Good Morning Girls!  For those of you who may be joining in new on our journey, we are currently looking at the things the Word tells us to pursue.  It all started on the first day of school when my oldest child started first grade and I realized that in one more year, both of my kids will be gone full time and my job will be outsourced to the school system.  I was flooded with questions as to what was next in my life- what was I to pursue?
 I am currently still working off of 1 Timothy 6:11 But you Girls, are women of God, so run from all evil things.  Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.  We are still on a godly life. 
Now I know I have made this disclaimer before, but let me say it again: I am not a bible scholar.  I do not know the original Greek and Hebrew to anything.  I do not claim to have the know all end all answers to anything.  I am simply bringing you along on my devotional journey; believing that we both may discover a thing or two about God's unfailing love for us.  That being said here is the next quality of someone the Word says is godly.  It is found in Proverbs 12:12b The godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit.
If you've been a Christian for any length of time you have probably heard the words root and fruit a lot.  The fruit of the spirit.  Bearing much fruit, etc.  It is one of those analogies that we often skim over, assuming we know and understand them.  If that were true, how is it that every time I read the parable of the four soils I see new things- have new revelation?  How is it that what seems so simple : having roots means being grounded, that there are so many times when we feel anything but rooted and grounded?  Or how about the times we feel as rooted as an oak tree, but we are a dying oak tree, so even though our roots are deep and sturdy, we no longer bear colorful leaves.  We are just there, taking up a lot of space, often overshadowing the healthy trees around us?  How do we truly become well rooted and bear our own fruit?
This is what the Lord spoke to my heart this morning concerning these questions.  I know I am giving you a lot of scripture, but I do not want you to miss this.  Ephesians 3:17  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.
  Remember when you were a kid in school and you studied the "If- Then" concept.  If you do this- then this will happen.  It is the basis of understanding cause and effect.  Look at the verse again.  I believe this is an if- then concept.  However, because of the writing style, it appears as a "as- then" statement.  As you trust in him, then Christ will make his home in your heart.  When we first ask Jesus into our heart, we do not have to beg and plead.  He comes into our heart.  Often times though, we do not grow from there.  We do not spend time getting to know the Lord and what he has done for us.  We do not spend time seeking him and fully understanding what being born again truly means.  Think of how hard it is to trust someone new in your life.  The more you know them, the more you trust them, but it takes a while.  The more you can see their character, the more you can determine whether or not they are someone you can trust.  Why would it be any different with the Lord?  Sure, our hearts are turned to him, but that does not mean we automatically trust him- especially when all signs point to defeat.  Just like in the natural, we need to learn God's character.  We need to see his behavior in order to trust in him.  Since we are unable to see him in the flesh, and have audible conversations with him, the way we learn of his character is through his Word!  We read about his character, his love, his judgment (or should I say lack of judgment on us).  We see him as he truly is.  The more we discover about him, the more we trust him, and the more we trust him, the more he is settled in our hearts.  He makes our heart his home.  Nobody likes to be in a place they are unwanted and untrusted.  But how sweet is it when we develop a relationship with someone to the point of calling their home, our home. 
So we learn to trust him, as we learn about his character.  As we trust him, he makes his home in our hearts and then........our roots will grow down into God's love and keep us strong.  Our roots grow down into God's love.  You know, the one understanding of God that we need to have in order to truly trust him is this: our sins, all of our sins, past, present, and future, are not only forgiven- they are forgotten. The more we receive that all our sins are forgiven- past, present, and future- the more we trust in him.  The reason this is so vital is that when trouble comes, if we do not understand that God loves us so much that all of our sins- past, present, and future, are forgiven, we will fall for the devils lies.  We will start wondering "what we did to deserve this", or "what if God will not help us because of what we did" or "perhaps this is to teach us a lesson from that sin" or "maybe we have finally messed up one to many times and we have finally disappointed God".  The devil lies can easily uproot us if we do not understand that Gods desires nothing but victory for us- in all areas of our lives no matter what mistakes we may have made!
So Girls, spend some time today meditating on this truth- your sins- past, present, and future, have been forgiven and forgotten.  I believe with all my heart that the more you realize this, the more you will trust in the Lord.  The more you trust in the Lord, the more rooted you will become! 
We'll talk about the fruit tomorrow.......

Ephesians 3:17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him (not "as you do good things and get it right all the time").  Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.

Love you my mighty oak trees-
Jen