"Plucked Up By The Roots" - 2

 "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit witherith, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;" (Jude 12 KJV)

  "Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?" Jesus replied, "Every plant not planted by my Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch."" (Matthew 15:12-14 NLT)

 What I have learned over the years, is that we should not waste much time trying to convert those who are stuck in false religions; it is not that we don't care, because everyone should know the truth. What really happens most frequently, is that they dig deeper and deeper into what they believe and have been told; as if they need to rinse away the truth that we tell them. 

 Anywho, most of what these religions don't really care what happens to their members; just that they keep giving money and buying the magazines and books; which they hand out to earn their salvation. This might not make sense to some, but salvation is not earned! We cannot earn something that is freely given! Anything we might try to do in order to earn it, through effort or good works, is just filthy rags to God; rags that just get thrown in the fire! 

 The crazy thing that happened to be yesterday morning, I had very little sleep, thinking about the post I was going to do; the swirling eddies were keeping me awake, showing me so many things which had to do with, "plucked up by the roots." 

 One of the things that kept popping up, was the tree that Jesus cursed, because it did not have any fruit. We can see this in Mark 11:12-14, as Jesus was hungry for some figs, but when He came to the fig tree, it had no fruit; so then He said to the tree: "May no one ever eat your fruit again!" (Mark 11:14) Later, as they passed by the tree again, and the disciples noticed that it had withered from the roots up. (Mark 11:20) 

 There is really a very big deal about fruit, not that it earns rewards by having fruit, because that is what is meant to happen, naturally; we are made to produce fruit, which is the reason we share the gift we have been given! As much as it might appear to be good works, to some, it is something that keeps producing fruit! Not that is working to do good, but that is using the roots of righteousness that you have been given! 

 There is really something you need to remember about Jesus, He was always doing good works; not that He was doing anything to get rewarded for, because He himself was the Reward, to be displayed and placed on the cross, for all to see! This is the part of the story that those who can't receive it, won't! They won't even try to open their hearts to examine it for themselves; they have no roots, because of their stoney hearts!

 Anywho, again; just before I actually started to fall asleep, I had this word that popped up into my mind, it was the word, "discernment," which I thought was the message I would share about yesterday morning. But when I woke up at 2am to begin praying and doing the blog, that word would not appear again, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to appear in my mind.  

 The Holy Spirit has been given to us to be a Helper, not just for the actions and abilities to do the things that are good, but to also discern the Truth! We are given the ability to discern because the Holy Spirit is there to show us, which is usually noted by a "check in our spirit," so to speak. 

 When I first discovered this, I was sharing the Lord with a certain inmate that didn't want me to share about Jesus; as a matter of fact, he even threatened to punch me if I even tried. I did what I could, and kept showing up in the 'Boneyard,' almost every day to tell him about Jesus. A fellow believer took me aside and told me to stop, using a Scripture about "casting pearls among swine." But I instantly had a check in my spirit, telling me that he was wrong, and I kept on doing what I felt God telling me to do. 

 We must not ever think that we are not able to reach someone that God shows us to reach; He makes the way, and we are meant to go and do what He says; even if it might not seem right or easy, it is an open door; one in which God opens, at just the right time; and in just the same way, He came to you...  

""Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father."" (John 15:4-8 NLT)