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
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.