May 10, 2025 • 38 mins
What does a truly thriving spiritual life look like? Drawing from Psalm 1 and Isaiah 61, we discover God's vision for us as "trees of righteousness"—firmly planted, deeply rooted, and continually bearing fruit regardless of surrounding circumstances. This message explores the fascinating parallel between mature trees in a windstorm and believers facing life's challenges. Just as the sturdiest trees may sway slightly at their highest branches while remaining unshaken at their core, our spiritual lives can demonstrate remarkable stability when properly rooted in God's presence and truth.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're going to start this morning in Psalm, chapter 1
, if you want to turn there.
And, father, I thank you again,lord, just for your presence in
this place and for our heartsbeing knitted together not just
on a horizontal level, but on avertical level.
Father, with you, with the HolySpirit, with the Word of God
just imparted to our hearts andHoly Spirit, we're always so
(00:22):
grateful, because you're reallythe true teacher.
Open the eyes of ourunderstanding that we may see
things today that we've not seenbefore.
Thank you for pulling out whatdoesn't need to be there,
putting in what does need to bethere.
We thank you, Father, for freshrevelation and impartation by
your spirit today, in Jesus name, amen, amen.
(00:43):
Well, y'all are the realchampions getting up on a
Saturday morning and coming tochurch.
Amen, on a holiday weekend, isit a holiday weekend?
It kind of is right, so allright.
Well, psalm, chapter one.
I'm going to read verse onethrough three, but I'm going to
read it.
I don't know what happened myiPad started to die.
I want to read it in thepassion translation because it
(01:03):
pulls out something that I wantto highlight, but it says what
delight comes to the one whofollows God's ways.
And I made it.
I made it in the female.
Okay, is that all right withy'all?
We're going to make it in thefemale this morning.
So she won't walk in step withthe wicked, nor share the
sinner's way, nor be foundsitting in the scorner seat.
Her passion is to remain trueto the word of I am meditating
(01:25):
day and night on the truerevelation of light.
She will be standing firm likea flourishing tree planted by
God's design, deeply rooted bythe brooks of bliss, bearing
fruit in every season of life.
She is never dry, neverfainting, ever blessed, ever
prosperous.
Amen.
Don't you love that translation, it's so good.
(01:47):
The Amplified says her delightand desire in the law of the
Lord and on his law, theprecepts, the instructions, the
teachings of God.
She habitually meditates,ponders and studies by day and
night.
The message says she thrills atGod's word.
I like that.
Chewing on scripture day andnight, I like that too.
And then again, passion.
(02:08):
Her passion is to remain trueto the word of I am meditating
day and night on the truerevelation of light.
And all of those point to versethree, which reminds us that
she will be standing firm.
She is like a flourishing tree.
She is planted by God's design.
Amen, amen.
So I want everybody to say this, say I am thriving.
I am thriving and I really dopray that that becomes a daily
(02:31):
declaration in your life.
We read last night in Romans,chapter 11, verse 16, that if
the roots of a tree are holy andset apart for God, so too will
be the branches.
Well, that's why this tree isflourishing, because she found
her place in the.
I am in the word of God, in thespirit of God, amen.
And you won't believe this.
But the next verse I have to goto is Isaiah 61.
(02:51):
So let's turn to Isaiah 61 thismorning, because I want to read
this to you and I love Isaiah61.
Pastor Claire was speaking to usfrom Luke, chapter 14, which is
Jesus speaking from Isaiah.
But you know, really, thisportion of scripture is the
basis for all Christianity.
It really is His mantle, is ourmantle, as she said Amen.
(03:15):
So we're going to read verseone through three.
But it says the spirit of theLord, god is on me because the
Lord has anointed me to bringgood news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal thebrokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives andfreedom to the prisoners, to
proclaim the year of the Lord'sfavor and the day of our God's
vengeance, to comfort all whomourn, to provide for those who
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mourn in Zion, to give them acrown of beauty instead of ashes
, festive oil instead ofmourning, and splendid clothes
instead of despair.
And they will be calledrighteous trees planted by the
Lord to glorify him, amen.
So all of that was to get tothat portion.
I love it.
The new King James and I wasreading from the Christian
(04:01):
standard Bible.
But the New King James saystrees of righteousness, trees of
righteousness.
The Amplified says they'll becalled oaks of righteousness,
lofty, strong and magnificent,distinguished for uprightness,
justice and right, standing withGod.
The planting of the Lord thathe may be glorified, that's what
we want, amen.
And then again, the passion isso poetic.
(04:23):
I like the passion because itpulls out poetic.
I'm really a new King James andnow, this last year, the
Christian standard has become afavorite.
But but I love this.
It says they will be known asmighty oaks of righteousness
planted by Yahweh as a livingdisplay of his glory.
Isn't that what we want?
To be?
A living display of his glory.
That's the goal of heaven.
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That should be our goal.
Want To be a living display ofhis glory.
That's the goal of heaven, thatshould be our goal.
Amen To be a living display ofhis glory.
But now let's get to the nittygritty and be honest.
We don't always look like we'rethriving Is that right?
Like there's just seasons ofgrowth and seasons of challenge,
sometimes seasons ofdisappointment.
Even that will test us.
And so this past year my bestfriend of 46 years passed away,
(05:08):
and I only mentioned that totell you this one part.
But we would have lunch.
She was a principal at a schooland so we would try to find
lunch breaks.
You know where she could breakaway from the school and we
would get together.
And so I looked forward to itevery week, because her life was
as busy as a principal as minewas in the ministry.
And so I went to her house oneday and I was parked in front of
(05:29):
her house.
It was a super windy day.
I don't know how things are inHouston, but West Texas is so
windy it's ridiculous, and wedon't have the trees, so it just
.
Have you ever heard of a haboob?
A haboob is a real thing.
Y'all.
Look it up.
I could show you pictures on myphone, but it's a wall of dirt
and you just it.
I mean, it's like 20 storieshigh and you can see it coming
(05:51):
and it's just coming and youdon't want to get caught in it,
but there's just nothing to stopit, and so it's just this wind.
And so we were having an almosthaboob type day and uh and I was
waiting out in front of herhouse and I and I knew it was
windy you could feel it when Iwas driving over there but I was
parked in front of her houseand uh and I was looking down
the street and and she, we don'thave a lot of trees in West
Texas, or not in my area, unlessthey've been planted there by
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someone right.
And so she lived on a on astreet that was very mature, had
all these mature trees, and Iwas looking to the left or the
right and I I was like itdoesn't even look windy outside,
doesn't look it.
And so I looked a little higherup at the tops of the trees,
and they're all doing this.
I was like there's the wind.
But you know what is that apicture of?
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That is a picture of somethingreally rooted, something really
grounded, and even though therewere storms and things going on.
This is what it looked like.
And I said, lord, that's what Iwant to look like when the
storms come.
I am calm, I am rooted in you.
You might see a little of this,but I am solid in you.
That's the goal, amen.
That is the solid.
I want to be like that andJesus wants us to be like that,
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amen.
So we're going to look at acouple of stories this morning
that he told a couple ofparables.
I'm going to start in Luke,chapter 13.
And I want to read the parableof the fig tree in Luke, chapter
13, verse six through nine.
I'm going to read the newliving.
Jesus told the story.
He said a man planted a figtree in his garden and came back
(07:16):
again and again to see if therewas any fruit on it, but he was
always disappointed.
Finally, he said to hisgardener I've waited three years
and there hasn't been a singlefig.
Cut it down, it's just taken upspace in the garden.
But the gardener answered sir,give it one more chance, leave
it another year and I'll give itspecial attention and plenty of
(07:37):
fertilizer.
And if we get figs next year,fine.
If not, then you can cut itdown.
So I already said this, but canwe admit it, we're not always
thriving.
Sometimes we look like thistree right and sadly cancel
culture, which can show up inthe church too, will say cut it
down, they're not producing,write them off, right.
(07:57):
That's what the world says andit creeps into the church.
But if the world's not sayingit, sometimes our own mirror
says it, the enemy whispers.
Those kinds of things you'redoing no good.
But we just read in Isaiahwe're trees of righteousness,
we're not trees of the law.
Can I be very clear on that?
We're trees of righteousness,not trees of the law.
And so what was the law?
(08:18):
We know the law?
Uh, it was about performance,about performing the law.
And so the law would saythey're not performing, they
have flaws, cut them off.
But love, where does love comefrom?
Our heavenly father, right?
So love says no, no, no, give,give me a chance.
I do my best work from theinside out, don't you love that?
That's what love says.
(08:38):
He looks at you and I.
He says whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on just a second, I can't.
I can't continue withouttelling you this real quick.
But we've had a daycare since mydaughter was two.
We opened a parent's day outand then it has now evolved into
a five-day daycare for littlesup to five.
We have a preschool and stuffand there were years where it
was not thriving and the churchwas supporting it and it was
(09:00):
just challenging and my husbandwould be like close it down,
close it down, we've put toomuch money into it.
And it was just challenging andmy husband would be like close
it down, close it down, we'veput too much money into it.
And I would be like thegardener, one more year, just
one more year, like I justbelieve in this so much.
We need it in our community.
And we have now, for like thelast 10 years, been the best
daycare in Gaines County and I'mso grateful.
We have like 140 kids and andand it's just been a need in the
(09:24):
community.
But sometimes you've got todefend things, you know, and I
say that because sometimesyou're going to have to stand in
front of your mirror and defendyourself with the word of God.
You're going to have to remindyourself of what he is saying
over you Amen.
And so love will always saygive me a chance, give me a
chance.
And in John, chapter 15, verseone, jesus said I am the true
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vine and my father is thegardener.
I like that.
My father is the gardener.
So what did the gardener, whatdid the keeper of the vineyard
do in this parable?
He said I'll give it specialattention and plenty of
fertilizer, right?
So we're going to come back andlook at that in a moment.
But I want to take a littlerabbit trail around, because
this is a parable and anillustration of how things work
in the kingdom of God.
(10:07):
And Jesus used many parables,right?
But there's one, if you'refamiliar with this.
There is one that he said ifyou understand this parable,
you'll understand all theparables.
So we're going to detour forjust a moment and go look at
that one so that we can comeback and look at this one again,
because I don't know about you,but I want to understand the
words in the heart of Jesus.
Right, that's what we want, andso I want to hear him when he
(10:28):
speaks.
I want to embrace kingdomprinciples, because that's how
we're going to thrive.
When we embrace what he hassaid, when we embrace how he
says it, how things operate,then we're going to thrive, amen
.
And so let's turn over to Mark,chapter four, and because it's
worth the time, I'm going toread verse 2 through 20.
(10:49):
Let's just take a minute andread all of this.
And so, starting in verse 2, itsays he taught them many things
in parables.
And in His teaching he said tothem Listen, consider the sower
who went out to sow.
As he sowed, some seed fellalong the path and the birds
came and devoured it.
Other seed fell on rocky groundwhere it didn't have much soil,
and it grew up quickly, sincethe soil wasn't deep.
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When the sun came up it wasscorched and since it had no
root, it withered away.
Other seed fell among thornsand the thorns came up and
choked it, and it didn't producefruit.
Still, other seed fell on goodground and it grew up, producing
fruit.
That increased 30, 60 and 100times.
And then Jesus said let anyonewho has ears to hear listen.
(11:32):
Verse 10,.
When he was alone, those aroundhim, with the 12, asked him
about the parables, and heanswered them the secret of the
kingdom of God has been given toyou, but to those outside
everything comes in parables, sothat they may indeed look and
yet not perceive.
They may indeed listen and yetnot understand, otherwise they
might turn back and be forgiven.
(11:53):
Then he said to them don't youunderstand this parable?
How then will you understandall the parables?
The sower sows the word.
Some are like the word sown onthe path when they hear
immediately, satan comes andtakes away the word sown in them
.
And others are like seed sownon rocky ground when they hear
the word immediately, theyreceive it with joy, but they
(12:14):
have no root.
They are short lived.
When distress or persecutioncomes because of the word, they
immediately fall away.
Others are like seed sown amongthorns.
These are the ones who hear theword, but the worries of this
age, the deceitfulness of wealthand the desire for other things
enter in and choke the word andit becomes unfruitful.
And those like seeds sown ongood ground hear the word,
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welcome it and produce fruit 30,60 and a hundred times what was
sown.
So he said, if we understandthis parable, we'll understand
all the parables.
And so the emphasis is the seed, and the seed is the word of
God.
But I'm going to stretch thisfor a minute because of how we
started last night, and I wantus to think about a growing seed
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, maybe even a small tree that'sgrowing.
I want you to picture that aswe go through this.
He said if you do, do you notunderstand this parable?
How then will you understandall the parables?
So let's just line this out.
The parable of the sower isgoing to help us understand the
parable of the barren tree.
Okay, is that right?
And so let's think about thebarren tree.
(13:18):
What was possibly keeping thebarren tree from thriving?
Well, according to the parableof the sower, it was the birds,
it was the stones and it was theweeds.
Is that right?
He said we could apply that tothat parable.
So, in order to thrive, numberone, you're going to have to
protect what's growing.
You're going to have to protectwhat's growing.
Everybody say shoo the birds.
Come on, we got to shoo thebirds.
(13:40):
Brother Hagin, he used to saythis negative thoughts are like
birds.
You can't keep them from flyingaround your head, but you can
keep them from building a nestin your hair.
Right, you can do that.
So, in other words, we've gotto quit entertaining thoughts of
doubt.
We've got to quit entertainingthoughts of doubt.
The devil doesn't want us togrow in our faith, so he's going
to throw things at us.
He looks for ways to trampleour faith, trample the seed,
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because why?
The word causes growth?
The word always causes growth.
The devil loves to steal it.
He loves to kill it Anything hecan to keep the word from
producing in our lives.
So we're going to have toeverybody say shoo the birds.
And I'll use this phrase we'regoing to shoo the doubts,
anything that comes.
Well, I don't know if God'sgoing to show up this time.
I don't know if he could.
Really that seems impossible.
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You're gonna have to shoo thataway, amen.
And so you're gonna have todecide.
The Bible says that I believe it.
That settles it.
I have that written in thefront of all my Bibles.
Because why it doesn't I don'thave written.
The Bible says that Iunderstand it all.
But that's what Paul prayed inEphesians, chapter one, that I
could pray for the eyes of myunderstanding to be enlightened.
But I cannot just decide to notbelieve it and then expect
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results.
So I'm going to have to shoothe bird, shoo the doubts, and
then decide I'm going to believeGod's word, no matter what,
amen.
So, number one we're going toshoo the birds.
Number two you need to know theobstacles.
So everybody say move thestones.
Say it better.
I know it's morning, move thestones, all right.
So listen.
The only difference between astumbling block and a stepping
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stone is what you're doing withit.
Right, you could step over it,you could step on around it or
you could stumble across it,okay.
So, in other words, when youstumble and we do sometimes but
when you encounter an obstacle,we need to learn from it and,
according to this parable, weneed to fix the soil.
We need to fix the soil.
I don't know.
I tried to look it up to see ifthis is a real thing, but Daphne
(15:28):
has Daphne's given this a termthe law of displacement.
The law of displacement.
I don't know if that's a realthing.
I'm going to call it a thing,okay, but what am I saying?
Two things cannot hold the sameplace at the same time.
Right, that's what I'm talkingabout.
Two things cannot hold the sameplace at the same time.
And so when we look at this, uh,this scripture, it said that
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that, uh, that it had no this,this, this soil had no depth of
earth, had no depth of earth.
One translation said didn'thave much soil.
And then Jesus explained it.
He said there was no root andso it was short lived.
Okay, so why?
I asked the question, why didn'tit have much soil?
And the answer is because therewere rocks there, the law of
displacement.
(16:10):
You're not going to have a lotof soil if you got a lot of
rocks, all right.
So how does this translate toyou?
And I don't bury your problems.
We can't be burying ourproblems.
We're going to have to dealwith them as they arise, as
things as we realize, becausewhen we bury our problems, we're
actually diminishing our soil,okay, and so we don't want to do
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that.
And listen, I'll just say thisthis morning I can't see
everything that's going on inyour heart, but you know what
causes you to stumble.
You know, I know what causes meto stumble.
I know my triggers.
Anybody else know your triggers?
Yeah, we know our triggers,right?
So what do we do when the Lordreveals it?
We need to do something aboutit.
Years ago we had a semi-openconcept living room in this
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house we were at and it seemedlike there was only one way to
arrange the furniture.
You know, it was kind of stuckthat way and I just got on a
whim and thought I want to moveit around.
I don't know how to move itaround, but I played with it one
afternoon and I kind of drugfurniture.
Y'all do that.
I don't wait for my husband, Ijust drag the furniture, let's
try something else.
So anyway, they all came in andthey're like what'd you do?
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And so, anyway, they half likedit.
I don't know, but I hadteenagers in the home and it was
like for the next three dayseverybody kept stubbing their
toe on the side table that I hadmoved, Because they were so
used to it not being in thatpath, and they just complained,
anyway.
But I finally was like move,they were telling me to move it
and I was like you need to movearound it.
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But guess who won?
They won Because I it.
But guess who won?
They won because I was like,forget it, forget it, I don't
want to hear the complaintsanymore and I put it all back.
You know, because when youreveal a problem, you have to
deal with it.
Right, you have to deal with it.
And so and I want to add thistoo, don't fight the tears.
Good or bad, because it saidthat this soil lacked moisture,
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and moisture is good for thesoul, good for the soil.
We could almost use our Texasaccent there our soul, our soil.
Right, but seriously, I feellike sometimes we just can it
all up when the Lord's like letme help you.
And tears are really God'ssafety valve.
Sometimes, when the tears flow,that's just releasing moisture
to our soil, it's helping usrelease things and that's okay.
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That doesn't mean we're weak,that means God's just working in
our heart.
Amen.
We're releasing some things, sowe're going to shoo the birds.
Everybody say shoo the birds.
We're going to move the stones,thank you.
And lastly, we have to removethe lies.
Everybody say pull the weeds.
We're going to pull the weeds,okay, listen, you know what a
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lie is.
This is so good.
A lie is a doubt that wasn'tdealt with.
A lie is a doubt that wasn'tdealt.
What happened?
A bird built a nest.
We let it build a nest.
Now we got to deal with it,okay.
So, in other words, what areyou allowing?
What are you allowing?
Jesus said some things aren'tthriving because of what has
been allowed to grow around you,okay.
So you know, when you were kids, we run, you know, to a field
and we gather up little flowersand we take it to mom.
Y'all have had that littleyellow flowers.
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And as a mama, you go oh,that's so sweet, and you love
them and you kiss on them andthen you throw them away.
Because why?
It was a dandelion?
And dandelions aren't reallyflowers, they're what they're
weeds, so they're fake.
It just looks like a flower.
And so Jesus said the thornsgrew up and choked the seed.
It choked the seed.
He said this is one who heardthe word, but it became
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unfruitful.
So they actually heard the word.
He said the one with the thornyground had the start of fruit,
but it never matured.
What a shame.
The start of fruit but it nevermatured.
Why?
The only way to know the liesis to know the word of God.
And he said the reason itstarted to have fruit and didn't
mature is because other thingswere robbing the soil, other
things were choking it.
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It wasn't able to reallyproduce.
In John, chapter one, verse one,in the Christian standard, it
says in the beginning was theword and the word was with God
and the word was God.
We know that.
Later in that chapter, verse 14, it says the word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
But verse four and five it saysin him was life and that life
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was the light of men, and thatlight shines in the darkness and
the darkness did not overcomeit.
I like this.
Some translation says thedarkness did not comprehend it.
So you just almost have topicture the devil just
scratching his head like I don'tunderstand what's happening
here.
I don't understand why they'renot stumbling.
I don't understand why they'reproducing right.
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Well, the light of God's wordwill reveal the lies of the
enemy, and so when we stay inthe light of God's word, then he
doesn't have room to operateLike.
I'm moving the stones, I'mshooing the birds, I'm fixing my
path right, I'm pulling theweeds.
And Jesus said this in theparable.
He said the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth,
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the desire for other things,they're all lies.
They're all lies.
None of that is fulfilling.
You're not going to thrive onthose things.
And you could look out at theworld and it could look like
people are thriving because ofthose things.
But you get closer to them andthey're not.
Their children are fallingapart.
We talked last night about justbroken families.
How does a child get put intheir mama's arm and then end up
being this grumpy old man?
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What happened?
What happened?
Right?
Something happened, and itwasn't God.
And so when you see a weed, youneed to pull it root and all.
And so when you see a weed youneed to pull it, root and all
root and all OK.
And I learned this early on.
You know, I think in Face inthe Mirror, if you've read that,
I tell the story about how mydad was a plumber, I think he
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wanted to be a farmer we liveseven miles out in the country
and he tried to raise crops andother things, and so he would
send me and my brother out topull the weeds of the garden and
we wanted to play, we he wouldsend me and my brother out to
pull the weeds of the garden andwe wanted to play.
We didn't want to pull weeds,we didn't like that chore very
much.
So we're out there, just quick,quick, quick, quick pull it.
Yeah, we did it.
You know we're running on.
And then two days later he'slike no, you didn't why?
Because we didn't get the root.
The root was still there.
And you know what he did.
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He made me say it again becauseI didn't get the root.
I said it, I was obedient, Iwas trying to receive what he
was trying to give to me.
But if I had just walked out soquickly from that moment, then
what would have happened?
That root was still there andhe was like no, I want you to
say it again.
And here came a flood of moretears and more healing in my
heart because I embraced what hewas saying.
And I feel like sometimes, whenwe have a ministry prayer time,
people get up too quickly, theyleave the altar too quickly.
(22:28):
Sometimes, you know, in ourquiet time at home, we're
thinking about where we got togo.
We don't give God a chance tolike, really uproot some things
or really plant some things orwater some things, and so later,
you know, I realized that theLord had given me a principle.
Actually, before this mirrorstory, I had been struggling
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with anxiety.
I was telling Pastor Selenayesterday that I was hit by a
car in the second grade and I,just I was being disobedient and
my mom was dropping me at thebus stop.
She was a school teacher and soshe saw that I had a toy tucked
in under my shirt, you know,and was trying to sneak it to
school and she's like no, no, no, you can leave that in the car.
So I was mad at her.
So I got my library book, likethis, and I just walked in front
(23:11):
of her car and I didn't evenlook.
I just crossed the street andthis poor little 19 year old
girl was driving by and sheprobably wasn't going that fast
on a residential street, butfast enough that it hit me,
threw me, broke my ankle at thegrowth plate, busted my teeth.
I have fake teeth now.
It was a big deal.
It was a big deal but Isurvived.
Right, I survived.
That was second grade.
(23:32):
That was many, many, many moonsago.
But what happened was whenBenjamin was born, my first
child, I suddenly started havingpanic attacks.
I realized how easy it was forme to just walk out in front of
a street, and so he was still ina car seat, he could be
strapped in right behind me andI would just have these open
visions of him getting hit by acar and I just have a panic
attack.
And so I was dreaming aboutthis.
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I was thinking about this.
It was overwhelming me, and mybrother was going to Rhema at
the time and he had come homefor a visit and I and I kind of
I told him about it.
He was like well, daphne, that'snot your thought.
I was like what do you mean?
That's not my thought.
He's like the devil's givingyou that thought.
I was like, how's the devil getin my head?
I was such a baby Christian.
I was like what, what do youmean?
That's not my thought.
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And if he can plant somethingthere and get you to entertain
that and pull it down and thinkon it, now he's got you.
Like that, you took that.
He said so.
When you see those things andthey don't line up with the word
of God, he said you're going tohave to say that's not my
thought, I don't receive it.
And so I started doing that andI'll be honest with you the
first time, like the, here camethe anxiety, here came the panic
, uh, and I remembered what hesaid.
So I kind of whispered it.
And you feel silly.
You feel kind of silly sayingstuff like that.
You're like who am I eventalking to right now, you know?
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But I was so desperateSometimes we get desperate right
, we need change and so I justsaid it again, and and uh, and
then all of a sudden I was likethe panic's gone, the anxiety's
gone, wow.
But how many of you know?
The devil will test you.
He's going to see if you reallybelieve that word or not.
And so here he comes, sneakingaround again throwing something
at you and I was like that's notmy thought, I don't receive it.
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Then one day, it was like every20 minutes I was just having,
you know, this battle with him.
Here came the thought, herecame me saying it there and it
left.
Then it came again and I justfound out and this is what the
Holy Spirit told me.
He says you can wear him downor he can wear you down.
I decided that day I waswearing him down.
I was wearing him down.
You know, there's six yearsbetween my boys and when
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Christopher came along and hewas in a car seat, I remembered
all of that and I thought Ican't.
I don't even know the last timeI had a panic attack, like it
just was gone, like the Lord isjust faithful, amen, amen.
And so you're going to have todo something when God reveals it
, you're going to have to speakyour faith.
You're going to have to dosomething.
That that's not truth.
This is the truth.
And I want to add one more thingto help you real quick, because
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somebody asked me one time well, how do you know what is what
is of God and what's not of God?
Sometimes it can be a littleclouded and I said by the Spirit
.
I said I really feel like thefruit of the Spirit is a great
measuring stick.
Is that thought of love?
Is that thought of peace?
Is that thought of joy?
Because that's God's characterand if it doesn't line up with
those things, I'm rejecting it,I'm getting it out of here, I'm
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not receiving that thought andif God's trying to tell me
something that he can tell mewith joy, he can tell me in love
, he can tell me with peace,amen, he can get something to me
, but otherwise I'm rejectingthose things.
So again, jesus said if youunderstand this parable, we'll
understand all parables.
So let's go back and look atLuke, chapter 13, again one more
time.
But I'm going to read it thistime, verse six through nine in
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the Amplified.
Jesus said a certain man had afig tree planted in his vineyard
and he came looking for fruiton it but did not find any.
So he said to the vine dressersee here, for these three years
I've come looking for fruit onthis fig tree and I find none.
Cut it down.
Why should it continue also touse up the ground to deplete the
soil, intercept the sun andtake up room?
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But the gardener replied to himLeave it alone, sir.
Just this one more year till Idig around it and put manure on
the soil, then perhaps it willbear fruit after this, but if
not, you can cut it down Now.
Religion I already said this,but religion and the world
aren't always kind.
Chop it down, chop it down andI was meditating on that,
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because you know, we could add,the blood would say leave it
alone.
The world says chop it down,the blood says leave it alone.
But I got to meditating on thisportion of scripture and I
thought I wonder if there's adeeper.
Do y'all do this?
I like to dig into thescripture.
I'm like I wonder if there's adeeper meaning to this chop it
down?
And there is.
This phrase chop it down isaffiliated with the word crucify
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, with the word.
Isn't that interesting?
Because it's a picture ofChrist's body broken on the
cross, and so we know Christ,christ, love was crucified.
He already, he already did thatfor us.
Love says I already took theirplace right, we don't need to
chop them down.
I can, I can do a work herebecause I did, I already took
what.
What is hindering them?
I can do a work here Cause Idid.
I already took what.
What is hindering them.
I can do a work here, so wedon't need we don't need to be
chopping anybody down.
You know, in in our town, wehave a small town, as you know,
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and um, and so it's kind of hardto to not run into somebody in
our town.
You know if you've had anoffense or something and
honestly, you need to be realcareful about all your
conversations because you mightbe talking to the cousin of
so-and-so and so-and-so, it'sjust like that in our little
town.
And so I just really learnedearly on that we needed to
believe the best of every person.
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And the Holy Spirit said it tome this way.
He said you don't know if theyhad an encounter with me last
night.
And I thought that's so good,because nobody's sitting in my
chair in my living room or mycar or my bathroom when I'm
having an encounter with God.
Nobody's seeing that, when I'mrepenting, nobody's seeing that
when I'm getting things right,nobody sees that I just show up
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the next day, hopefully with abetter heart, better attitude,
right, and you have to assume,you know, that maybe, maybe
God's working in my life.
But that's what.
What is love?
Say, believes the best of everyperson, okay, and so maybe
that'll help us.
But love was already crucified.
Love always says I took theirplace.
We don't have to cut them down,amen.
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The new King James says sir, letit alone this year also, until
I dig around it and fertilize it.
Fertilize it.
So, fertilize means to feed, itmeans to make fruitful, it
means to enrich.
I like this word.
I'm going to come back to it.
Impregnate, impregnate, that'sinteresting, isn't it?
Because impregnate means tobirth something.
It's the beginning of life.
But the Amplified said leave italone till I dig around it and
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put manure on the soil.
That's a pretty word, isn't it?
Manure, manure, if you reallywant to see a pretty word.
The King James says dung ituntil I dung it.
So, um, so, uh.
Pastor Tony McKenna is ainstructor at Rhema uh Bible
training college and it was sofunny.
I was meditating on these andum, and I happened to sit in a
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service he was doing at winterBible seminar a couple of years
ago when I'd been meditating onthese passages and I couldn't
believe it.
He started talking about manureand I was like, oh my, were you
there?
It was so good.
And I was like, oh my gosh, anduh, but.
But he used to be a rancher andso he, uh, he had horses and
cows and chickens, and so thisis what he said.
I loved it so much.
He said, and you have topicture this slow Southern draw,
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uh, pastor Tony.
But he said manure is a slowsolution to the problem.
A slow, yes, a slow solution tothe problem.
In other words, to fertilizeisn't instantaneous.
It isn't instantaneous, itisn't a one-time fix, it's
actually a lifestyle, alifestyle.
Listen to this.
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Hurry has caused many problems.
Hurry created Ishmael.
Isn't that right?
What is Ishmael?
Something that looked like Godbut wasn't.
Something that looked like itwas of God and it wasn't.
We don't want to be creatingIshmael, right?
We don't want to get in a hurry.
Maneur is mercy.
I know that's not a greatpicture, but it really is.
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Psalm 103, verse eight, says theLord is compassionate and
gracious.
Slow, slow, everybody say slow.
He is slow to anger, he is, heis abounding in faithful love
and mercy, amen.
And so I like how pastor Tonysaid it.
We're all neck deep in manure,we're all neck deep in mercy,
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amen.
Would you agree?
In mercy, god's beenfertilizing our lives for a long
time, a long time, amen.
But in Luke 13, eight, he said,sir, let it alone this year
also, until I dig around it andfertilize it.
So to dig or trench around itis creating space for moisture,
and that's what we want.
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We want to create space, amen.
And so I'm going to turn over toMark 14, verse three.
You'll be familiar with this,this verse.
But in Mark 14, it says whileJesus was in Bethany, at the
house of Simon the leper, as hewas reclining at the table, a
woman came with an alabaster jarof very expensive perfume, of
pure nard.
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She broke the jar and poured iton his head.
Poured it on his head.
And so that's what we mean whenwe're talking about digging or
trenching or creating space.
We're talking about pouringsomething on, and God wants to
pour his love on us.
We see this I'm going to readover in Titus I don't know why I
didn't top these out, but we'regood, let's turn to them.
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But Titus, chapter three Ireally love this verse versus
Titus three, verse four.
But when the kindness of God,our savior, and his love for
mankind appeared, he saved us,not by works of righteousness
that we had done, but accordingto his mercy.
You're never going to see thatword the same again, according
to the fertilizer, right Throughthe washing of regeneration and
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renewal by the Holy Spirit.
He poured out his spirit on usabundantly through Jesus Christ,
our Savior, so that, havingbeen justified by his grace, we
may become heirs with the hopeof eternal life.
So I love that he poured out.
He poured out his spirit on usabundantly.
I don't think we have to hurrythrough some of these things.
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He poured it out on usabundantly, amen.
The gardener said leave italone until I dig around it,
trench around it, till I fortifyit, till I saturate them in
love and the truth of who I am.
That's what he's doing in ourlives, amen.
The passion translation of theseverses in Titus says when the
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extraordinary compassion of God,our Savior, and his
overpowering love suddenlyappeared in person as the
brightness of a dawning day, hecame to save us, not because of
any virtuous deed that we haddone, but only because of his
extravagant mercy.
He saved us, resurrecting usthrough the washing of rebirth.
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We are made completely new bythe Holy Spirit whom he splashed
over us richly, by Jesus, theMessiah, our life giver.
And so I said I'd come back tothis word impregnate.
Because now we can take thisphrase, dig around it and
fertilize, and we have thispicture of impregnate and really
what we know as females.
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We understand what it means toimpregnate.
But let's talk about the soil.
It's the same principle.
That's why we can use that word.
You take a seed and you put itinto the ground and what do we
do?
We've prepared the soil.
Now we're going to water it.
What's happened?
It's prepared for growth.
We've impregnated that seed.
We prepared it, amen.
And another use of this wordimpregnate means to soak, it
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means to saturate.
There's a song by Upper Roomcalled Pour my Love On you.
I don't know if y'all arefamiliar with that or not, but
listen to this little phrase.
It says like oil on your feet,like wine for you to drink, like
water from my heart, I pour mylove on you, so beautiful.
But I was meditating on thisand I thought to thrive, we need
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saturation and we needfertilization, saturation and
fertilization.
And then I realized, you know,this song really works both
directions.
It really works this song.
I think, when they're singing itand when they, you know, are
leading us in worship, I thinkit's meant for us to go.
I'm pouring my love out on you,jesus.
But let's read it the other way.
What if it's Jesus singing itto us Like oil on your feet,
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like wine for you to drink, likewater from my heart?
I pour my love on you.
That's what worship is.
Is that time of saturation andthat time of fertilization where
the gardener is just working onyou, he's just watering the
soil around you, he's justreaching the roots of your tree,
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your family tree, your personaltree, amen.
And so that's the real pictureof a tree when God tends to the
roots and the branches reach upto thank him.
Right, isn't that beautiful?
That's all we're doing.
I remember when I first startedgoing to a spirit-filled church
and my friend Tori again, wasthe first one to take me and
everybody's lifting their handsand I thought it was so
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beautiful that she lifted herhands, and so I remember trying
and it feels like they weigh 50pounds.
But now I tease and I say youcan't get me to raise them high
enough, because you get so freeand the roots are free and the
growth is free and the love isso big when you receive it.
You just want to thank him, youknow.
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And so now I'm still like thattree that was out in front of
her yard, you know, but I'm justup here.
Thank you, jesus.
No matter what storms are goingon, I still have something to
thank you for.
Amen, amen.
Uh, I don't know why thisweekend I have so many song
illustrations.
But one more song for you.
There's a song called Holy andAnointed One.
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I don't know who wrote it.
I have the version that's byCatch the Fire, but I love this
phrase.
Your name is like honey on mylips, your spirit like water to
my soul, your word is a lampunto my feet.
Jesus, I love you.
I love you, amen, amen.
In October of 2003, I was at aconference and Pastor Paulette
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Kaywood was ministering the word, and I was sitting on the front
row with some other pastor'swives and she was ministering.
I don't remember the topic shewas ministering on, but it was
unrelated to what she stoppedand said to me.
But she just stopped right infront of me and she turned and
she said this.
She said you will grow like atree and many will come and find
refuge under your branches.
And I wrote that down cause youhad, I had, dreams.
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My, my first book came out in umthat month, uh.
And so I had dreams, and so Ithought, lord, I would love that
.
I would love that, and I'vemeditated on it many times, but
I don't think that's a word forme.
Only I realized that, althoughit's been a great encouragement
to me over all these years Jesussaid it first.
We already read it in Isaiahthey will be known as trees of
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righteousness planted by Yahwehas a living display of his glory
.
That's what the Lord would sayto all of us.
Amen that you are a tree andmany can find refuge under your
branches.
Amen.
We're going to start this morning in Psalm, chapter 1
, if you want to turn there.
And, father, I thank you again,lord, just for your presence in
this place and for our heartsbeing knitted together not just
on a horizontal level, but on avertical level.
Father, with you, with the HolySpirit, with the Word of God
just imparted to our hearts andHoly Spirit, we're always so
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grateful, because you're reallythe true teacher.
Open the eyes of ourunderstanding that we may see
things today that we've not seenbefore.
Thank you for pulling out whatdoesn't need to be there,
putting in what does need to bethere.
We thank you, Father, for freshrevelation and impartation by
your spirit today, in Jesus name, amen, amen.
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Well, y'all are the realchampions getting up on a
Saturday morning and coming tochurch.
Amen, on a holiday weekend, isit a holiday weekend?
It kind of is right, so allright.
Well, psalm, chapter one.
I'm going to read verse onethrough three, but I'm going to
read it.
I don't know what happened myiPad started to die.
I want to read it in thepassion translation because it
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pulls out something that I wantto highlight, but it says what
delight comes to the one whofollows God's ways.
And I made it.
I made it in the female.
Okay, is that all right withy'all?
We're going to make it in thefemale this morning.
So she won't walk in step withthe wicked, nor share the
sinner's way, nor be foundsitting in the scorner seat.
Her passion is to remain trueto the word of I am meditating
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day and night on the truerevelation of light.
She will be standing firm likea flourishing tree planted by
God's design, deeply rooted bythe brooks of bliss, bearing
fruit in every season of life.
She is never dry, neverfainting, ever blessed, ever
prosperous.
Amen.
Don't you love that translation, it's so good.
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The Amplified says her delightand desire in the law of the
Lord and on his law, theprecepts, the instructions, the
teachings of God.
She habitually meditates,ponders and studies by day and
night.
The message says she thrills atGod's word.
I like that.
Chewing on scripture day andnight, I like that too.
And then again, passion.
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Her passion is to remain trueto the word of I am meditating
day and night on the truerevelation of light.
And all of those point to versethree, which reminds us that
she will be standing firm.
She is like a flourishing tree.
She is planted by God's design.
Amen, amen.
So I want everybody to say this, say I am thriving.
I am thriving and I really dopray that that becomes a daily
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declaration in your life.
We read last night in Romans,chapter 11, verse 16, that if
the roots of a tree are holy andset apart for God, so too will
be the branches.
Well, that's why this tree isflourishing, because she found
her place in the.
I am in the word of God, in thespirit of God, amen.
And you won't believe this.
But the next verse I have to goto is Isaiah 61.
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So let's turn to Isaiah 61 thismorning, because I want to read
this to you and I love Isaiah61.
Pastor Claire was speaking to usfrom Luke, chapter 14, which is
Jesus speaking from Isaiah.
But you know, really, thisportion of scripture is the
basis for all Christianity.
It really is His mantle, is ourmantle, as she said Amen.
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So we're going to read verseone through three.
But it says the spirit of theLord, god is on me because the
Lord has anointed me to bringgood news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal thebrokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives andfreedom to the prisoners, to
proclaim the year of the Lord'sfavor and the day of our God's
vengeance, to comfort all whomourn, to provide for those who
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mourn in Zion, to give them acrown of beauty instead of ashes
, festive oil instead ofmourning, and splendid clothes
instead of despair.
And they will be calledrighteous trees planted by the
Lord to glorify him, amen.
So all of that was to get tothat portion.
I love it.
The new King James and I wasreading from the Christian
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standard Bible.
But the New King James saystrees of righteousness, trees of
righteousness.
The Amplified says they'll becalled oaks of righteousness,
lofty, strong and magnificent,distinguished for uprightness,
justice and right, standing withGod.
The planting of the Lord thathe may be glorified, that's what
we want, amen.
And then again, the passion isso poetic.
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I like the passion because itpulls out poetic.
I'm really a new King James andnow, this last year, the
Christian standard has become afavorite.
But but I love this.
It says they will be known asmighty oaks of righteousness
planted by Yahweh as a livingdisplay of his glory.
Isn't that what we want?
To be?
A living display of his glory.
That's the goal of heaven.
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That should be our goal.
Want To be a living display ofhis glory.
That's the goal of heaven, thatshould be our goal.
Amen To be a living display ofhis glory.
But now let's get to the nittygritty and be honest.
We don't always look like we'rethriving Is that right?
Like there's just seasons ofgrowth and seasons of challenge,
sometimes seasons ofdisappointment.
Even that will test us.
And so this past year my bestfriend of 46 years passed away,
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and I only mentioned that totell you this one part.
But we would have lunch.
She was a principal at a schooland so we would try to find
lunch breaks.
You know where she could breakaway from the school and we
would get together.
And so I looked forward to itevery week, because her life was
as busy as a principal as minewas in the ministry.
And so I went to her house oneday and I was parked in front of
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her house.
It was a super windy day.
I don't know how things are inHouston, but West Texas is so
windy it's ridiculous, and wedon't have the trees, so it just
.
Have you ever heard of a haboob?
A haboob is a real thing.
Y'all.
Look it up.
I could show you pictures on myphone, but it's a wall of dirt
and you just it.
I mean, it's like 20 storieshigh and you can see it coming
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and it's just coming and youdon't want to get caught in it,
but there's just nothing to stopit, and so it's just this wind.
And so we were having an almosthaboob type day and uh and I was
waiting out in front of herhouse and I and I knew it was
windy you could feel it when Iwas driving over there but I was
parked in front of her houseand uh and I was looking down
the street and and she, we don'thave a lot of trees in West
Texas, or not in my area, unlessthey've been planted there by
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someone right.
And so she lived on a on astreet that was very mature, had
all these mature trees, and Iwas looking to the left or the
right and I I was like itdoesn't even look windy outside,
doesn't look it.
And so I looked a little higherup at the tops of the trees,
and they're all doing this.
I was like there's the wind.
But you know what is that apicture of?
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That is a picture of somethingreally rooted, something really
grounded, and even though therewere storms and things going on.
This is what it looked like.
And I said, lord, that's what Iwant to look like when the
storms come.
I am calm, I am rooted in you.
You might see a little of this,but I am solid in you.
That's the goal, amen.
That is the solid.
I want to be like that andJesus wants us to be like that,
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amen.
So we're going to look at acouple of stories this morning
that he told a couple ofparables.
I'm going to start in Luke,chapter 13.
And I want to read the parableof the fig tree in Luke, chapter
13, verse six through nine.
I'm going to read the newliving.
Jesus told the story.
He said a man planted a figtree in his garden and came back
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again and again to see if therewas any fruit on it, but he was
always disappointed.
Finally, he said to hisgardener I've waited three years
and there hasn't been a singlefig.
Cut it down, it's just taken upspace in the garden.
But the gardener answered sir,give it one more chance, leave
it another year and I'll give itspecial attention and plenty of
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fertilizer.
And if we get figs next year,fine.
If not, then you can cut itdown.
So I already said this, but canwe admit it, we're not always
thriving.
Sometimes we look like thistree right and sadly cancel
culture, which can show up inthe church too, will say cut it
down, they're not producing,write them off, right.
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That's what the world says andit creeps into the church.
But if the world's not sayingit, sometimes our own mirror
says it, the enemy whispers.
Those kinds of things you'redoing no good.
But we just read in Isaiahwe're trees of righteousness,
we're not trees of the law.
Can I be very clear on that?
We're trees of righteousness,not trees of the law.
And so what was the law?
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We know the law?
Uh, it was about performance,about performing the law.
And so the law would saythey're not performing, they
have flaws, cut them off.
But love, where does love comefrom?
Our heavenly father, right?
So love says no, no, no, give,give me a chance.
I do my best work from theinside out, don't you love that?
That's what love says.
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He looks at you and I.
He says whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on just a second, I can't.
I can't continue withouttelling you this real quick.
But we've had a daycare since mydaughter was two.
We opened a parent's day outand then it has now evolved into
a five-day daycare for littlesup to five.
We have a preschool and stuffand there were years where it
was not thriving and the churchwas supporting it and it was
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just challenging and my husbandwould be like close it down,
close it down, we've put toomuch money into it.
And it was just challenging andmy husband would be like close
it down, close it down, we'veput too much money into it.
And I would be like thegardener, one more year, just
one more year, like I justbelieve in this so much.
We need it in our community.
And we have now, for like thelast 10 years, been the best
daycare in Gaines County and I'mso grateful.
We have like 140 kids and andand it's just been a need in the
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community.
But sometimes you've got todefend things, you know, and I
say that because sometimesyou're going to have to stand in
front of your mirror and defendyourself with the word of God.
You're going to have to remindyourself of what he is saying
over you Amen.
And so love will always saygive me a chance, give me a
chance.
And in John, chapter 15, verseone, jesus said I am the true
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vine and my father is thegardener.
I like that.
My father is the gardener.
So what did the gardener, whatdid the keeper of the vineyard
do in this parable?
He said I'll give it specialattention and plenty of
fertilizer, right?
So we're going to come back andlook at that in a moment.
But I want to take a littlerabbit trail around, because
this is a parable and anillustration of how things work
in the kingdom of God.
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And Jesus used many parables,right?
But there's one, if you'refamiliar with this.
There is one that he said ifyou understand this parable,
you'll understand all theparables.
So we're going to detour forjust a moment and go look at
that one so that we can comeback and look at this one again,
because I don't know about you,but I want to understand the
words in the heart of Jesus.
Right, that's what we want, andso I want to hear him when he
(10:28):
speaks.
I want to embrace kingdomprinciples, because that's how
we're going to thrive.
When we embrace what he hassaid, when we embrace how he
says it, how things operate,then we're going to thrive, amen
.
And so let's turn over to Mark,chapter four, and because it's
worth the time, I'm going toread verse 2 through 20.
(10:49):
Let's just take a minute andread all of this.
And so, starting in verse 2, itsays he taught them many things
in parables.
And in His teaching he said tothem Listen, consider the sower
who went out to sow.
As he sowed, some seed fellalong the path and the birds
came and devoured it.
Other seed fell on rocky groundwhere it didn't have much soil,
and it grew up quickly, sincethe soil wasn't deep.
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When the sun came up it wasscorched and since it had no
root, it withered away.
Other seed fell among thornsand the thorns came up and
choked it, and it didn't producefruit.
Still, other seed fell on goodground and it grew up, producing
fruit.
That increased 30, 60 and 100times.
And then Jesus said let anyonewho has ears to hear listen.
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Verse 10,.
When he was alone, those aroundhim, with the 12, asked him
about the parables, and heanswered them the secret of the
kingdom of God has been given toyou, but to those outside
everything comes in parables, sothat they may indeed look and
yet not perceive.
They may indeed listen and yetnot understand, otherwise they
might turn back and be forgiven.
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Then he said to them don't youunderstand this parable?
How then will you understandall the parables?
The sower sows the word.
Some are like the word sown onthe path when they hear
immediately, satan comes andtakes away the word sown in them
.
And others are like seed sownon rocky ground when they hear
the word immediately, theyreceive it with joy, but they
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have no root.
They are short lived.
When distress or persecutioncomes because of the word, they
immediately fall away.
Others are like seed sown amongthorns.
These are the ones who hear theword, but the worries of this
age, the deceitfulness of wealthand the desire for other things
enter in and choke the word andit becomes unfruitful.
And those like seeds sown ongood ground hear the word,
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welcome it and produce fruit 30,60 and a hundred times what was
sown.
So he said, if we understandthis parable, we'll understand
all the parables.
And so the emphasis is the seed, and the seed is the word of
God.
But I'm going to stretch thisfor a minute because of how we
started last night, and I wantus to think about a growing seed
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, maybe even a small tree that'sgrowing.
I want you to picture that aswe go through this.
He said if you do, do you notunderstand this parable?
How then will you understandall the parables?
So let's just line this out.
The parable of the sower isgoing to help us understand the
parable of the barren tree.
Okay, is that right?
And so let's think about thebarren tree.
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What was possibly keeping thebarren tree from thriving?
Well, according to the parableof the sower, it was the birds,
it was the stones and it was theweeds.
Is that right?
He said we could apply that tothat parable.
So, in order to thrive, numberone, you're going to have to
protect what's growing.
You're going to have to protectwhat's growing.
Everybody say shoo the birds.
Come on, we got to shoo thebirds.
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Brother Hagin, he used to saythis negative thoughts are like
birds.
You can't keep them from flyingaround your head, but you can
keep them from building a nestin your hair.
Right, you can do that.
So, in other words, we've gotto quit entertaining thoughts of
doubt.
We've got to quit entertainingthoughts of doubt.
The devil doesn't want us togrow in our faith, so he's going
to throw things at us.
He looks for ways to trampleour faith, trample the seed,
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because why?
The word causes growth?
The word always causes growth.
The devil loves to steal it.
He loves to kill it Anything hecan to keep the word from
producing in our lives.
So we're going to have toeverybody say shoo the birds.
And I'll use this phrase we'regoing to shoo the doubts,
anything that comes.
Well, I don't know if God'sgoing to show up this time.
I don't know if he could.
Really that seems impossible.
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You're gonna have to shoo thataway, amen.
And so you're gonna have todecide.
The Bible says that I believe it.
That settles it.
I have that written in thefront of all my Bibles.
Because why it doesn't I don'thave written.
The Bible says that Iunderstand it all.
But that's what Paul prayed inEphesians, chapter one, that I
could pray for the eyes of myunderstanding to be enlightened.
But I cannot just decide to notbelieve it and then expect
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results.
So I'm going to have to shoothe bird, shoo the doubts, and
then decide I'm going to believeGod's word, no matter what,
amen.
So, number one we're going toshoo the birds.
Number two you need to know theobstacles.
So everybody say move thestones.
Say it better.
I know it's morning, move thestones, all right.
So listen.
The only difference between astumbling block and a stepping
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stone is what you're doing withit.
Right, you could step over it,you could step on around it or
you could stumble across it,okay.
So, in other words, when youstumble and we do sometimes but
when you encounter an obstacle,we need to learn from it and,
according to this parable, weneed to fix the soil.
We need to fix the soil.
I don't know.
I tried to look it up to see ifthis is a real thing, but Daphne
(15:28):
has Daphne's given this a termthe law of displacement.
The law of displacement.
I don't know if that's a realthing.
I'm going to call it a thing,okay, but what am I saying?
Two things cannot hold the sameplace at the same time.
Right, that's what I'm talkingabout.
Two things cannot hold the sameplace at the same time.
And so when we look at this, uh,this scripture, it said that
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that, uh, that it had no this,this, this soil had no depth of
earth, had no depth of earth.
One translation said didn'thave much soil.
And then Jesus explained it.
He said there was no root andso it was short lived.
Okay, so why?
I asked the question, why didn'tit have much soil?
And the answer is because therewere rocks there, the law of
displacement.
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You're not going to have a lotof soil if you got a lot of
rocks, all right.
So how does this translate toyou?
And I don't bury your problems.
We can't be burying ourproblems.
We're going to have to dealwith them as they arise, as
things as we realize, becausewhen we bury our problems, we're
actually diminishing our soil,okay, and so we don't want to do
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that.
And listen, I'll just say thisthis morning I can't see
everything that's going on inyour heart, but you know what
causes you to stumble.
You know, I know what causes meto stumble.
I know my triggers.
Anybody else know your triggers?
Yeah, we know our triggers,right?
So what do we do when the Lordreveals it?
We need to do something aboutit.
Years ago we had a semi-openconcept living room in this
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house we were at and it seemedlike there was only one way to
arrange the furniture.
You know, it was kind of stuckthat way and I just got on a
whim and thought I want to moveit around.
I don't know how to move itaround, but I played with it one
afternoon and I kind of drugfurniture.
Y'all do that.
I don't wait for my husband, Ijust drag the furniture, let's
try something else.
So anyway, they all came in andthey're like what'd you do?
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And so, anyway, they half likedit.
I don't know, but I hadteenagers in the home and it was
like for the next three dayseverybody kept stubbing their
toe on the side table that I hadmoved, Because they were so
used to it not being in thatpath, and they just complained,
anyway.
But I finally was like move,they were telling me to move it
and I was like you need to movearound it.
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But guess who won?
They won Because I it.
But guess who won?
They won because I was like,forget it, forget it, I don't
want to hear the complaintsanymore and I put it all back.
You know, because when youreveal a problem, you have to
deal with it.
Right, you have to deal with it.
And so and I want to add thistoo, don't fight the tears.
Good or bad, because it saidthat this soil lacked moisture,
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and moisture is good for thesoul, good for the soil.
We could almost use our Texasaccent there our soul, our soil.
Right, but seriously, I feellike sometimes we just can it
all up when the Lord's like letme help you.
And tears are really God'ssafety valve.
Sometimes, when the tears flow,that's just releasing moisture
to our soil, it's helping usrelease things and that's okay.
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That doesn't mean we're weak,that means God's just working in
our heart.
Amen.
We're releasing some things, sowe're going to shoo the birds.
Everybody say shoo the birds.
We're going to move the stones,thank you.
And lastly, we have to removethe lies.
Everybody say pull the weeds.
We're going to pull the weeds,okay, listen, you know what a
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lie is.
This is so good.
A lie is a doubt that wasn'tdealt with.
A lie is a doubt that wasn'tdealt.
What happened?
A bird built a nest.
We let it build a nest.
Now we got to deal with it,okay.
So, in other words, what areyou allowing?
What are you allowing?
Jesus said some things aren'tthriving because of what has
been allowed to grow around you,okay.
So you know, when you were kids, we run, you know, to a field
and we gather up little flowersand we take it to mom.
Y'all have had that littleyellow flowers.
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And as a mama, you go oh,that's so sweet, and you love
them and you kiss on them andthen you throw them away.
Because why?
It was a dandelion?
And dandelions aren't reallyflowers, they're what they're
weeds, so they're fake.
It just looks like a flower.
And so Jesus said the thornsgrew up and choked the seed.
It choked the seed.
He said this is one who heardthe word, but it became
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unfruitful.
So they actually heard the word.
He said the one with the thornyground had the start of fruit,
but it never matured.
What a shame.
The start of fruit but it nevermatured.
Why?
The only way to know the liesis to know the word of God.
And he said the reason itstarted to have fruit and didn't
mature is because other thingswere robbing the soil, other
things were choking it.
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It wasn't able to reallyproduce.
In John, chapter one, verse one,in the Christian standard, it
says in the beginning was theword and the word was with God
and the word was God.
We know that.
Later in that chapter, verse 14, it says the word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
But verse four and five it saysin him was life and that life
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was the light of men, and thatlight shines in the darkness and
the darkness did not overcomeit.
I like this.
Some translation says thedarkness did not comprehend it.
So you just almost have topicture the devil just
scratching his head like I don'tunderstand what's happening
here.
I don't understand why they'renot stumbling.
I don't understand why they'reproducing right.
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Well, the light of God's wordwill reveal the lies of the
enemy, and so when we stay inthe light of God's word, then he
doesn't have room to operateLike.
I'm moving the stones, I'mshooing the birds, I'm fixing my
path right, I'm pulling theweeds.
And Jesus said this in theparable.
He said the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth,
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the desire for other things,they're all lies.
They're all lies.
None of that is fulfilling.
You're not going to thrive onthose things.
And you could look out at theworld and it could look like
people are thriving because ofthose things.
But you get closer to them andthey're not.
Their children are fallingapart.
We talked last night about justbroken families.
How does a child get put intheir mama's arm and then end up
being this grumpy old man?
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What happened?
What happened?
Right?
Something happened, and itwasn't God.
And so when you see a weed, youneed to pull it root and all.
And so when you see a weed youneed to pull it, root and all
root and all OK.
And I learned this early on.
You know, I think in Face inthe Mirror, if you've read that,
I tell the story about how mydad was a plumber, I think he
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wanted to be a farmer we liveseven miles out in the country
and he tried to raise crops andother things, and so he would
send me and my brother out topull the weeds of the garden and
we wanted to play, we he wouldsend me and my brother out to
pull the weeds of the garden andwe wanted to play.
We didn't want to pull weeds,we didn't like that chore very
much.
So we're out there, just quick,quick, quick, quick pull it.
Yeah, we did it.
You know we're running on.
And then two days later he'slike no, you didn't why?
Because we didn't get the root.
The root was still there.
And you know what he did.
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He made me say it again becauseI didn't get the root.
I said it, I was obedient, Iwas trying to receive what he
was trying to give to me.
But if I had just walked out soquickly from that moment, then
what would have happened?
That root was still there andhe was like no, I want you to
say it again.
And here came a flood of moretears and more healing in my
heart because I embraced what hewas saying.
And I feel like sometimes, whenwe have a ministry prayer time,
people get up too quickly, theyleave the altar too quickly.
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Sometimes, you know, in ourquiet time at home, we're
thinking about where we got togo.
We don't give God a chance tolike, really uproot some things
or really plant some things orwater some things, and so later,
you know, I realized that theLord had given me a principle.
Actually, before this mirrorstory, I had been struggling
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with anxiety.
I was telling Pastor Selenayesterday that I was hit by a
car in the second grade and I,just I was being disobedient and
my mom was dropping me at thebus stop.
She was a school teacher and soshe saw that I had a toy tucked
in under my shirt, you know,and was trying to sneak it to
school and she's like no, no, no, you can leave that in the car.
So I was mad at her.
So I got my library book, likethis, and I just walked in front
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of her car and I didn't evenlook.
I just crossed the street andthis poor little 19 year old
girl was driving by and sheprobably wasn't going that fast
on a residential street, butfast enough that it hit me,
threw me, broke my ankle at thegrowth plate, busted my teeth.
I have fake teeth now.
It was a big deal.
It was a big deal but Isurvived.
Right, I survived.
That was second grade.
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That was many, many, many moonsago.
But what happened was whenBenjamin was born, my first
child, I suddenly started havingpanic attacks.
I realized how easy it was forme to just walk out in front of
a street, and so he was still ina car seat, he could be
strapped in right behind me andI would just have these open
visions of him getting hit by acar and I just have a panic
attack.
And so I was dreaming aboutthis.
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I was thinking about this.
It was overwhelming me, and mybrother was going to Rhema at
the time and he had come homefor a visit and I and I kind of
I told him about it.
He was like well, daphne, that'snot your thought.
I was like what do you mean?
That's not my thought.
He's like the devil's givingyou that thought.
I was like, how's the devil getin my head?
I was such a baby Christian.
I was like what, what do youmean?
That's not my thought.
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And if he can plant somethingthere and get you to entertain
that and pull it down and thinkon it, now he's got you.
Like that, you took that.
He said so.
When you see those things andthey don't line up with the word
of God, he said you're going tohave to say that's not my
thought, I don't receive it.
And so I started doing that andI'll be honest with you the
first time, like the, here camethe anxiety, here came the panic
, uh, and I remembered what hesaid.
So I kind of whispered it.
And you feel silly.
You feel kind of silly sayingstuff like that.
You're like who am I eventalking to right now, you know?
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But I was so desperateSometimes we get desperate right
, we need change and so I justsaid it again, and and uh, and
then all of a sudden I was likethe panic's gone, the anxiety's
gone, wow.
But how many of you know?
The devil will test you.
He's going to see if you reallybelieve that word or not.
And so here he comes, sneakingaround again throwing something
at you and I was like that's notmy thought, I don't receive it.
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Then one day, it was like every20 minutes I was just having,
you know, this battle with him.
Here came the thought, herecame me saying it there and it
left.
Then it came again and I justfound out and this is what the
Holy Spirit told me.
He says you can wear him downor he can wear you down.
I decided that day I waswearing him down.
I was wearing him down.
You know, there's six yearsbetween my boys and when
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Christopher came along and hewas in a car seat, I remembered
all of that and I thought Ican't.
I don't even know the last timeI had a panic attack, like it
just was gone, like the Lord isjust faithful, amen, amen.
And so you're going to have todo something when God reveals it
, you're going to have to speakyour faith.
You're going to have to dosomething.
That that's not truth.
This is the truth.
And I want to add one more thingto help you real quick, because
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somebody asked me one time well, how do you know what is what
is of God and what's not of God?
Sometimes it can be a littleclouded and I said by the Spirit
.
I said I really feel like thefruit of the Spirit is a great
measuring stick.
Is that thought of love?
Is that thought of peace?
Is that thought of joy?
Because that's God's characterand if it doesn't line up with
those things, I'm rejecting it,I'm getting it out of here, I'm
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not receiving that thought andif God's trying to tell me
something that he can tell mewith joy, he can tell me in love
, he can tell me with peace,amen, he can get something to me
, but otherwise I'm rejectingthose things.
So again, jesus said if youunderstand this parable, we'll
understand all parables.
So let's go back and look atLuke, chapter 13, again one more
time.
But I'm going to read it thistime, verse six through nine in
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the Amplified.
Jesus said a certain man had afig tree planted in his vineyard
and he came looking for fruiton it but did not find any.
So he said to the vine dressersee here, for these three years
I've come looking for fruit onthis fig tree and I find none.
Cut it down.
Why should it continue also touse up the ground to deplete the
soil, intercept the sun andtake up room?
(27:00):
But the gardener replied to himLeave it alone, sir.
Just this one more year till Idig around it and put manure on
the soil, then perhaps it willbear fruit after this, but if
not, you can cut it down Now.
Religion I already said this,but religion and the world
aren't always kind.
Chop it down, chop it down andI was meditating on that,
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because you know, we could add,the blood would say leave it
alone.
The world says chop it down,the blood says leave it alone.
But I got to meditating on thisportion of scripture and I
thought I wonder if there's adeeper.
Do y'all do this?
I like to dig into thescripture.
I'm like I wonder if there's adeeper meaning to this chop it
down?
And there is.
This phrase chop it down isaffiliated with the word crucify
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, with the word.
Isn't that interesting?
Because it's a picture ofChrist's body broken on the
cross, and so we know Christ,christ, love was crucified.
He already, he already did thatfor us.
Love says I already took theirplace right, we don't need to
chop them down.
I can, I can do a work herebecause I did, I already took
what.
What is hindering them?
I can do a work here Cause Idid.
I already took what.
What is hindering them.
I can do a work here, so wedon't need we don't need to be
chopping anybody down.
You know, in in our town, wehave a small town, as you know,
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and um, and so it's kind of hardto to not run into somebody in
our town.
You know if you've had anoffense or something and
honestly, you need to be realcareful about all your
conversations because you mightbe talking to the cousin of
so-and-so and so-and-so, it'sjust like that in our little
town.
And so I just really learnedearly on that we needed to
believe the best of every person.
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And the Holy Spirit said it tome this way.
He said you don't know if theyhad an encounter with me last
night.
And I thought that's so good,because nobody's sitting in my
chair in my living room or mycar or my bathroom when I'm
having an encounter with God.
Nobody's seeing that, when I'mrepenting, nobody's seeing that
when I'm getting things right,nobody sees that I just show up
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the next day, hopefully with abetter heart, better attitude,
right, and you have to assume,you know, that maybe, maybe
God's working in my life.
But that's what.
What is love?
Say, believes the best of everyperson, okay, and so maybe
that'll help us.
But love was already crucified.
Love always says I took theirplace.
We don't have to cut them down,amen.
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The new King James says sir, letit alone this year also, until
I dig around it and fertilize it.
Fertilize it.
So, fertilize means to feed, itmeans to make fruitful, it
means to enrich.
I like this word.
I'm going to come back to it.
Impregnate, impregnate, that'sinteresting, isn't it?
Because impregnate means tobirth something.
It's the beginning of life.
But the Amplified said leave italone till I dig around it and
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put manure on the soil.
That's a pretty word, isn't it?
Manure, manure, if you reallywant to see a pretty word.
The King James says dung ituntil I dung it.
So, um, so, uh.
Pastor Tony McKenna is ainstructor at Rhema uh Bible
training college and it was sofunny.
I was meditating on these andum, and I happened to sit in a
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service he was doing at winterBible seminar a couple of years
ago when I'd been meditating onthese passages and I couldn't
believe it.
He started talking about manureand I was like, oh my, were you
there?
It was so good.
And I was like, oh my gosh, anduh, but.
But he used to be a rancher andso he, uh, he had horses and
cows and chickens, and so thisis what he said.
I loved it so much.
He said, and you have topicture this slow Southern draw,
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uh, pastor Tony.
But he said manure is a slowsolution to the problem.
A slow, yes, a slow solution tothe problem.
In other words, to fertilizeisn't instantaneous.
It isn't instantaneous, itisn't a one-time fix, it's
actually a lifestyle, alifestyle.
Listen to this.
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Hurry has caused many problems.
Hurry created Ishmael.
Isn't that right?
What is Ishmael?
Something that looked like Godbut wasn't.
Something that looked like itwas of God and it wasn't.
We don't want to be creatingIshmael, right?
We don't want to get in a hurry.
Maneur is mercy.
I know that's not a greatpicture, but it really is.
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Psalm 103, verse eight, says theLord is compassionate and
gracious.
Slow, slow, everybody say slow.
He is slow to anger, he is, heis abounding in faithful love
and mercy, amen.
And so I like how pastor Tonysaid it.
We're all neck deep in manure,we're all neck deep in mercy,
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amen.
Would you agree?
In mercy, god's beenfertilizing our lives for a long
time, a long time, amen.
But in Luke 13, eight, he said,sir, let it alone this year
also, until I dig around it andfertilize it.
So to dig or trench around itis creating space for moisture,
and that's what we want.
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We want to create space, amen.
And so I'm going to turn over toMark 14, verse three.
You'll be familiar with this,this verse.
But in Mark 14, it says whileJesus was in Bethany, at the
house of Simon the leper, as hewas reclining at the table, a
woman came with an alabaster jarof very expensive perfume, of
pure nard.
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She broke the jar and poured iton his head.
Poured it on his head.
And so that's what we mean whenwe're talking about digging or
trenching or creating space.
We're talking about pouringsomething on, and God wants to
pour his love on us.
We see this I'm going to readover in Titus I don't know why I
didn't top these out, but we'regood, let's turn to them.
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But Titus, chapter three Ireally love this verse versus
Titus three, verse four.
But when the kindness of God,our savior, and his love for
mankind appeared, he saved us,not by works of righteousness
that we had done, but accordingto his mercy.
You're never going to see thatword the same again, according
to the fertilizer, right Throughthe washing of regeneration and
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renewal by the Holy Spirit.
He poured out his spirit on usabundantly through Jesus Christ,
our Savior, so that, havingbeen justified by his grace, we
may become heirs with the hopeof eternal life.
So I love that he poured out.
He poured out his spirit on usabundantly.
I don't think we have to hurrythrough some of these things.
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He poured it out on usabundantly, amen.
The gardener said leave italone until I dig around it,
trench around it, till I fortifyit, till I saturate them in
love and the truth of who I am.
That's what he's doing in ourlives, amen.
The passion translation of theseverses in Titus says when the
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extraordinary compassion of God,our Savior, and his
overpowering love suddenlyappeared in person as the
brightness of a dawning day, hecame to save us, not because of
any virtuous deed that we haddone, but only because of his
extravagant mercy.
He saved us, resurrecting usthrough the washing of rebirth.
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We are made completely new bythe Holy Spirit whom he splashed
over us richly, by Jesus, theMessiah, our life giver.
And so I said I'd come back tothis word impregnate.
Because now we can take thisphrase, dig around it and
fertilize, and we have thispicture of impregnate and really
what we know as females.
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We understand what it means toimpregnate.
But let's talk about the soil.
It's the same principle.
That's why we can use that word.
You take a seed and you put itinto the ground and what do we
do?
We've prepared the soil.
Now we're going to water it.
What's happened?
It's prepared for growth.
We've impregnated that seed.
We prepared it, amen.
And another use of this wordimpregnate means to soak, it
(34:43):
means to saturate.
There's a song by Upper Roomcalled Pour my Love On you.
I don't know if y'all arefamiliar with that or not, but
listen to this little phrase.
It says like oil on your feet,like wine for you to drink, like
water from my heart, I pour mylove on you, so beautiful.
But I was meditating on thisand I thought to thrive, we need
(35:06):
saturation and we needfertilization, saturation and
fertilization.
And then I realized, you know,this song really works both
directions.
It really works this song.
I think, when they're singing itand when they, you know, are
leading us in worship, I thinkit's meant for us to go.
I'm pouring my love out on you,jesus.
But let's read it the other way.
What if it's Jesus singing itto us Like oil on your feet,
(35:30):
like wine for you to drink, likewater from my heart?
I pour my love on you.
That's what worship is.
Is that time of saturation andthat time of fertilization where
the gardener is just working onyou, he's just watering the
soil around you, he's justreaching the roots of your tree,
(35:51):
your family tree, your personaltree, amen.
And so that's the real pictureof a tree when God tends to the
roots and the branches reach upto thank him.
Right, isn't that beautiful?
That's all we're doing.
I remember when I first startedgoing to a spirit-filled church
and my friend Tori again, wasthe first one to take me and
everybody's lifting their handsand I thought it was so
(36:12):
beautiful that she lifted herhands, and so I remember trying
and it feels like they weigh 50pounds.
But now I tease and I say youcan't get me to raise them high
enough, because you get so freeand the roots are free and the
growth is free and the love isso big when you receive it.
You just want to thank him, youknow.
(36:33):
And so now I'm still like thattree that was out in front of
her yard, you know, but I'm justup here.
Thank you, jesus.
No matter what storms are goingon, I still have something to
thank you for.
Amen, amen.
Uh, I don't know why thisweekend I have so many song
illustrations.
But one more song for you.
There's a song called Holy andAnointed One.
(36:54):
I don't know who wrote it.
I have the version that's byCatch the Fire, but I love this
phrase.
Your name is like honey on mylips, your spirit like water to
my soul, your word is a lampunto my feet.
Jesus, I love you.
I love you, amen, amen.
In October of 2003, I was at aconference and Pastor Paulette
(37:16):
Kaywood was ministering the word, and I was sitting on the front
row with some other pastor'swives and she was ministering.
I don't remember the topic shewas ministering on, but it was
unrelated to what she stoppedand said to me.
But she just stopped right infront of me and she turned and
she said this.
She said you will grow like atree and many will come and find
refuge under your branches.
And I wrote that down cause youhad, I had, dreams.
(37:38):
My, my first book came out in umthat month, uh.
And so I had dreams, and so Ithought, lord, I would love that
.
I would love that, and I'vemeditated on it many times, but
I don't think that's a word forme.
Only I realized that, althoughit's been a great encouragement
to me over all these years Jesussaid it first.
We already read it in Isaiahthey will be known as trees of
(38:00):
righteousness planted by Yahwehas a living display of his glory
.
That's what the Lord would sayto all of us.
Amen that you are a tree andmany can find refuge under your
branches.
Amen.
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