"Deliberate"

"Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them." (Psalms 99:6)
So, as if holding onto that root is going to save you, you really need to be part of the solution to your problem! You're probably saying, 'What the heck?' It's alright, I will catch you up in due time. You see, for the last several months I have been holding back on giving the Lord everything; so it really isn't any surprise that the 'devourer' has not been taking all of my money; like sand running through my fingers, it just comes and goes that easily. If I was out of town, I still wrote a tithe check; and when I am out of town, I still will go to church on Sunday wherever I might be. I do not give them my tithe check, but I will give them an offering. So, when I did come back to my home church, instead of giving two checks, or even three, depending how long I was gone, I just gave one and held back the others. In the point about the root, it is that guy who fell over the cliff and grabed a root on the way down. He cried out for help, but the voice that answered him, although it said that he could and would help him, it also said he needed to let go of the root. What was that man's problem? Well besides the fact that he was hanging off the side of a cliff, his immediate problem was listening to the voice of the Lord; because the Lord said to let go of the root, but his heart said, That's suicide! I guess it depends on the power of the voice; because if the voice is who I think He is, and if He can make water into really good wine, then He can surely handle any of my problems! That was the message that Pastor Bryan delivered yesterday, believe it or not; not the part about the root, that is my take on the message. His message was about us being a part of the solution to our problem; which is just about the opposite of what we usually do. We always "be still and wait on God," but God has a way of waiting on us to make the first move. There is a time to be still and a time to move; we can never really know what trust feels like if we don't trust God to catch us; then it will be time to stand still and quit trying to grab hold of roots! You made your move, now stand still and watch what God can do...
"So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people were terrified of the LORD and of Samuel. "Pray to the LORD your God for us, or we will die!" they all said to Samuel. "For now we have added to our sins by asking for a king." "Don't be afraid," Samuel reassured them. "You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the LORD with all your heart, and don't turn your back on him. Don't go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you -they are totally useless! The LORD will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the LORD to make you his very own people. "As for me, I will certainly not sin against the LORD by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. But be sure to fear the LORD and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away."" (1 Samuel 12:18-25) NLT