Root Therapy

Hey everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I certainly did. God is so good to us all. I pray that you are experiencing Him to the fullest in this season of your life. He really is amazing, and He really is comfortable to get to know. Speaking of seasons, I have a little something to say about what the Lord has shown me about His work down at the prison.

Most of you probably already know that I am one of the overseers from the Duncanville Church of Christ of three faith-based dorms at the Dawson St. Jail. I also get to teach the Bible in two other dorms that we are not directly responsible for. So that brings our total number of incarcerated men and women that we have a direct influence over to about 200. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ. You could also say that these are our extended family.

With such numbers and so little formal education I sometimes get a little worried about why God chose me for this important position. But true to His love and character the Lord constantly reminds me, by speaking into my spirit, that He is with me and would never leave it all up to me. That we are a team and I am only the minor partner, and as always, I receive great comfort from that to keep moving forward trusting in Him.

As I meditated this week on prison ministry the Lord began to show me that much of what we do is like gardening. The bulk of it is soil, seed, and root work. You see I don't have to have a seminary degree to teach the guys and gals about the love Christ has for them. I don't need a Associates degree to share the basics of God's word, and I don't need ten years experience to show them how to walk in love with their fellow man. I just need to stay close behind Jesus in my own life, and all of that other stuff just seems to naturally flow out of me (and you). That's the way it is in the kingdom. Disciples making disciples, love teaching in love, and truth that ends in proof. All of this flows out of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and is availabled nowhere else.

The Bible teaches us that as Christians "we are to be rooted and grounded in love." So it must be that if I take good care to water and nurture my own roots then I would also be a good candidate to help the Lord water and nurture other roots. We all know what happens if something is wrong with the root system of a plant. It will wither and die. But we also know that if the a plant has a good root system, and plenty of available water, it will grow and flourish and become all that God designed it to be. Thus, we have the reason it is so important to remember that God's love and word are the best root therapy we could ever need. Be healthy and blessed this week as you seek after Him.