Only God Can Make a Tree

[00:00:00] Isaiah 61 one three. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. [00:00:14] He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Well, these promises are real today. [00:00:28] To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. I like God's exchange program. [00:00:55] Give me the broken, the busted and the worthless, and I'll turn it into something. [00:01:00] I hope you're hearing what he's saying. [00:01:03] He said, I'll do all this. All the preaching, all the fixing, healing, opening the prisons, comforting, all the things. I'm going to do it to this end, that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. [00:01:26] First corinthians 15 and ten. I want to read a portion of this scripture that Paul said, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. [00:01:40] I want to preach to you for a few moments this morning. [00:01:43] Only God can make a tree. [00:01:47] Only God can make a tree. Let's pray together. Lord, we love you so much today. Thank you for touching our lives. Thank you for coming down and letting us be in your presence today. And now, Lord, you see every heart and every need in this building. And, God, you know what we have to have. So for a little while, God, anoint these lips of clay. Allow me to say something to encourage and strengthen your people, that we might all be changed, that we might all be better and be more like you. Father, we ask this in Jesus name, and everyone said, amen. Give the Lord a big hand. Clap and shout of praise before you're seated today. Hallelujah. [00:02:35] God bless you all this morning. [00:02:39] The trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. [00:02:44] And we love trees. [00:02:48] Well, of course, I guess if you wanted to already, you could go to hobby lobby and enjoy your Christmas tree. [00:02:56] I know it's just July, but they don't care. [00:03:00] But, you know, that's an artificial tree. [00:03:05] There's no life in it. [00:03:08] It has nothing except what you decorate it with. But I said, only God can make a tree. [00:03:15] Man can imitate God's creation. But here's the thing. Even the artificial trees are made out of the things that God made, because the scripture says everything that was made, was made by him. [00:03:32] So it doesn't matter. Even the material they need to fake a tree came from God. Only God can make a tree. We love trees. People will drive in the fall for hours just to look at the beauty of the changing leaves. They love to see the trees. People will fly out to California to go to the redwood forest and see the giant trees that are there, trees that they used to drive cars through. And I've seen a trunk of one of those trees where they actually took it and carved out like a little small home inside a portion of that tree. It was so large you could walk in it and still have to reach up to touch the top. That's how tall the stump of that tree actually was. We love trees. [00:04:25] We plant them, we use them. [00:04:28] People fight to save them. We need trees. [00:04:33] God put trees on this planet for a reason. That's why you see people save the rainforest. [00:04:39] Get rid of all the trees, the land begins to deteriorate. You take all the trees off the land, the soil will wash away, things will disappear. It won't be as healthy. The atmosphere won't be as healthy. We get oxygen, all the things that we need, all the animals that need the trees to nest in, and we need it for shade, we need it for food. We need those trees. We have to have them. And, friend, let me tell you, we need trees of righteousness today. [00:05:11] This earth is going to suffer if we don't save the trees, we don't start planting some trees. [00:05:21] Yeah, you'll get where I'm going. [00:05:25] There are so many mentions of trees in scripture. In psalm chapter one, it talks about the blessed man. In verse three, it says that the blessed man shall be like a tree planted, a tree planted by the rivers of water. He brings forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does will prosper. That's a tree of righteousness. In Psalm 52 eight, the psalmist wrote, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever a green, not a dried up, not a barren, not an unfruitful. He said, but as long as I am in the house of God, I'm going to be producing, I'm going to be healthy, I'm going to be exactly what I need to be. [00:06:18] God loves these trees of righteousness. He even refers to the wicked as a tree in one place. In psalms 37 35, I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. A green bay tree is a very large tree, can grow very large. But he goes on later to say in that psalm, but then I looked and considered, and he was not there. He was gone. Because those wicked trees will not stand. It's those trees of righteousness that are like. They're like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Or maybe as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 17, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and spreads out her roots by the river, shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful. In the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. God said, my trees don't have to worry about when it gets hot because they're going to be like, no matter what the year of drought looks like, it doesn't matter what kind of desert place you think you find yourself in, you will still be. That's the miracle, that even in a time of drought, you will still be like a tree planted by the water. You'll still be bringing forth your fruit. It doesn't matter where we find ourselves, God is able as making us trees of righteousness. That's what he was telling them in Isaiah 61. I'm going to do all these things to bless your life, to change your life, so that you can be a tree of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, that I might be glorified. Let me tell you, God's going to get the glory for all the blessings that we have in our life. [00:08:18] Jesus referred to trees many times in his ministry. He told us in one place, make the tree good or make the tree bad. It's up to you. Because a tree will be known by the fruit that it bears. You know that trees are the absolute most honest thing that you can come upon in God's creation. [00:08:44] Because a tree can't lie. [00:08:47] If it's an apple tree, you getting apples, it will never fake like it's being an orange tree. [00:08:57] I'm gonna fake, you know, I'm tired of apples. I'm gonna be an orange. It doesn't matter what the tree wants. It's got to be what God created. It. It's gonna. You can't walk up to an apple tree and say, wow, that's a pear tree. Well, you could do that, but you'd be lying. But the tree's like, nope, I am. You're a liar tree. No, I'm not. Look at the fruit. You see the apple, you see the oranges, you see the bananas, the pears, whatever it is, that tree is going to be what it's supposed to be. [00:09:27] Trees are honest. [00:09:29] We're supposed to be honest. [00:09:31] We're supposed to reflect what God has planted. We are trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. And he said, you can be in a season of drought, but still be bringing forth good fruit in your season. When God plants us, when we become the planting of the Lord, it doesn't matter what school we're in. It doesn't matter who's around us, what environment we find ourselves, we should reflect what God has planted. [00:10:04] You know, if somebody were to mix up all the bags of seed and you think, well, I'm planting man, an apple orchard and you're slinging out seeds, and however long it takes, a year or two later, all of a sudden you got these trees, nothing but plums. I said, you got plums? That's it. I didn't plant plums. Well, you did, but the bag said, well, they didn't reflect what was inside. But we need to be reflecting what's on the inside of. We are the planting of the Lord. And when people see us in this world, they need to see what God has done, what God has created. God said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. I'm going to change your life. I'm going to preach to you. I'm going to heal you. I'm going to loose you. I'm going to tell you about all the good things of God. I'm going to take away the ashes and give you beauty. I'm going to give you that oil of joyful morning, a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. I'm going to do all these things so that you can be mine. God doesn't expect us to come to him with all our junk and keep it. He says, give the junk to me and I'll exchange it so you can reflect adequate. [00:11:13] Thank you. [00:11:15] See, I'm not eloquent. I could say that I try to be fancy sometimes, to say words. I shouldn't do it, but we should be. Exactly. And show an exact picture of what God has planted, what God has done in my life. I know what I was, but I know who I am. And that's what Paul said. By the grace of God, I am what I am. Let me tell you, friends, only God can make a. [00:11:50] And I don't want to be like the evil and the wicked and be a green bay tree standing in my own power, but I want to be the tree of righteousness. The planting of the Lord all the way back to Genesis. God started with the trees in Genesis 129, he said, behold, he told Adam. He said, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is on the face of the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to you. It shall be for meat, he told Adam. He said, these trees will bear fruit, and inside each piece of fruit is what's needed to produce another tree. [00:12:38] So you won't just have one season of this goodness, but you'll be able to have seasons after season and orchard after orchard. And people, so many people, will be fed by the seeds that come from one of these trees that I have given to you. Like I said, you take that apple off, you get the seeds out, you plant them, you're not getting anything but apples. That's what you're gonna get. But then he told them over in the next chapter in Genesis, he said, out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that's pleasant to the sight and good for food. It's beautiful. It's great to look at. I love the beauty of trees. I love when a storm is just about to get there and the trees are swaying in the wind. I love when I'm sitting in a tree in the fall and the wind blows a little bit and the tree begins to move and rocky. You just hear the wind rustling the top and you look around and think, my, how beautiful these trees are. Even in the winter with all the leaves are gone. [00:13:48] I still love the way those trees stay stretched out, for lack of a better term, their arms, their limbs lifted up to the sky, that even when it's just showing me that if these natural trees, when it seems like everything is dead and gone, can keep their hands lifted up, what can the trees of righteousness do? Come on, somebody. What can the planting of the Lord do? Oh, it seems like I'm in the middle of a hard, long, cold winter, but I'm going to keep my arms outstretched because spring is coming and new life will be coming. [00:14:28] God said, I made these trees pleasant to the sight of and good for food. The tree of life. Also in the midst of the garden, the tree of knowledge, good and evil. God is made, only God, only God can make a tree. [00:14:44] And I'm glad that he made that for you and me. [00:14:49] God intended for trees to have a purpose. [00:14:56] They're beautiful. [00:14:58] They're for food. [00:15:00] I believe that God intends for you and I to have purpose. [00:15:04] I believe God created man. He even gave in the beginning he gave Adam. He said, I created him. I put him in the garden. Take care of this place. Have dominion. [00:15:15] Be the ruler here. Take care of it. Dress this garden. Keep this garden. Watch over this place. I created you to do that, Adam. And God has intended for you and I, as trees of righteousness, to have a purpose. [00:15:29] Now, in Georgia, I'll just. There's many kinds of trees, but if you had to think to me, if someone said, name a tree that you see growing everywhere in Georgia, I ain't even have to say nothing. Pine, as Ray Charles would say, like moonlight through the pines. [00:15:50] And when you see that, that tree, what do you see? You just see a tree. We can look out the window. I don't even have to go outside. I can look out the glass, and there's pine trees all along the tree line. Right there. Just pine trees everywhere. What do you see? I see the leaves or the needles. I see the bark, I see the cones, I see the limbs. It's a pine tree. [00:16:17] That's all it is. [00:16:19] Most of the time. We don't like pine trees. [00:16:22] People don't just plant pine trees in their yard. [00:16:26] You're landscaping. Hey, could you plant me some pine trees? [00:16:31] They plant pine trees for purpose, not for beauty, not for decorating your yard. You want all the flower and things, things that give you good color in the fall. You don't want the pollen machine, especially if you have to park your car outside. You don't like the pollen machine. [00:16:55] But let me talk to you about the pine tree and tell you that is so much more than what you see. [00:17:03] They make paper from pine trees, timber, lumber, furniture, flooring podiums. [00:17:21] Shiplap. All you joe fans. Ship and Joe fans. [00:17:28] Shiplap pine trees. [00:17:32] They make soap, cosmetics, shampoo, conditioner from pine trees, paint, adhesive coatings, varnishes, chewing gum, fragrances, ice cream. [00:17:49] Yeah, varnish. You get pine nuts from pine trees. You get landscapers, pine mulch, pine straw. [00:18:00] They get resin ingredients that they use to make tires, paints, medicine capsules, syrup, turpentine, glue, pallets, baseball bats. [00:18:15] And in the wintertime, they'll put a little cinnamon on them and sell them for decoration in your house. [00:18:29] All I see is a pine tree. [00:18:32] But God made that tree, and he let. He gave man wisdom to know that you can take a tree and make so much out of it. You think, how? [00:18:43] See, we don't think about it that much now, but when it was really needed, when people were settling this country and settling this land, and they would, they didn't want to just be out in the middle of nowhere. Because what are they going to build with? But they wanted somewhere where they had access to trees. Because now I can build a cabin. Now I can have wood for a fire, wood for cooking. Now I can make instruments. I can make handles for axe heads. And for the things I need to work the land. I can take this wood and build me a plow. And I could build fences and gates and corrals and barns. But they couldn't do it without trees. [00:19:25] And we just see the tree, that rough, scraggly bark. Let me tell you, I'd rather get up in a pine tree if I'm in my climbing stand than anything. Cause that stand ain't going nowhere. When you lock into that bark, get on that slick oak, you might take a ride one day. And I've done that. It ain't no fun. [00:19:48] We see all these things, say, well, it's just a pine tree. [00:19:52] It's just the aggravation, all the pollen, everything. But when you look at what God made, then you see the potential, you see the intent. You see that God gave us these trees so that we could have these homes that we live in. It's provided this thing, the lumber industry has provided for so many people's home. But the labor, the jobs, all these things and all these things because of something that God made. God made the trees. The scripture tells me that even the invisible things of God are clearly seen by the things that are made. Even his eternal godhead. [00:20:33] We are created in his image, and yet we are the trees of righteousness. When we see these trees, the trees declare the glory of God. All creation declares his glory. And these trees, as they wave in the wind, I know you think, well, that's just very good language and poetic language. But as they sway in the breeze, it's like they're just waving an offering of praise to the one that created them. Oh, I'm telling you today, that's what God can do. And even when a tree blows over and it hits the ground and you think, well, that's it. It's good. It's no good for nothing anymore. Firewood. [00:21:15] Let me tell you, sometimes when you're down, you think, I got no more purpose. God's still got a purpose for you. [00:21:22] God can still use you and you can still be a blessing. Come on, somebody. And if, listen, if all that potential lies within the natural trees that we see, these trees that we see, even like I say, in this building, if you could take this black ceiling off, you see all the wood that's there. How many trees went into making this building? And creating this building? But what about us? [00:21:48] The trees of righteousness, the planting not of man, but the planting of the Lord. Now, when you plant something, it's for a reason. [00:22:04] You don't plant something just because, but you plant it for a reason. If you plant a garden, it's for food. If you are planting flowers, it's for a reason. If you're planting trees, it's for a reason. We have forestry commissions and they plant acres and acres of pine trees so that we can continue to have the things that we're used to having you plant for a purpose. Don't you ever doubt that God's got a purpose for you, because you're not just a fake tree that could be moved here and there. But he said, you're the planting. I put you somewhere where you could grow. You know, if you're planning something you want, I'm not going to try to plant something on the asphalt. It won't work. He told the story of the man sowing seed. He said, when it hits good ground, that's when it begins to grow. God knows where to plant you, and he knows where to put you so that you can be fed, so that you can be nourished, so that you can grow up, so that you can be everything that he's ever intended for you to be. And so, not that you will just bless your own life, but so you can bless others. He wants you to be shade for somebody in the heat. He wants you to be spiritual food for somebody that's going through a famine. He put all these things inside of us so we could be his trees. A spiritual tree. A planting of the Lord, created in God's image, fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139 and 14 tells us that we are. I'll praise you, God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth well. I know well that whatever God does, he does it good. God doesn't make mistakes, and God doesn't make junk, and God doesn't make unfruitful trees. Come on. When he makes a garden, when he begins to plant things, he said, it's going to be beautiful to look at. It's going to be good for food. It's going to have a purpose. I've got intentions for what I'm doing. In your life. [00:24:24] You're the planting of the Lord, and it's. It lets me know. He took time to dig down. If you're going to plant a tree. That ain't just easy work. [00:24:39] You got to make a hole and it's got to be the right size, and you're going to put some fertilizer and some stuff in it. You're going to make sure everything's right. And if you have to, you're going to anchor it so it doesn't just blow over right away. You may put something around it to protect it while it's young, but you're planting this because you want it to grow, to get big, to produce. I'm not going to be planting apple trees if I don't ever want to eat apples. [00:25:07] Oh, yeah? I just planted apple tree. Why? [00:25:11] Seemed like a good thing to do one day even. You wasted all that time sweating and digging and busting up the ground. [00:25:19] You do it because you want to do it. People that have gardens, they passionate about it. You know why I don't have a garden? [00:25:26] Not passionate about it. [00:25:28] I don't garden. [00:25:31] I don't even like people giving us plants because I will not lie to you. They will die. [00:25:43] I look at them, I think, man, I'm going to take care of this. And then I don't. [00:25:48] So, you know, it's the truth of. But God, he doesn't just do anything haphazardly. He doesn't just say, whatever, let's plant a tree. Oh, no, no, God. When you read that scripture, Isaiah 61, it kind of gives new light to Jeremiah 20, 911. For I know the thoughts. [00:26:12] I think I gave that. Yeah. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, God knows what he sees in you. [00:26:21] Oh, I see a pine tree. But somebody looks and says, I see lumber. Somebody says, I see paper. [00:26:28] Somebody else says, I see ice cream. I don't know who that is, but somebody saw ice cream in a pine tree. Somebody figured out you could make chewing gum out of that. But you ever messed with a pine tree and you get sticky enough, you realize you could do something with these trees. [00:26:49] But all we see is pollen and pine straw everywhere, and it's a mess. And limbs falling down, that's all. But somebody else, the creator, looks at that tree and says, but I know what you can make out of it. And sometimes you look at your life and say, my life ain't nothing but a mess. And I know that I ain't much, and I know that I ain't really anything. But God looks at that tree and says, I know everything that this tree can be. It's got purpose. It's got come on, I've got intentions for this tree. That's why I created. So I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace, not evil. And to give you an expected end. God has expectations and he thinks about you. [00:27:35] Why? The parable of the talents, even I pull this into that is that God said, I gave you these talents because I knew the abilities that you had. Don't bury the talent it was. I didn't give it to you to bury it. I didn't give it to you to just be nothing. I gave it to you because I know what you can be. We are trees of righteousness. [00:27:59] But, pastor, our righteousness is filthy rags. The scripture says, and that's right. [00:28:05] I. [00:28:07] Isaiah 61 is about the Lord. [00:28:11] The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. [00:28:14] It's there to change things in our righteousness. The scripture says, the righteousness which is of God is by faith in Jesus Christ. And when we believe in him, something changes. And we're no longer that tree, just in the wilderness with no hope. But now we become the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. [00:28:42] In Genesis, God said, these trees have fruit, and the fruit has seed in itself. That means, again, just to make it simple, an apple tree. An apple has seeds in it that will grow another apple tree. It will produce trees. Let me tell you. [00:29:03] Jesus hung on a tree so he could produce disciples, believers, so he could have a church, so he could have saints of God. [00:29:17] He hung on that tree, and then he was placed in the ground. And then he came out. And the Bible says he is the firstfruits of the resurrection of the dead. Oh, he went through all that. He hung on that tree so he could produce more trees of righteousness. [00:29:37] The only one ever righteous that walked this earth was him. And the righteous hung on the cross. And that cross became, even though it was a place of torture and death, the righteous one hung on it. [00:29:51] And now for us to be like him, to do as he did. He said, take up the cross and follow me. He said, you're going to be like me. You're going to produce like me. I didn't die so you could be something different, but so you could be like me. Trees of righteousness. The planting of the Lord. In other words, it belongs to the Lord. [00:30:14] If I come to your house and you say, this is the garden I planted, it's your garden. [00:30:20] You planted it. You bought the seed. You put in the effort, the blood, the sweat, the tears to get it to where it's at, it's your garden? And if I went by, I would say, hey, look at Fred's garden. [00:30:33] Is there Fred in here? [00:30:36] Who's got a garden in here? [00:30:39] Nathaniel. Look at Nathaniel's garden. Why is it Nathaniel's gone? Because he planted it. Well, Nathaniel and Mabel's garden. [00:30:49] But why the name? [00:30:53] Why does it belong to them? Because they planted it and they share out of it. Oh, they benefit from it, but others benefit from it as well. And let me tell you, he said, you're the planting of the Lord. In other words, we belong to him. [00:31:08] The Bible says, he purchased us with his blood. We belong to him. [00:31:15] He didn't water us with just the water, but he watered us with the blood. When we believe and obey the gospel, friend, our potential is not just limited to what we or other people see. [00:31:30] Because now we're the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. And that's why I'm going to go back to what Paul will say. In one corinthians 15, let's back up a verse and go to verse nine. Paul said, I am the least of the apostle. [00:31:46] I'm not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Just leave that there for a second before we jump over. [00:31:56] Do you feel like that? [00:31:58] I'm the least in all the church. I'm the least of any believer. I'm the least of any saint. I'm not much. I'm just not much. I'm just here. I'm just me. This is just who I am. Let me tell you something. All knew better than anybody who he was. [00:32:16] And he said, I'm not here patting myself on the back. I am the least of the apostle. [00:32:23] I shouldn't even be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. I know what others see or say or think about me. [00:32:34] But then here comes grace. [00:32:40] But by the grace of God, now I'm the least of the apostles. I shouldn't be called an apostle. I persecuted the church. I stood by while they stoned Stephen. I had letters to take people to jail if they called on the name of Jesus. I know who I was, how awful I was. But grace, you say, well, you don't know what I've done. Where sin does abound, the grace of God does that much more abound. [00:33:09] And he said, but by the grace of God, I am what I am not. I was what I was. He said, but when grace came in, it changed me, and it made me a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. [00:33:24] And that grace, that was bestowed on me was not in vain. Oh, I recognized that as a tree, I got a lot of potential. I recognized that as a tree of righteousness, I could do some things. So I labored, I worked, I got busy about my father's business more abundantly than anybody else, because that grace of God made me who I am. Only God can make that. [00:33:54] It was the grace of God which was with me. It made me who I am. It made me. When people saw Paul, they saw Saul of Tarsus. They saw Saul the persecutor, Saul the murderer, saul the killer, the hateful one. But when God saw him, he saw Paul the preacher, Paul the missionary. Paul the evangelist. Yeah, he saw Paul spiritual gifts. He saw Paul with revelation. He saw Paul doing mighty works in him. He saw Paul that was humble. He saw Paul that when he fell down on that road, he said, lord, who are you? And he said, I am Jesus that you persecuted. He saw Saul that turned to Paul that became a chosen vessel, minister to the Gentiles. He saw this great evangelist, preacher, whatever you want to call him. He saw this great man of God. [00:34:54] Others. It didn't matter how Paul felt about himself. It didn't matter how others felt about him. That's why Paul would write in one corinthians six, and such were some of you. But now you are washed, and now you are sanctified, and now you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of. [00:35:19] By the grace of God. [00:35:21] I am what I am. [00:35:24] If I wanted to ride that train of thought, I could talk to you about someone who was so mean that he would just soon punch you in the mouth is, look at you. [00:35:35] I would cuss you in a second and slap you. The second one, I drank every day. The time when I came into the church, I was drinking every day. I smoked dope, I lied, I fought, I cheated, I stole. I was awful. [00:35:54] I went to jail for doing stupid stuff. It's a wonder that I didn't wind up in prison somewhere or dead on the side of the road. I can tell you about what it's like to be on the other side. [00:36:07] And people could say, ah, why would I listen to anything you got to say? Because I know who you were. Exactly. You know who I was. You knew me then, but that's not me anymore. By the grace of God, I am who I am. And let me tell you, there was people who didn't like it when I started preaching. They didn't think I had right to preach. They didn't think I was supposed to be doing it. Well, what was I going to say? [00:36:34] They were like, you ain't even been doing this long enough to be preaching. Well, I don't know who come up with that idea, because as soon as God touches your life, you can start preaching about what he did. I might not could have quoted about three scriptures at that time, but let me tell you something. God called me to preach and I started preaching. I've been preaching for over 30 years now, and it wasn't me, but it was the grace of goddesse. [00:36:59] So let me tell you, don't worry about, quit putting yourself down and beating yourself up. Quit worrying about what everybody else remembers about who you were or what you've done. And remember that God can change you in an instant. [00:37:12] In just a moment, God can flip your life around and God can begin to work on you, and you become a planting of the Lord. You know what that means? You're going to grow. [00:37:26] When you're new, don't be expecting to bear the same amount of fruit as somebody that's been doing this for ten or 15 years. [00:37:35] When you're planted, you're planted so you can grow and so you can mature and get to the place that you bear much fruit. [00:37:45] Even a little sapling tree is perfect like it is because it's got to go through that process. [00:37:56] Don't be hard on yourself. Let God grow you. The Bible tells me to grow in grace and knowledge. I need to grow. I need to grow. [00:38:04] We have been grafted in. We've been changed. We've been grafted in the vine, Paul said, and we were a wild olive branch, grafted in, into the good. And now we are grafted in. In heavenly places or where we sit. [00:38:21] Let me help you out. [00:38:24] This is who we are according to scripture. We are the bride and the body of Christ. [00:38:34] We are the church, we are God's flock. We are God's building. And we are God's husbandry. We are the habitation of God. We are the temple of the Holy Ghost. This is all scripture. [00:38:48] We are ambassadors and elders. We are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We are fishers of men, light of the world, salt of the earth. We are ministers, servants, preachers, shepherds, stewards, soldiers, watchmen and witnesses. We are workers and believers. We are brethren, children of God, chosen, elect, heirs, ransomed of the Lord. We are the sons and daughters of God. [00:39:22] Don't worry about what people see or what they want to think. That's what the word says. You are, as I said, God saw, or people saw Saul the persecutor. But God saw Paul the preacher. [00:39:36] If you want to come to the music, I'm getting ready. I knew it wouldn't be long today. I hope I'm encouraging someone in this house today. [00:39:44] God saw Paul the preacher, a chosen vessel unto him. [00:39:50] Oh, aren't you thankful for grace and what grace can make out of your life? [00:39:57] Where sin did abound, his grace does much more. [00:40:03] I'm thankful. We thank. Oh. [00:40:06] See, we like. Since we're in that measuring business, we like to measure. Oh, I've been so bad. I've done so many things. I've done so much wrong. I've made so many mistakes. We just keep piling and piling it. [00:40:24] But the scripture is true, and the power of it is real. Where sin abounds, the grace of God does much more abound. [00:40:35] And let me tell you, it don't take but one drop of that precious blood. [00:40:40] One drop. [00:40:42] The first drop that fell from his body, that was enough right there to take care of any sin in your life. [00:40:53] One drop of his blood was so precious that it purchased our redemption. One drop was enough. He had to spill all of it to die, but only one drop to save us. [00:41:07] Hello. [00:41:10] Not silver or gold and corruptible things, but by the precious blood of the lamb. [00:41:16] Stand with me. [00:41:19] In Philippians 413, Paul would say this. [00:41:25] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. [00:41:33] I am a tree of righteousness. [00:41:39] And the world may look at us as those trees and only see one thing. [00:41:48] Bible thumper, holy roller, snob, judgmental. They've got all kind of names for us just because we want to serve the Lord. [00:42:04] But we're so much more than any label they'll put on us. [00:42:09] When you start looking up all the products that can come from one type of tree that was just one tree. I listed all the gifts that come with the Holy Ghost. [00:42:23] Those spiritual giftings, those anointings, those blessings. [00:42:29] There's so much in you. There's so much potential in you. You don't have to go into your workplace or into your school or into this world and be anything less than what God made you. [00:42:44] You are a planting of the Lord. And wherever we go, as long as we have him, we can flourish. [00:42:53] Yeah, we can grow. [00:42:56] We can affect others. [00:42:58] We can be a blessing for others. There's something inside of you that somebody else needs. [00:43:05] There's something in your life, your testimony, your gift and your anointing. A word of wisdom. Just some compassion, some love, some friendship, whatever it might be God put that in you so you could do it. Your potential for the kingdom is only limited when you limit it. [00:43:29] Cause God said, I'm opening up the doors of the prison to those that are bound. [00:43:35] Where the spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. God has given us liberty in his spirit. He said, I have loosed you to do the work of the kingdom. We're the only ones who limit it because we get hung up instead of going to verse ten like Paul did in talking about God's grace. We stay where we were, who we used to be. I can't get past it. I can't believe God would forgive it, but he will. [00:44:08] He said, if you confess you're false, he's faithful to forgive you. [00:44:12] He gave us baptism for the remission of sins, past so that we could wash away our past. And when it washes away, listen, it's gone. [00:44:22] If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. [00:44:25] Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are made new, and all things are of God. Only God can make a tree be like David. [00:44:35] They looked at him and said, he's just a boy. [00:44:41] His father did him call him up when the prophet came to his house. Oh, that's just the youngest. He's keeping sheep. [00:44:49] Look at these big, fine, strong other. Even the prophet looked at his first one. He said, oh, yeah, this has got to be the anointed of God. This big, strong, strapping young man. Surely this is the next king. [00:45:02] But the Lord said, no. He said, don't just look on what you see on the outside. [00:45:08] He said, I see the inside. [00:45:10] I see who David is. I see that he can be king, that he can be a warrior, that he could be a psalmist, he could be a songwriter. He can be a prophet. All the things that David was, he was more than just king. [00:45:23] He was a man after God's own heart. [00:45:26] Even Goliath saw him and thought, you send him. What am I, you sending out this little kid? He's like a little dog. You go send him out here to fight with me. [00:45:39] But David, he didn't care what he thought. He didn't care what his brothers thought. And he didn't care what Saul thought. He said, I know who I serve. I know whose I am. And I know that in the name of the Lord, you're going to fall today. And David ran to the battle. He inspired an entire army. One. [00:46:03] One little boy, one young man inspired a whole group of fighting men. [00:46:11] David had never taken a man's life to that point, these soldiers had killed many people in battle. They were seasoned warriors, but they were afraid. And it just took one young man. Being what God called him to be. [00:46:27] He inspired a nation because he was what God made him to be. [00:46:34] All things are possible, the scripture says to those that believe. [00:46:39] So believe God and believe what he's made out of you. [00:46:46] God called us to be trees of righteousness. [00:46:51] So just be all that you can be. [00:46:57] There's an old poem that says, I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. [00:47:08] There's a few more lines in the middle I'll refrain from. [00:47:13] Some of them were a little edgy. [00:47:19] But the last line says this. [00:47:22] Homes are made by fools like me. [00:47:26] But only God can make a tree. [00:47:32] Never been a truer statement goes, try as man might, he will never create a tree because he had to have anything he makes. The material came from goddesse. They just can't do it. It's just the way it is. [00:47:53] So today I want you to remember something that you are so much more than what you or anybody else sees. Your potential is only limited by you. [00:48:07] What will you do? The scripture says, whatever we find to do, to do it with our might. [00:48:12] Give it everything we got. [00:48:14] I wonder today who will just let God use the potential that's in them. As you start this school year, whether you're teaching a student, whatever it might be on faculty somewhere, will you let your light shine? [00:48:30] Will you be that tree of righteousness? Will you be a blessing for somebody else? Don't worry about if it's stormy where you're at. Don't worry about if it's hot and dry where you're at. God will keep you nourished. God will take care of you. You're the planting of the Lord.