After praying, the Lord gave me a vision of a tumbleweed being tossed erratically by the wind. Have you ever seen a video of a tumbleweed riding on the breeze, moving from highway to highway with no root to secure them? Often immature Christians or new Christians are as the tumbleweed with no will of their own they blow back and forth across the highway of life. If we are not grounded in the Holy Bible, then we have no roots to secure us, and like tumbleweeds, we can sway back and forth. When tumbleweeds talk to someone with Biblical values, the person’s words of life blow them towards Christ, but sadly, if the tumbleweed does not lie a foundation with the precepts of the Holy Bible; their roots remain shallow and do not take root. Unfortunately, with no foundation in their lives, when tumbleweeds speak to a person who shares false doctrine, ideologies, or worldly opinions, they are blown by the speaker’s words to accept another view.
Ephesians 4:13-14
“13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
Satan prowls the earth like a roaring lion seeking to devour, and without knowledge in the Word, tumbleweeds are quickly moved from the faith because they have not taken root in Christ or the Word (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, it is imperative to build your faith by reading the Bible and living a holy life, or you can be in danger of becoming as the tumbleweeds who are unstable in their ways.
James 1:6-8
“6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
The Holy Spirit writes through Paul in the book of Colossians, telling Christians to be rooted and built up in Christ, established in the faith. Remember, the enemy is on the lookout for people he can spoil, and being rooted and built up in the Word protects us from the deceit and schemes of the enemy.
Colossians 2:6-7
“6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
The Lord Jesus warned His disciples in a parable about what happens to seeds; seeds are people, so people that are not rooted, grounded, and watered by the Holy Spirit do not grow, and tragically, in some, the faith dies and withers. In Matthew, the Lord Jesus teaches about seeds that were planted. The ones that did not have the protection and nourishment “The Root” would give them were the ones that were scorched by the sun and withered away; whether or not this is an illustration of hell, I’m not sure. Still, I do know that this is a warning from the Lord to have our roots deep in Him. We must read the Word and pray for His strength to follow His precepts so we can have our roots deep down in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Lord Jesus said, “if you love me, you will follow my commandments,” wait, did you read that? It is so important to us that I will repeat it; Christ said, “if you love me, you will follow my commandments (Matthew 10:27).” So how do we show love to our God? By following His commandments, His precepts, His Word, and by living a holy, consecrated life dedicated to Him. Loving God gives glory and honor to God by our behavior and protects us because when we love Him, we read His Word and become rooted in Christ, and are not deceived by false doctrine and foolishness of man.
Matthew 13:3-23
“3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
To those who sway who are not deeply rooted, I implore you do not leave the faith, stay steady, be encouraged that God loves you, read the Word, and pray. Like a dandelion in the summer that blooms and then blows away in the wind, this life is fleeting, do not walk away from Him. I pray you will be rooted in Christ and will not waver from Him who loves you so.
In these last days, it is imperative that we understand the truth, which is Christ, that we may gird ourselves to stand firm on the cornerstone of our faith. We must ground ourselves in the Word so that His truth will verify what is being said or preached before we allow new concepts or teachings in our lives. We are called to stand ever vigilant as the watchman on the tower ever-watching for false doctrine and evil that seeks to permeate our lives and churches.
Habakkuk 2:1
“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.”
Do not aimlessly move back and forth between new teachings as the tumbleweed that travels with the wind. Instead, raise your shield, and unsheathe your sword. Be ready for battle to protect ourselves, our families, friends, and churches from false teachings, ideologies, and doctrines of demons that arouse our emotions but are not Biblically accurate. Such things often are taught on YouTube or in churches; often, it is often the spirit-filled church that allows teachings that are hidden new age or seemingly good but are unBiblical. All Christians must verify teachings in the Word of God; the time is short, Christian the time is short, and in the last days, we know that evil will escalate.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”
I pray you will be rooted in Christ and will not waver from Him who loves you so. To those who sway who are not deeply rooted, I implore you do not leave the faith, stay steady, be encouraged that God loves you, read the Word, and pray. Remember, there is only one road to life, the narrow one all others lead to eternal fire. It is better to examine yourself now than be found on the road to hell. You do not want to be as the seed that withered away. Can you imagine standing by God almighty and the shame you would feel with nothing to give Him because you went away from His Word? Are you rooted in the Lord God almighty, the root of Jesse, or are you a tumbleweed who goes back and forth like the wind moving from different highways?
Are you as the tumbleweed who sways back and forth with every wind of false doctrine or ideology that is spoken? Do you listen to false ideologies and move towards them without verifying in the Word of God? Do you stand up for what you believe?
I challenge you to examine your life and pray for the Holy Spirit to show you any areas that need to be rooted. Christian, do not be devoured or wither away. Do not allow your life to be wasted; water yourself with the Word, and let the Holy Spirit refresh, and fill your life with Christ. Consecrate yourself, submit yourself to God; this is your reasonable purpose, for we do not live in this world, but we live in the world to come remember this is not your home take heart to gird yourself make your roots strong remember the time is short and God is with us (Romans 12:1).
1 Peter 4:7
“7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”
Romans 13:11-12
“11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
References: All Scripture is common domain KJV
Image before editing: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Tumbleweed_rolling.jpg/800px-Tumbleweed_rolling.jpg
Arsenal Of The King 