Shallow Roots, Short-Lived Faith

The phenomenon of believers who start with incredible spiritual enthusiasm only to disappear within months is more common than many churches want to admit. Jesus addresses this directly through His parable of the rocky ground believer in Matthew 13. These individuals receive God's word with immediate joy and excitement, looking identical to genuine converts in their initial response. They worship loudly, testify boldly, and serve faithfully, creating an impressive spiritual exterior that mirrors authentic faith.

However, the deception lies beneath the surface. Like a beautiful houseplant with shallow roots that topples at the slightest bump, rocky ground believers have built their faith on emotion rather than depth. When tribulation and persecution arise because of the word, they immediately stumble and fall away. The issue isn't their initial enthusiasm or the trials themselves, but the hidden rocks beneath the surface that prevent God's word from taking deep root in their hearts.

Spiritual roots serve four critical functions: they anchor you during storms, absorb nutrients from God's word, store reserves for difficult seasons, and support everything visible in your public spiritual life. The iceberg principle applies here - only 10% of your spiritual life should be visible above the surface, while 90% consists of private prayer, daily Scripture study, and hidden obedience. Moving from rocky ground to good soil requires removing hidden obstacles like unresolved sin and buried wounds, developing consistent daily spiritual practices, and allowing trials to deepen rather than destroy your faith. Root growth is always slower than visible growth, but it's the foundation that determines whether your faith will endure when storms inevitably come.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

So I want to begin today with a simple question. And I want to think about it honestly before you answer. You know, for those of us who have been more like uh been a church for a minute, you know, we've we've seen this. You know, they there are waves in in in there waves, right? People go through different seasons in their walk. But have you ever watched someone get what we call on fire for God, right? They worship the loudest, they testify the boldest, they serve him faithfully, telling everybody about Jesus. And in about six months, they are completely gone. I see this all the time. People will come in the orbit and tell you how God sent them to you. How God sent them to your church, and how God has called them here to serve. And in most churches, and they come loud, and in six months, you look around and you can't find them. Today, Jesus is about to tell us exactly what happens and why folks behave that way. Can we go to our first illustration, please? Take a look at it on the plant. Now I know everybody has this here. I'll leave that on there for a while for me as I please. Everybody has a houseplant, right? And everybody has somehow seen this before, all right? So you have this house plant on a windowsill, you know, the leaves are beautiful, rich green. It looks perfect, healthy from every angle. But then something happens. The moment you are not careful and you bump against it, the whole thing topples over. Now the question this morning is why did that happen? I want you to think with me. The roots were the reason why, you know, maybe the roots were the pot that was uh holding the roots wasn't large enough. So the roots were not able to go deep into the soil, right? So it was just shallow, and so when you bumped it with a bit of pressure, it falls over. Uh the plant wasn't growing, it was surviving on the on moisture, right? So this is unfortunately the picture that Jesus is about to paint for us today. Impressive about the surface, dangerously thin below. Now, last Sunday we identified the four different types of soils from Matthew 13. If you're not here, um devotions are still up. Uh I don't think the podcast has been posted yet, but there's information up there by last week's message. I believe Devon put it up on YouTube yesterday. But one thing that we established last week, and I hope everybody got it, was that the seed, which is God's word, it's never the problem. Amen? The seed is never the problem. Peter tells us that the seed, it's actually called the incorruptible seed, okay? And so the seed does not decay. And if you study Matthew 13, um Jesus began by saying the soil went out to sow, okay? And he's saying that the seed, and we identify the seed as God's word. And so the seed is not the problem. It's the problem is not God's word. The soil is always the variable. Now, this week Jesus turns our attention, listen to this, the most dangerous soil of all of them. Why is it dangerous? It's not the hardest. And some of the thought that the hardest or the most dangerous soil of the parable that Jesus thought in Matthew, the thing will be the first, the hardest soil. It's not. It's not the most obvious, the most dangerous soil of all of them, and it's dangerous because it looks very promising. So I want to establish the central question for what we're about to discuss in the next 49 minutes. Ask yourself this today and be honest about the answer. How deep are your spiritual roots? I want to give you a minute to Paul Severe. How deep are your spiritual roots? Because all that Jesus was teaching them in Matthew 13 had to do with how well anchored we are as Christians. Okay? Turn with me to Matthew chapter 13 and read from verse 20 to 21 quickly. Isaiah do an amazing job. Keep up with me, okay? Matthew 13, verse 20 to 21. Watch this. And again, you have your handouts. Uh it's a 10-page handout, so most of these things are detailed on your handouts, okay? He said, but he who received the seed on the stony places, this is he who hears the word immediately, he receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. Then it says, For when tribulation and persecution arise because of the word. It's important we understand that because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now, if you kind of cross-reference with me to Luke chapter 13, Luke chapter 8, verse 13, look at a critical aspect to this conversation. Luke says, look at it, Luke chapter 8, verse 13. It says, but the one on the rock, rocks, the one on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. They're excited, they receive it. They are the loudest in church. Praise God, preacher and pastor. Oh, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Man, the word was great. Those are the ones they receive, they are the loudest in the place. And these look said have no roots. They believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. So, in Matthew 13, when Jesus was talking about the different souls that are represented in the church in the Christianity, he mentioned the second one he mentioned was the one what we call the rocky ground. And he told us last week that the reason why these are defined as rocks is because that they have no depth in them. Okay? They receive the word, they get excited about it. Luke says that when temptation falls and proud to that, Matthew is telling us the persecution and tribulation arrive for the word's sake. So we can kind of put this together and and kind of merry the two that we can assume that uh what's it called uh persecution, tribulation, it's it's it's addressed as temptation. Does that make sense? Okay, and so the persecution that you might think of persecution comes as a result as tempting. The enemy uses temptation to expose certain things in you. And because you have no roots, immediately the Bible says that you let go, you stumble. Okay? So I want you to understand that what is happening in this rocky ground, now watch this now. This is not the hard ground that we, you know, uh what's the name? India told me, let's sidewalk or walk, side, or whatever you people call it. This is not the hard ground. This is uh that you know, we know that the hard ground, Jesus said it resists the word immediately, right? He says when the seed is planted, it falls on the hard ground. And then, and the key word, the key here is that it doesn't understand what is being said. So the word is exposed. So immediately Satan comes and picks up the word. Why? Because the word is exposed. But this one here is a bit different. It falls on the soil, the soil receives it, but it doesn't grow roots. Why? Because this is a soil sitting on top of hardened rock layers that nobody sees. And if you ask me, I think that this is where majority of the church is. We come to church, we sing the same songs, we lift up our hands, we read the same Bibles, we go through the same emotions. But the issue here is that underneath all that we are doing, there are hard rocks that don't allow the roots of God's word to penetrate. You see, the surface looks inviting. Seed sprouts quickly, but because shallow soil warms faster. But underneath, the rock forms a ceiling. The root tries to go down and they hit a wall. Okay? They cannot get through, and when the sun bears down, there are no deep reserves to draw from. Jesus is about to identify four marks of a rocky-grounded believer. And we're going to talk about that. Now, watch this now. I was thinking about this a couple of days ago. You know, whenever I finish preaching, I finished Dr. Gogo. I don't know if you know that preachers by nature have to come and big up the preacher that came ahead of them. It's it's protocol, right?

unknown 9:59

Dr.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Gogo's not going to come and say, Oh, the messenger's rubbish. He can't say that. He has to come and say, it was a good word. And Pasimano will say, Oh, he's grown old, like fine wine. But I was wondering though, like, I if you're not even coming to me telling me that you you receive something from the word, at least I hope you're telling God that and thanking God for his word. Amen. Because I know that the Holy Spirit teaches you something different every single Sunday. And I hope that you are applying and you're appreciating God for what he's teaching you. I just thought I'd say that in passing. I hope you're appreciating God for it. It would be nice to come and tell me, you don't leave it for the pastors in the house. Like say, Oh, you you got you at least appreciate the word being taught and say, Oh, this is profound, it's changed my life. You know, the reason why we go through this endless study and praying and preparing every Sunday is so that your life will change. Amen. So that your life will change. Anyway. Okay, we're gonna talk about four max of rocky ground believers. The enthusiastic reception, okay? They respond quickly and with great intensity. Hands are high, lifted up, flowing tears, bold confessions at the altar. The reaction looks identical to genuine conversion. The problem is not in the response, it is what is missing underneath the response. We talk about emotional response. Now, joy without depth. Joy is a root of the spirit, not joy is a fruit of the spirit, not the root. When joy becomes a foundation rather than the fruit, you build a spirituality that is temperature sensitive. It radiates when conditions are warm and it viparates the moment they turn cold. Shallow commitments, surface-level engagement. They attend when it's convenient. You know, everything else is more important than what God has asked them to do. So they only attend to God to when it's convenient for them. They serve only when it's comfortable for them. They give when it's it's costing them nothing. The word never gets past the surface layer because the rocks beneath block the downward movement. Quick withering, trouble causes falling away. Luke says that the believer, they believe for a while, not forever, for a while. And it's interesting, the Greek word used for that, it's interesting. It is entrapped to fall into a snare. Shallow roots make a believer easy prey for every snare the enemy sets. Now, I've been saying this for a while now. Most of you here might think, oh, pastor is hard. You know, I'm not flexible. Most of you think I'm hard on you. You know, the same time warning goes to bad pastor is in a bad mood, everywhere. No, no, no, no, no, no. Let me tell you the reason why I do that. Most of us are very comfortable in a Christian walk, extremely comfortable. And this is, and I say this all the time, this has nothing to do with going to heaven on hell. You know, we believe that that price that Jesus paid on the cross has paved the way for, you know, the condition to go to heaven is believing in him and confessing him. So most of us have done that. But the problem is you want to sit back for a minute and take a look at your life and the director of your life and what is really going on. Whenever you come to church and the word is preached, you want to take the Bible says that God's word is a mirror. And you want to take a look at the mirror of God's word and look at your life and see the reflection and see the difference. The reason why Jesus teaches you something new every single day is for you to change your ways and your thinking to think just like him. Now, here is the problem. This is what I the the the fourth part of it, the quick with it. Many a time, Satan, you know, there are Christians who are in the kingdom and love Jesus, pray, serve in church, and the enemy is still running their lives. You heard of that? Satan is still running your life. And the reason why Jesus saved you is for the Holy Spirit to be in charge, not the forces of darkness. And do you know why Satan is still running your life? Because of the approaches towards the things of God. You see, what the notes here say is that the shallow roots make believers easy, pray for every sneer the enemy sets. The Bible says in Ephesians that the reason why he gave the five-fold ministry is to bail to edify the body of Christ. Okay? It says so that you are not tossed by any wind of doctrine. Today you are here, tomorrow you are here. The issue here is that the way you approach the things of God tells Satan whether he has a path to you or not. The way you approach the things of God, the way God, you position God in your heart, it's either an attraction to the force of darkness or this attraction to them. And so many a time it's not just me being overburdened or district or look, man, every one of you here work, right? And they tell you that go to work at 8:30 and 8:15, you are work. Because you're gonna get a paycheck at the end of the day. And if you're not gonna go to work, you pick up the phone, you call your boss. You come to church and say, Chester's at 10:30, you stroll in conveniently when you want. Do you think that Satan takes you serious? You don't have a clue. The things you approach God, the way you approach things of God, it's either deterrent to the force of darkness or an invitation to that. And if he knows, and this is the way, and I've asked you people this question before, when Jesus was tempted by Satan, have you guys ever thought why he tempted him first with bread to eat? And what was the relevance of that? If Jesus turned the bread into eating, what is it? What is the relevance? Just to demonstrate his power? Satan always has another angle, people. You see, you didn't just get up in the morning, you feel lazy, you don't want to come to church. No, he always has a reason for doing things. The reason might not always be obvious to you, but there's always a reason. And there's always a reason why God does things. It might not be obvious to you, but it's always a reason. Think about it. Why would he tell him to change bread into the stone into bread? What is he trying to do? Somebody give me an answer. We're in Bible school, we don't preach in church.

unknown 17:34

Satisfied lack of appetite.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Satisfy lack of easy. You think that's what it is? He couldn't care less. He couldn't care less about lack of appetite. Do you know what it is? Why does Satan tempt you? Do you know what that's what you think, huh? You see, there's certain things called one-on-one Christianity, elementary Christianity, and this is one of the things that we get to get. Why does Satan tempt you? So you can disobey God. Good answer.

unknown 18:11

Dr.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Levet, why does Satan tempt you? I want to bring the Lord. He wants to do what? It's a very good way to put it. Let me tell you quite simply why he tempts you. He wants to know whose voice you are listening to. It's very simple. If I want to do something to you, young lady, first of all, I want to know where your loyalties are. So I want to find a way to figure out what's in your mind to know my next angle of attack. And so when it tempts you and you fall for it, he knows that there's a wide gap. He can come in with something bigger. He's not interested in whether you go to heaven or go to end up in hell. No, get out of here. He's not interested in that. He's interested in controlling affairs here on planet Earth. Okay, this is where his kingdom is. And without you, he can't do it. He needs human beings to be able to do what he's doing. And so for you, for him to get you on his side to be his ally, he first of all needs to know where your mind is. And the only way he can identify that is to tempt you. To understand whose voice you're listening. This is why Jesus simply told him, the mind should not live by bread alone. Do you know what he was saying to him? He was saying that I'm submitted to God's word and God's word only. I'm only moved by God's word. So get out of here with the things you're saying. So when you tempt and tempt you and you fall for it, he knows. And this is exactly what we're talking about. You are not a prey. So it's not about where you're going to end up. Someone not listening to me this morning. Anyway, by the way, so three reasons why rocky ground is so deceptive. Initial growth looks identical to a good soil. Remember, they you take the seed and they spring up immediately. And so if you're looking from, you know, you're not looking behind underneath the soil, you might think, oh, so first week you cannot tell the difference. It sprouts up the same way, the exciting looks the same. The confession sounds the same. The problem is hidden below the surface. The rock layer is visible, it's not invisible from above. What you see is green. What you cannot see is a ceiling that stopped the root from growing any further. But what trouble does is that trouble actually reveals what soil preparation conceded. The storm is not the enemy. I said this in COVID. You know, during the COVID season, there was a lot of things that was exposed by the church. There's a lot of challenges that the church has, and COVID exposed it all. And most of us blame COVID. But COVID was not the thing that exposed it. The problems were always there. Okay? So the storm is, it's it's the storm, basically what the storm does is that it diagnoses the heart of a person. Trials do not cause shallow faith, it simply exposes it. And so when somebody breaks under pressure, when there's a bit of, you know, trials in somebody's life and all of a sudden the pressure is nowhere to be found. The trial did not cause a problem. What the trial just did was expose the soil that the person really was. Does it make sense? You know, most of us have Instagram accounts, right? You know, the young ones here. You know, Instagram has this filter, doesn't it? I put a stupid picture on Instagram and I use the filters and I brighten all up and give to me beautiful. You know, this is it. You know, it's it's so interesting. The filter change. Don't change anything underneath it, though. The picture is what it is. But what you are looking at is different. Why? Watch this now. Rocky ground believers live filtered spiritual lives. You see, in the surface, everything is great. We sing the same songs, we clap our hands, we all speak in tongues. We shake when we are speaking tongues. But underneath it, underneath it, when the filters are not there, you're actually living a filtered spiritual life. You see, the public expression, it's polished and attractive. But when the cameras go off and trials arrive, the filter disappears and nothing real is underneath it. They know how to speak the language, man. They know how to, you know, be part of what is going on. They scream, they shout, everything else. But when trials come, it just reveals the person's heart. God is not scrolling your Instagram profile. He sees the unfiltered soil. Amen. Now, a couple of weeks, about a month ago, we started studying this, talking about the root system, the selective permeabilities, right? Go with me, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 17 to 19 quickly. Paul says, then Christ may dwell in your heart through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the length, the depth, and the height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now we want to cross-reference this verse quickly to Colossians. Now, watch this, Colossians 2, verse 6 and 7 say something. And it says, And you therefore having received Christ Jesus, this is so critical. What Colossians is doing here is giving us a sequence of how to be rooted in God. And watch this, very, very critical. It said, as you therefore have received Jesus Christ, who has received Christ in this place? The Lord. This is the command. So walk in him. In other words, Christ is not a raincoat that you put on. Apparently it's raining out there. You know, the young ones came with the umbrella. You know, we made Jesus Christ an umbrella. When everything is okay, when it's raining, you pull out the umbrella and then it hides you from the rain. And when the rain goes, you put it back. Okay? He said, if you have received Jesus, the condition is to walk in him. Okay? And this is how you walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith. This is not, you are not a part-time Christian, people. You are not when everything aligns, it's, it's, it's, it, then I'm okay, then I'm okay to serve God. When everything is okay, when I get up in the morning, I don't, you know, I'm feeling okay, then I'm gonna go to church. But if there's slightly something happens, oh no, God, not today. He says that if you have received Jesus, be rooted, uh, you're not hearing me. Be rooted in him. Thank you for saying amen, Pastor Emmanuel. Be rooted in him, and it says, built up in him. Amen. The only way that you are going to be able to weather the storms of this world, the only way that your try your faith is going to be tested and you are still going to stand at the end of the day, it's not by just understanding that Jesus is God and Jesus came to die for us, and everybody professes, but you receive him and then you get rooted in him. We're talking about spiritual roots now, amen. And the only way that you you you you stop being a rocky soil today is cracking the rock so that the roots can penetrate the soil to anchor you in time of trouble, amen. Listen, take a look at history and take a look at all the apostles and take a look at how they died. Just please, just all of them, including Jesus' brother himself. How did he die? This being a Christian is not about not facing troubles and challenges and facing trials and and God doesn't come through for you, and you pray to God in an earnestness, so God doesn't love you. This is not what we're talking about here, people. Jesus himself, three and a half years, he was gone. How many of you, Dr. Miles Monroe, one of the greatest men that ever lived, taught us? How did he die? Horrible plane crash. Did he not pray that morning that God should save him? Peter, what happened to Peter man? What happened to Paul? Every single one of them. What happened? How were they able to sustain their faith until they met Jesus, Stephen? What happened to him? I don't know what you've been taught in America and what we've been taught about Christianity, but this is this is not for boys, man. It doesn't mean that you are a Christian, so everything is gonna go okay for you. You're not gonna struggle, your family's gonna be together, there's no health reasons, your business is gonna thrive. Who lie to you? But the Bible says that be rooted. You know why? Because the storms are coming, but when they come, Jesus, you know what Jesus, you know what Jesus invested in for you? That your soul will be with him for eternity. That's the investment of the cross. Investment on the cross in order to drive a big car. All the Christians pray for is blessings. Give me this and give me this and give me this and give me this. No, people. When God decides to bless you, he decided to bless you. But we are not Christians because of what we can get from him. We are we follow him because of who he is and what he's done for us. Guaranteed. You know one thing that God has guaranteed every single one of us here? Who can tell me that? Sorry?

unknown 28:43

Life and life more abundantly.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Life and life more abundantly. The only do you know the only guarantee that you have here as a child of God today? Eternal life. That's the only guarantee you have as a as a child of God. He staked his life on it, eternal life. The Bible says the absent of the body is present with the Lord. Everything else that we are looking for, everything else. Anyway, uh, if you look for prosperity, you're in the wrong place. Now, watch this. We want to talk about the functions of a root because when you understand that, you understand how critical it is for you to be able to grow deep roots in the things of God. What does a root do? The first thing a root does is a root anchors you. Amen. They hold the tree upright in the wind and storms. Your deep spiritual roots are your stability when circumstances try you to topple everything that you've built. The deeper your roots, the stronger your anchor. Amen. You know what a root does for a tree? It absolves. They draw nutrients and water from the soil. Deep spiritual roots draw up the word, the presence of God, and the daily grace you need, even when the surface around you looks dry and barren. What does the root does? A root stores. Root systems create reserves for drought. Believers with deep roots have eternal reserves built up in a season of abundance that sustains them when the drought arises. You cannot draw on what you have not deposited. How do you sustain? How do you go through trials when there is nothing holding you? Your roots is what supports you. Roots are the roots are the hidden foundation for everything visible above the ground. Your public ministry, your witness, your worship, all of it rests on what is hidden underground in your private life with God. Didn't Jesus tell us that what you do in the closet, he will reveal it openly. Watch this. Three levels of roots from Colossians 2 7. The surface roots, convenient faith, engagement only on your terms, in comfort conditions, when it's easy to believe, you believe. You always want to engage on your terms. Come to church at nine o'clock, but you know, you want to come in at 10 on your terms. You always want to engage on your terms. You always want to engage when it's convenient for you. Either than that, you know where to be seen. When it's easy to believe, you believe. When it's hard, you disappear. Shallow roots, emotional faith. You respond in the high moment, absent in the uh ordinary and difficult ones. Faith that needs, listen to this. Faith that needs an atmosphere to survive is not yet established. If your faith, if you need a faith, if an atmosphere needs to be created for your faith to be established, then your faith is not established at all. In the rain, in the drought, in whatever season, anyone who's establishing the things of God, you don't get moved by the things you hear, the things you see. So many people get offended in church because the pastor did this and that person did that. Don't you understand that you go to church, you belong to church, for God to train you? That's your training ground. What did Jesus tell us? Go and make disciples. You know, discipleship making includes work, you know that? And so you want to be patted at the back, you want to be, you know, direct copy later. The moment you are challenged a little bit, just to get out of the comfort zone, there's a problem. What kind of church is this? You're going to go to a church that nobody says nothing. Jesus sees you, man. Okay. Let's talk about deep roots. This is established faith. Colossi 2.7 calls it the root, the being the being rooted, built up and established in faith. Anyone who has deep roots, according to Colatians 2.7, that you are built up, you are established in faith, you are consistent, you are sustained, unshaken by tribulation. If you think that I have no troubles or tribulation or temptation, you have you don't have a clue. But every day I'm I'm supposed to put on a bright face. Everyone has something worried about. No, listen, guys. Look, we are making life very easy for this force of darkness, you know. You see, the thing is that most of us don't understand the type of power that we have and the type of changes that we can make. We don't understand it. Because you prayed and you have not seen the result, that's not mean that God is not answering it, you know. Oh, okay. Everybody's looking at me like where they pass asleep today. And here's the greatest irony that will change how you view difficult seasons. It's interesting when you study. The deepest roots grow during the driest season. Did you know that? Drought forces roots to go deeper down in search of water. How many of you do you know why God allows challenges to come our way? Do you know why God allows challenges to come your way? Do you know why it's not all rosy? You get up in the morning, everything is rosy. But God steps back at times and allows challenges to come your way. Sorry? I don't know about you, but the more trouble I'm in, the more I see God. And did you know that the tree, when the tree is in a drought, it forces the roots to grow deep. What is it seeking for? It's seeking for nutrition underneath it. And so the same trials that you are trying to escape from are the same challenges that God is trying to use to anchor your roots deep in Him. Amen. Now, the trial feels like it's gonna kill your faith, may actually be the very thing driving your roots deeper that comfort can never ever do. Isaiah, can you put a second illustration up for me, please? Now we're going to, I'm taking to the Arizona desert in a minute. Now, watch this now. Most of desert plants you look at is very sharp on top. But if I told you that most of the desert plants will look at roots go maybe 30 feet to the ground, you know why? Because the drought is seeking for water underneath it. And the more there's drought around him, the more the roots go deep and deep. So you look at three feet up there, but really it's about 30 feet deep down. This is exactly what God is trying to do to stabilize you in your Christian walk. Because you know something? It is not about the things that you have physically, it's about where your soul will rest after you pass from this earth. And God has vested, it's like every parent here, every parent here has vested so deeply in their children. And doesn't think that God is just going to cross his legs for Satan to just steal you away both in this life and the life to come. No, God is investing you, positioning you for the life to come because your soul is so critical to him. Why? Because it is him in you, and therefore he uses challenges around us today to prepare us for the eternity that is coming. But no, you worry about American dream, aren't you? That's what we've been told. I say this all the time. If Apostle Paul had a church today, nobody would be in that church. I'm telling you, don't look at me strange. If Paul had a church today in plain field, nobody, I'm not going to that church. What kind of pastor is always beaten? What kind of pastor has no good nothing? He's always in prison. If your pastor was in prison today, would you come to church tomorrow? You say this man is a crook. What kind of pastor is always in prison, always being beaten, always being stoned. What kind of man is this? But this is the man who was responsible for two-thirds of the Bible that you're reading today. And this is the man that is sitting in the prison jail in Philippi, getting ready to be killed, and writes a letter and tells everybody, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Are you for real? Where their mind was and where our mind is today are two different things. Go to the next illustration for me. We all know this. Watch this. An iceberg. No, no, go to the iceberg for a minute. Okay. Do you guys know that only 10% of an iceberg is visible above the waterline? 90% is subdued, invisible. All right. Ships are not destroyed by what they see, they are destroyed by what they couldn't see. Your spiritual, watch this now, your public spiritual life, your public spiritual life, your Sunday worship, your social media testimony, your service to others, that is the 10%. And so what you see people do, you know, how they worship, how they pray, how they serve, in the eyes of God, that is 10%. Do you know what a 90% is? Okay, watch this now. God is building the 90%. You know what it is? Your prayer closet, your daily word, your private obedience, your surrender when no one is watching. The 90% is what keeps the 10% standing. Build your 90% today. When you see people, all of a sudden people break out on the world scene, and you know, people are going to the crusades, they are going to the. Do you know how long it took the person to be able to get to that place? You are just seeing the 10% of it. You see, if we don't spend time in our prayer closet to build up our worship life, our prayer life, our obedience to God's word, our study of God's word separately from church. Some of us, the only time we open our Bibles is when we come to church. Your devotion is about five, ten minutes a day. How are you building roots enough to be able to sustain the trials of the enemy? The enemy is always going to test you. God is always going to allow him to test you. Do you know why? Because not God wants to know, he wants you to know where you stand with him. And so what happens when we are able to deliver, when you're able to study, when you're able to cancel people, when the wisdom that God gives you, this doesn't happen. No, no. That is a 10%. What you don't see is the amount of time that the person invests in studying prayer. What you don't see is the amount of time that the person is fasting. What you don't see is the amount of time that the person is before his face, before God, every single day. That is what equips somebody to stand in front of people to tell them that says the Lord. Hmm. Okay. So, how do we actually move from a rocky ground to a good soil? How do we develop the kind of roots that hold any system? We want to talk about five practical steps. Please take notes. Number one, so God did not. Let me kind of back up for a minute. Jesus did not share this parable with them just to condemn them. Okay? All right? This is not about I'm a rocky ground, I'm a stony ground, I'm a thong ground. No, no, no. Jesus wanted to share this parable with his church so that the church will understand what they're dealing with and give us a pathway from getting from where we are to where he wants us to get to. Because your productivity depends. If you have shallow roots in the things of God, we're talking about spiritual years, spiritual fruitfulness, spiritual. If you've noticed, we've been consistent for three minutes teaching on the same subject. You know why? Because you're going to end up in December being fruitful when you get the things we're teaching you. Okay. So the mere fact that you we have challenges, and every single one of us has challenges, does not mean that this was shared to condemn. No, no, no, no, no. God wants you to be spiritually fruitful, and we are about to talk about how to get from this rocky ground to be spiritually fruitful. Okay. Number one, undress on okay. Deal with sin in your life, unhealed wounds, buried offenses. Look, man, every single one of us, man, there's no human being I don't think is alive today. As I take this the thing from the place, there's no human being alive today that I think that doesn't have something to be affected. It about. I was about to say something wrong, I wouldn't say it. Everyone, everyone have experienced something, right? The issue here is that if you are not dealing with them, if you are not healing yourself from on unhealed wounds, if you are if you you know you're not dealing with buried offenses, these are rock layers blocking your downward growth. You cannot grow deeper while protecting the things beneath the surface. And so this is why God was so, so, so Jesus teaching of Matthew said, when you stand to pray, forgive, you got to position yourself for God's goodness to find you. You cannot live in the past. Yes, something really bad happened. And look, man, we're with you. Something really bad happened. But please don't stay there. Because that's how the rocks build up. And that's why you become resistant to God's word. And when you resist, there's no way that God's word can penetrate that rock surface. So the first thing you do is that heal yourself from that wound. Amen? Heal yourself from that. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Somebody really hurt you, man. Really hurt you. Really, really did. The person is walking away doing what he wants to do, and every night you are struggling with the same pain. But then that it's not going to exempt you from Satan attacking you and getting you where he wants to get you to. Where God wants you to get to is that when the attack comes, you are so much rooted in him that it doesn't affect you. And the way you can do that is by healing yourself. You're not hearing me, somebody. The person hits you is walking around doing what he wants to do. And every night you are you are bitter, fighting with everybody around you. Tell someone who's not healthy. Repentance is not the setback. Watch this now. Repentance is a first act of root development. So today, today, today, make up your mind today, today, today, today. Let it go, man. Honestly, let it go. Look, it's easier for a human being, you know, you're probably sitting on the saying, you don't know what I've gone through. You don't know. No, no, of course I don't. But every single person here has dealt with something that you could have held on to. Anyway. Tell somebody say, Let go. You are so much important to God, you don't have a clue. For God to set you up to talk to you about this subject today, it tells you how much he loves you. The truth is, there isn't a way around what I'm teaching you. If you don't let go, if you don't heal yourself, if you don't break that fallow ground, as in Hosea, the roots, whatever you are reading, learning, praying, it's not going to go deep. And if it doesn't go deep, you're in trouble. Because Satan is going to have his way with you. He tried it with everyone. You are not exempt because you say, Hey, Mary, full of grace. Oh, somebody's not hearing me today. Number two, our top soil through consistent daily engagement with scripture. Not just a Sunday hearer. If you read James 1 to 1, it says, We see with meekness the implanted word of God. The implanted word requires regular intentional planting, not a one once a week broadcast on unprepared for what's called field. You gotta be consistent, man. You know, listen, I don't know if you made up your mind that this is it for me. Like you're a Christian for life. Dude, being a Christian for life is not somebody doing it for you. Being a Christian for life is that you tell somebody to do it yourself. DIY. Being a Christian for life is not somebody prophesying for you. No, no, no, no. Being a Christian for life is deciding that today I'm gonna be strong, I'm gonna anchor my faith in the things of God. I don't need in times of trouble, I don't need somebody to call and pray for me. Come on, man. Bible said the Holy Ghost, the same spirit of God lives in you. I didn't receive as precious Holy Ghost. Paul did not receive. Actually, the Bible said we're all baptized in one body, but by one spirit. God has one spirit, man. You don't need to call a man of God, pray for me. You kidding me? And somebody said, Bring an offering and pray for you. Who did you believe? Did you believe in Jesus? He died and saved you and placed his spirit on you, gave his holy ghost, and noted you. All he's telling you to fix things in your life so that I can open up the access to you. You want a preacher man to pray for you? Everybody's looking for prophecy. You're mad. Water regularly through daily devotion, prayer, and worship. This is how you become a good soul. You cannot build spiritual reserves in drought conditions. You can't. You cannot tell me where you're gonna get a resource from? You're not gonna be able to do it. The only time that you can build spiritual reserves, it's when you're in abundant condition. The consistent daily rhythm is not optional. It is an irrigation system that keeps your roots alive between Sundays. So you know what? You're not gonna just get out from church today and close your Bible and go home. And then the deliberate labor starts tomorrow. You work, work, work, work, work. Next Sunday you come and drag yourself in. Oh, fill me up. And you are worried, right? Satan is slapping you, you are worried why he's slapping you. You gotta consistently, it's about consistently daily devotions. You have all the devotion, but tomorrow, one o'clock, the today's devotion will be up. The whole week you have the devotion. Wednesday, prayer, every single day there's something going on. Sunday, worship, every single time. Fill up your reserves, man. Because a time is coming that all the only thing that will sustain you is what you spent every single day to prepare yourself for. What is the first thing that comes in your mind when Satan throws temptation at you? What's the first thing that comes to mind? Like today, something something came to my mind I needed to do. What was the first thing that came to my mind for me to cast down that thought? It's not because I I I I clap, I love Jesus, it's not because I sing was you go. Every single one of you at any given time, every choice or decision you're gonna make, you're gonna have two choices to make. My question to you is what is the first thing that comes to mind? And how do you know that what came to mind is from God? Because your only defense, let me say this clearly so you understand, your only defense that you have from the force of darkness is what you are submitted to. That's the only defense. And if you understand this, there is no room for error. You cannot say that, oh, I thought that was what it was. Because let me tell you, from the time you submit to what Satan is trying to tell you to do, and the time you repent, whatever happened in between, if you only had a clue, that is what you have been praying for. That was when God was going to give you that, and then you decided you are gonna go another way because you did not know what God has said about that particular situation, or you made up your mind that you are not going to listen or be because it was too difficult a price to pay. Number four, endure difficulty. Someone said, Endure difficulty. Do not run from trials, let it deepen rather than destroy you. Trials will deepen you. If you look at Matthew 13, 21 says, trouble comes because of the word. Listen, the mere fact that you are dealing with something means that you receive the word. That's the mere reason why temptation is coming your way. You were Christian. God never told you that you were going to be exempt from temptation. This is what we have to deal with every day. If he did it to Messiah, he'll do it to you. And so the mere fact that you are going through that temptation and you need to make a choice because you receive the word. Do you know why? Because the enemy knows that when that word grows deep in you, he's just lost that thing from you. So immediately he's gonna come, tribulation, persecution, it comes to trials. He is going to tempt you and see whose voice you are really listening to. Okay? The word that blesses you will also attract testing. The testing is not to punish, it is to help you develop a root system in God. And number five, give it time. Tell somebody, give it time. Oh man, time is gone. Root growth, root growth is always slower than visible growth. The season that looks like nothing is happening above ground is often the most critical season of root formation below. Do not despise the slow season. Do not mistake invisible for absence. As I put up the last illustration for me, please. Now, if we're all going to be honest, many of us in this room can point to a season where we were enthusiastic but not rooted, when we were loud above the surface and empty below it. When the first real trial came, we discovered that our faith was built on emotions, not on debt. The turning point was never a single dramatic encounter. It was the quiet, unglamorous daily decisions to go deeper. More word when emotions were gone, more prayer when heaven was silent, more commitment, even the reason to quit presented itself. There's so many times, man. Not once, maybe about five, six times a week. This constant quitting comes to my mind. Quitten, quitting, quitting. Maybe about 10 times a week. But the more that forecast, the more I make up my mind to go deeper. You see, the reason of invisible growth below the ground is always what produces the visible, lasting fruit above. Do not mistake the abundance of visible fruit for the absence of growth. God is working on the ground. Before we can get to that, man, look how deep those roots are. Before you can start bearing fruit, people not just talking about it, but actually bearing fruit. It begins with a decision that you make that I'm gonna allow my roots to go deep in the things of God. Amen. So we're concluding. This year we decided that this year was a year of spiritual fruitfulness for life touch, right? But listen to me, fruits require roots. Amen. How deep are your roots? You cannot produce what you have not planted. It's only a madman who will get up in the morning and say, Man, I'm gonna go for a harvest when you haven't planted anything. So I want to ask you, the fruits that you're expecting. In a couple of weeks, we're gonna go out and everybody's gonna wear your spiritual fruitfulness, by the way. Oh, plain food is gonna see how awesome lifetime is. My question to you is that what fruits are you hoping to harvest at the end of the year? Because you can't bear fruit. There's no way that you can have any fruit. No patience, no kindness, no gentleness, no self-control, none of those, man, without planting. And so today begins the day that you plant. Rocky ground fit produces excitement. Yes, they are the loudest, but it produces no harvest. God designed for your life in this season is not for applause, it is for fruitfulness. And fruitfulness begins on the ground and not on the stage. Fruitfulness begins from tomorrow when you wake up in the morning. Your attention to God's word, your attention to prayer, your willingness to obey God's word, your desire to study, your desire to stay with the Holy Spirit, desire to remove your things from the things of this world, desire to know what God has said about a particular situation. That is where it begins from. And it's got to be constant. Because even though it looks as if there's nothing happening around you, I can almost guarantee you that in those seasons that you're going through, God is strengthening your roots. Listen, gentlemen, time is gonna come that there's gonna be so much drought around you, but you are gonna stay put. You know why? Because your roots are so deep that nothing can touch you. You all the way up. The amen was very weak. Listen, people, this is do it yourself. The same storm that approves a shallow tree drives the what's called the deep tree root further down. So I'm gonna give you three things that you are gonna do the next 90 days and we pray. I said the Lord. Number one, identify one rock and remove it. People, so far as there is rock underneath the soil, the word will fall on it, the word will spring up, you will come to church excited, you want to be a Christian, you want to save the Lord, but it will not last. Do you know why? Because Satan surely, as God lives, he's going to tempt you. Trials and tribulations are going to come your way. He wants access to the word. Amen. And so if you do not remove that rock that is holding the root from penetrating, he will get you. Name one specific hidden thing. That unresolved sin, that buried wound, that secret compromise that is forming a ceiling on your soil. Bring it to God this week. Repent and shovel it. Let the shovel be your repentance. Amen. Take it off. Number two, I want you to be honest about this. I want every single person in this room to rate the root depth and set a target for yourself. And please, if you are number one, there's nothing wrong about it. If you're still at stage one in December and I'm worried about it. But if you're stage one today, you're honest, man, that my root system is stage one, and you want to get it to stage 10. Make that target today. On the scale of one to ten, honestly assess where your root depth is today. Then set a 90-day target. That what that uh what would a 10 look like in the daily word intake, your prayer life, your engagement in this community. Just imagine every single person here's root was a 10. Can you imagine how we will experience God when we're coming here? Nobody needs to scone everybody for coming to church late. And we need somebody to do this, and nobody's gonna try and trick you, pay enough free. No, listen, this week there was some really bad trials this week with uh you know, with the um terrorists, and right, and I was listening to this rabbi, Bishop. Listen to this rabbi, and he said something, he said they are spending so much money on synagogues, on the uh security of the synagogues. Why? Because they're you know, there's always this guy, somebody will take a gun and go and shoot a synagogue or something. And he said something on National TV, and he said, when we receive our temple tax, synagogue tax, they pay, they receive, I think it's about$2,000. Every single person that goes to the synagogue pays a synagogue tax to keep the security going. Woe to you if you tell a Christian to pay church tax. They belong to a synagogue, this was a national TV, paying synagogue tax to keep the house. You come to church and you put a five-dollar, ten-dollar offering, and you expect their lives to life to come on magically. Even that is a problem. You know, in the Old Testament, in in the temple, you know that they were paying 22% of their income to the temple. No, it wasn't 10%, the tower was just 10%. There were other taxes involved that God was taking from the temple. That is how they kept everything going. Christians, open the offering, but every time I get home on a Sunday and I look at the offering, I shake my head. Number three, commit to debt over display. Choose today, the 90%, the invisible, the private undergamorous root system, will receive the same priority as everything visible. Pray for depth over appearance, pray for substance over show.