Rooted to Stand! Lessons from the Beach: Episode 2

Hello, Victorious Living family. It is hot out and it's beautiful out. Today, I am here outside of Wilmington, North Carolina, here for the 4th of July. Not sure when you're watching this video, but I wanted to take time this week while I'm on a little vacay to just bring you some lessons from the beach. And so, I hope that you enjoyed our last lesson talking about being still and knowing that He is God and vacating, going on a vacation, letting our emotions go on a vacation so that we can really enjoy the life that God has given us and move forward into our destiny. Well, today, here I am. There's not a lot of waves. There's not a lot of waves. Look, it is like a, you don't see this too often, where the waves are just, they're being still and knowing that He's God too, just like our last segment. They have vacated the waves, but yeah, it's still really beautiful. The sun is so bright, can you see that? But it is coming up and I am down at the very end of this beach and it's one of my favorite places. I've taken y'all here many times before, but I had just been fascinated by this tree here. Let me give you a little panoramic view. Look at that. It's just like totally, totally been uprooted. And I want to tell you, all of this used to be trees and it was really high. Over the last winter, the wind and the waves have come and it's totally reshaped this part of the beach. It's extended it way out and it's almost connecting to an island out there. And it just, every time we come here, it's so different because the landscape is changing because it's sand. And the wind comes and the waves crash upon it and it moves it around and it uproots. And that's what it did here is this tree was uprooted and ended up, you know, when your roots aren't down in the ground and you're not able to be nourished and you're exposed

to all the elements, that's when you die. And so today I wanted our lesson to come from this tree. And one thing I see about this tree is it is got some really narrow roots. Look, the roots go sideways and it goes horizontal instead of down. So if this tree was upright, we see that these roots just, they're really shallow, very shallow. And that's what the Bible talks about. It says, you know, when the seed of God, the Word of God is, is sown, sometimes it lands on hearts that are stony. Sometimes it lands on hearts that, I cannot remember, it's in the Gospels where this is. I don't know if it's, I don't want to say it, I was about to say Luke 15, but I could be really off. Anyway, it's called the parable of the sower. But it talks about how, you know, you can go to church and you can receive the Word of God and it falls upon a heart that has little roots, meaning that you receive it with gladness. You're excited about, you know, hearing about the Lord and His love for you, but then you don't take the time to get rooted down in Him. And the Bible says in Ephesians 3, I believe it is, that all Christians should know how deep and wide His love is for us and get rooted in that love. And when we do that, we have deep roots, deep roots. So you get deep roots and why do you need deep roots? Because if you don't have deep roots and you're like on sand as well, I mean, another problem is this, this shallow roots trying to shallow in sinking sand. And so there's another parable, let's talk about first before I go squirreling over there. How do we get deep roots? We get it through prayer. We get deep roots through fellowshipping with other believers and learning from one another. Always using the Word of God as our, as our north, as our basis, our foundation, but getting in there and asking questions. It's what we do when I go to PCDC, Pitt County Detention Center, we sit and we ask questions.

And if I don't know the answer, which a lot of times I don't, we go look it up and we search it out together. And so that's what walk. with the Lord and that's how you build roots is you ask questions and you seek answers and the Bible says if you seek me God says Jesus says if you seek me you'll find me when you're seeking me with your whole heart so we the problem with this world we have a lot of shallow rooted shallow root Christians we got some horizontal roots out this way that are they're just shallow and they're not going and reaching very far it'd be one thing if this thing was reaching and connecting and and all with well that's not even a good analogy I was seeing in my mind this tree connecting with all these other trees and holding each other tight but if none of them are rooted deep the same thing's gonna happen and they're all gonna fall and so you know I'm not sure who you're connected to but if you're connected with people with other shallow roots then here's where your friends are gonna be too I don't know if you can see all the other shallow rooted trees all turned upside down with no no light they're dead they're dead because they had no roots and once they were toppled over they were exposed to the elements in this case the wind the extra salt beating against it and it couldn't get the nourishment it needed and and in our lives when we're not rooted in the word a wave comes along and it it just knocks us over and then we're exposed and we don't know which way is up like that poor tree and we're just laying there and the people around us that we were counting on there they're uprooted too or they're gone they're nowhere near you just like this tree and maybe that's what you've experienced today is your whole life has been uprooted you you've been hit by a wave maybe it's incarceration maybe it's a sickness maybe it's some news from home or from your family from your bank account or whatever and all of a sudden it's like you've just been uprooted and everything's just beaten against you well today I want you to know that there's hope there is hope I mean y'all trying to move here got shadows there we go I see people coming so I'm trying

to move on down the beach the way to get you know there's really no hope for that tree right there but for us in Christ there's always hope if we will come to the Lord and we will root ourselves in him he will cause us to flourish the Bible says that a man that is walking with God a woman that is walking with God that's rooted in his truth that's rooted in his love it's like a tree by a riverbank that is giving fruit and is flourishing in every season even the harsh seasons and in this case these trees weren't really by a riverbank they were by real salty salty water but they had really shallow shallow roots and that's the key is the roots and so you today are able to survive where you are if your roots go down deep and they go down in God's love and they are they will hold you Bible says that a person that is seeking refuge in the Lord it's like a palm tree now palm tree got some roots and it's got some flexibility and it's just getting blown around I've watched it I lived in Florida 30-some years I'd see those hurricanes come and I'd watch that little palm tree going and no matter what hit it it was still standing it was just bending over and nothing could take it out and that's how God can make us is we can become someone that is so secure that no matter where we are no matter what we're doing we are we will be standing and let me share a parable with you this is the parable of the wise builder and the wise builder is one it says that built his life upon a firm foundation and it says that when the rains come when the wind started the blow when the floodwaters rose the wise builder who built their life on a firm foundation no matter what beat against them they were completely able to stand strong and remain standing And it says that a foolish, a foolish builder is one, there's a lot of people around me, sorry, a foolish, not a lot, just two, sorry, foolish person is one who tries to build his life on sinking sand. You know, we're kind of going into another analogy here, but the reality is not only did this tree have shallow roots, but it was rooted in a really sandy environment where the wind was moving the sand away, it was reshaping the beach, the wind and the waves were coming up on it, and there was a time of testing and it didn't survive. Not only what does it

have shallow roots, but it had shallow roots in sinking, moving sand, and that's a really deadly combination. But the parable itself is talking about a person who has built their foundation, they're building their life on a certain foundation, and in life we've got to choose if we're gonna build it on a sand foundation, which is the world, it's putting our hope, we're building our hope on a relationship, we're building our life's future on, okay, I'm gonna get out next week, and when I get out, this is gonna happen, and everything's gonna be good, and then all of a sudden, we don't get out. You don't get out, or that person doesn't invite you into their life, into a relationship, and all of a sudden, that sinking sand is like a rug that's been ripped out from under you, and you're like, I feel like that tree, it's been uprooted. And I want to ask you today, first of all, evaluate your roots. What is your root system like? Is it going down deep in Christ, in Christ? If you could do a word study, a phrase study of what happens when we are in Christ, everything changes. When we are in ourselves, or in this world, and you could be in this world and be rooted in Christ, that's how we're supposed to live, but if we're not in Christ, then that's what's gonna happen to us, where's the tree, when the beatings come against us, and they're gonna come, because it says in John 16 33, that in this world, we're gonna have trials, tribulations, even that parable that I just shared with you, where it says, you know, about the wise builder, it says, when the rains come, when the wind blew, when the floods rose, not if, so you're gonna go through hard things, and most of the audience that I speak to, most of you watching this right now are incarcerated, and some of you, for a short season, some of you might have been given a life sentence, but I'm here to tell you that, although you're going to have really hard, difficult things that are outside of your control, a wave may come out of nowhere and just whack you, but if you're rooted deep in God's love, and you're rooted in his truth, there's nothing that can come against you, that can move you, might bend you a little like a palm tree, but you'll come back up, and you're still standing, you're completely still standing, and so evaluate, number one, what are you rooted in, how deep are those

roots, do you know the Word of God, do you know, like, what it says about you, what it says about God, have you only heard it, you've got to build your own faith, not, you cannot rest on grandma's faith, you cannot rest on your mama's faith, or your daddy's faith, it has to be yours, and you've got to build your own roots, I can't build them for you, coming and learning from these videos and other videos is great, but you got to get in there and dive in for yourself, and and get rooted in Jesus, I can't root you in Jesus, I can't cause you to have, you know, hey, let's build this foundation, you've got to want it for yourself, so evaluate your root system, what is it getting rooted in, who is it rooted in, because if it's anything, if you're building your life on anything other than Christ, when that storm comes, you will be shaken, and you'll end up upside down dying, it's not a bad place to die here, but you know what, we don't want to die anywhere before our time, and also look at the soil of what you're putting your roots down in, I mean that's really the second question, you might be putting deep roots down in an an empire, a gang, a deep roots down into money a relationship and like I said when all of a sudden it's gone it's gone so make sure that that foundation is Jesus it's the word because the word never changes his love never changes all right I feel like I have been all over the place I've kind of had a little difficult time this morning but I I just I love y'all and I just appreciate the privilege and the honor of getting to come into your space to be able to take you places and just pour into your life because you have been pouring into mine thank you for your prayers thank you for the letters that you send and the comments on Pando thank you for there's so many men and women that rights have been fasting for you you know when my granddaddy Charlie passed he was a he prayed for me all the time and I thought Lord just go pray for me every day now and the board sent me an army of men and women that are behind bars that are praying for this ministry and praying for me and my family you know I've got some waves going on too and I'm gonna just ask that you pray for for just my family and this ministry and the team leaders the ones that are working behind

the scenes and we've got a lot going on the ministry is growing because of you and with that growth and the expansion and just there's needs and so God will meet our needs but he also meets our needs through people and he answers the prayers of righteous people and you are if you were in Christ you are a righteous person and so thank you for just coming alongside of us as we come alongside of you and let's we can you know build some deep roots and root together you know and and that's what the Bible talks about in Ephesians is the shield of faith upholding it and the shield in Roman times would hook to the next Roman shield if they could all go in and hook together like walk in together and I want to encourage you to just whoever you're rowing next to make sure that you're surrounded by like-minded people who are going to have your back and who are going to be rooting in the same direction and the same solid foundation because you become who you hang around with and it's so important because you don't want them to go down and then they take you down oh let's say you're getting rooted but you're rooting next to a person who's not rooted in the right things and and you've got this little intertwining going around and then all of a sudden they get knocked down and they take you down with them and don't want that not after all that work trying to get your life straight and all of that so evaluate your roots evaluate the soil that you're rooting in and evaluate who you're rooting next to all right I am going to enjoy the walk I'm going to continue to pray for you and praise the Lord for this opportunity please pass these videos on to help your friends about these videos please write to us tell us how they might have impacted you and things you're learning we love to learn from you God bless you my friend and have a wonderful wonderful day see any like not a lot back here just go walk in the sand Thank you for watching our broadcast. Are you an incarcerated brother or sister who needs encouragement? Write to us at Victorious Living Correspondents, PO Box 2751, Greenville, NC 27836 or email

us at hope at vlmag.org. To view Victorious Living magazine in its entirety, please have your chaplain contact us at 352-478-2098 or email us through our website at vlmag.org. We are happy to provide our Victorious Living magazine free of charge, in bulk, with or without staples.