How Stable Are You?

We talk about some people not being mentally or emotionally stable, but what about spiritual stability? How spiritually stable are you?

You don't find out how stable you are until you are shaken by someone or something. Then you find out how grounded you really are.

Healthy trees that have strong deep roots can withstand amazing storms and wind velocities. Healthy trees bear good and much fruit. Unhealthy trees with shallow root systems are easily uprooted, and don't bear the fruit that they could if they were healthy.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us:

"Blessed is the person that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river . . . nor will it cease from yielding fruit."

Are you trusting in the Lord for your salvation and for your spiritual growth? How are you doing in your walk with Christ?

We live in a day and age where we are encouraged to be self-made and self-sufficient. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that our spiritual destiny and well-being relies on our good works, rather than living a life of faith. Do you trust in the Lord for your salvation? ("By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast"- Ephesians 2:8-9). If so, are you trusting in the Lord to grow you spiritually and cause you to bear lots of good fruit in your life? ("Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect [i.e., mature] by the flesh [i.e., your own accomplishments and doings]?"- Galatians 3:3)

Many of us have had great starts spiritually at one time or another in our lives, but we have been uprooted or derailed by life's storms, tragedies, or trials. Jesus, Himself warned us in His parable of the sower that this could happen:

"But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful." (Matthew 13:20-22)

Have you been stumbling around lately? How has your fruit been? Would most people around you describe you as someone that is Christ-centered in your conversation, and Christ-like in your behavior? (e.g., compassionate, patient, forgiving, kind, merciful, gracious, long-suffering)

Christ said, "Abide in Me . . . As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." (John 15:4)

"Then Jesus said . . . If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." (John 8:31)

God wants us to abide in Christ, and the foundation of any good relationship is trust and truth. We therefore must recognize that being grounded in the Word of God is essential to being spiritually grounded and growing a strong spiritual root system.

There is a Hebrew word "mote" that means to totter, shake, slip, be moved, be overthrown, be dislodged, fall, or be greatly shaken. God does not want any of us to be 'moted'. He wants us to be well-grounded, and rooted in Christ.

My prayer for you is that, "Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, . . . May be able to . . . know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7)

Be rooted and grounded in Christ, in His Word, and in His love. Be spiritually stable!

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.