Jeremiah 17:8 AMPC “8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.”

Everything we do ought to serve a biblical purpose with the ultimate goal of serving and producing fruit for His Kingdom and His glory. This is a root Growing post. An exhortation and encouragement for you to grow your own roots down deep into the marvelous love of Yashuah (Jesus Christ) and to be deeply rooted in the Truth.

First, this is above all else and invitation for you to study out the significance and symbolic meaning of trees through the whole Bible. My goal, intention is to be a tree that directs everyone back to THE tree, Yahshua, the TREE of all life. In gardening, hybrid is a term used to describe a variety that results from crossing 2 different plants to get a different variety that is somewhat between the 2 originals. In this case, I can only hope to be at best a hybrid whereas, Yahshuah, is pure and the only source of pure in the entire garden, so to Him and Him alone I want to direct your ultimate attention. The best teachers can direct you to much of the truth, but only the Bible, only Jesus can teach you the pure truth.

Through much of the Bible, you will discover the prominence of trees. Much of the time, a tree represents a source of food, of sustenance, either physical or spiritual. Teachers of doctrine from any and all religions can be represented as different trees in a vast forest. People can wander among the trees forever, taking a sample from this fruit hear and that fruit there, but most ultimately pick their favourites and stick to them. So when you are looking for the truth and wondering how do I know which tree is the right one, the answer is there is only ONE, in the entire forest, that you can trust for your spiritual food, that is the tree of Life. So above all, feast on the Word of the God, on the fruit of the tree of life, on the Holy, pure scripture direct from the source.

Acts 17:10-11 KJV “10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

But there is more to the picture here. The Word tells us that we are to eat from other trees and be strengthened by their fruit as well. The Bible tells us there are teachers, shepherds, evangelists, prophets, elders and others who Yahweh (God the Father) has appointed and annointed to help us grow those roots and be fruitful. So before partaking from the other trees, test them according to the scriptural guidelines, be Berean, checking what they say continuously against what the pure Word of God actually says. Treat every tree as a berry bush of unknown origin that you find in the woods. I frequently tell my children not to eat eat berries they find in the woods unless they are 100% sure of their origin. I do this as I know there are poisonous berries that can make them very sick. The same is true of spiritual teachers. There are many false teachers in the world and the words they teach are as poison and will make anyone who eats from them spiritually sick and vulnerable.

1 John 4:1-3 KJV “4 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

I cannot encourage you enough to read and meditate on 1 John and 2 John as these both spell out in detail how to spot a false teacher or prophet.

1 John 5 AMPC “5 Everyone who believes (adheres to, trusts, and relies on the fact) that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is a born-again child of God; and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him (His offspring).2 By this we come to know (recognize and understand) that we love the children of God: when we love God and obey His commands (orders, charges)—[when we keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and His teaching]. 3 For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous).”

1 John 5:10 ESV “¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son”

Anyone who contradicts what Jesus said or teaches, or teaches a different version of Jesus than the Bible is liar and not to be trusted.

2 Corinthians 11 NLT “3But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 4You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.”

Any teacher who encourages you to follow them exclusively, to eat only from their trees, to follow their commentary, to become a member , to be baptized into their name, basically who points you to their own ministry, community and or church as being the one true church, instead of pointing you to the tree of Life as the only pure source would raise big red flags for me. A true teacher recognizes that at best we are hybrids, those who teach parts of the truth but are still limited in our vision and scope and purity to not be capable to teach them the truth perfectly. We all must point to and depend on the Tree of Life (The Bible) being the only true pure tree in the garden. We are warned that factions and divisions are not an option in Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:11-17 ESV “11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

 1 John 2 ESV “⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, ⁵ but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

1 John 2 ESV “ 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 ² “

Those who teach others to walk differently than Jesus walked or have branched out and away from the pure teaching of the apostles, those who have gone out from what was begun in the Spirit, are of an antichrist Spirit. We must set up camp, feed from or worship according to those trees.

If you look up the term “green tree” in a search engine like biblegateway.com, you will discover that setting up altars and worshipping under every green tree was a common expression. I personally am increasingly convinced that these green trees represent antichrist teachers, gods and religions.

In the garden, there was only one tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and One Tree of life and the rest of the trees were good and safe to eat from. We now live in the age of Hybrid. There is now only One Tree of life, and all the other trees are hybrids after some fashion, some far more Christ like and others far more worldly, so make sure above all, that you eat from the pure tree, the Living Word of Yahweh far more than from any of the other trees. Let your roots grow down deep into the marvelous love of Christ so that you will be as the tree described in Jeremiah.

Matthew 13:19-21 NLT “19 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. 20 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 21 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.”

Take a lesson from the gardeners on how to get your tomato plants to grow deep roots. https://www.tomatobible.com/watering-tomato-plants/

“Water slowly:

The key to watering is consistency. Your tomato plants need a consistent supply of water to support their continuous growth. That consistent supply won’t be provided if you quickly flood the soil every few days and leave the plant to its own devices. When you water in large amounts too quickly, the water tends to run off rather than penetrating the soil and reaching the roots where it is needed. By watering slowly, you fully saturate all parts of the soil – not just the topsoil. In this way, you’ll give the plants access to more water over time than if you were to flood the soil, even if you use the same amount of water.If you don’t feel like standing around watering your plants slowly for hours – good news. You don’t have to. Installing a drip irrigation system will solve the problem for you and take much of the hassle out of watering. It’s easy to purchase one and install it around your tomato plants, or you can simply make your own with items available around your house.

Water deeply
Even though you can’t see it, what happens to your tomato plant below the soil is just as important, if not more important, than what’s going on above the soil. A strong root system is key to a healthy, productive plant. And one of the ways you can encourage your plant to develop a strong root system is by watering deeply.When you water the soil slowly and thoroughly, the roots of the plant travel further down into the soil to soak up the extra water. This gives the plant access to more nutrients and establishes a deep root system that will help the plant survive during dry spells. As a general guide, soak the soil to a depth of at least 6 inches. Again, a drip irrigation system can help with this task by providing a consistent supply of water that penetrates deep into the soil, rather than remaining on the top layer only.”

We are like those tomato plants in so many ways. In a society, where instant gratification is the norm and fast convenient foods are standard fare, let us intentionally slow down and embrace that the Kingdom works through the same principles that work in the garden. Those shallow, feel good, meets all I immediate desire for instant and easily accessible gratification, waterings and fertilizer applications (ie listening to pre-digested sermons, reading commentaries, seeking out the truth others have established etc) will sustain in times of plenty and abundance but at the cost of the deep established roots that will sustain us during times of tribulation and drought. So allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth Yahweh’s way. Slowly, deeply, consistently, forcing us to reach down deep into His Word, His truth and His life.

Practically speaking what does this look like. It will of course vary as nothing that is Spirit led is ever formulaic. Here is what is sometimes looks like in my life. I will find something that triggers my spiritual thirst for more, a deeper better understanding than what I have right now. Today that something is the significance of trees in the Bible. But that might have to wait as there are 2 things that I am already growing roots into that I want to let the Holy Spirit teach me more about before jumping to the next thing. It jumps off the page to me and says there is so much more to learn and understand about this than what I presently know. So I write it down that it is something I would like to study. Over the next year or two as I read the Bible on a regular schedule, I will likely find that any verses that involve trees will be of greater interest. I will highlight the verses using pencil crayons (all in the same colour) and I will put tabs in my Bible to mark the pages that the verses are found in). I will write notes in the margins, and at the end of a couple of years, will be able to go back and review everything that stood out to me and consider the “full counsel of Yahweh” on the matter of trees and begin to see how to individual trees fit into the bigger picture of the forest. I could go and watch a few videos, I could go and read a bunch of sermons, and they would give me gratification more quickly than what the 2 year process will take me as I follow the Holy Spirits leadings. But the result will be deep, strong roots, roots that had to struggle and push past rocks, go around obstacles, overcome challenges but in doing so have become strong, long, deeply anchored roots that are able to tap into the storehouses wisdom, understanding and knowledge only available to those who are willing to dig down deep into the truth of the Word. I find myself thinking about these things more often, naturally, without effort, and my understanding will blossom and my knowledge of scripture increase. I will likely at the end of the 2 years go and read and watch some videos, and be encouraged to find that others have come to the same conclusions and same lessons. I will be blessed by having my own deep roots in the truth AND be positioned to be even more deeply blessed by hearing the teachings of others who have studied these truths as well, being able to quickly recognize gaps in my own understanding and also being able to recognize anything false that ought to be questioned or dismissed. I will no longer be like a boat tossed to and fro by every wave of contradicting doctrine but will be firmly rooted in the truth of God’s Word.

I encourage you to embrace the slow, deep and continuous waterings of our Heavenly Father, the inevitable prunings that must come to sheer away the dead and false wood that would otherwise lead us astray, and the loving and faithful hand of the Master Gardener as He redeems and renovates every part of our thinking and lives.