"Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee" (Rom 11:18; KJV). The root bears us; a simple verse which we can read without even noticing.  So, what do we know about roots? We know that Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be the: "Root of Jesse" (Isa 11:10). In Revelations 22:16 Jesus himself said: "I am the root and the offspring of David".

With regard to roots in the natural world we understand that the roots supply a plant or tree with water and nourishment to cause it to grow, mature and bear fruit. The roots also support and give strength to the tree; they hold it steady during storms. Likewise, with us in our spiritual life. The apostle Paul taught us that we need to be "rooted and grounded in love." (Eph. 3:17). The tense of the verb rooted shows that this means an ongoing form of the verb; in other words, we should continually be rooted in love. In Colossians 2:7 we reed that we are to be: "rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith." If we are to be rooted and grounded in Jesus (who is love) then we need to spend time meditating on what the Bible teaches us about Jesus and love and spending time with him in prayer and fellowship. The more we do that the more we will mature and grow supported and nurtured by Jesus our root.

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In Romans 15:1-3 (KJV) it says: "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself".

In Galatians 6:2 we are also told to bear each other's burdens as Christ directs us. So, what does God command us to do? He commands us to love one another (Gal 5:14, John 13:34). We put love into practice by bearing one another`s burdens. When we obey this command, we are certainly not pleasing ourselves.

The apostle Paul encouraged us not to seek our own but one another`s well-being (1 Cor 10:24). In the famous love chapter of the New Testament we are told that: “love does not seek its own” (or is not selfish) (1 Cor 13:5). This does not come easily to our flesh but the apostle Matthew exhorted us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matt 16:24). If we do this then we can put others before ourselves. We certainly cannot do this in our own strength but with God’s help we can. Let us learn to: “Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep” (Rom 12:15).

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"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Cor 9:27; KJV). Paul is aware that he must set a good example to the people he is preaching to. The Greek word for: “keep under”, in the verse above means to beat, buffet, discipline, and keep under. To: “bring it unto subjection”, means that you sternly tell your body what to do rather than the other way around.

When we get born again, we get a brand-new spirit but we still have the same bodies which need discipline. We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and so we should treat them as such. The very next verse tells us that we were bought with a price therefore we should glorify God in our body. That means we should take care of our bodies - watch what we eat and drink and take time to exercise, for example.

It's interesting to note that part of the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-23 is self-control and the word for self-control actually refers to restraining the desires of the flesh. Like many other things disciplining the flesh does not come easily, so believe and confess the following familiar verse, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13).

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.

"For I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25; KJV). This was Paul speaking to the sailors on a ship that was caught in a huge storm. An angel from God had spoken to him and told him they would all make it safely to their destination. In Luke chapter 1 (verse 38) we have the account of the angel who appeared to Mary and announced that she would give birth to the Messiah. She also believed God’s word and said to the angel: "be it unto me according to thy word."

We know that Abraham was also someone who took God at his word. In Romans 4:21 we are told that Abraham was: "fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform".

Then in Luke 7:7 we read about a roman centurion who had a servant that needed healing. Jesus offered to go to his house to heal the man but the centurion said to him: "but say in a word, and my servant shll be healed" and he was. As you can see from all these examples there is great power in the word of God that is believed and acted on in faith.

Take God at his word today, believe it, speak it over your situation and watch God turn things around for you. “Nevertheless when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8)?

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 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mal 3:10; KJV). Wow, that sounds good to me. God goes on to say in that passage from Malachi, that he will prevent satan from stealing his (God’s) blessings from us and people will see how blessed we are (Mal 3:11-12).

So often we limit God in our lives and this is the only place and context in the word where God says: “prove me”. However, there is a condition that we remember first to tithe to God. You might say well, that was Old Testament, under the law and does not apply to us today. The whole bible was put together under Gods direction to speak to us all today as Christians. (2 Tim 3:16) Nowhere does it say that tithing was ever done away with by God. Jesus said he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17-19).

Abraham and Jacob tithed before the law was given (Gen 14:18-20; Gen 28:22). Abraham tithed to the king and priest Melchizedek (Gen 14:18-20) and we are told that Jesus is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Heb 7:17). Jesus even commended the Pharisees for tithing; giving no indication that this practice should cease (Matt 23:23). Tithing was given by God to his people that they would fear him ( honor, respect and revere) (Deut 14:23), not as an onerous regulation. When we comply: my,my,my, the blessings abound.

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