Root Before Fruit PART 2: Faith that works

The manifestation of any fruit is determined by the root system. The health of the fruit is based on the health of the roots. Our walk with Christ and also the bearing of the fruit that resembles our walk with Him is predicated on how intimate our relationship with Him is. We cannot as belivers experience the life testified in the scriptures when we have not made it intentional to develop intimacy with God. Our faith and trust in God can only be built when we are having intimacy with Him through His word. Amen. God desires for His children to experience all of the blessings that He declared in His word but we cannot take hold of that if our relationship with Him is a crisis one. Someone has rightly said the God is not a spare tire which we cannot use except in times of emergency. You wonder why we as belivers don't experience all that has been spoken by the prophets. It is not that they lied. Neither is it because they didn't know what was spoken by God. They received inspiration from God Himself as they were writing the holy scriptures. The Apostle Peter even wrote: 

2 Peter 1:21

[21]for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Every prophecy found in scriptures was divinely inspired. That gives a guarantee that God who inspired His word is determined to make all that he has spoken through His prophets come to pass. For God is not a man that He should lie. Every word He spoke He watches it so that it performs it's purpose. 

The truth of God's word cannot be replaced. Whatever, He said many years ago still works today in our lives. His word was not only spoken to the people but also for them. The way we can taste of His promises is when we become rooted in Him. Let's look into scriptures:

Colossians 2:6-7

[6]As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him ,[7]rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

The only way we can be established in our faith and receive the manifestation of God's promises is when we become rooted and built up in Him. In our relationships as humans, we cannot walk together and have a proper understanding of one another if we are not deliberate about getting to know each other. We engage in conversations so that we may get to know each other at an intimate level. And the more we get intimate, the more we are to share our stories, pain and even our resources. So should be our relationship with God. The more we commune with Him through prayer and word the more we get to understand Him and the more we understand Him, the more our eyes are opened to what He has already provided. The more we are enlighted, the more we partake of heavenly resources. 

Ephesians 1:3

[3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

There is no way we can be conscious about this if our lives are not based on God's word. We try to harmer and bombarded God with prayers that are misaligned hence we do not receive what He has already provided. He has blessed us but there is no way you can testify of this blessing if you are not aware of what He has been spoken in the scriptures. That is why our relationship with Him must be based on His Word. Having a crisis time, Sunday and emergency time walk with God cannot raise your standards above that of a non-believer. We react as people who haven't known God because we have not made it intentional to search in the scriptures how God wants us to walk. 

Colossians 1:9-10

[9]For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

[10]that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

The earnest prayer of Paul was that people may be filled with knowledge and by so doing walk in a way that is worthy and pleasing to God. He doesn't end there. He further explains that to be fruitful in good works there is also need for knowledge of scripture. Don't mistaken it for head knowledge. So many believers know what is in the book but few are affected by what it says. You might have head knowledge but no heart knowledge. It's not going through the entire scripture that counts but it's how much scripture has gone through you. And Paul was referring to the kind of knowledge that comes as a result of personal encounter with God in His Word. It's the kinda revelational and experiential knowledge that the apostle was referring to. My friend when you have this kind of knowledge your life doesn't remain the same. Paul had it and he wished that we also had it. So does God my dear friend. 

God desires that we have this kind of knowledge about Him. The apostle John also had this revelation concerning this deep desire. Let us unveil what He had to say. When I had this revelation I was mind blown my friend. Here is what John wrote quoting the words of Jesus:

John 3:16

(NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

The Lord had a desire even from His earthly ministry that we capture this revelation. The reason why Christ came according to John was not only that we might be saved through Him but that we may have eternal life. For many of us, we have believed that the eternal life means having an endless life and being saved from hell fire. That is also true by the way but there is also something deeper than that. Allow me to show you what it also means dear friend. If eternal life doesn't end in living forever and escaping hell fire then it behoves us to find out what it means. The same apostle wrote in the same book the following concerning eternal life:

John 17:2-3

(NIV) For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

How is eternal life defined? It means knowing God. Oh Hallelujah! Remember it's is an experiential knowledge that results from an encounter with the God of the bible. Praise the Lord! God wants as to have the kind of knowledge that draws us closer and closer to Him. When you have this knowledge concerning Him you begin to trust Him. When you trust Him nothing can move you. You can't be shaken by anything. The winds may blow, storms may come and floods may rise but you remain established in your faith. Amen and amen. 

The relationship you have as a consequence of this encounter can no longer be based on what God can do but on who He is. As you get more enlightened about His love towards Him you begin to love Him back. And the manifestation of the words of apostle John begins to happen. We begin to respond to His love by loving Him back. I can say there is no dangerous believer to the devil than the one who knows that God loves Him. There is no message that can bring radical transformation than that of God's Grace. That is why it is called the good news. If we dared to preach such a message we would be amazed at how many lives can be changed because of that simple yet powerful message. The early church believed this. They could be persecuted yet continued to believe. They could be exposed to beatings and threats yet they glorified God. This is too much. They never stopped believing despite of the harsh realities. This can't be done by people who do not have a personal and intimate relationship with JESUS.