“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” Matt. 7:24-25.
The story in our text is simply about being rooted on the right ground. You need to understand that the same wind, the same rain and the same storm happened to both houses. If you read further, there were different results. One house fell and the other withstood the challenge. The secret is being grounded and rooted on the right soil. The days ahead, you can’t survive them if you are not well planted in the right environment of the Spirit. Jesus warned that those without strong roots are easily shaken by trials and fall away Matt.13:5-6, 20-21. Without strong roots, a Christian will be unable to endure the storms of life. The righteous, in contrast, are not easily shaken.
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” Ps. 92:12. Bible days, Palm trees are not the same with our modern palm trees. They consist of spongy, flexible tissue. They don’t have a tap root system like many other trees. Instead, they have thousands of roots, forming a dense system—resembling spaghetti in some ways—radiating in all directions. These characteristics make them very resilient and unaffected by seasonal changes. They can survive droughts, floods and storms. Palm trees are able to bend 40 to 50 degrees without snapping and can even withstand hurricane-force winds. At the end of a storm, they’ll return to their upright position with their root systems intact.
Surprisingly, storms can stretch and even strengthen a palm tree’s roots. In many cases, palm trees are stronger in the aftermath of a powerful windstorm. The prophet Jeremiah compared the Christian who trusts in God to a tree that “spreads out its roots” and is not shaken by heat or drought, but remains green and fruitful Jer. 17:7-8. This is the perfect analogy of a Christian who is unfazed by the changing seasons of life and the other dark forces and influences of this age. Eph. 6:12. Whatever happens around him or her, the strong Christian remains consistent and continues to grow and bear spiritual fruit, because he is rooted and grounded in the truth.
FURTHER READING:
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jer. 17:7-8.
“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James. 1:25.
DECLARATION:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for another day. I stand firm and make progress on a new level. You set me securely upon my high places. You teach my hands to war and my fingers to fight, granting me supernatural strength and abilities, so that my arms break a bow of steel. You are my Rock, my Shield, and my Strong Tower. You have equipped me with the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand establishes me as a victor in life and destiny. Therefore, I am established in righteousness and far from Oppression In Jesus name, amen.
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Ezek. 25:1-17. Ezek. 26:1-21. Ezek. 27:1-36. Ezek. 28:1-26.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
“Disobedience Is Always More Costly Than Obedience. Choose Obedience.”
The Fortress Int’l Church, 2 Floor 10 Coker Road, Opposite Chicken Republic Ilupeju Lagos, Nigeria. http://www.thefortresschurch.com. email:info@thefortressxhurch.com.
