Sometimes You Have to Uproot
Sometimes you got to uproot by LaKisha M. Johnson
John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
This morning on my Facebook live Coffee and Conversations we were discussing the difference between pruning, cutting down and uprooting. The tree that I told you about yesterday, had the opportunity to be pruned at first, but because we didn’t pay attention to the dead spots (importance of pruning), it began to slowly rot and wither away. Had we caught it in time, and pruned it, we may have saved it, but instead it had to be cut down, or in our case it fell down. A few months later after we cut the rest of the tree down, I noticed that the stump continued to rot and that there was nothing growing around it. As I began to study more about trees and plants, I learned that the only way something would grow near it or around it, is if we uprooted that stump. There was nothing that could grow in that dead place. Our spiritual lives can easily be equated to this. We need to prune (quickly remove those dead spots so that bugs don’t get in it and cause disease), cut something down and uproot. Negative thoughts, need to be pruned quickly so that they don’t entertain more negative thoughts. When fear, anxiety and worry rise up, deal with them quickly. Prune them so they don’t yield more fruit, they will produce after their own kind. Replace them quickly with the Word of God, so that they don’t take over in your life.
Cutting down and uprooting are more aggressive, when something is dead, it can’t remain in your life. There are things that are in you that need to be cut away and then uprooted, these things produce no life, and never will. As a matter of fact if they stay in your life, they will just continue to be dead, to rot and take up valuable space, in which new things need to grow. A sign that you need to uproot something is if it is a “do not” in the bible or the Lord hates (1 Thessalonians 5:16-32, Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:6-7, Proverbs 3:5-8 and Proverbs 6:16-19) , those things need to be uprooted, go ahead and remove that from your life so that you can walk fully into your destiny. Ecclesiastes 3:2 says “a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.”
Prayer: Father we thank you for the pruning process led by the Holy Spirit, showing us places and things in us that do not mirror Christ. We thank you for a place of transparency, a place of vulnerability where we can be groomed by you. Search our hearts dear Lord, show us the unclean places that do not look like you. Let us rightly divide the Word so we can be more like you!
LaKisha M. Johnson is mom, author, motivational speaker, minister and teacher. She is the host of Coffee and Conversations on “facebook live” Monday-Friday at 5:00 am central standard time and Sundays at 7:00 am central standard time. She hosts a pajama party for women, “Pillow Talk” several times throughout the year, walking them through God inspired truths, while providing a place of vulnerability and transparency to talk. To find out more information on her log on tolakishamjohnson.com and follow her on social media @justbeinglmj.