Tag Archives: roots

December 15, 2023 · 5:29 AM

Growing Deeper Roots

I was speaking with someone recently who in a matter of days was robbed, had their car break down, lost their job and had a family member diagnosed with cancer. They still trusted in God, and though they were shaken, they believed God would meet every need. A person like that has deep roots in their faith. A season like this will not blow them over, but actually cause their roots to go deeper. Have you considered how deep your roots in Christ are? In Matthew 13 Jesus told a parable about a farmer scattering seeds. Some fell in shallow soil and when the heat came, they dried up. Some fell among the thorns and the roots were chocked out. Some fell in fertile soil and the roots went deep. This person planted their roots in God’s Word and not only survived, but produced in every season. Determine today to plant your roots in Christ and trust Him no matter what season you’re in.

Here are some Bible verses on growing deeper roots.

1. 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.

Colossians 2:7 NLT

2. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

3. Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep roots.

Proverbs 12:3 NLT

4. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Ephesians 3:16-17 NLT

5. There is hope for a tree that has been cut down; it can come back to life and sprout. Even though its roots grow old, and its stump dies in the ground, with water it will sprout like a young plant.

Job 14:7-9 GNT

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April 27, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Breaking Spiritual Dormancy

I was helping my son prepare for a science test recently. His class was learning about seeds, germination, the parts of a flower and roots. I was going down the study guide asking him questions and he was doing pretty good. I then read a question that said, “What is dormant?” He replied word for word what the study guide said. It was, “Alive, but not growing.” I kept reading the other questions on the guide, but my mind kept going back to that definition. I asked him to define it again. I started thinking how so many of us live dormant Christian lives. We’re alive in Christ, but we’re not growing. Then I started to think about areas in my life that are dormant according to that definition. I believe God wants to wake us up from dormancy and begin the germination process in each of us where our roots grow.

I researched how to wake a seed up from dormancy. I found that the process is called breaking dormancy. I believe it’s pretty similar to how we break out of spiritual dormancy too. The first thing you have to do is soak the seed in water. The water has to penetrate the seed coat that is keeping the seed dormant. For you and I that means we need to saturate ourselves in the water of God’s Word. We have to let it penetrate into every area of our lives removing the things that so easily beset us. We can’t just read the Bible for content. We have to read it to connect with a God, to hear what He has to say and to declare it over the dormant parts of our lives. God is faithful to complete the work He began in you (Philippians 1:6).

In order to break dormancy, a seed also needs oxygen. I can’t help but think of Adam, having been fully formed laying on the ground. He had everything he needed to sustain life, but was laying there. It was then that God breathed the breath of life in him and man came alive. I believe God wants to breathe His breath of life into the parts of our lives that are dormant and bring them to life. Like Ezekiel had to prophesy to the valley of dry bones for breath to come in them, you may need to speak to those dormant areas of your life and speak life back into them. Once we do that, the germination process can begin and the primary root will come out and begin the growth process. Colossians 2:7 says, “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” (NLT). Growth is around the corner. You can break out of spiritual dormancy.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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December 17, 2021 · 5:42 AM

Spiritual Roots

Roots are pretty incredible structures. We rarely see them when we look at plants and trees, but they are viral to their survival. Roots help anchor the tree in place to keep it from getting blown over by winds or pushed over by something. They also absorb nutrients from the soil they’re planted in and use them to feed the tree. It’s no wonder the Bible’s uses trees as metaphors for us. Where your roots are grounded matters. Each of us have our roots somewhere and they are feeding our spirit. They also are our anchor when we run into difficult seasons. Have you thought about your root system or are you more concerned with how things appear above ground?

Here are some Bible verses on roots.

1. See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.

Hebrews 12:15 AMP

2. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.

Matthew 13:21 NLT

3. What the wicked construct finally falls into ruin, while the roots of the righteous give life, and more life.

Proverbs 12:12 MSG

4. And I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love.

Ephesians 3:17-18 GNT

5. Your spiritual roots go deeply into his life as you are continually infused with strength, encouraged in every way. For you are established in the faith you have absorbed and enriched by your devotion to him!

Colossians 2:7 TPT

Where you have your roots matters.

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October 19, 2020 · 5:59 AM

Breaking Spiritual Dormancy

I was helping my son prepare for a science test recently. His class was learning about seeds, germination, the parts of a flower and roots. I was going down the study guide asking him questions and he was doing pretty good. I then read a question that said, “What is dormant?” He replied word for word what the study guide said. It was, “Alive, but not growing.” I kept reading the other questions on the guide, but my mind kept going back to that definition. I asked him to define it again. I started thinking how so many of us live dormant Christian lives. We’re alive in Christ, but we’re not growing. Then I started to think about areas in my life that are dormant according to that definition. I believe God wants to wake us up from dormancy and begin the germination process in each of us where our roots grow.

I researched how to wake a seed up from dormancy. I found that the process is called breaking dormancy. I believe it’s pretty similar to how we break out of spiritual dormancy too. The first thing you have to do is soak the seed in water. The water has to penetrate the seed coat that is keeping the seed dormant. For you and i that means we need to saturate ourselves in the water of God’s Word. We have to let it penetrate into every area of our lives removing the things that so easily beset us. We can’t just read the Bible for content. We have to read it to connect with a God, to hear what He has to say and to declare it over the dormant parts of our lives. God is faithful to complete the work He began in you (Philippians 1:6).

In order to break dormancy, a seed also needs oxygen. I can’t help but think of Adam, having been fully formed laying on the ground. He had everything he needed to sustain life, but was laying there. It was then that God breathed the breath of life in him and man came alive. I believe God wants to breathe His breath of life into the parts of our lives that are dormant and bring them to life. Like Ezekiel had to prophesy to the valley of dry bones for breath to come in them, you may need to speak to those dormant areas of your life and speak life back into them. Once we do that, the germination process can begin and the primary root will come out and begin the growth process. Colossians 2:7 says, “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” (NLT). Growth is around the corner. You can break out of spiritual dormancy.

Photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash

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March 16, 2018 · 5:54 AM

The Importance Of Roots

Until you see a tree blown over, you typically don’t think much about its roots. Most roots go down deep into soil and provide nutrients for the tree as well as stability. The healthier the roots, the stronger the tree. Studies are starting to show that roots also secrete compounds in the soil that protect it from disease. It’s amazing what all they do, yet we mainly think about the result of their work. We enjoy the fruit that the tree produces and marvel at the changing of the leaves, but rarely consider it’s all as a result of being connected to the root.

Jesus told His disciples that He is the vine and we are the branches. What He was saying is that we should be getting our nourishment from Him, and that apart from Him, we have no life. We have to remember that we don’t support the root, but that the root supports us. It’s important to stay connected to Him through daily prayer and Bible reading. That’s how our soul is nourished and protected from disease. Like roots, we can’t really see Him, but everything we are is a result of being connected to Him.

Here are some verses about roots in the Bible.

1. Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD And whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD. “For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, That spreads out its roots by the river; And will not fear the heat when it comes; But its leaves will be green and moist. And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought Nor stop bearing fruit.

JEREMIAH 17:7-8 AMP

2. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Ephesians 3:16-17 NLT

3. Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:7 GNT

4. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.

Revelation 22:16 NASB

5. What the wicked construct finally falls into ruin, while the roots of the righteous give life, and more life.

Proverbs 12:12 MSG

Photo by Kevin Young on Unsplash

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July 8, 2014 · 8:02 AM

Changing Your Roots

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One of the sayings I have when talking to people is, “Look past the fruit. Look for the root.” What I mean by that is that when we see a behavior in someone else or hear an excuse as to why they can’t do something, that’s not what’s really going on. That is a fruit that is being fed from a root somewhere else. I tell them to dig deeper beyond what lies on the surface if they really want to help them. What I mostly see is people dealing with fruit and they wonder why things keep happening over and over and they’re helpless to stop it.

When we only deal with the fruit, the behavior we see, we can affect change. We have to find the source of that behavior and deal with that if we really want to create change. When I think of sin in my life or in the life of others, it’s usually something we can see. We tell ourselves, “Don’t do that!” It’s a temporary fix, because eventually we go back to it. We took away the fruit, but we never did anything with the root. It just takes a little time and it grows right back. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? Where is this coming from?” Follow the trail to the root.

Hebrews 12:15 says, “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” The Message puts it this way, “A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time.” If we don’t deal with the roots of our sins, we will continue to struggle with them and possible corrupt others. If you’ve ever dug in your yard and came across a root, you know this is no easy task. You have to pull on that root. Follow where it goes and chop it off at the source. You have to get the whole thing out.

If we want to change the fruit in our lives, we have to change the roots. In Romans 8, Paul tells us that we have no obligation to do what the flesh wants to do. In verse 5 he tells us not to be dominated by our sinful nature, but to let the Holy Spirit control our thinking. When we’ve pulled up the roots of our sinful nature and let the Holy Spirit take roots in our lives, Galatians 5:22 says the Holy Spirit will produce this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. That is the fruit that we should be producing as Christians.

If you’re looking at the fruit of your life and want to change it, don’t keep dealing with the fruit. Look for the root and deal with that. Romans 8 has a lot of good stuff to say about the struggle we all face in wanting to do good, but having trouble with it. Take time to read that chapter today. See of you can relate to Paul’s struggle. I know I do. The way he tells us to change the fruit in our lives is to uproot the sinful nature that controls our mind and then to submit our minds to the Holy Spirit. Once we learn to do that, we can produce the fruit God wants us to show in our lives.

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May 23, 2014 · 7:40 AM

Digging Deeper

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It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back from all God has for you. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of “Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters” by Joshua Harris. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

Let me ask you a few questions. Who is the President of the United States? What is their spouse’s name? How many kids do they have? What are their names? Do they have any pets? What are their names? Where do they live? What did they do before becoming president? Do you personally know the president? If you answered no to that last one, but were able to answer the others, you know about the president, but you don’t really know them. It’s the same thing with Christianity. So many of us can answer a lot of questions about God and the Bible, but so few really know Him in comparison.

Think of your best friend. What makes them your best friend? I would imagine that you have been through a lot together. They have stood with you through thick and thin. When others abandoned you in the hard times, they stuck with you. They don’t just show up in your good times. You’ve built a relationship with them through good times and bad. You know more than the surface level things about them. You know the intimate details, their struggles, their fears, their hopes and the dreams they’ve never told anyone else. That’s the difference in knowing about someone and knowing them.

When you look at the image of the tree above, that’s what happens in our relationship with God when storms come and our relationship is only surface level. When we haven’t taken the time to really get to know Him, His Word, His thoughts, His dreams and His plans, our roots are only surface level. We can look big and mighty, but the truth is, it wouldn’t take a whole lot to knock us over. How do I know? I’ve lived it. I’ve been that oak tree that looked strong, but the truth was that everything was surface level. Nothing was really deep.

As I lay on my side like that oak, I had a decision to make: I could lay there like that, rot away and die or I could get back up and grow my roots down deep into what I already believed and knew so much about. I chose the later. I decided my meeting with a God wouldn’t be just on Sundays. I chose to read His Word for myself rather than just listening to someone else telling me what it said. I decided to be honest with God in my prayers rather than giving shallow platitudes. I needed Him to be my rock in the bad times and not just someone I blessed in the good times. I had to dig my roots down deep in Him, like Colossians 2:7 says, so that my life began to be built on Him.

In the process, I had to give up some relationships that distracted from that goal. I had to make hard choices about what thoughts I let enter my mind. I had to choose to walk away from distractions in my life. I knew I didn’t want to be blown over again in another storm. That’s still my motivating factor in digging down deeper in Him. I know that the deeper my relationship is with God, the deeper my roots will be. The deeper my roots, the stronger I am. I won’t just appear to be strong, I’ll really be strong. You have the ability to make the same choice. Get free of the things in your life that hold you to a surface level relationship with God. When you do, your roots will begin to grow down instead of out.

If you would like to win a copy of “Dug Down Deep” by Joshua Harris, all you have to do is sign up to receive my devotions in your email. There is a box on the right hand side of my web page where you can enter it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (May 24, 2014) who has liked my page today. If you have already signed up to receive these devotions by email, thank you. If you enjoy reading them, please forward them to your friends and invite them to subscribe as well.

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June 3, 2013 · 8:02 AM

Chopping Roots

My uncle and I built a swing set for my son last week. After building it, we decided to put up a fall zone perimeter around it and fill it with wood chips to protect him. We measured and then placed the boards around the swing set. As we were screwing them together, one of the boards wouldn’t square up right. The ground was raised up and kept the board from being level. I grabbed a shovel and started to dig. It wasn’t long before I hit some roots.

I took the shovel, placed it against the roots and jumped on it to break the roots. Sometimes that worked and other times the shovel didn’t move. As I broke some roots, I had to grab the ends of them and pull until they came all the way up or until the were far enough away that I could chop them and get no future trouble from them. As I looked back at the area where they were, it was now soft soil and I could easily pull the dirt back and place the board on level ground.

I started to think about my life after that. When I try to line things up, they don’t always come together the way I think they should. No matter how hard I try, it just doesn’t work. There are roots below the surface that affect things in each of our lives. We may not always see them, but they’re there. They create uneven surfaces in our lives and have a way of messing things up from time to time.

A scripture that always comes to mind when I think about roots is Hebrews 12:15. It says, “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you.” We’re all susceptible to these roots because life isn’t perfect. Things happen that we can’t control and we allow roots to grow in our lives beneath the surface. They get nourishment from the feelings we keep hidden. They grow until we deal with them and cut them out.

Some roots cut easily because they are young. Other roots will take a lot of strength and effort to remove from our lives because they’ve been there so long and haven’t been dealt with. It’s important that we recognize when roots are trying to take hold in and then prevent them. Hebrews said we need to watch out so that the root doesn’t grow. Understanding and knowing what situations cause roots like this to grow is the first step in preventing their growth.

You have to mentally determine not to let them grow up in you. If you are susceptible to them growing in trials, be on your hard during those times. If you are susceptible to them when someone dies, make a determination not to be angry or bitter. Whatever the case may be for you, it’s important that you do what you can to prevent them. In my trials, I consciously pray, “God, please don’t let a root of bitterness spring up in me so that this situation affects me in the future.”

What roots do you have in your life that you need to put the shovel to? Dealing with it now is better than later. You need to kill it at its source so that it will not continue to grow and affect your life negatively. You need to dig it up, pull it out and chop it off. Afterwards, you’ll notice that the soil in your life is a lot softer, more even and able to have something better planted in its place.

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