Digging Up The Roots

I am currently working on a project in my back yard. There are two big stumps that need to be uprooted to I can plant grass and make a beautiful yard. So I started to dig. And dig. And dig. The more I dig, the more roots I find that kept the ugly bushes alive in my yard. They need to be dug up and severed so that the bush will never come back.

There are things that grow in each one of our lives that have been there for many years that seem normal to us, but really have their roots in ungodly attitudes, behaviors, or thinking. Here is a for instance from my own life lately: it is natural for anyone to feel a little “down” when money is tight. I have noticed that when money is tight, I get angry, on edge, down, and Teresa and I tend to fight more—that doesn’t happen nearly as much when money is good. The Lord challenged me the other day with that reality and rebuked me saying, “In whom/what do you really have your trust?” Yikes. I didn’t even recognize such a thing was growing in me until the Lord pointed it out. I am always amazed that however long you have walked with God, He always seems to find another root to sever that was feeding some type of growing ungodliness.

Psalm 94:12 says, “Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from Your law.” The blessing of God’s discipline is 1) It is so we will be more like Him, 2) it is done skillfully and expertly in such a way that we will never forget it, and 3) it is done with perfect and loving intentions.

You want to know a dangerous prayer? It is also a prayer that will set you free—but it’s a prayer that God will take very seriously and answer very quickly. It’s a prayer that I have prayed many times and have never failed to have an answer to: “Lord, please take anything out of my life that you want, and put in anything that you want. I am Yours. I give You permission to do with me as you will.”

If you are willing to be corrected and disciplined by the Lord, though painful at times, it will result in freedom from things you didn’t even know were happening in your life. Every one of us has things growing that God wants to take out. The process can be long and difficult, but ALWAYS worth it in the end. I want to encourage you today to have ears to hear, a humble heart to obey, and a life that is completely surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit in you—His job is to make us more like Jesus! He is faithful to complete the work that He has started in you, so don’t cut the work short!

Growing together to be more like Jesus,

Pastor Kyle Bauer