Happy New Year
Did anyone, besides me, eat too much?
I’m glad to say, the house is beginning to get back to normal (whatever normal may be in our house, can I get an Amen?)
Tuesday, the children will be getting back to their normal routines, as will we.
My New Year’s Resolutions
1 - Drink more water
2 - Transfer 15 pounds to muscle
3 - Study God’s word more
4 - Become more disciplined
As I read a few of the areas God has spoken to me to address this year, take a few moments and write down a few things God has spoken to you that He would like to see improved in your life this year.
Why do we start these things and by week 2, if we’re lucky, we’ve failed on half of them and by February, we’ve pretty much dumped them all?
We justify it by saying, "I’m only human, God understands".
Can I tell you what God says to me?
He says, "I understand. I understand that your life is too much about what you want and not enough of what I want for you".
Why do we get that way? Romans helps remind us what God has in store for us.
Romans 8:28 MKJV
(28) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
God wants to take care of us, but if we don¡¦t heed His warnings, he can’t. He will let us reep the consequences of our actions.
So, how exactly do we "Do what we want" and life for God?
You have your list of I wanna change-es?
Are you ready for the answers?
Turn to Luke 17:6
Jesus said in this scripture, When you finally decide to deal with wrong attitudes and things you do that have stalked and hounded your life for so long, you must order them to "be plucked up by the root and be planted by the sea"
I want to help you understand the impact of what God is saying to us here.
The words "plucked up by the root" comes from a compound word in the Greek called ekridzeo.
Ek = out
Rido = a root
Is there anyone here a gardener?
You cannot have a successful flower goarden if you just stand there and with the weeds away.
The person God is speaking of here in Luke is not a person who hopes the tree will be removed, but does nothing to make it happen.
This is the picture of a person who wraps his hands around the base of the plant, pulls with all his might and rips the roots of that plant right out of the ground.
He has made the determination that he is not going to stop until the ground he stands on is totally free from the roots of that nasty plant, so that it will never produce life there again.
That’s the way we must deal with wrong attitudes, bad habits, anything that God wants to see changed in us, that have been deeply rooted in our lives, in our souls for a long time.
I guarantee you that if those things have been at work in you for a long time, they are now deeply rooted in the way you think and behave.
There will be no accidental deliverance from these things. If your heat is to be liberated, it will be only as you choose to be liberated and do something about it!
That is part 1.
Here is part 2.
Jesus said that we need to command them to be "planted by the sea".
Planted comes from the Greek word phuteuo - To transplant something.
Jesus means that it must be permantly relocated to the sea.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus said you have to command wrong attitudes to be planted in the sea? Why not the garbage pile or dump?
What happens if you don’t get all the root?
What happens if you don’t dispose of the weed properly?
It takes root again.
By throwing it into the sea, you have plunged those wrong attitudes into a place where they will never grow again. It’s gone forever! They will never come back to re-root.
The salt water kills the plant down to the root.
This verse of scripture says to us, God is not interested in a quick fix, temporary relief; He wants them forever gone!
This is precisely how you have to look on the dead issues that you’ve spoken to and commanded to go.
Bitterness, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride
Even if your flesh wants to dwell on those hurts again, don’t allow that bitter tree to re-root in your life again! Bury it in the sea!
