How Deep Are Your Roots?

Ephesians 3:17-21, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus …”

Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

I woke up this morning feeling a bit sorry for myself concerning the ongoing struggle I am having with my health. As I do each morning when I wake up, I started to pray. But my prayer was not the usual prayer of thanksgiving, I was not glorifying or praising the name of Jesus, I was complaining about my circumstances.

As I continued to whine, these two verses from the book of Ephesians and Isaiah began to flood my mind. And then I felt the Lord speak and He asked me, “How deep are your roots?”

“Do you believe that my grace is enough, and that the power of the Holy Ghost that lives in you is enough, even if I do not heal you?”

“Don’t you know that even the most tattered tree, as long as it is living, no mattered how scarred or damaged, still bears fruit?”

I want to be fruitful. I want my life to bring glory to God. I desire His anointing and I know that it comes from being rooted and grounded in His love. I realized He was showing me that my strength comes from true prayer and worship and not whining, whining does not bring glory to Jesus.

All of us want to bear fruit, but if we do not stay connected to the tap root, Jesus, there can be no fruit. An artificial plant looks good to the eye, perhaps even better in some cases than the real thing. But the difference is that the real is not perfect, is always growing and changing. Sometimes it is beautiful and in full blossom, other times the weather has it looking tattered and weary, but it is still connected to the root, and has the potential to bear fruit – artificial plants look good but that’s about all they are, is good looking.

I do not want to be an artificial Christian! I was at one time in my life an artificial Christian. I looked good, talked right, and had all the appearance of being real, but there was no real fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, in my life. A living plant will sooner or later bear fruit or die and the same goes for the believer.

The only way that I am going to experience the high places in God is to be rooted and grounded in the Love of Jesus. How can I praise and worship if there are no roots of love and reverence of the Lord? How can I pray if I have no roots of believing that God answers prayer? God was scolding me, “Where are your roots man of God, what makes you who you are?!”

And my answer was immediate, Jesus! Jesus is my taproot! And the Holy Ghost is the life giving source that flows in me, from Him, and to others!

My roots are found in Acts chapter two and the Day of Pentecost. Speaking in tongues through the baptism in the Holy Ghost. I have repented of my past sin, I have been born again, I have been washed in the water in the Name of Jesus, I am filled with the Holy Ghost, and the fruit that I bare:

I Corinthians 12:7-10

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues…”

Mark 16:17-18

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

If I want to soar into the future and reach the heights in God’s power and anointing, I must be well rooted and grounded. I must be on a firm foundation, and the only firm foundation, the rock on which I must stand, is the Word of God. All of it, not just the parts that I like.

Someday the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is going to fall. Scientists travel yearly to measure the building’s slow descent. They report that the 179-foot tower moves about one-twentieth of an inch a year and is now 17 feet out of plumb. They further estimate that by the year 2020 the 810-year old tower will have leaned too far and will collapse. The word "Pisa" means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed, and the fact that it’s foundation is only 10 feet deep.

We must have a firm foundation. Without a foundation, our church and our lives will fall into ruin just as surely as the man who built his house upon the sand lost it all when the floods came and carried him away. Friends we need to be rooted, because the floods are coming. The devil will not cease to attack you in every way possible.

If we are going to stand against the flood, then we must be rooted and grounded in Jesus. As Pentecostals, we have some roots that we must stay connected to or we will lose the anointing and blessing of God. What are the roots of our faith?

The number one root is Jesus! He is the taproot from which every other root grows. He is our anchor in the time of a storm. His word and His spirit are the lifeblood of the church. His blood is our salvation. Without Jesus we nothing more than an artificial, dead, man-made religion with no power, no anointing and no life.

Another one of our roots is worshipping from the heart with lifted hands in praise and surrender to God. When we come to church and lift our voice in praise to God and lift our hands in praise to Him, it’s because we love him, reverence him, and desire to let Jesus know just how much we appreciate all that He has done and is doing for us. We lift our hands as a sign that we are trying to reach up to one who is higher than we are, and it is also a signal that we have surrendered to him.

If we don’t lift our hands, maybe we have quit trying to reach higher and we have begun to sink lower instead. If we don’t lift our hands, it could be a sign that we haven’t really surrendered our will to His will. If we can’t sing praises, even when we don’t feel like singing, then maybe it’s a sign that we don’t really love him.

Another root of Pentecostalism is Holiness and that includes holy living. God’s holy people don’t smoke Camels; they ride them. God’s holy people don’t cuss, and they don’t drink. Holiness people don’t look at trash on the Internet, and they don’t dress to please their flesh and be fashionable, they dress to be modest and please God.

Pentecostals don’t just read the Word of God and question all these things, we believe the Word of God and we obey it to the best of our ability, living it day by day as best we can. Believing in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and living a holy life are not Pentecostal doctrines, they are biblical doctrines that Pentecostals believe and live by.

In the old days, boys didn’t swim with girls, men didn’t wear short pants, believers didn’t go to school dances, ladies didn’t cut their hair, wear makeup, or dress like men – they were Cover Girls for the Book of Acts Church.. In Those days, men looked like men and left wearing ‘Buns’ to women.

Most people today, even Pentecostals call that kind of thing legalism. But it was not legalism that drove them to live a holy life, it was a desire to be more like Jesus. It wasn’t earning righteousness; it was the fruit of already being made righteous by the Blood of Christ! And God expects nothing less from His people today. Holiness never changes, it never goes out of style with God, and God’s people don’t conform their standards to fit society’s ‘norms.’

I’m not trying to put you under condemnation to some dress code or man-made rules of holiness. I’m trying to get you to understand that the more of the Love of God we have in us, and the closer we get to Jesus, the more we will want to be like him. That’s why we desire to live holy lives; not to show how righteous we are and how much more holy we are than the next person.

It’s not a question of “giving up” anything of this life. It’s a desire to gain something far greater in its place. We want to gain being as close to Jesus and as much like Jesus as we can because our love grows for him, and we are rooted in it. Those who refuse to change to be more like Jesus simply don’t have a relationship with Jesus, they don’t have enough of the love of Jesus in their heart, and their roots are in their flesh.

When Jesus comes in, darkness goes out, and as the darkness goes out, all the desire to do the deeds of darkness goes with it:

1 John 1:6-7,

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

“A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they just shine.” –

D.L. Moody.

We can’t scratch around in the dirt and filth of this world. We must mount up on wings of eagles, run and not be weary of well doing, and ever reach for the mark of the high calling in God through our “taproot’, Jesus Christ.

When we choose to stay connected to our Pentecostal heritage and the roots of our faith we will have the identity in Christ that we need, and we will have the power of God and the anointing of God upon our church, but we must realize that we will also become almost socially unacceptable.

When the church emerged from the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, they were accused of being drunk. The world does not understand the “tongues of fire” given by the Holy Ghost, neither does it understand the “power of the anointing” of the Holy Ghost; and whatever the world doesn’t understand, it is afraid of.

We want to reach our community, and the world, for Jesus Christ. We want to win the youth, the children and their parents to Christ. Sometimes it’s a tug of war between holding on to our roots and doing things to grab their attention. We must never leave our roots.

I thank God for the roots of Pentecostalism. I thank God for the presence and the power of the Holy Ghost in my life that has saved me from drugs and alcohol and has kept me firmly on a foundation that cannot be shaken. I thank God for roots that I will teach my grandchildren so that by power of the Holy Ghost, they will never have to experience that kind of life!

Only one thing can bring people to their knees before the Cross of Christ and that thing is not our programs or our entertainment; it is the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost that speaks directly into their heart to convict them of sin and draw them to Jesus.

Take a Deeper Breath

Many of you reading this are most likely familiar with Acts Chapter 2:1-4. In this passage of scripture as 120 expectant hearts were praying, a sound came from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind , and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then, there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is when the Church of The Lord Jesus Christ was empowered with supernatural power from on high. The power of the Holy Spirit came on them, and in them. Well this power and this anointing that came upon them sent them directly into the line of fire. And extreme spiritual warfare began to break out against them. This infant Church was thrust into the heat of the battle, they experienced great persecution. When reading the book of Acts, by the time we get to chapter four, they have been beaten up pretty good.

Let me stop here and take a moment to tell some of my friends that read this, you are the reason the Lord gave me this word this morning. You, like the book of Acts Church, have been beaten up pretty good lately. You’ve taken some hard knocks and you’ve had the breath knocked out of you. But I am prophesying to you “A New Chapter” Don’t quit, don’t give up. Don’t throw in the towel, there’s a fresh wind that’s about to blow into your life.

Now let’s look at this early Church and let’s see how they responded to their spiritual warfare. The Word says, “they lifted up their voice to God with one accord.”

Notice the common thread between Acts 2 and Acts 4, they lifted up their voice with “one accord.” They had a common goal, and they sought the power of the Holy Ghost to solve their dilemma. And looked what happened again, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”

They got a second wind. That same wind that blew into that upper room in Acts 2, was blowing again In Acts 4.

There is a phrase that we have become familiar with especially as relates to a runner in a race, ‘they’re getting their second wind.’ It is often experienced by a runner who has run until they have reached the point of exhaustion. Typically, just before they catch that second wind most runners feel like their lungs are about to explode, and every muscle in their bodies are on fire, telling them to give up. Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere and without any explanation for it, comes a sudden revitalization and energy and strength to keep running. It appears to some to be almost supernatural. And in many cases, this ‘second wind’ propels the runner into the winner's circle.

Some scientists believe this phenomenon they call “the second wind” to be the result of the body finding the proper balance of oxygen to counteract the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles. Others claim it is due to endorphin production. While others believe it to be purely psychological. Regardless of the cause of it, there is no disputing the fact that it occurs, and this phenomenon has come to be used as a metaphor for new energy, and new strength, at the point of exhaustion.

I felt the Lord say to me this morning to prophesy that he is sending a second wind, a new and fresh anointing to those who have been battling some very difficult opposition from the enemy of your souls. The Lord showed me today that many of his people have reached the point of exhaustion. He said that a spirit like that of a constrictor, a python has attacked many believers, and that Spirit is sent by the devil to squeeze the breath out of God's people.

From Genesis to Revelation the enemy is identified as a serpent. Jesus said that we would tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. The devil is a serpent, this morning the Lord gave me a vision of a large snake squeezing the breath out of many in the Church. Pythons can grow up to 30 feet in length and weigh up to 300 pounds, and the Python does not kill its prey with venom, it kills them by constricting and squeezing the breath out of them. The serpent literally suffocates the victim. It squeezes the life out of them.

I feel that the Lord was showing me this morning that many of his children have been under attack and you feel like your breath is being squeezed out of you. The Word tells us that in the last days the devil will speak great words against the Most High, and he will wear out the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7: 25). Wear out mean to afflict, to harass, to exhaust, to push to fainting or weariness, to put under continuous pressure or strain.

Friends I know that many of you have been under attack. It's been continuous, non-stop, unrelenting, and it’s been one thing after another. You've been under pressure, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Every time you get the victory in one area, the devil hits you from another side. I know because I have been experiencing it as well.

What is happening? The enemy is trying to drive God’s people to the point of exhaustion. He’s trying to wear us out, to squeeze the life and breath out of the Church. Breath is life, it is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. If you have no life in you, if you’re not filled with the Holy Ghost, you're no threat to the devil.

The valley of dry bones was no threat to anyone. But when the wind, when the breath of God, the Holy Ghost began to blow, “they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army.”

One hundred and twenty discouraged followers of Jesus in an upper room in Jerusalem were no threat to the devil. But suddenly, a rushing mighty wind of God began to blow and filled them all with the Holy Ghost and commission them with tongues of fire and they turned the known world upside down.

300 foxes were no threat to the Philistines until Samson put them in pairs and tied them tail-to-tail and set a Fire Brand between their tails. Then they were weapons of mass destruction. They burned up the corn, the vineyards, and the olive trees.

That's what the devil is afraid of, the fire of God. The devil is not afraid of our programs, our singing, our preaching, our church attendance, our talent, or our knowledge of the Bible. But what gives the devil nightmares and sends shockwaves through hell is a church on fire. A church that is alive. When the church is on fire, when everything we do is driven by the wind of God, everything changes.

When the wind blew in the book of Exodus it divided the Red Sea for the children of Israel to cross over, and it was a wind that closed that same sea on Pharaoh and all his army. It was a wind from God that brought the rain that ended a three-and-a-half-year drought. It was the wind of God that turned the valley of dry bones into a mighty army. And it was the wind of God that blew through that upper room on the day of Pentecost and turned a bunch of broken-hearted disciples into the greatest force for God the earth had ever seen and gave birth to the New Testament Church.

Then in our reading it tells us; many of the same disciples were gathered together in prayer. Because of their faith, and because of their boldness and testimony of Jesus Christ, they had been persecuted. In fact they had been threatened and commanded not to preach or teach anymore in the name of Jesus. But they left rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for his namesake. Then instead of gathering together and complaining and comparing their wounds, they prayed.

Essentially what they said was: God we need more power, we need another dose. That’s where Acts 4:39 –40, come into the picture:

“And now Lord behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that would all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thy hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy Holy Child Jesus. And when they prayed the place was shaken where they were and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness.”

They got a second wind, a refilling, a fresh anointing, a fresh fire, a fresh baptism. Then in chapter 5:12, we read:

“And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.”

I know by the Spirit I'm talking to some people today who are tired, worn out, many of you are at the point of exhaustion. You feel like you've had the breath knocked out of you. Some of you feel like you're running on empty, you love God but that python spirit has been squeezing the breath out of you. You’re having a difficult time understanding what is happening.

The python counts on you struggling and fighting aimlessly, because when you kick and scream, you exert energy and you exhale breath and he just tightens his grip. But I am exposing the devil today and that spirit is being broken right now. And right now, God is sending a second wind. That’s why you’re reading this right now, God is sending a second wind, a fresh wind into your life. You're going to breathe again!

Never has Church needed a fresh outpouring of the Holy Ghost, a Pentecost anointing. A second wind from heaven. A fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. The great need of the church is a fresh anointing, a fresh fire from heaven.

I believe that God is sending a second wind right now. You’re not going under your going over. You're not going to be defeated you're going to be victorious. Today we're putting that serpent under our feet where he belongs.

My Friends, it’s not a sin to run out of breath. We have all been there. But the sin is in believing that you can keep on in your own strength, in your own self-effort, and you neglect the presence and the power of God. You just keep on trudging along in the strength of the flesh. I don’t care who you are, how spiritual you are, or how anointed you are. You will at some point in time run out of gas, you will hit the wall; you will need a second wind. And the good news is that the same Holy Spirit that filled that upper room in Acts 2, was the same Holy Spirit that filled the room in Acts Ch 4, and He is the same Holy Spirit that wants to fill the room where you are right now.

Praise God! Right there wherever you are, just lift your hands and begin to breathe. Something's breaking right now. The anointing is destroying the enemy's grip right now. There is a fresh anointing coming your way, that second wind, the breath of God. Open up to His outpouring right now and take a deeper breath.