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly” (17:14-15). Then the man adds to the story; “I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him” 17:16). While Jesus criticizes the crowd for not having faith, what is more interesting is when “the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus' response is very instructive. “Because of your little (poverty or limited) faith” (17:19-20). My concern here is a general “poverty or limited faith” when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission or “equipping the saints for the work of ministry”. We expect limited results because we have failed in using the faith God has given us and pray with that faith knowing that God will work through us for His purpose and glory. James says, “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5). God is only asking that we use the faith He richly gave us so we can see Him work on our behalf. I am writing a very personal email today that relates to “faith”. The Lord has seen fit to take me through some testing times, mainly regarding my health, but which has a direct impact on this ministry. Conditions have developed that prevent me from traveling long distances, such as flights overseas. Initially, I was very discouraged. Through the help of my faithful wife, much prayer, and unexpected opportunities to serve the Lord locally, I am seeing these events in a totally different light.
Exercising faith is not getting from God what we want. Faith begins with the Person we cannot see, because “the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” (Galatians 3:22). We have faith because of what the Word of God says about Christ and what the Holy Spirit confirms with our spirit is true (Romans 8:16). Paul also describes how we get faith, first as a gift (Ephesians 2:8), and then “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17). Therefore, in my doubts, I run to the Word of God to strengthen the faith I have and renew my confidence in the Person, Jesus Christ my hope and trust. Because my faith is in a Person who cannot fail, and whose will is perfect, I find added strength of mind and soul, rest of spirit, and renewed hope that my life will be used in His way for the glory of God. “You can do what millions of others have done if you want to. You can settle down to the monotony of American life, get married, raise children, work, retire, die, and be forgotten, or – you can become a pioneer, a trail-blazer, invest your life in a great adventure for God, and be the first to give some unreached tribe the Gospel, and be remembered forever. Which will it be? It is for you to decide.
John G. Paton argued this way: “I clearly saw that all at home had free access to the Bible, and the means of Grace, with the Gospel Light shining all around them, while the poor unsaved were perishing without even the chance of knowing all God’s love and mercy to men. Will you listen to His voice and answer, “Here I am Lord, send me?” Smith, Oswald J., The Challenge of Missions, page 113. From the very formation of the Early Church in Acts 2, they made it very clear that there was only one means of salvation; “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Why is this point so necessary for our day?We are living in an era when ‘other’ religions are saying that they believe in the same Jesus as Christians, when in fact they reject Christ’s atoning work for the sinner as our substitute, and insisting that there are ‘many ways to God’. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me.” (John 14:6).
When the jailor in Acts 16 asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30), they answered very directly, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Paul’s first letter addressed to the Galatians makes it very clear that there is only one gospel with Christ at the center and any other message is not the gospel. Sadly, they and many today are “so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--” (Galatians 1:6). Be very careful who you preach and make the center of your message. We began this mini-series with the purpose of Paul’s “apostleship - to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,” (Romans 1:4b-5). After giving a most thorough explanation of the gospel in the first eight chapters of this letter, he comes to the end of the letter and says, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”” (Romans 15:20–21). It was the knowledge of Christ that drove Paul to travel more extensively than any other apostle and suffered more than any other (2 Corinthians 11:23-29) according to the Scriptural record. But he did not boast in these things, but “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 10:17). This is a great challenge to me. So many ministries that began well have descended into mere organizational structures without Christ as the center and without the power of the Holy Spirit. May God preserve us from this!!
If you are involved in any ministry, make it your daily prayer and ambition that Christ will increasingly be the center of everything you do and reject anything that does not honor and glorify Him. As we read through Paul’s letters, we see over and over that he made Christ the center of all his ministry. Even when he faced the most difficult and challenging problems in churches and with people, Paul insisted that Christ was the answer. Paul begins to address divisions and moral decay in the church at Corinth by showing that the wisdom of man was empty and powerless compared to “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).
We need to make the same commitment and conscious decision when facing problems in the church that Paul made; “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2). If we do not resolve to make Christ the central answer and the source of all wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), then we will depend on human wisdom, knowledge, and traditions. Paul often gives a short summary of what he is going to write about to a church in the greeting at the beginning of a letter. At the beginning of his treatise on the gospel to “those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7), Paul makes a broad statement that should catch our attention.
“Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,” (Romans 1:4b-5). Paul lays the foundation of his apostleship on the premise that it was a grace received from Jesus Christ. If we look at this verse in the original Greek, the text would be changed around slightly to read, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of the name of Him.” It was not just “faith” for the sake of salvation from the condemnation of sin, but that the “ethnos” (nations) would glorify Christ (“for the sake of his name”) through their “obedience”! Knowledge of salvation through the gospel is a supremely great part of God’s plan. But along with this marvelous act of being redeemed and made right before God, He desires that those saved become obedient in their faith. These are two inseparable truths that God designed to glorify His Son, Jesus Christ. This helps us present the larger picture of God’s plan when proclaiming the gospel of grace. |
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