What Are You Rooted In?

17, verse 7. We'll read these two verses, then

we'll pray and get started. The man who trusts

in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord,

is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by

water. It sends its roots out toward a stream.

It doesn't fear when heat comes, and its foliage

remains green. It will not worry in a year of

drought. or cease producing fruit let's pray

dear lord we come to you today and i pray that

we would be those who are well rooted in you

dear lord that we would be those who trust in

you god that we'd be those who long to to to

be uh sustained by you, dear Lord, to get the

nutrients from you, to grow in you, dear Lord,

in every way possible, that we'll be able to

produce fruit, dear Lord, that we'll remain green

in all seasons of our life, that we'll be well

-rooted enough, dear Lord, that even in seasons

of drought, that you'd keep us going. So I pray,

God, that you would just... Help me to preach

and teach in a way that brings glory to you.

I pray that you take away any fear or pride that

I have today. I pray that you would help people

to hear your words today, dear Lord. Nothing

I say, but only what you say. Let your spirit

lead us and guide us, dear Lord. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. Has anybody in this

room ever heard of Pawhuska, Oklahoma before?

If you have, raise your hand. Alright, we got

a couple of hands. Well, you've listened to hear

of it today. You probably haven't heard of it,

but you probably have heard of Pioneer Woman.

Has anybody ever heard of the Pioneer Woman or

watched her on TV? Yeah, that's a few more of

you. Well, that's where she is from, Pawhuska,

Oklahoma. Now, it is about as far away from here

as you can get in the corner of Oklahoma. It's

in the northwest corner, and when you get there,

you are nowhere. When you get there, you are

in the middle of... And I didn't really know

about it. Allison had mentioned it, and I got

to researching it. And we ended up going there,

and it's a really neat place to go. The main

town area is kind of stuck in the past. The hotel

we stayed in was built back in the 20s, and it's

not much there, but it's starting to grow because

of Pioneer Woman, and she's got a store there,

several stores there, and a few restaurants and

a few other little stores, and so it's a sleepy,

slow -paced little town in the middle of nowhere,

but it's a lot of good stuff, too. And one of

the things we saw while we were there was the

Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Reserve.

And that's where this picture is from. Now, this

is not a picture I took. The grass is not that

green. It's only a very little bit of green grass

there at the tail end of winter. But as the spring

begins to spring, the grass will begin to grow,

and it'll get really tall, up to nine, ten foot

tall, this grass will get. Now, this reserve

where these buffalo live, that's really the only

thing that's there, is about... 40 ,000 acres.

It's only 40 ,000 acres. And you say, well, that

seems like a lot. But it kind of paled in comparison.

We had left the Pioneer Woman Ranch before we

went there, which is 400 ,000 acres. And so this

was just a small little portion of land out there

in the middle of nowhere. And this land was not

always a land where buffalo roamed. Several years

ago, it's been quite some time ago now, they

decided to make this a reserve a wildlife reserve

and bring these buffalo in at the time there's

lots of cattle up there and so for years and

years and years there had been cattle on this

land and once it was decided that they would

set aside this portion of land for this wildlife

reserve they they they let it lay fallow for

10 years they took all the the cattle off of

it and they let it just sit and get prepared

for bringing in these buffalo that would come.

Now, before they brought the buffalo into the

land, they did a plant study to see how much

plant life was growing there on the 40 ,000 acres,

and it was about 30 different types of plants

that were growing there. Now once they began

to bring the buffalo in, some time went by and

it wasn't long after that they did another plant

study and discovered that there were over 700

species of plants that were growing there. And

that was because the ground was being tilled

by the hooves of the buffalo. Now the grass can

get up to 9, 10 foot tall, but very seldom does

it because the buffalo are constantly roaming

the land, eating the grass, tilling the grass,

rubbing it up with their hooves, rolling around

on it. And so very seldom does it get that tall

in all of the spots, but in some spots it does.

It was a great trip. I would love to go back

and see when the grass is green and when it's

tall, but we were able to see quite a few buffalo

on the trip. great learning experience just to

be out there in the middle of nowhere and as

far as the eye could see just open plains and

and it was it was a really good experience and

we went to the Welcome Center at this wildlife

reserve and what we found there was a little

bit of information but the most the thing that

struck me the most about this tall grass reserve

is not that the grass is nine ten foot tall above

the surface, but ever how tall the grass is above

the surface, it is also that deep into the ground

below the surface. It is well rooted. And that's

why it's able to go and grow that high is because

it's well rooted. And it can get the nutrients

it needs to grow and to be lush and to be green

and to be pretty. And when I saw the chart that

they had there and the picture that they had

there of how deep into the soil that those grasses

were rooted, I thought to myself, you know, we

as Christians should be well rooted. If we are

going to grow in the Lord, then we have to be

well -rooted. We can't just strive and desire

to grow outwardly on the outside because we'll

never grow as tall and as strong and as beautiful

if we want to be if we are not well -rooted.

We can only be as big and strong and tall outwardly

as we are inwardly rooted in God. And so the

question that we need to ask ourselves today

is, are we rooted in God? And if we are rooted

in the Word of God, if we are rooted in Jesus

Christ, how deep are our roots going? Are we

those who have just made that decision to follow

Jesus Christ, but we've got our roots in the

soil, but they're really not growing because

they're not being fed. They're not receiving

the nutrients that they need. Now, if you want

something to grow, you have to work with it.

You have to give it a little attention. It really

takes a little bit of work. It takes some effort

for things to grow. Last spring, we planted 179

Eliagnus bushes around our whole property. Some

of you have seen them when you drive by. And

you can see that they are growing. And right

before we left on the trip, my father and I,

we went and we fertilized every one of them.

And there's an irrigation line running around

every single one of them. And they get water

when there's a time that we go without much water.

When we water them, when we fertilize them, guess

what that does? It promotes growth. It helps

those roots to get deeper into the ground. And

the deeper into the ground, the more nutrients

they get and the bigger they're going to grow.

And our walk with the Lord really is not much

different. If we neglect our walk with the Lord,

If we neglect God, if we neglect God's word,

if we neglect our prayer time, then we are not

well -rooted. And we're not going to grow. We're

going to stay stagnant. And even worse than that,

if we don't put a little attention on our walk

with God, then eventually we are going to shrivel

up. And sometimes when plants begin to die, you

say, uh -oh, they're in bad shape. They need

a little attention. And maybe for some of us

spiritually today, we need a little attention.

There may be some things in our life that are

dead and that are rotten that need to be chopped

off. We need to fertilize our life and we need

to water our life with the Word of God, with

Jesus Christ. Our prayer life needs to improve.

And the more we grow in those things, the more

we will be better rooted in the Lord. And the

more we are rooted in the Lord in our heart,

the more that's going to change how we act and

how we live. On the outside. So if you want God

to change your attitude, to change your actions,

to change the way you live, then you've got to

let him change your heart. And that may begin

with you saying, God, I'm not giving you very

much attention. And I'm not very well rooted

in you. But maybe we need to say, okay, I need

to make some changes in my life. And in the same

way that those buffalo came into all that land

and began to till that soil and began to break

it up, there was a flurry of new life that began

to blossom out. And maybe that's what we need

to allow God's Word to do in our life. We need

to read it. And we need to read those words that

we like for encouragement. Those are good. Those

go -to scriptures, the happy ones, we like those.

But then we need to read those that are a little

rougher. They're a little tougher. They kind

of cut to the core. Those are the ones that are

going to begin to break through that hard surface.

And the more we begin to read God's Word, the

more it begins to kind of till our heart and

begins to kind of soften it up. And then... When

we begin to seek God, he can begin to grow us

in ways that we never imagined. In areas that

people might look at our life and say, boy, I

never thought he'd have been that way or she'd

have been that way. And that happens when our

life is changed by God. And we see... Kind of

the same type of language here in Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 17:7

17, verses 7 and 8. The man who trusts in the

Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is

blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water.

It sends its roots out toward a stream. What

about us today? Are we those who trust the Lord,

who are planted by the streams of living water

in Jesus Christ, who are planted in the Word

of God? Where are we sending our roots out to

today? If a tree, if a plant of grass is going

to be sustained and going to be healthy, its

roots have to reach down and grab some nutrients

and grab some good soil and grab some water.

But if the soil's not good, the roots aren't

going to be good. If the roots aren't going to

be good, then the tree's not going to be good.

So where are you sticking your roots today? Where

are our roots reaching out to today? Are we rooted

in the things of the world? Are we rooted in

our desires? Are we rooted in our pride? Are

we rooted in our hatred? The list goes on and

on and on. The Bible is, there's no shortage

of list of sins that we commit and that we struggle

with. And the question is, what are you rooted

in today? If you are rooted into the things of

the world, you are not going to grow and you

are going to die. But God says he wants to give

us life. He wants to give us eternal life. He

wants us to be those who trust in him and those

who are rooted in him and those of us who say,

God, I want to put my roots. I want to reach.

I want to stretch. I want to reach into the stream

of living water that is Jesus Christ that I may

receive life everlasting. So what are we rooted

in today? What are we striving for? What are

we reaching for deep down inside? What does our

heart desire? Does it desire the things of God

or does it desire our own selfish desires? And

maybe we look at ourselves today and we say,

you know what? I'm rooted in the wrong things.

I'm rooted in things for myself. I'm not rooted

in a life of God. But this is what's going to

cause us to grow to be the men and the women

that God wants us to be if we are rooted in Him

and sustained by Him. And if we are, It says,

as the scripture continues, it doesn't fear when

heat comes, its foliage remains green. If we

are well -rooted, we will be green. What about

us today? Do we remain green? Are we a tree that's

well -rooted, that's producing good fruit? Are

our leaves green and our fruit desirable? What

would people say about you in your life? Are

you a person that people want to be around? Do

you exhibit kindness and love and respect? Do

you care for other people? Do people even know

that you're a Christian by the way that you live?

Not if your leaves aren't green. Not if we're

not well rooted in the Lord. Our leaves are going

to be as brown and as dead and as ugly and as

useless as can be. And there ain't no good fruit

that comes from a tree with brown leaves. But

for the man and the woman who trust in the Lord

who is well -rooted, their leaves will remain

green. Now maybe you look at your life today

and you say, there are some leaves on my tree

that are starting to turn brown. Well, you better

cut them off and you better seek God and you

better check your root system and you better

see what you're rooted in and say, God, I need

some help. I'm seeing some brown leaves in my

life. And they come. There's no way around it.

They're going to keep coming because the sin

comes and the temptation comes and it's a constant

struggle. Anybody that's ever had plants, that's

ever planted a garden, you know it's a constant

struggle. You don't just plant it. They don't

just grow and be beautiful, and then you say,

that's it, and they're done for the rest of your

life. It's a constant battle. You always have

to maintain them. You always have to be looking

for the bugs. You always have to be aware of

the drought that may be around the corner. You

always have to find those dead leaves. No matter

how good you take care of them, eventually there's

going to be a leaf or two that's going to die,

a plant or two that's going to die. You always

have to be on top of it, and so it is for our

walk with the Lord. We try as hard as we can.

We should. But the truth of the matter is we

fail. And sometimes there are some spots in our

life that are starting to turn brown. There's

some bugs in our life. There's the enemy in our

life that's starting to eat through and starting

to cause trouble. And we have to deal with those

things. And the only way that we deal with those

things in our life is through Jesus Christ. The

only way that we can be sustained and remain

green in our life is when we are well -rooted

in the Lord. It says at the end of the verse,

it says it will not worry in a year of drought

or cease producing fruit. Now here's the thing

about life is that there are going to be seasons

in your life that are going to be a drought.

It'd be great if every season in life was beautiful

and good and no troubles, but the fact of the

matter is is that sometimes we are humans and

we sin and it causes us to get in a bad place

spiritually and sometimes there are just seasons

of drought and maybe the Lord allows us to go

there to draw us closer to him. Maybe we bring

ourself there because of our sinfulness and our

disobedience, but that's a bad place to be. If

you've ever been in a season of drought spiritually,

it's a bad place to be. And we get there when

we are not well -rooted in the Lord. But what

does the Scripture say? That for the man or for

the woman who trusts in the Lord, if we are well

-rooted, if our roots are reaching for that living

water, that even when the drought comes, we'll

make it through. That even in those difficult

times, even in those times we fail, even in those

times where life is hard, if we are well -rooted

in the Lord, we will not doubt Him, we will not

question Him, we will not give up on Him, we

will not turn to sin above God, but we will continue

to seek God and we will continue to trust God

and we'll say, God, I'm not where I need to be,

so God, help me to be rooted in You. How deep

are our roots today? If we want our tree, if

we want our grass of our spiritual life to grow

beautiful and tall, then our root system has

to be as deep in our heart as it is on the outside.

What is our heart rooted in today? Are we rooted

in Jesus Christ? Are we rooted in the things

of the world? Maybe today we realize that our

root system is not as deep as it needs to be.

Maybe today we need to say, God, I'm letting

you in. I'm opening up the wildlife reserve of

my heart that's nasty and dirty, and I need you

to come in with your word and your Holy Spirit,

and I need you to kind of trample on me, and

I need you to break up this soil, and I need

you to soften me up, and I need you to cultivate

in me a new heart that's going to produce new

fruit and better fruit and more beautiful things

that are there right now because, God, there's

not much good there. And we might not like to

say that but sometimes if we examine our heart

we realize that that is the truth. And so maybe

today the Lord wants to work on you. Maybe today

your heart's been hard. Maybe today there's sin

that you've been struggling with. And maybe today

the Holy Spirit wants to come in and shake you

up and break you up so that God can begin to

do a new work in you. But you must come to the

Lord and repent and seek him and say, God, I

need to be rooted in you. I hadn't been. But

dear Lord, I'm going to reach out to you now.

I want to be established in you today. And we

need to be in the word of God. Our prayer life

needs to improve. We need to seek to be obedient

to God. And we need to seek to follow. the example

of Jesus Christ and when we do these things what

you'll find is that your roots will begin to

grow and grow and grow your relationship with

God will begin to grow and grow and grow your

attitude toward others will begin to grow and

grow and grow and if you will allow God he can

make you into something beautiful today if you

would just be rooted in Jesus Christ let's pray

God, we come to you today, we thank you for these

good words, and I pray that you would help us

to live by them. God, I think, I hope that everybody's

desire in here is that we want to be that tree

that's planted by the stream, that we want to

be the one that remains green, dear Lord, that

has nothing to fear. But dear Lord, even if that's

our desire, sometimes we just fail. We want to

do good. We want to do right. We want to live

for you. And we try and sometimes we know better

and we still just sin. And it's not okay, God.

It's not good. But we just come to you and we

need grace because we don't deserve it because

we are sinners. But dear Lord, we just pray that

you'd give us grace through Jesus Christ. So

I pray, God, that if there is one today that's

been struggling with the things of the world

and the sins of the world and the struggles of

the world, that they would just... seek you God

maybe there are some in here today that have

never been rooted in Jesus Christ maybe they

know a little bit about scripture maybe they

know about church but maybe they've never really

just been planted in Jesus Christ maybe they've

been living for their self maybe they've been

rooted in their self and in the world but maybe

today for the first time they want to plant new

roots in Jesus Christ I pray God that even now

that they would repent of their sins that they

would ask to be forgiven that they would trust

Jesus Christ that they would be rooted in him

God, maybe there are some in here today and we

need a little pruning. Maybe we're already yours.

Maybe we need to be repotted today, dear Lord.

Maybe our roots are kind of struggling. Maybe

they need more room to grow. Maybe we need to

be trimmed up a little bit, dear Lord. Maybe

we need a little fertilizer, a little water.

God, I pray that we'd receive that through your

word, through the Holy Spirit. I pray that you'd

work on us, dear Lord, that you'd help us to

see the areas where we need to grow. Maybe we're

not as well -rooted as we need to be. God, maybe

we desire to be men and women who seek and serve

and live for you, and maybe we fail, and maybe

the reason why we fail as much as we do is because

we're just not rooted in you the way that we

should be. So I pray, dear Lord, today that we

would seek you, that we'd seek your word, that

we'd seek to listen to you, that we'd seek to

follow the example of Jesus Christ, that we would

be well -rooted, dear Lord, that we would be

so rooted in you, God, that it would transform

our life and transform our heart, that we would

be a light to this world. that those around us

will be able to see your beauty through us, through

the work that you do in our heart. And I ask

these things in Jesus' name. Amen.