by Ps. Melven : 5th August 2018
As we spoke on a previous occasion, we noticed the devastation and consequences of having a root of bitterness. We specifically outlined the symptoms of having a deep root of bitterness.
Today, we will delve into what a root of righteousness can do and how to plant, water and grow it.
As an introduction, lets read some scriptures that should give us an overall picture and basis to frame this topic on –
Proverbs 12:3
3 A man is not established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous cannot be moved.
Proverbs 12:12
12 The wicked covet the catch of evil men,
But the root of the righteous yields fruit.
Col 2:6,7
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Romans 11:16
16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Imagine the above scriptures, but with a root of bitterness. One cannot bare to see the corruption this will cause to the person whose rooting it and also the people around you.
How do you root out the bitter ones while plant the righteous ones?
- Righteous roots have to be planted
2 Kings 19:30
30 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
If the fruit has to be borne upward, roots have to be planted downward.
Notice the word “again“. To provide a context of the above scripture, Judah along with all Israel seriously messed up. But the promise of God is – “again“.
To take this in a contemporary sense, how many of us have messed up? Remember, nothing is lost. God can redeem your life and your character. He is a God of second chances.
What do I do then? Plant good ones. But how do I plant? Use a seed!
A seed has to planted into the soil. That necessitates digging the soil deep enough for the seed to take root. A seed will not grow if left neglected anywhere.
In every sense of the statement made above, a seed has to be planted in one’s life. It does not matter how many sermons, messages or teaching you have learnt. Every nugget of God’s word has to be planted.
- Invest your time in the Word (not once a week but daily)
Psalms 92:13,14
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
What is the house of the Lord?
The place we gather with our brothers & sisters to seek Gods face is the house of the Lord.
What do I do next?
You must plant righteous seeds. This translates – Application of the Word of God.
- Righteous seed has to be watered
Jeremiah 17:7,8
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Notice –
- “will not fear when heat comes”. Imagine a life without any fear because you are solely trusting God and will stand strong no matter the heat.
- “leaf will be green”. Even when the heat is bearing down on it?
- “will not be anxious in the year of drought”. When no water exists, the tree stands reflecting the glory of the sun on its green leaves
- “will cease from yielding fruit”. We need a lot of this in our lives.
Psalm 1:1-3
1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
Notice –
- “That brings forth its fruit in its season” – Everything part of your life has its season. God works with you and in you to yield appropriate fruits in its season. God generally takes a person on a journey to cultivate this fruits.
- “whatever he does shall prosper” – This part of the promise is quiet pleasing. In order to get the last part, we must plant and water the seed.
- “Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly” – We often neglect to see this. What happens in the organizations we work in, when a rule/procedure is not followed but bypassed knowingly for either monetary or positional benefits?
Do we accept it and walk in it? Or we stand apart saying ‘NO’ and become side-lined? This may result in you forgoing your promotions, increments or bonuses.
What is watering?
- Reading the Word of God
- Meditating on the Word of God
- Hearing & studying it.
The more you dig the Word, the more rooted will you be, the more fruits will you yield.
Our God is one who gives second chances. Even if you offer him a resume filled with your un-accomplishments, He will gladly take them and use you to shame the wise of the world.
Revelation 12:15
15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
Isaiah 59:19
19 When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Notice –
- “after the woman” – This the church of God.
- “serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood” – Have you ever been in a situation or a point in life where everything seems overwhelming, people pointing fingers and accusations flying like arrows?
Resembles the flood of the serpent, doesn’t it? The flood of words or circumstances.
Deception is so convincing because the lies are masked under the guise of truth.
This is the reason why the Word of God is important and much needed in our lives. Hence, we must plant and water the Word of God so deep in our lives that no matter the wind & rain, heat & drought, the Word will nourish you.
- Righteous seed needs to be manured and fertilized
Luke 13:6-9
6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it [b]use up the ground?’
8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
Notice –
- “until I dig around it and fertilize it” – The fig tree was not bearing fruit. However, another chance was given to be nourished and fertilized.
Some part of our lives are dark and needs fertilizing.
What is fertilizing?
Prayer of course! It helps the seed take root and grow in the soil in order that it may bear fruit upward.
2 Kings 19:30
30 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
This is an interesting story and when looked in context, reveals so much wisdom.
2 Kings 18
1-4 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz began his rule over Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David. He got rid of the local fertility shrines, smashed the phallic stone monuments, and cut down the sex-and-religion Asherah groves. As a final stroke he pulverized the ancient bronze serpent that Moses had made; at that time the Israelites had taken up the practice of sacrificing to it—they had even dignified it with a name, Nehushtan (The Old Serpent).
Notice-
- “He was twenty-five years old when he became king” – God does not need only old people to become kings. Anyone who follows his Word is enough qualification.
- “In God’s opinion he was a good king” – This was not man’s opinion but Gods. Hezekiah was good in the eyes of the Lord. But, know this – Even Hezekiah dint do everything right.
13-14 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the outlying fortress cities of Judah and captured them. King Hezekiah sent a message to the king of Assyria at his headquarters in Lachish: “I’ve done wrong; I admit it. Pull back your army; I’ll pay whatever tribute you set.”
14-16 The king of Assyria demanded tribute from Hezekiah king of Judah—eleven tons of silver and a ton of gold. Hezekiah turned over all the silver he could find in The Temple of God and in the palace treasuries. Hezekiah even took down the doors of The Temple of God and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold and gave them to the king of Assyria.
Notice-
- “I’ve done wrong; I admit it.” – Even a king can go wrong and can have the boldness to admit it.
- “eleven tons of silver and a ton of gold.” – A modern equivalent would be 47 crores & 276 crores resulting in 323 crores.
- “Hezekiah turned over all the silver he could find in The Temple of God and in the palace treasuries. Hezekiah even took down the doors of The Temple of God and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold and gave them to the king of Assyria.” – Hezekiah stripped down the temple of God to pay the king Assyria. In simple terms – He stole the tithe.
17 So the king of Assyria sent his top three military chiefs (the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh) from Lachish with a strong military force to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool on the road to the laundry commons.
18 They called loudly for the king. Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went out to meet them.
19-22 The third officer, the Rabshakeh, was spokesman. He said, “Tell Hezekiah: A message from The Great King, the king of Assyria: You’re living in a world of make-believe, of pious fantasy. Do you think that mere words are any substitute for military strategy and troops? Now that you’ve revolted against me, who can you expect to help you? You thought Egypt would, but Egypt’s nothing but a paper tiger—one puff of wind and she collapses; Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but bluff and bluster. Or are you going to tell me, ‘We rely on God’? But Hezekiah has just eliminated most of the people’s access to God by getting rid of all the local God-shrines, ordering everyone in Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at the Jerusalem altar only.’
23-24 “So be reasonable. Make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them. You can’t do it? Well, then, how do you think you’re going to turn back even one raw buck private from my master’s troops? How long are you going to hold on to that figment of your imagination, these hoped-for Egyptian chariots and horses?
25 “Do you think I’ve come up here to destroy this country without the express approval of God? The fact is that God expressly ordered me, ‘Attack and destroy this country!’”
Notice-
- “He said, “Tell Hezekiah: A message from The Great King” – The enemy speaks and that too loudly. Moreover, when the enemy ask you to do something in exchange for his silence, he will never keep the deal.
- “You thought Egypt would, but Egypt’s nothing but a paper tiger” – The whole world knew what had taken place when Israel was set free from slavery in Egypt.
- “Hezekiah has just eliminated….all the local God-shrines” – Hezekiah had demolished and destroyed all the shrines and temples of the pagan gods and asked the people to worship at Jerusalem.
- “I’ll give you two thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them. You can’t do it?” – The enemy insults leading to condemnation. The enemy is basically saying – I’ll give you the weapons if you can fight.
- “Do you think I’ve come up here to destroy this country without the express approval of God? “ – When the enemy comes to taunt, he does so saying – God allowed this to happen.
26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand Aramaic. Don’t speak in Hebrew—everyone crowded on the city wall can hear you.”
27 But the Rabshakeh said, “We weren’t sent with a private message to your master and you; this is public—a message to everyone within earshot. After all, they’re involved in this as well as you; if you don’t come to terms, they’ll be eating their own turds and drinking their own pee right along with you.”
Notice –
- “We weren’t sent with a private message to your master and you; this is public—a message to everyone within earshot.” – When the enemy attacks you, he does not do so in private. Its generally for public display.
Shame generally follows when one is brought low in front of people.
- “they’re involved in this as well as you” – Remember that when conducting spiritual warfare, the people around you are as much involved as you are.
28-32 Then he stepped forward and spoke in Hebrew loud enough for everyone to hear, “Listen carefully to the words of The Great King, the king of Assyria: Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; he can’t save you. And don’t let Hezekiah give you that line about trusting in God, telling you, ‘God will save us—this city will never be abandoned to the king of Assyria.’ Don’t listen to Hezekiah—he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Listen to the king of Assyria—deal with me and live the good life; I’ll guarantee everyone your own plot of ground—a garden and a well! I’ll take you to a land sweeter by far than this one, a land of grain and wine, bread and vineyards, olive orchards and honey. You only live once—so live, really live!
Notice –
- “Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; he can’t save you. And don’t let Hezekiah give you that line about trusting in God, telling you, ‘God will save us” – Isn’t this the same war we have in our heads? One side says ‘let go’ while the other side says ‘don’t let go’.
- “I’ll take you to a land sweeter by far than this one, a land of grain and wine, bread and vineyards, olive orchards and honey” – This is what the Lord promised to the people of Israel. Now this illusion is being offered to the Israelites in the middle of siege.
- ” You only live once—so live, really live!” – Isn’t this the philosophy of the world? Now we know where it originated from.
32-35 “No. Don’t listen to Hezekiah. Don’t listen to his lies, telling you ‘God will save us.’ Has there ever been a god anywhere who delivered anyone from the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? And Samaria—did their gods save them? Can you name a god who saved anyone anywhere from me, the king of Assyria? So what makes you think that God can save Jerusalem from me?”
Notice –
- “Don’t listen to his lies, telling you ‘God will save us” – This was the same the day eve eat the fruit, it was the same when Hezekiah fought the Assyrians and now it will still be the most prominent strategy of the devil.
36 The people were silent. No one spoke a word for the king had ordered, “Don’t anyone say a word—not one word!”
37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, and Shebna the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went back to Hezekiah. They had ripped their robes in despair; they reported to Hezekiah the speech of the Rabshakeh.
1-3 When Hezekiah heard it all, he too ripped his robes apart and dressed himself in rough burlap. Then he went into The Temple of God. He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all of them dressed in rough burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They said to him, “A message from Hezekiah: ‘This is a black day, a terrible day—doomsday!
Babies poised to be born,
No strength to birth them.
Notice –
- “he too ripped his robes apart” – When you are in a difficult situation, don’t do things by yourself. Make sure your faith is in the word of God.
- “to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz” – Here enters a character who was deep rooted in the Word of God and knew God intimately.
4 “‘Maybe God, your God, has been listening to the blasphemous speech of the Rabshakeh who was sent by the king of Assyria, his master, to humiliate the living God; maybe God, your God, won’t let him get by with such talk; and you, maybe you will lift up prayers for what’s left of these people.’”
5 That’s the message King Hezekiah’s servants delivered to Isaiah.
Notice –
- “Maybe God, your God” – Does it look like Hezekiah gave up hope? Isn’t God, Hezekiah’s also? When faced with a difficult situation, it happens to the best of us. We do not see any hope and give it up. That’s when your family – The Church, comes into play, both in prayer and strengthening by fellowship.
6-7 Isaiah answered them, “Tell your master, ‘God’s word: Don’t be at all concerned about what you’ve heard from the king of Assyria’s bootlicking errand boys—these outrageous blasphemies. Here’s what I’m going to do: Afflict him with self-doubt. He’s going to hear a rumor and, frightened for his life, retreat to his own country. Once there, I’ll see to it that he gets killed.’”
Notice-
- “Isaiah answered them, “Tell your master, ‘God’s word: ” – Isaiah was ready with the answer because he was seeking Gods face long before the event occurred.
- “Don’t be at all concerned” – Isn’t this the most inappropriate thing to say when you are faced with a very concerning situation?
- “Afflict him with self-doubt.” – When encountering a difficult situation when your standing for righteousness sake, God will be fighting for you and create a fire in the enemy camp.
8-13 The Rabshakeh left and found that the king of Assyria had pulled up stakes from Lachish and was now fighting against Libnah. Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to fight against him. So he sent another envoy with orders to deliver this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: “Don’t let that god that you think so much of keep stringing you along with the line, ‘Jerusalem will never fall to the king of Assyria.’ That’s a barefaced lie. You know the track record of the kings of Assyria—country after country laid waste, devastated. And what makes you think you’ll be an exception? Take a good look at these wasted nations, destroyed by my ancestors; did their gods do them any good? Look at Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, the people of Eden at Tel Assar. Ruins. And what’s left of the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah? Bones.”
Notice-
- “So he sent another envoy with orders to deliver this message to Hezekiah king of Judah” – Even on the way out, the enemy will spew insults, threats and curses. But, know that our faith rests in Gods word alone!
- “You know the track record of the kings of Assyria” – when threats don’t work, the enemy changes tactics – Bring your history to weigh In condemnation. ‘You have faced failure before. What makes you think you’ll win now?’
14-15 Hezekiah took the letter from the envoy and read it. He went to The Temple of God and spread it out before God. And Hezekiah prayed—oh, how he prayed!
Notice-
- “He went to The Temple of God and spread it out before God.” – This is what we were talking about. Fertilizing. Laying before God what looks like a hopeless situation and allowing him to deal with it.
22 Who do you think it is you’ve insulted?
Who do you think you’ve been bad-mouthing?
Before whom do you suppose you’ve been strutting?
The Holy One of Israel, that’s who!
Notice-
- We should ultimately realize that when we offer vengeance to God, He will come at it with His fury along with an awesome redemptive power.
23 You dispatched your errand boys
to humiliate the Master.
You bragged, “With my army of chariots
I’ve climbed the highest mountains,
snow-peaked alpine Lebanon mountains!
I’ve cut down its giant cedars,
chopped down its prize pine trees.
I’ve traveled the world,
visited the finest forest retreats.
24 I’ve dug wells in faraway places
and drunk their exotic waters;
I’ve waded and splashed barefoot
in the rivers of Egypt.”
25 Did it never occur to you
that I’m behind all this?
Long, long ago I drew up the plans,
and now I’ve gone into action,
Using you as a doomsday weapon,
reducing proud cities to piles of rubble,
Notice-
- “now I’ve gone into action, Using you as a doomsday weapon” – God sometimes uses our enemies to humble us and make us the instruments by which people around us can see the power of God.
26 Leaving their people dispirited,
slumped shoulders, limp souls.
Useless as weeds, fragile as grass,
insubstantial as wind-blown chaff.
27 I know when you sit down, when you come
and when you go;
And, yes, I’ve marked every one
of your temper tantrums against me.
Notice-
- “know when you sit down, when you come and when you go” – God knows all things and has his eye on you all the days of your life. Be it in darkness or in light.
28 It’s because of your temper,
your blasphemous foul temper,
That I’m putting my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth
And turning you back
to where you came from.
29 And this, Hezekiah, will be for you the confirming sign:
This year you’ll eat the gleanings, next year
whatever you can beg, borrow, or steal;
But the third year you’ll sow and harvest,
plant vineyards and eat grapes.
30 A remnant of the family of Judah yet again
will sink down roots and raise up fruit.
This is how Hezekiah become deep rooted downward and bore fruit upward.
Remember this:
When the enemy messes with you, he is messing with one of Gods own. Lets be rooted, planted and fertilized in his Word.
Luke 13:8,9
8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
We had Jesus giving us another change on the cross. Now that we have been set free, lets take up the mantle to live our lives in freedom.
