Where are you planted?

“He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What are you planted in? 

When a plant or tree is planted in the ground it absorbs the nutrients from the ground around it. What the tree produces is a direct result of what it takes in. If the ground is poisonous then the fruit will likely be bitter and tasteless. If the ground is rich in minerals it will produce sweet and delicious fruit. 

This is true in the spirit too. Where we are planted is what kind of fruit we produce. If you are planted in a life giving place, that's what you will produce.  But if you are in a place where there is no freedom and liberty, that's what you will become. 

The psalmist says that when we are planted by the river of life we will produce good fruit in every season. The key thing you will notice is that the tree goes through different seasons. We all face a winter in our lives, some of us are in a summer others in spring while others are heading in autumn. 

We should never despise others who are in a different season in their lives. We all face challenges at some point. But as individuals living in the grace of God we should be compassionate and loving to all 

But regardless of what season we are in, if we are planted in a life giving place we will always produce good fruit. That's the point he is trying to make. Our proximity to the river of life will indeed have an effect on our life. And no matter the season you find yourself in you will still absorb the life the water gives and produce something good.  

Where are you planted? What ground do you reside in? It's easy to know because the quality of your  fruit will determine where you are planted. 

If you find that your fruit is bitter, make a change.  When a horticulturist wants to get a plant to grow bigger, they remove it from its pot, that might have confined its roots and transfer it to a larger pot. The size of the roots determine the growth. 

The process of being uprooted and replanted might seem traumatic but without it the growth of a plant is stunted. 

Be planted in a place of life that feeds your soul those important nutrients of life.  What you produce is a direct reflection of where you are planted. 

Hear His Voice?

I saw this today, and this brought to mind a though that has been resonating in my spirit for a long time.  We need to be able to really hear the voice of our Lord. There are some many voices in our ear, constantly fighting for our attention from people to radio, TV to music, movies and announcements. Do you realize that there are very few places that are not filled with noise?

 We get into a lift and there is music, or its in our ear form our mobile devices, we are on a train platform and announcements are constantly hitting our ears, we get in a car and the radio or music is on, we walk in the house and we have family speaking to us or  we turn on the TV.  There are very few places that are silent and in order to get this we need to create a place for it, its not automatic anymore. With so many voice in our ears, do we recognize when the Lord speaks? Do we even know what He sounds like?

My prayer is that I hear His voice clearly and discern that it is Him and that I listen to Him more than anyone else or anything else. I hope that is your prayer too!