| I was walking through the park today and I stopped and looked up at a huge tree. I just stared at it bareness. Its knobs and imperfections for the whole world to see. But then I realized that is it only for a season. That any other time of the year it is blooming with such beauty.
Then I thought to myself, that is like us Christians! Psalms 1:3 - "He is like a tree...." We all go through seasons, they may be times of discourage, dismay and sorrow, but then there are times of growth and good change. But it is always in a season, each having its own time. Ecclesiastics 3:1-8 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." There is a time for everything and everything has it own season!! To me, Autumn (fall) and winter is our time of discourage and sorrow. I seen it in that tree today. It was stripped of everything and taken back to its bare bark. You could see all its knots (our troubles... the mountains in our lives) the textures of the bark (our imperfections) and its awkward branches. They jut out everywhere and look rather ugly with nothing on it. It represents out life out of reason, we have nothing to show. But as long as that tree's roots are planted in the right place, it will bounce back, it will survive the cold and depressing winter and bloom into spring! We are the same, if, when we are depressed and going through a bad season, as long as we remain rooted in Him, in God, we will spring back. We need to make sure our core being is in Him. Colossians 2:6-7 "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". We need to remain rooted in Him. We must keep reading the word, its our fertilizer. We need to live on it and the living water. As long as we are planted and rooted in God, we can overcome anything. God has given His word to us, to be our core guide in life, we are to live by His word. But He has also given us His Holy Spirit. John 4:10-14 "Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." He has given to us His Living Water, His Holy Spirit. All we need do is ask and come to Him and we will receive. We will not thirst anymore. John 7:37 - "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." We will never thirst again, we will never be dry. That is why we need to be planted and rooted in Him. We will NEVER thirst again. In Him we will produce fruit, good fruit. Fruit from Him. In Him we can only produce good fruit, not bad fruit. Its like a tree that receives a lot of water and fertilizer. With good nourishment, it will produce a good harvest. The owners of the tree and land will be rejoicing over the bountiful. Jeremiah 31:12 - "They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD-- the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more." Our God is the same with us, He rejoices over our harvests and good fruit. As long as we are rooted in him, when the bad seasons come, we know without a doubt that we will make it through it and there will be harvest after the rains. Jeremiah 17:8 - "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." A garden with plenty of water will not be troubled in hard times. But have you seen a tree that has received little or no water? It looks sad, withered and eventually dies. We are exactly the same!! If we don't keep in the word, we get further away from God and eventually die spiritually. Jeremiah 2:13 - "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." There is no other water that the Living Water!! We continually have to be planted in the word and continually be receiving water from the Living Water. If we continue to live on what is good for us, what is right, we are going to produce good fruit. Good things will come to prosper in our lives. We will show evidence of the fruits of the spirit. Matthew 12:33 - "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." Matthew 7:17-18 - Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. If we are planted in what is good, we will produce good, not bad. But if we are planted and rooted in bad, in other words, in things of this world, in sin and selfish desires, and not of things of God, we are going to produce bad fruit. And that means we are walking away from God. John 15:1-8 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." We must remain in Him, if not we will be thrown into the fire. Matthew 3:10 - "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." We need to repent and turn from our evil ways, and run back to God. Be fully rooted in Him and His ways. So, when you face troubles, stay strong in God. Keep the faith and stay planted and rooted in Him. When your tree has been ripped of its leaves, and it is bearing all, take shelter under the God almighty. There are many verses in the Bible, that tells of taking shelter and refuge under His wings. Psalms 36:7 - "How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." Psalms 61:3-4 - "For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings." When you feel like there is no hope, remember Job 14:9 - "At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant." As long as you stay planted in the word and the Living Water of God, there is hope!! There is a time for everything, and a season for ever |