Planted
Psalm 92:12-15 (ESV) The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
We are going through the book The Bait of Satan by John Bevere in our small groups. Something that struck me in one of the latest chapters our group read was what it looks like to flourish. The Psalmist here speaks of the truth that the righteous will flourish, they are planted in the courts of God, and they will bear fruit. I am reminded of how Paul declares that our belief like Abraham’s is counted to us as righteousness (Rom 4). The power of the gospel according to Paul is to reveal the righteousness of God and that the righteous will live by faith. The purpose of God when He speaks is to move us from belief into a life of faith. This is found in every situation we are in from dealing with co-workers, how to love our spouse and children, how to serve the body of Christ, everything.
The walk of faith is found in those situations that really push the “right buttons” of our flesh. I want our hearts cry to be for the wisdom and direction of the Holy Spirit in those times to love and obey Him and His desires. When He speaks something to us in those moments, faith is saying yes to Him and no to us. Yes to His nature, no to our old nature. As saints, we have the righteousness of God completely covering us as He works in us to make us more righteous. This righteousness growth is only experienced in a place where we can be planted in Him and in His body – the Church.
Bevere notes “that those who flourish are “planted in the house of the Lord. What happens to a plant if you transplant it every three weeks? Most of you know that its root system will diminish, and it will not blossom or prosper. If you keep transplanting it, the plant will die of shock! (page 51). It is clear that no matter what local church body God has planted us in, He means it for a time or season to complete His plans and purposes in us. This is totally and completely rooted in our love, desire, and hunger for the Word of God. One cannot merely read the Word but must be hearers and doers (James 1). But when something comes across those pages that does not seem to be active in our reality we must question God why that is, He will reveal to us what is in us that is keeping us from His reality.
Psalm 119:165 (YLT) “Abundant peace have those loving Thy law, And they have no stumbling-block.”
The Psalmist is directly connecting the Word of God (and seeking God in Faith when the Word does not match our reality) to the one that delights in His Word will avoid being offended, no stumbling-block. This process of reading the Word, seeking His direct revelation when the truths do not match our lives, and doing what He asks when speaks those truths is the process of maturing through and in Him that He so desires in us. It’s being fruitful!
Matthew 7:15-20 (ESV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
The false prophet idea here is connected with deception. We must be cautious of trying to force this on our own. When we attempt to produce good works on our own, the fruit will actually be bitter and the people in the body of Christ will start to notice. We deceive ourselves and others. When we step out of the driver’s seat of our lives and let Jesus move in by leading us through the Holy Spirit, He is the one producing the good works in us and the fruit He produces will be sweet and others will notice and want some. Before we say or do anything we must ask ourselves this question “who is leading right now, my old nature or the new nature, Christ in me?” We see that the only good tree is Jesus, and the only good fruit comes from Him; apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15).
I’ll finish with this. Our portion is not meant to be in maintaining our identity in our fleshly nature or old nature. Our portion is intended by God’s design to be found in the identity of the new nature, Christ in us. He desires us to completely identify with that. Why? His nature in us is to keep us planted in Him, His body, His word, to hear His voice and listen and follow, so that as the only good tree He will produce His fruit in us, to continue to mold us more like Him each day. He does not want us to stay stuck in our fleshly sin patterns but wants to use those moments that “push the right buttons” of the flesh to seek Him and His ways instead or our ways.
How are we planted? In His soil? Attached to His vine? Do we fundamentally alter the perfect soil properties He’s established for our growth only to find ourselves stunting the growth He’s designed for us? Do we try to produce our own fruit apart from His vine?