BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing English Emagazine March 2020 | Page 6

your goal appears to be in jeopardy. “Be patient
then, dear brothers and sisters, until the Lord's
coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to
yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the
autumn and spring rains. You too be patient and
stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near” (Js
5:7,8).
Some get discouraged. Lose patience and
stop the work. Jesus called His disciples 2-4-75-
120 and left. But today His disciples are all over
the world. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a
mustard seed, which a man took and planted in
his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet
when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants
and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and
perch in its branches” (Mt 13:31,32). That is the
future of the seed that dies. That is the future of
the remnant. Would you be part of it? “The one
who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The
field is the world, and the good seed stands for the
people of the kingdom”(vv 37,38). Is it now clear to
you that God throws us down on the soil that we
may die, take root and populate the earth?
So now the root takes nutrients from the
seed and grows. It was Isaiah who prophesied
that, “The remnant who have escaped of the house
of Judah shall again take root downward, and
bear fruit upward” (2 Ki 19:30; Isa 37:31).
Talking about the root the Apostle Paul
says, “If the root is holy, so are the branches” (Rom
11:16). This is the first requirement of a root, if it
is to produce holy branches. Remember, if the
root is to be holy, we should take root “below” the
dirty soil and not towards the world (Isa 37:31).
God cautioned Moses, “… there may not be
among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;
and so it may not happen, when he hears the
words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his
heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even though I
follow the dictates of my heart'” (Dt 29 : 18,19).
See the wickedness of our heart! When God wants
us not to go as the world goes, we think, “It's OK.
The Bible is impractical. I cannot be displeasing
my friends. I can only live like this. Even though
God has warned, nothing like that will happen to
me.” That is the root of bitterness and wormwood
says God. We become bold to do wrong. We
encourage ourselves to go ahead with whatever
wrong we are doing even though we know we are
displeasing God. This is what is called wilful
sinning (Psa 19 : 13). It is the hidden life, the root.
Do not allow yourself to be dragged into sin. The
remnant is “very” small (Isa 1:9). We are living in
such days that very few spiritually discipline
themselves to be worthy of being called the
remnant.
See what Jeremiah prophesies to those
whose feet walk in the direction of their choice in
9:13-15, “And the Lord said, 'Because they have
forsaken My law which I set before them, and have
not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it,
but they have walked according to the dictates of
their own hearts and after the Baals, which their
fathers taught them, therefore thus says the Lord
of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will feed
them, this people, with wormwood, and give them
water of gall to drink…” God forbid that we take
His word lightly and follow our heart. When you
turn every corner, stop, think, “Am I going to
follow my heart or God's word?” and then
proceed.
Jeremiah 17:7,8 says, “Blessed is the one
who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water that
sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear
when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It
has no worries in a year of drought and never fails
to bear fruit.” This is immediately followed by the
description of a deceitful heart. Our heart can
become our own enemy and deceive us into
disobeying God. But if we put our confidence in
God and listen to His gentle whisper, our roots
will not lack the water of life and we will be a
strong tree loaded with fruits.
How to take root?
The root should not be on the surface. Then
the plant can easily fall or be uprooted. The root
should go deep down. “When the Sun was up they
were scorched, and because they had no root they
withered away” (Mt 13:6). If you think you fall
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