After reviewing the course of our lives and the things the past has brought about, it is clear that many of us are dealing with hurt levied against us.  A damaged root is not always the fault of the wounded.  Nevertheless, issues remain and may cause lifelong struggles.  Life has a way of grounding even the most positive person.  Yet as we will learn through the scripture, God has the remedy for all afflictions. The Lord knew the heart and conflict of people.  The Creator prepared the way for full redemption even before we came to be.  He redeemed us from sin and the affect of it long before we were born.

Isaiah prophesied about this Savior:  He was “wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.”  Isaiah 53:5.  Jesus was both wounded and bruised.  He took on Himself the cumulative pain of the world when He drank the cup of death. Wounds are considered cuts from without.  They are punctures of the skin and muscle, sometimes even more severe, that cause extreme blood loss.  Bruising is not considered a wound as it is revealed through the inner broken blood vessels that show up under the thin layer of skin.  With bruising, the muscle and bone suffer the heavy hit that tenderizes the tissue. Sometimes bruising takes longer to heal than wounds.  Jesus suffered both.  He took it all on Calvary so that we could be free.  He was wounded and bruised for the sins of mankind.  Every internal conflict as well as every open sin was placed upon His body.   He was the Lamb of God that took away sins, shame, heartache, abuse, confusion, abandonment, and so much more.  It was the greatest redemption plan in human history; that God Himself would become a man and die for us.

The way for us to be healed is three-fold:  First we must ask and then accept His forgiveness for our lives.  He doesn’t hate us for the things we have done wrong. He is full of love and compassion. God is slow to anger, slow to wrath and of great kindness.  When we repent and bring ourselves before Him, He forgives us.  Repentance means an about face. We turn away from our old life to follow Him.  Secondly, we must learn how to forgive ourselves for our own mistakes.  There is no condemnation like self-condemnation.  This is the place where we are overcome with feelings of worthlessness, insecurity, and humiliation, but herein lies the beauty of the scripture.  1 John 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Finally, we must learn how to forgive others.  Even if they don’t ask for it; if they won’t admit to their infractions against us, we must learn how to forgive them openly and personally.  We cannot receive forgiveness from Christ if we do not sincerely forgive those who have wounded us. The Cross of Calvary is the clearest picture of this kind of forgiveness. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  Forgiveness then becomes the healing balm for every wounded and bruised life.  When we forgive others of their wrongs we not only release them, but we also set ourselves free.  The roots of our lives can become healed which in turn creates the fruit of peace, patience, and mercy.  If these things do not exist, then we must go back to the root and work to restore what is damaged. Jesus said that all men shall know that we are His by the fruit that we bear. He didn’t say “by the leaves” or by some personal commentary. We are known by our fruit. This means that we must seek every level of forgiveness in order to walk upright before the Lord. How wonderful it will be when our lives match our profession!  Speaking the truth in love that we may grow up in Him.  We are Taking Root.

Pastor Jeffrey Harpole

At the most basic level, a healthy Family is critical to a healthy church.  In fact, the family unit, also called the nuclear family, is the basic building block of all peoples, nations, and lands.  There is no other structure that can take the place of the Family.  God’s first institution was the marriage and that marriage was intended to result in the Family. Therefore the Root of a strong Church is a strong Family.  There is no such thing as a healthy church filled with dysfunctional families.  If we are to let our light shine unto men, then it must begin at home.  Fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, single parents, grandparents all share in this mission to create a healthy, vibrant, and positive root system so that the Light of Christ might be seen in this dark world.  The responsibility of the healthy root is the basis of our witness and ultimately our ability to reach lost souls.

The appearance of a Christian family should be an overspill of what is beneath.  Leaves might look good, but if there is not fruit, then there is no help to others.  If we are known by our fruit then it must begin in places that cannot be seen:  Prayer. Devotion. Bible reading. The fruit suffers without prayer.  In fact, a life without prayer and devotion creates an unstable life.  In a recent nationwide survey we found less than 10% of churchgoers spend more than 10 minutes of prayer a month.  Many said that outside of praying over dinner, they pray only when they attend church and that for a brief time.  Obviously the Root of Prayer is weak.  Anemic prayers create weak families which results in a lack of Faith. Open power and anointing are borne in private prayer and devotion.  No wonder why people feel so empty in times of trouble; they have no root to draw from.  For these reasons it is imperative to plant deep roots for the sake of our families, our church, and this great Gospel.

Pastor Jeffrey Harpole

Carelessly Esau sold his birthright away for a bowl of soup.  Notwithstanding Jacob’s deception or Rachel’s complicity, Esau did not live a sober life.  He was so confident in himself that he considered his own ability greater than his priceless birthright.  Unfortunately at the end he found himself empty and without the final blessing of his father. The Root was pride. Arrogance made him numb to the value of the birthright.  A haughty spirit possessed him as it does in so many people who think that they can recover, regardless of their flippant approach to the most sacred things in life.  Esau worked on the outward, disregarding the inward and it cost him everything.

Consider Samson.  He disrespected his parents and their years of commitment regarding his life.  He dishonored the Lord’s anointing as he played the game of power and retribution against the Philistines.  In the end,  Samson lost his anointing; his eyesight, and his life.  The root was much the same as Esau.  Both ignored a root issue that metastasized into a perilous moment.  Paul said 1 Corinthians 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

The Lord’s Prayer considered this point when Jesus said, “Pray,  …give us this day our daily bread…”  It was meant as a reliance upon God.

Jesus knew that not all needed food.  He knew that not all were hungry, but this was meant as a confession that even our most basic needs come from God.  It was a statement of humility that declared without Him we have nothing. The Root was the acknowledgement of God!  All things came from Him. He is the source of all things.  Acts 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being…”  If we can get the Root right; the one where God is the center and we acknowledge that He provides all anointing and blessing, then we will thrive and flourish.

Pastor Jeffrey Harpole

2 Kings 19:30  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

Isaiah will repeat this prophetic word in his self-titled book.  The promise was simple:  Those that remain faithful; dutiful; retaining the covenant from old time, shall take root downward which will be manifest outwardly or upwardly.  Within the prophecy lies a basic truth that mirrors the Law of Harvest and in that law lies the Root.  The Root is the origin, the genesis, the tuber that brings life and nutrients to the trunk and then to the leaves.  What we see in both fruit and leaves is enabled by the Root system.  Concerning ourselves with the outward only will never remedy the issue that lies beneath. It begins with the Root.  Our lives are similar.  If our Root system is healthy and strong, then it will be revealed.

A downward root will manifest itself in an upward fruit.  Yet lives without strong Roots always find conflicts above the surface.  Families with little or not godly Roots become spiritual nomads, birthing confusion instead of confidence in Christ. Single issue people develop over time because there is nothing below to balance their lives.  In the next four weeks we will investigate Root causes to conflicts; Root remedies; Scriptural understandings of the Church and the Family; the difference between a Leafy Life and a Fruit-bearing one, and much more.  Our quest is to be solid and stable or as Paul wrote:   1 Cor.15:58  “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” 

We are on a mission to make our calling and election sure. We are seeking a life pleasing to the Lord that will manifest itself above.  For that reason I submit:  Take Root.

Pastor Jeffrey Harpole