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Stumps don’t bear fruit

Psalms 1:3 (AMP) And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season; Its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].

I was in prayer the other day and was sitting with something that I had read in a book recently. The author was talking about how sometimes that we go through times in our lives and we feel like a stump. We were once a beautiful tree and now we have been cut down through the storms of life. The question was asked if we could ever bear fruit again. The answer was as long as we have roots we can still grow. Then the thought came to me that people often identify as stumps and stay there. So that is where I started to intercede.

Matthew 17:16-20 (AMP) By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them [as false prophets].

Why would I want to identify with something that cannot bear good fruit? I say this because I have made statements of “feeling like a stump” or “I am broken.” We can say that God allowed us to do what was wrong to get us to the place He called us to be. Why do we say things that contradict His Word? Job did it. He said it was better to have never been born so that He would not have to go through the affliction. How many of us have said we are biding our time waiting for heaven? How about us just doing a little sin, because it’s not hurting anyone?

Where is the deception? It all surrounded a tree. Genesis 2:15-17 (AMP) So the Lord God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely (unconditionally) eat [the fruit] from every tree of the garden; but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience].” God gave us purpose from the beginning. It is up to us to cultivate and keep it. Here God is literally talking about trees. Cultivating was mankind’s job. We could touch the trees, and eat of all trees…but one.

Genesis 3:1-3 (AMP) Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.’”

God never said that they could not touch it. How often do we misinterpret what God says? Who was suppose to clarify the Word of the Lord? Adam. Did He take his rightful place? Nope. He was given a task to cultivate and to keep, just as we are. What are we suppose to cultivate and keep?

God gave Adam a commandment in the garden, we also have commandments we are suppose to be keeping. Mark 12:30-31 (AMP) and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” John 13:34 (AMP) I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.

Love is going to bear fruit. What fruit is is going to bear? Galatians 5:22-23 (AMP)  But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Now if I am identifying as a stump, then the focus has become on getting me. A place that I can grow and bear fruit. However, if I am remaining to be a stump, then I have made an excuse to not be fruitful. I have dug in my feet to not grow and I have made an excuse. However, we could NOT say that is where God would want me to be. Why? It contradicts His Word on where good fruit comes from. To say such would be to identify with the bad fruit (look back at Matthew 17:16-20). We have done just like Eve and misinterpreted God. Now we have opened up the door to the enemy for deception.

How can we correct such a thing? Get into a church that is going to teach the Word and point you to Christ. Submit yourself to spiritual authority as ordained by Christ in Ephesians 4:10-11. Get into relationships that challenge your view and will bring you back to the Word of God. We have too long tolerated warped interpretations in order to be accepting of others, especially when it comes to the character and nature of God. God does not need us to defend Him. He does need us to be bold and intercede. If you cannot walk along someone to disciple them, then you do not need to correct them. You are still instructed to intercede for them.

John 15:1-2 (AMP) I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].

He prunes, not cuts away, so that we may bear fruit. Stop identifying with the cut off parts. Stop identifying with the things put in darkness. He says He dispels darkness. He is the Light, and if we are in Him, then we are empowered by the Light. We have identified with things that do not line up with the Truth of His Word. Like Eve, we misinterpreted it and opened ourselves up for deception. I am not a stump. I am a tree planted by the Living Water. I am rooted and grounded in His Love. I bear good fruit!

Elohim, our Creator, we honor You with a prayer of thanksgiving. We see the importance of why You sent Your Son. The first sin had to do with a tree and the Restorer had to be hung on one. We know that He completed the work on the cross. We know that He rose from the grave and now resides at Your right hand ever interceding for us. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Even though the Light of the World does not reside here with us, His power resides in us through the Holy Spirit. We repent for identifying with anything that does not bear fruit nor brings light. We are sorry for the pity parties we through for ourselves and invite others to. We should be celebrating Your Kingdom. Thank You for forgiving us in our moments. Thank You for not wanting us to stay there. We choose joy today. We choose love today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose hope today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Dream Big

Matthew 6:33 (AMP) But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.

Psalms 37:4 (AMP) Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.

Philippians 3:10 (AMP) And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did].

Ephesians 3:16-19 (AMP)  May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

These are verses that I stand on for my own life. If you read from top to bottom you will start to see what my heart’s desire is. I want to know Him more and do His will. My dream is to have a place to disciple others to draw closer to Him. Right now, our church has been having to meet on Sundays at one thirty in the afternoon due to us not having our own building. As pastors, we are looking and dreaming of other locations until we can buy what we want. The discouragement comes when it seems that we are all alone in this vision. I know that is not true. Elijah fought the same thought patterns (1 Kings 18:22), when God told him there were 7,000 (1 Kings 19:18).

This summer I was asked to take some teenagers to camp. A few years ago we had developed a team, now we do not meet weekly. It is something I grieve, but I pray it is only temporary. The group I took consisted of my youngest son, three other teenage boys from other churches and three teenage girls, all attending another church. The camp was over a five day period, starting on a Saturday, which means I was not going to be at my home church on Sunday. There were people I put in place to handle certain things, but life happens and not everyone was there. Discouragement set in once again. People have walked away from us since the transition (people that said they would support the vision). Giving has taken a tremendous drop in the past two years. How can we move to a location and even pay double in rent that we are now, or how would be even support our own place? I was serving, but I can tell you, I was hurting. I am glad I went and served. Why? I found out that I was not the only one with these experiences. Actually, I found out that I was more seasoned in this part of leadership and was able to make a new friend. I was able to give someone hope. I was able to tell them that you can survive and even thrive, even though others have walked away. We are grounded in the love of Christ. We keep our desire on knowing Him more and establishing His Kingdom. Stay strong in His power. Find out who Christ is though the “I Am” statement and make them personal. Do not let the vision die!

Then that is all the camp was about. My youngest was encouraged with Brandon Dixon, a baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals. His team won the world series in 2011. I loved this because that was my grandfather’s favorite team. I remember him being so excited that year. Brandon did not have the way of getting to the major’s like we thought he would of. It was a God way. He did not have a promoter or a recruiter scout him, he had a friend. He said he just kept God first no matter what. Even if his family, while growing up, was not in church, he was. Just do not quit. Eli has a dream of playing ball in college and this really encouraged him. Like Brandon, Eli is a pitcher.

We also heard from Aaron Knight, the director for the camp. A few summers before we had heard the camp had been sold to a developer and would be torn down. Aaron had a vision for the camp and started pursuing a way to save it. He started with maintaining the grounds, even when he did not own it. It was over a year before the developer would even have a meeting with him. Then when he did get the meeting, the price was in the millions. The guy had nothing, he had never fund raised before, and he does not have a huge church. He did have a vision. My take away: “Do not give up on life because circumstances are not what you hoped for.” They are almost two years into the lease purchase agreement and they hope to have it paid off by the end of this year. It does not make sense. God still performs miracles today.

My husband and I have been sowing this summer for our miracle. We have a desire to have at least 7 acres in the city limits. Our desire is to be in walking distance to the high school here. We have a piece of property we are believing for. The cost for this piece of land is $350,000. Why? We want to have a place open 24 hours, and 7 days a week. A place of worship and community. We want a laundry facility open to the public. We want a community kitchen. We want a place where families can be restored. We want a place for people to worship and pray. We want a climate controlled basketball facility. We have a vision board that we put out every Sunday:

Please pray for us as we have a big dream. No dream is too big for God. Connect Church does have a building fund. We are no where near being able to purchase the land as of today. That does not mean that it will not happen suddenly!! We are standing on Hebrews 11:1, Amos 9:13-14 MSG, Isaiah 43:18-19 and Psalms 44:3 TPT.

Dream big dreams! Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart. (Psalms 37:4). My joy and hope are secured once again!

Jehovah Shammah (the Lord is present), You are worthy of honor and praise. Our hearts desire is only You. Thank You for sending Your Son so that we are now grounded in Your love. Let those roots of love go so deep that nothing else matters. Thank You for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Thank You that we know Your voice, we know Your character and a nature and we will not let the circumstances of this life discourage us. Thank You for the renewal of Your vision for our lives. Thank You for giving us big dreams and trusting us with establishing Your Kingdom here on earth. Thank You for the gift of the five fold ministry. Thank You for the gift of the body (the church). We repent for judging, for envying, for jealousy, for coveting, for familiarity and for being self focused. We do not want to be enslaved to anything that does not bring freedom and glory through Your Name. We choose love today. We choose hope today. We choose forgiveness today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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So Loved

John 3:16-18 (MSG) This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

The most quoted verse, John 3:16. We see people holding poster boards with “John 3:16” written at different events. Our athletes have it written on their face or on their clothing somewhere when they go into a game. It is the most well known of all the verse, other than the shortest verse…Jesus wept.

Have you heard something so many times and the meaning of it gets watered down? I think that is how we get about the “So Loved” part of this scripture. The KJV says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I was thinking on this verse on how Jesus told us to love. Can we love as big as He did? We often look at the word “so” and say His love is so great, that He gave. What if we see the word “so” as how He loves, not why He loves? Does God really need a why? Love is in His DNA, it is His character and nature. He did not need a reason, so why should we?

This time of year can be really difficult for some people. Think of the mother and father that no longer have the structured family they had in previous years. My thoughts are with an individual who will be spending their first Christmas without their children waking up in their home, because of divorce. Those parents who are empty-nesters for the first time and not all the kids could come home or Christmas. Those that have been home bound since COVID and never got back out to doing life like it was before.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (AMP) May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

“Having been deeply rooted and securely grounded in love,” that is what we must hold onto when those around us do not make us feel loved. I have been deeply rooted and securely grounded in love. Past tense, it has already been done, I do not have to wait for it to be done.

1 John 4:10-11 (AMP)  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath]. Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another.

Beloved, give love regardless of what others have done. God so loved, that He gave first. Be known for your love (unselfishly seeking the best for others). That is what the joy of this season is all about. Remembering that He SO LOVED! God is a giver and so should we be too. Why? Because we have been deeply rooted and securely grounded in love. We have everything we will ever need when Jesus came. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior our DNA was changed to love. Show your SO LOVED today!

Father, thank you for sending your Son and planting the seed of SO LOVED. You are so wonderful. You are so glorious. You are worthy of our honor and praise. Thank you for deeply rooting me and securely grounding me in your love. I desire to be a giver and thank you that you have given me the tools in your love to give. I will never be alone because of your love. May I be an encouragement to others that do not feel loved during this season. Let me see them. Anoint my tongue and my hands, lead me to minister reconciliation to them, as we are all called to do. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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The struggle of acceptance

Ephesians 3:16-19 AMP May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

I struggle with acceptance. In my previous post titled, “Stepping out of fear into my hiding place,” I mentioned how I am coming out of being an extreme introvert. Yesterday was another challenge for me. We have had to do video worship before, when we were lacking musicians, for a season. Yesterday was such a day. When doing video worship I and others will stand in front of and face the congregation to worship (a style of leading). Thankfully the screen for the lyrics were above everyone’s heads. However, now we are live streaming the service. Now I have to be mindful of my face. Something that I was told to me to do in the past. I was told that I had the look of someone who could bite a car in half. Wow! That was sure encouraging to hear!!

The above scripture was needed for me yesterday and I hope it encourages you to do the hard things. Without the Holy Spirit I would not have been able to stand in front of people. He is who energizes me. He is the one who I want to reflect in my innermost being and personality. He is the only one who can soften that face of mine. How? I am rooted and securely grounded in the love of Christ. Even though it was someone “in Christ” that told me that I had the look of someone who could bite a car in half, that was not what Christ would say. Christ would never tell you something that made you feel unlovable. His love is endless!

I do not like that I struggle with acceptance. I do not like not feeling uninvited. So what do I need to do? Verse 19, above, tells me that I get to know this endless love more when I allow Him to work through me through practical experiences. I can know all those scriptures in my head, but until I step out (in courage) I am not going to know the true richness of those Words. In order for me to be complete, made whole, I have to give the Prince of Wholeness something to work with. I had to stand up in front of the church yesterday and lead worship by video. Why? Verse 20 has a promise…look for the key word “now.” Now follows a responsibility on my part.

Ephesians 3:20-21 AMP Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.

When I yield the feeling of not being accepted and rest in Him (faith in action, not the absence of acting), He can fulfill His purpose. His purpose is superabundantly more than I can thing or dream of. I have often read the scripture about seeking first and foremost the Kingdom and all things will be given to you also (Matthew 6:33). If we really believed that and did that with all of our hearts, the things we thought we wanted would pale in comparison to the fulfillment of walking in your purpose. That is where I want to be.

Praying this encourages you to step out a little more into your purpose today.