TV 1765 | Rooted Part One

Well, it seems that so many times I come in here and I feel weak and my thoughts seem unorganized, but I think the many times the Lord puts us in that place, doesn't He? Because He wants us to lean upon Him and not upon ourselves. And I'm okay with that. How about you? Is that a good thing or is that a bad thing? Praise God, because otherwise it's just us doing stuff. And I don't want to do stuff. You don't need to hear me. You need to hear Him. I need to hear Him. I praise Him. I've had some thoughts that have revolved around a certain idea, and I'm just trusting the Lord to bring out the things that He wants to say, because you can go down a whole lot of rabbit trails. I don't want to do that. But it has to do with this. There's a concept that you see in Scripture about being rooted. And you know, I thought about, first of all, how when we come into the world, this world tends to, you know, supply who we are, what we're about, all of those kinds of things. Our very identity is bound up in, you know, what family we were born in, whether we have a lot of money or a little bit, or what position we hold in society. Are we good looking, not so good looking, smart, not so smart? I mean, all the different ways in which we categorize people, and we put everybody in a box. And it's as though when we come into the world, and we grow up in it, we learn who we are, we learn how our parents are, and we gather, you know, who we are and what we're about and how the world works by how we're treated. Are we in an atmosphere of love and nurturing? Are we in an atmosphere where there's a lot of fighting going on?

Are we, you know, all of the variables that enter into our earthly existence. And that tends, of course, to define us in our own minds. And before we're done, we're in a box, in a way. We have this idea, well, this is who I am, and if I run into this situation, this is what I do. I dig deep in here, or I just throw up my hands, or I go eat a box of chocolates, or I do something. You know, we all have our ways of coping with life and trying to navigate it. And of course, you find people that just can't navigate it, and they wind up addicted to this or that, and turning to that to find their peace and their hope. And of course, we know God has better for us. But the reality is, you know, at best, those that God calls out of that, we're in a process, aren't we? And I'm just going to say a lot of things we've heard many times, but there's nobody here that's in any kind of battle, right? Everything's just going smooth and sweet and wonderful, and there's no battles in your life. But the reality is, there are, aren't there? Life is never ... we were never promised that life was going to be smooth and easy. And we're always going to have those kinds of things, and we're always going to have to dig in. And the idea of roots is that it kind of likens us maybe to a tree, let's say, okay? And the tree is planted in something. And we're planted basically in this earth and this earth system. And so we learn where to put our roots down, and this is what defines me. This is where I get what I need for this situation and that situation. And maybe I'm one of the privileged ones who has, you know, we live in a gated community. We're not like those people over there, and, you know, it goes on and on and on with who we are and where we get our resources from to cope with life. And so we learn how to put our roots down.

But I'll tell you, when God calls a people, He calls us out of all of that. And the sooner we learn how to plant our roots deep into Him and to let Him cut those other roots, the better off we are. But we know that's a process, isn't it? It doesn't happen overnight, and it's something we need to learn. And I just ... I feel the need always in myself. That's always where it has to start, where God is going to spend all of our earthly lives teaching us where to put our roots when things happen, because they're going to happen. And He's wanting us to dip our ... to draw from the new life and not the old one, because that's what ... a tree gets its nourishment from the ground in which it's planted. Well, if we're just planted in earthly ground, if that's where we're getting everything, man, that doesn't go anywhere, does it? I mean, some of the songs we sang, I can't even remember the words, but I mean, they actually don't ... with that, with God's love and with God's ... Are we just getting our resources from the world? Is that how we think of ourselves? Is that where we're at? Or is there something deeper and something more wonderful that God has brought us into? But the glorious thing about the gospel is that God calls us out of something that is purely earthly that can't last. I don't care, like Jesus said, if you own the whole world, but you lose your soul. How good is that? So you could be the one that is just on top of society. Everybody looks up to them. Everybody celebrates them. They got all the resources in the world. They're smart. They're everything you could imagine that this world values. But is that worth anything in the world in which we live when we know that we're living

in a world that we cannot see? The world doesn't understand that there's an invisible kingdom that actually is in charge of the world system. And that's what God is calling us out of. And I thank God because, I mean, when I look at myself, I don't care whether I'm smart or not smart or any of those things. The resources to handle life and to handle what God has in mind, they aren't in here. And that's okay. Is that okay with you? To realize you don't have what it takes? Because the reality is we don't. And so God calls us out of this world. And, you know, we think about our identity in this world as who am I? It answers the question, who am I? Do I matter? Am I important to anybody? Am I cared for? Am I loved? Am I safe? And those are things that we seek. And boy, does the devil ever take advantage of that? Yeah, constantly. That's what he's appealing to in our nature, that you need this, you lack this, something's not right. And, of course, if you come out of a situation in your life where life has been difficult and you haven't had some of that, and you haven't had the nurturing and the acceptance and the love and the support, man, that's tough. The devil's got a lot to work with. And I'm so thankful that God doesn't deal with us the way we deal with each other even. He deals with us as His children that He loves.

Oh, what He has done for us. Praise God. Praise God. I'm going to go to, I guess I'm going to go to Ephesians chapter 3 because this is the scripture that came to me. And there's so many facets of truth that I'm just trusting the Lord to focus on what He wants. But Paul is talking about his ministry and he's talking about the fact that God called him into something, out of something and into something, gave him something that he didn't deserve because he calls it grace. He had an ability to do something in God's economy, God's kingdom, that wasn't because of him. It wasn't based on his ability. And we see that throughout his ministry. God has to make me weak in order so that His strength can be seen in me. And boy, this is something we buck against, isn't it? We just want to feel safe and secure in our own resources. And God's constantly trying to break those roots and dig them in and plant those roots in what He wants. So anyway, Paul is talking in the beginning of chapter 3 of Ephesians is where I'm at and talking about the fact that he became a servant of God's grace and what God was trying to do was to preach among the Gentiles, which was his particular calling. And what was he was preaching was the boundless riches of Christ. That's riches you cannot, you can't get to the end of them. Praise God, you talk about being rich. If we understood the love and the mercy of God, we would sit here and say, man, I don't care what somebody else has, I'm rich. Praise God. I'm one of the rich ones. I'm one of the ones that's in the right position.

Thank God I have ... Anyway, the boundless riches of Christ and to make, verse 9, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery. So here's God unlocking something, as he says here, it was hidden, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things. So God had a plan. He didn't even explain it to His angels. And a whole bunch of them rebelled against what He had planned and became His enemies and their ... The ones who have formed this kingdom, the ones who did rebel, thank God there's a whole bunch that didn't. And they're here with us this morning, thank God. But here's a whole kingdom and it's running this world and they have no clue about what God was planning and where he was going with all of this. Why did he create this in the first place? Why did he create these crazy little people who walked around the world, walked around on the globe and fought against each other and had all these things wrong with them? What in the world is that about? And they saw it, the demons saw this as an opportunity to enshrine themselves as gods over these people and use and abuse them. I'll tell you what, what a wicked world we live in. But I thank God he has an answer, he has a purpose that he's unfolding. And so there was a mystery. It for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things. His intent, now why did God do that? In other words, his intention. Why did God keep all this hidden? Was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. I'll tell you, the more God unlocks what his purpose was in doing things the way he has done, the demons themselves are learning what it was all about.

And they're learning it through us. May God help us to seek him, to desire him, to learn how to understand ourselves, to grow in the knowledge and wisdom and understanding like Paul prayed in chapter one so that we get it and we're cooperating with him and not just living like people of the world. Praise God. According should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. Based on what? According to his eternal purpose. I'll tell you, we got a God who is in charge, nobody can tell him what to do, and he has a reason for what he does. Many times things happen in our lives, we say, why? Why is this happening? I don't understand it. Does God really care? And all these questions the devil tries to plant in our minds. I'll tell you, we have a God who cares and is in charge. And I pray that God will make that such a bedrock conviction in every one of our hearts that we will find the stability, the sense of safety and security that we need in the Lord. Because the devil is constantly going to fill us with anxiety and fear and doubt and why and all kinds of questions if we listen. We're going to have to learn when these things happen to go to the word of God and look at what he has said and declare it and stand on it. And when we do, God's going to absolutely back us up in it. He is absolutely at work. But there is a purpose that God has and it's outside of time. We see things happening within time and unfolding, and of course that's how it works with us. But I'll tell you, when God does something, it was as good as done before it ever started. Because nobody can tell him what to do or stop him. Boy, I want to be part of that, don't you?

That's what God has called us to, okay? According to his eternal purpose, now this is what he says following that. How did that work out? That he accomplished. What's the verb tense there? That's past tense. Paul was looking back and say, I want to tell you what happened at the cross. God accomplished his purpose. Jesus said, it is finished. Not just started and I hope we can make it work out. This is finished. Praise God. Oh, praise God. I want that reality to define me. I want that to give me a place where I can put my roots down and feel, hey, it's okay. I'm on track. God's purpose is working out absolutely and he's made me a part of it. Thank God. Oh, I'll tell you what. When he calls a people, he doesn't call us based upon our qualifications, does he? It doesn't matter who, what society thinks of you or who you are or who you think you are. It has nothing to do with the love and the purpose of God that's unfolding in our lives. Thank God. He calls, in fact, sometimes he calls the worst of the worst by human measurement because he has the power to take the worst of the worst and make the best of the best out of them. Thank God for the power that was released in his purpose. And I'll tell you, when he calls, he doesn't call us to dig our roots deeper and try harder. He plants us, he gives us a whole new life on the inside.

And I'll tell you, that's a brand new tree. That's what I want to be. I want to be this tree and not that one. When things happen, I want my roots to go down where they need to go and not trying to desperately dig around over here and find some resource to get me through. I've got all that I need in Jesus. Boy, learning that is a process, isn't it? Anybody here wrestle with some of those things? Yeah. I'll raise my hands. You can sit there and pretend if you want. But every single one of us, that's the reality in our lives. But oh, what a faithful Lord we have to teach us and to give us a place where we can put our roots down and be secure and know that it's going to be okay. Because it was already finished. Just the fact that we're in the middle of the process doesn't bring doubt into it. He has absolutely, you read chapter one sometime, he's called us, he's chosen us, he predestined us. Predestined us to be his children. To reach a day when we're the adoption, the kind of adoption they had in the first century happened when, all right, it's time to me to present my son, my daughter. They are now grown up. I want them to be recognized as mine. They have full authority to represent me. They are finished products, if you will, to put it that way. That is what God has destined for everyone who comes to that crossroads in their life. When he faces you with your need, but he reveals to you his love, and you come to a place where you surrender. You hand over the steering wheel of your life. You hand over your heart.

He comes in as Lord and Savior, and he begins that work in you that changes you, that absolutely plants a new life. You become that new tree, but oh, I'll tell you, a lot of times we're kind of still living out over here on the old tree, and God's wanting to take that new one and make it stronger and deeper. Okay? All right. I haven't even gotten to that part, have I yet? But anyway, eternal purpose, which he accomplished. All right. Now, here's what the place that this brings us to is incredible. In him, that's Jesus, in him, and through faith in him, see, that's where my faith needs to be. If I've got a problem and a need, that's what I'm trusting in. I'm not looking in here or trying to find my roots, my help in my own earthly roots. Man, it's got to be him, all right? In him and through faith in him, what can we do? We may approach God with freedom and confidence. Now, I don't have to ask if there aren't times in every one of our lives, no matter how long you've known the Lord, when you kind of struggle with that simple truth. I don't feel like I'm quite free to come. I'm just, I'm such a mess. I've had, there's so much wrong with me. Oh God, and we shrink back as though he's somehow unhappy with us and we just can't come like this. We've got to fix something. Oh God, open our eyes to see what Jesus has done for us, that we can come with freedom. We're free to come. Are you free to come this morning? Think of what we learn in Hebrews chapter four.

We've spoken about it so many times. There's a throne. It's a throne where grace is dispensed. If I need divine help, where do I go for it? There's a throne. A throne conveys the idea of authority. I can go before the highest throne in the universe. Back in the day, they used to go to the king for if they needed something because he had all this authority. He could say, yeah, go do that, fix it. We've got the king of all kings, the Lord of all lords, and he has made a way where we can come. Okay, well I've got to get myself cleaned up a bit before I can even think about going before such a place. Is that how it is? He says we can come for and find mercy. Anybody here ever need mercy? Yeah, we all do. That's the nature of the beast, as they say. That's how things are. If we're going to be honest. I can never come and say, oh Lord, here I am, I've been doing great, aren't you so happy with me, aren't you so pleased with me? We all are going to have to, in one measure or another, we're going to have to come and say thank you, Lord, that you could let somebody like me come and actually have a relationship with you. And I can come with freedom, I don't have to try to pretty myself up and make my, you know, I can just come as I am, just as I am, and come before his throne and I can find mercy and grace. But the grace is to do what?

It's to help. We all need help, don't we? And it's to help in time of need. See we're not going there to brag or to say, hey, here I am, look at me. We're going there because we need help. And yet we have freedom and confidence to do that, that's incredible. Is that real to you? I mean, is that something that you live with every day and it actually makes a difference when really happens? Or are we just kind of acknowledging that on Sunday and then living our lives throughout the week in a state of defeat and fear and not quite, that couldn't be me, look at me, I'm all this and that. That's the earthly identity. That's what Christ has pulled us out of. Every one of us is a mess. If we're going to look in the mirror and be honest, we're a mess. We need the Lord, don't we? Oh my, I'll tell you the further you go, the more you need him. But if we really get what Paul is saying, what he's about to say, it's not where we have to come and grovel and somehow, oh God, I'm such a mess, but I thank you that you love me anyway. God wants us to come to a place of freedom and confidence where we get what the situation is, okay? So then he says, well, he says, you may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you therefore not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are for your glory. So here's Paul, obviously in order to do what he did. We see throughout his writings and throughout his life, he paid a high price, didn't he? To do what he did. And yet that was a part of the call of God on his life.

But he was able to see past that, that God's not doing this to me because I'm bad, because I'm this, I'm that, I'm the other. He is doing something so that I can be free. He's cutting my other roots. Oh Lord, don't mess with that. I'm dependent on that. This is my sense of security. If you cut that out, what am I going to do? And the Lord had to do some pretty drastic stuff in Paul to use him like he did, didn't he? But of course, we don't want that in our lives. Lord, don't mess with me too much. God mess with me. God set your people free. God help us to have a heart that's able, like Paul, to see the purpose of my life is not to navigate this world and feel like I'm okay and I'm getting what I need and getting what I want and all of that. It's Lord, I'm here to be part of your kingdom, to do what you want for you to live in me and through me. That's what my life is about. That's who I am. That's who I've become. This has been the Midnight Cry broadcast. If you would like a DVD or CD of today's message in its entirety, please request it by program number. While it is not required, a donation of $10 for DVDs and $5 for CDs is suggested to help with expenses. Also for those who request it, we will send you our quarterly publication, the Midnight Cry Messenger, free and postage paid. Send your requests to Midnight Cry Ministries, Post Office Box 685, Southern Pines, North

Carolina, 28388. We invite you to join us again next week at the same time, and may God richly bless you until then.