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Where are You Planted

  • Pastor Seven
Date preached December 4, 2023

There is a way that Christians commit to God that is not pleasing to Him. Christians are shown to be in
two groups. Those who pray because they want something from God and those who have everything but
do not have time for God. These two groups of Christians are a mockery to God and are worse than other
religions outside Christianity who dedicate their lives to prayer. These other religions take prayer seriously
and no matter how rich the congregants are they never stop praying.
Only when Christians want something from God would they become obedient and make time for God.
God’s way is meant for our benefit and blessing. When we rebel, when we sin, or mock, or go our own
way, we will reap loss and death. To love God’s word, to know it, and practice it, leads us to spiritual
health and peace.
Psalm 1:1-6 says a man who seeks to be right with God is like a fruit tree growing by a stream, healthy and
strong, whereas the wicked man is compared to withering leaves and useless chaff blown away by the
wind, for all he does is ultimately meaningless and will fall away
When we delight in the things of God, we are like a tree planted by a stream whose roots feed on the
stream water. The word of God is life, when we are planted in the word of God we feed from it. Only when
a person is planted in the word of God shall they bear good fruit in all seasons because their roots are in
the word of God.
Some people are planted in evil and all sorts of sin. These people will always come before God to ask for
His blessings but forgetting of where they are tapping from. When God does not answer their prayers they
blame and mock God (Proverbs 19:3) and they even go on to say God does not exist. Where you are
planted will determine the end results of your life. For you to call yourself a child of God, you need to
follow God’s principles. We are all God’s people but only those who are planted in the word of God are
called God’s children.
Matthew 7:13-14 says the way of a sinner is wide and open. It is easy to sin than to live a righteous life. Sin
seems sweet. Sinners sit in the seats of scoffers and would not see anything wrong with it. God defines
evil as going against His way. Sinners are those who choose evil over good. Scoffers are those who mock
the idea that God knows what is best for them other than themselves. Scoffers define truth for
themselves. No one tells them what to do.
Most Christians delight in walking in the counsel of sinners. To walk in the counsel of someone is to
follow their ways. A man is blessed if he does not follow the ways of the wicked. The advice for a path to
happiness and blessing begins with an avoidance. To be happy or blessed, don’t listen to people who are
evil or wicked.
The man who is “blessed” avoids following sinners. He does not heed the counsel of the wicked. And he
does not allow himself to become a scoffer. That is what he avoids. But what he sows into is the law of the
Lord. The man who is “blessed” does not only learn and follow the law of the Lord. But his delight is in the
law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
The man who delights in the word of God, who meditates and lives the word, will be like a
tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season. The picture here seems to be
of a fruit tree in an irrigated orchard. An irrigation canal brings streams of water to the fruit tree. Just as
irrigation is to a fruit tree, so the word of the Lord is for the human soul. The fruit tree yields its fruit in its
season. It does not suffer drought from lack of water, so its leaf does not wither.
In like manner, when we follow God’s ways, hear His word, and live His word, then we are like that
irrigated fruit tree. The word of God nourishes that man. Therefore, like the fruit tree in whatever he
does, he prospers. The prosperity he gains will be the lasting kind. The kind that God will reward. The kind
that nourishes the soul. It of course takes discipline to set aside our appetites in order to follow the path
of righteousness.
It is sometimes where you are planted that can delay your answers from God. We need to ask ourselves if
the fruit we produce are of God or not. Matthew 7:16-18 says a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit and a
bad tree cannot bear healthy fruit. For a tree to be healthy it needs water, it needs pruning, and it needs
sunlight. To become good trees we need to prune our ways, water our spiritual growth and bask in the
sunlight of God’s presence.
Jesus says if your eye makes you sin, gorge it out and rather enter heaven with only one eye. Jesus here is
not talking about a physical eye but a spiritual one. Our spiritual being can get contaminated by where we
get planted and where we feed our spirit beings from.

In series Faith