Take Root Downward

And the remnant of those who have escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.  Isaiah 37:31

To take root downward is to have an established inner life in the Lord and have an intimate fellowship with the Lord day by day wherein we become one with the Lord and He gains our being to be fully one with Him. This is the basic and fundamental need of the Christian life. Without this, the Christian life is an empty religious life without much reality. As a result of being deeply rooted in Christ, there will be the bearing fruit upward which is the shepherding life of the Christian that cherishes and nourishes others. This is the solution to all the problems the Christian may face in his life. This must be the status quo of every normal Christian. 

Last week I was invited to visit a family along with another brother. This family has been going through marital storms in their lives. The wife, out of much desperation called us up for fellowship with them. As brothers shepherding the saints in the local church this is our responsibility to visit the needy saints and spiritually help them in whatever way we could. 

As we were in their home, the wife started the conversation with all the allegations she has towards her husband. She went on and on pouring out her heart's content, all the cares and concerns towards her husband and their relationship. She also indirectly poured out all her griefs and anger for the misconducts of her husband, and also offered her good suggestion of how her husband should behave according to her. The husband counter charged the points brought forth by his wife and also poured out all his allegations against his wife and their relationship. In fact, one key point of disaccord is in the matter of handling finance. The husband lost his job, the wife is working and earning, and the wife controls the finance of the family with the husband simply following the wife's leading in money matter. This is one of the problems, besides many others. The conversation went on and on for over four hours. The Lord gave us the patience to heart out all they both have to say.

After many hours of listening to both the wife and the husband, I felt deep within that I have to speak up. So I fellowshipped with them the importance of spending time with the Lord. The reason that they have so many problems is that they have been in themselves by themselves without the Lord's leading and supply. Many of the allegations and counter-allegations were due to the lack of growth in life and , much more, the lack of of enjoyment of the Lord on a daily basis.

I began with my enjoyment of Chirs in the matter of heading up in Christ by our daily growth in life and receive the light of life from the Lord. This was my fresh bread from the Life-study of  Ephesians that I have been pursuing these days.

Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him; Ephesians 1:10

The whole world is in a heap of collapses, including the family lives of many. Only Christ can head it up, and in so doing, the family becomes a part of the fulfillment of God's economy. But for the heading up, growth is of utmost importance. Without the growth in the divine life there will be no heading up. And without the heading up, there will be no solution to the marital problems of human life. Therefore I encouraged the husband and wife the following:

Spenditme with the Lord persoanlly, privately, and intimately with the Lord on a daily basis. Set a specific time with the Lord where they would personally contact the Lord and be touched, enlightened, nourished, and supplied by the Lord. This is the taking of our roots deep down into the depth of the life of life.

Spend time together as a couple; to pray together, read the Bible together, enjoy morning revival together, or pursue the truth together. And much more , fellowship together in one accord for all the practical matters concerning their realtionship and family matters. There must be the onesness between the husband and wife in every thing. Otherwise, there will be a loophole in the relationship and Satan will gain ground to sow his seed of sins which is the source of all probnlems.

After this fellowship, we all prayed together and we took leave, leaving the matter and the family to the Lord. The following Saturday and Lord's day I was glad to witness the couple being recovered and both present in the prayer meeting of the church and the Lord's table meeting. Besides, both of them exercised to pray in the prayer meeting, praise the Lrod in the Lord's table meeting, and prophesied during the prophesying meeting. 

May the Lord cover them and preserve them from the attacks of the enemy. Much more, may they take a deep spiritual root downward and bear forth fruits upward.