My grandmother says that every generation becomes wiser but weaker, and my mother and aunts often talk about how different my generation is from theirs. I have to admit that this stuff just kinda bounced off me for the longest time, but now that I have greater responsibilities, and I understand more about how challenging life can be, I can see more from their perspective. The pace of life can be rigorous, and if you want to squeeze every drop of happiness, prosperity, and well-being out of it, you have to find a way to keep pace. If you don’t, you stand to lose out big time.
In Mark 12:27(NKJV), Jesus Christ tells us an extremely important piece of truth about our Heavenly Father. He tells us that God “is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” This is a shock to the system for many people, because they have been taught that God kills people, hurts them, punishes and destroys them. These are things that the devil does; not our Heavenly Father; He’s a God of love. One of the greatest tricks of the enemy is to get people to call what he does ‘acts of God’, and to trick us into labeling the good and wonderful things that God does as evil and dark. This is how the devil bamboozles the believer into believing a lie instead of the truth.
Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the truth! Faith comes when the Word of God is heard, believed, and acted upon. It is impossible to build a solid foundation on the faith of Jesus Christ if you are believing a lie. The enemy knows this, and he swindles believers out of their destiny by tricking them into believing a lie in their hearts in order to undermine their faith.
Increasing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is how we grow spiritually. In John 15:5(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” Anything that does not grow will die. God is the God of the living! He wants us alive and thriving, all day, every day; but we start losing ground very fast when we’re not anchored in Jesus Christ. This isn’t what God wants for us. He desires us to prosper and be in good health, (3John 1:2) and the only way that we can accomplish this and please Heavenly Father is that we grow spiritually.
If we don’t stand for something, we might fall for anything. We see a lot of this today. People are not anchored in the truth, and because of this they are impressed by vain philosophy that causes tremendous damage to their souls. In Colossians 2:4(NLT), the Apostle Paul tells us that the way to avoid being deceived is to make sure we’re building our faith by the Word of God. He said, “I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.” Our souls prosper when they are fed a spiritually nutritious diet of the gospel. Did you know that every aspect of your existence can prosper and flourish in Christ? It can! Jesus Christ came to make not just an abundant life available to us, but a more than abundant life. And we have been given the Master’s blueprints to make it happen!
In 1Corinthians 3:10 (NKJV), the Apostle Paul said, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.” This is what we are, we’re the master builders of our lives. With every decision and choice, we are laying the groundwork for our futures. Everything that we do, think, and say are the building material for the kind of life we will have.
It stands to reason that if you want the good stuff, you’ve got to put good stuff out there. God has given us the best. He’s given us His Word, the example of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit. He’s given us the best, and therefore, He can expect the best from us! God’s best is that we become WISE master builders, the kind who are rooted and grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:6-7(NLT) tells us, “6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” We not only need a strong foundation for our own lives, but we need one sturdy enough to support the care of those of which we will influence, love, and impact.
Life will throw many challenges our way, and the enemy will test our faith. Those times when nothing is going right, when our wives or girlfriends are not happy or disappointed in us, when we’re swimming in bills with not enough cash coming through; when it feels like no one is in our corners; if we’re rooted and grounded in Christ, we will not be shaken when these storm winds blow. We’ll recognize the tricks of the devil, and we won’t let him rob us of the peace of God that passes understanding. When we live strong in Christ, our roots will grow down into him, we will be grounded in God’s Word, and our foundation will be strong.■
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
“Rooted and Grounded in Christ!” written by JMack.
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