ROOTED? - Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 2 Chron 17-19
ROOTED? Monday, July 19, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Psalm 92:13) READ: Psalm 92:13-14 After a net-breaking harvest of fishes, Peter fell at the feet of Jesus and asked Him to leave him alone because he was a sinner.  This means that although God’s mercy may bring down certain blessings to just anyone, special blessings are reserved for the righteous. In Matthew 15:21-28, when the Syrophenician woman asked healing for her demon-tormented daughter, the Lord told her: ‘It is not right to give the children’s bread to dogs’. In other words, He was establishing this fact that certain blessings are reserved for those in the Kingdom of God. This goes to show that if you want to flourish, you must be holy.  Sin and prosperity do not go together. Sin erodes your foundation for prosperity, leaving you empty.  Hence, Psalm 92:12 says only the righteous will have the capacity to flourish like the palm tree. Unbelievers can prosper like anything else but the palm tree. A man who was well known to me once approached  me to ask God to prosper him like never before. So I asked him, “What for? Is it so that you can go and marry your fifth wife?” God will not waste His resources on those who are not prepared to live a simple life. Proverbs 13:22 says greed will not let the greedy to flourish. It is no secret: the wealth of sinners are reserved for the righteous (Prov. 13:22). All the sinners you see acquiring this and that, pursuing wealth at the expense of knowing God are only laboring for you. Sooner or later, what they have acquired will be transferred to you. Are you seeking God first as He commanded in Matthew 6:32-33? In addition, to flourish, requires total commitment to God. After taking his harvest to the seashore, Peter abandoned all to follow Jesus. That is unparalleled commitment! Those who will flourish cannot afford to serve God for a moment but thereafter abandon Him. They must be wholly and eternally committed to serve Him. Our reading talks of those who are planted or rooted in God’s house: they are the ones who will flourish. God is not interested in visitors - those who come to His house only when in need and after the need is met, they disappear.  He is interested in those who are rooted in His house. It is not easy to uproot a tree because it is deeply rooted. Are you rooted in His house? ACTION POINT: Father, help me to be deeply rooted in Your Word.  Also restore all those Satan had uprooted from the faith.