INTRO unveil the cougars
► Today you feel safe that you can see these wild animals without threat of harm
► Because they are locked behind these bars
► But if I unlock and open the door it would be a different story.
ƒ{ The reality is that all of us have a wild animal inside us named sin. (Nature)
ƒ{ Unfortunately what happens many times in the church world
* We get saved
* Instead of killing the wild animal
o (take up cross -- die to self)
* We try to tame the wild animal with bars of legalism
ƒ{ With the 'thou shall nots..."
ƒ{ And in the right circumstance
* The door of legalism gets left open
ƒ{ And the animal of:
* Lust
* Anger
* Jealousy
* Substances
* Etc.
ƒ{ Come out and destroy
* Left wondering why do I do what I don't want to do
ƒ{ Too many times we deal with bad fruit
ƒ{ And never get to the real issue of the root
ƒ{ I trust this series will be a thought provoking message on how
* Every fruit (action)
* Can be traced back to a root (stronghold)
* Can be traced back to a seed
o Seed - Event
- Accident
- Hurt
- Disappointment
- Etc.
ƒ{ I want to start by talking about Root Systems
Systems = A coordinated body of methods
ƒ{ We all have certain systems which govern our lives
ƒ{ Without systems everything in our lives become random
„o Systems, then, become the way we organize our lives so we can manage it
„X There are good systems
„X And bad systems
„X Good cages
„X Bad cages (cougars)
Financial Systems = how I organize and process my money as to manage my finances.
Family Systems = how I organize and process marriage and parenthood as to manage the outcome of my family.
ƒ{ If kids don't grow up in a good system they can't understand that:
„X Certain outcomes are produced by
„X Certain systems
„X 2 + 2 = 4
ƒ{ Kids who have
„X one step-dad that trips out
„X another step-dad who zone out
* has a hard time building good systems to get good results
„o Systems have to do with the order you follow
o Citipoint has order, a system
„o The more things we have going in life
„o The better our systems need to be! (multiple campuses)
„o One of the biggest growing counseling subjects is
o Family systems analysts
„X Because there are good systems
„X And bad systems
„X And inconsistent systems
„o If you have a bad system
„X Family
„X Money
„X Church
„o Putting more
„X Kids
„X Money
„X Preacher
o Won't fix it
„o In church
o You don't need a good preacher only
o You need someone to set the system in order (apostle)
o 1 Corinthians 12:28
And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
o If the system is broke
„o In Family
o You don't need to have more kids to fulfill the void
„o In money
o You don't need to first make more
o You need to first fix the system
EXAMPLE: if a large corporation has a bad system it's impossible to bail them out.
-No matter how many millions go in
-if the system is broke it only delays the inevitable
„o A good financial person
o Can observe your system, and
o Tell you where you're going wrong
„o The problem is many of our systems that govern our lives are not visible
EXAMPLE:
* Why do I manage conflict
o with anger
* Why do I withdraw from those
o who love me
* Why when I am lonely
o I view pornography
* Why do I sabotage
o Every relationship
* Why do I believe God has a great plan for everyone
o But me
* Why do I fear
o Commitment
* Why do I ignore
o God
* Why do I hate
o Authority
* Why am I
o Never satisfied
NOTE: Jesus tells us in the New Testament on two occasions to speak to obstacles -- broken systems.
Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can SAY to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Luke 17:5-6
5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can SAY to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
„o One system is above ground
„o One system is below ground
o Some obstacles are what we can see
o Some obstacles are Root Systems
„X Underground that nobody can see
„o I think we're too busy rebuking the mountain
„o And not the roots that caused the mountain!
„o We rebuke someone for:
„X Drinking
„X Drugging
„X Cheating on spouse
„X Anger
„o But my question is:
„X What root system
„X What's entangled in us
„X There is a root
„X That produced that fruit!
EXAMPLE: Today Casey and I had a conversation about:
How I don't preach against outward things (legalism)
But if you fall in love with God (relationship)
You can get to the root
„o We've tried too long to kill the fruit
„o And never got to the root
o If I pick all the apples off my apple tree
o They will still come back in the right season (circumstance, atmosphere)
„o Root of:
o Bitterness
o Hurt
o Resentment
o Abandonment
o Rejection
o Insecurities
„o Sometimes it's not what's on the outside that's blocking my victory (mountain)
„o Sometimes it's something way down inside, hidden from plain view called a Root System!
„o I find it interesting the type of tree Jesus used in his illustration
* It was a mulberry tree
o What make this tree unique is its root system
o Its root go down and out and intertwines with the roots of other trees
o So, to pluck up the roots of a mulberry tree is complicated.
o It takes:
„X Time
„X Grace
„X Patience
„X Precision
o Because while you are trying to pull up some roots
o It's hard to divide from other (good) roots.
o And we want to be fixed now!
ƒ{ We want our family & friends fixed now.
EXAMPLE: The root in me of zeal
The root of passion
Are healthy and they produce good fruit
But the root of anger -- intertwines
And is often hard to differentiate
And while I am trying to kill anger
I don't want to kill passion
o It becomes difficult to know why I produce the fruit I don't want to
o Because for years...
„X The good roots
„X And bad roots
„X The good systems and
„X Bad systems have
„X Been growing together!
o The bad things have integrated with the things that are good
„X Anointing(s) used for bad things, discernment.
o I know people who are successful on the outside
„X But are insecure on the inside
o We don't want to kill success
o But we do want to kill insecurity
o Your mountains are gone (outward)
„X Don't drink
„X Drugs
„X Etc
o But feel wrong inside
o Christians are great at telling mountains...
„X Outward to be removed
o But leaving roots (inside) alone
o We are not one dimensional
o There are a lot of root systems
o That make me who I am
EXAMPLE: Patti and I talked that me being loud was both good and bad; her being quiet is good and bad.
o Multiple events / wiring / personality / genes make us who we are!
* I am Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
o Ziggy -- if I could kill the person most responsible for my problems
o And it's not easy to crucify one and elevate the other
o When I try to turn off the bitter water
„X I turn off the sweet water
„X Because it flows from the same well
o I can't just build a dam
„X I must turn the bitter sweet
o Have you ever struggled with
„X Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
„X Simon & Peter
ƒ{ Over these next few weeks
ƒ{ I want to walk you through the process of:
* Speaking to the mountain
* Speaking to the mulberry tree
ƒ{ The key is in our speaking
ƒ{ Our words frame our universe
ƒ{ And speaking the truth of the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
► The spoken Word of God
► Can divide
...The good root and bad root!
o Divides the soul & spirit
