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Deeply Rooted

Jesse Birkey's picture

One morning I was sitting in our prayer room spending some time with the Lord.  It was a little cool outside (That’s low 70’s for Florida.  I can almost hear the collective Northern groan). 

 

I hugged myself a little tighter and suddenly stood in the middle of a field.  Now I haven’t actually experienced traveling in the spirit so when I describe standing in the middle of a field, I’m talking about a vision.  But whatever.  A field’s a field…and a rolls a roll.

 

But I digress.  I stood in the field and looked around.  Grass waved lazily as a breeze weaved through it.  I was the only one there but that doesn’t mean there was a lack of activity. 

 

The temperature fluctuated randomly like some kid was playing with the thermostat.  I looked up to see clouds swirling and the sky changing colors rapidly.  Orange to yellow to blue to pink and so on.  Thunder was a bass drum and lighting flashed so brilliantly I had to cover my eyes.

 

Everything around me was caught in a dynamic whirlwind of change.  But the ground I stood on remained solid, steadfast.

 

Be deeply rooted in Christ…(Col 2:7, Eph 3:17)

 

My emotions towards the changing scene were mixed.  Some of it I didn’t want any part of and some of it was enticing.  There was an air of excitement and I wanted to know more.

 

But then the Lord began to speak.  He explained that change and opportunities are all around us.  The important thing to remember is that the ground, our foundation (Jesus) won’t ever change and that we must keep our feet firmly planted in him.

 

Change comes.  Opportunities come.  They can be exciting and they can be scary.  For those who have never truly understood the love of God, they can be a substitute of sorts.  A love replacement.  Pursuing an opportunity can bring a sense of worth and value that disappears once it’s caught

 

It’s not the opportunity that’s bad but rather the way we allow it to sweep us off the ground.  The way we sometimes allow them to whip us up into the color-filled sky as our eyes are dazzled by things we never thought we’d experience. 

 

Meanwhile God laments, That’s what I want for you but I wish you would’ve kept your heart rooted in me.  Because change runs it’s course and opportunities fade into the past and then what’s left?

 

My family is currently facing a handful of possibilities/opportunities.  We’d like to build a house on a few acres, purchase a newer vehicle, get a puppy, and then there’s the TV show we start shooting in a few weeks.   We all have our lists. 

 

But we must not let any of these things pry our feet out of Jesus.  Our hearts must remain rooted to his.  Life isn’t up in the sky, it’s wrapped in his arms.  Things in this world are temporary.  It doesn’t mean they’re all bad or that we should stay away from them.  But it means we should bind ourselves to what’s eternal.  That is, the perfect love of God.

 

Blessings,

 

Jesse and Kara Birkey

 

www.jessebirkey.com

jbirkey@reflectministry.com

twitter.com/JesseBirkey

http://www.facebook.com/jesse.birkey

http://www.amazon.com/author/jessebirkey

 

Jesse and Kara Birkey are committed lovers of Jesus who seek to show others the extraordinary life of Jesus is available for everyone.  They have authored two books, been featured in films and seek to serve the Lord in whatever ways they can.  Follow their blog here.    

 

Bring Jesse and Kara to your venue.  Find more information here.

 

Get a sneak preview of Jesse’s upcoming fiction, Finding Home.

 

Life Resurrected, Extraordinary Miracles through Ordinary People has been endorsed by Sid Roth and Mark Virkler and is a collection of inspiring stories making it clear that the extraordinary life of Jesus is available to all who love Him.  It’s also the testimony of Jesse’s life, the road he travelled bringing him into the arms of Jesus. Get the paperback here.  Get the Kindle Version Here. View the trailer here.    

 

Marriage What’s the Point? One couple finds meaning in a crazy mess is the story of their marriage—The tragedy and the restoration.  They bear their hearts in an attempt to get others to bear theirs and finally receive the freedom they’ve longed for.  Get the paperback here.  Get the Kindle Version Here.

 

Jesse is also featured in the film DeadRaiser, a movie shining the spotlight on resurrection testimonies across the nation.  Find more information here.

 

    

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How to Build a Winning Team eBook

How to Build a Winning Team eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 105 Pages

Can I succeed like others have? What do I need to do? How do I go about it? What if I don't have the gifts necessary to do something great?  The wonderful truth revealed in Scripture is that God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary feats, especially when they say, "Yes, Lord" to the destiny He has prepared for them!

Price: $12.95

How to Deal Effectively with Your Sexuality eBook

by Six Contributing Authors | 80 Pages

Question: How do I handle my sexuality? It is such an intense, persistent and driving force. I battle with pornography. How do I tame this monster within me? I see so many people and even Christian leaders fall, and I don't want to fall. I want this to work! I feel trapped and no-one is preaching a sermon on how to handle this. So I grit my teeth, try my hardest, and fail over and over again, and then get consumed with shame. Can you help me? Have you found any answers that work?

Price: $9.95
How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit eBook

How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 44 Pages | Published 2002

This brief booklet walks a person through the main obstacles to speaking in tongues, and shows how each one can be successfully overcome. It is down-to-earth, practical and biblical, and in it Mark Virkler shares the struggles he went through before he was able to speak in tongues. Some were theological issues and some simply practical issues, like the fact that if I am going to speak in tongues, I will need to speak. Otherwise, nothing happens.

Price: $2.66
How to Walk by the Spirit eBook

How to Walk by the Spirit eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 136 Pages

Are you like many western Christians who have been taught little about how to sense their spirits? Do you have trouble even defining what spirit sensations feel like within you, much less recognizing them? This training was birthed from Mark’s passion to live out of his spirit, and thus release the anointing of God. The problem he faced was lack of clear biblical definition as to what his spirit felt like. So Mark looked up every verse in the Bible on heart and spirit.

Price: $13.95
Imagine That eBook

Imagine That eBook

by Rev. Jimmy D. Smith | 85 Pages

Beginning sometime around my 72nd year, my imagination really started to wake up again.  I was reading Dialogue with God, by Mark and Patti Virkler, when wheels began to turn.  In the weeks that followed I decided that this was a “do” book, not just a “read to learn” book. I began to do what the book suggested. Somewhere along the line I felt that the Lord gave me permission to experience the freedom of using my imagination to worship Him, to talk to Him, and more importantly to hear from Him.

Price: $7.95

Intimacy With God Through Journaling [Kindle Edition]

by Janet Gilham

It is a joy to celebrate the release of another new ebook of two-way journaling by one of our students, Janet Gilham! It was an honor to write the forward to this book, which contains 28 days of journaling. This makes it ideal to use for a month of your daily devotions. Each journal entry reveals the heart of God toward you and thus brings warmth and healing to our wounded hearts.

Price: $3.99
Intimacy with the Holy Spirit eBook

Intimacy with the Holy Spirit eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 223 Pages

This book leads you in meditating on and journaling about several hundred verses that discuss the Holy Spirit. You will grow in intimacy with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the anointing within you will increase! You will exclaim as the disciples did on the Emmaus Road: “Did not our heart burn within us…while He opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)! In addition to being led to journal through these verses, you will read numerous two-way journal entries from Mark Virkler, as well as a powerful five-page prayer at the conclusion of the book.

Price: $10.95

Journaling Questions e-booklet

100's of journaling questions arranged in categories

Jumpstart your two-way journaling! People often ask me, do you have good journaling questions I can use in my dialogue with Jesus? The answer is yes! Predicting the date of His return is not going to work out well. So how about hundreds of GREAT two-way journaling questions you can ask the Lord!

Price: $6.95
Lamad Faculty Handbook eBook

Lamad Faculty Handbook eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 78 pages

This book presents lamad (revelation-based learning) standards  for teachers and curriculum writers. Lamad is a Hebrew word found in the Old Testament and it is translated "to teach" or "to learn."  It is a kind of learning that involves the Holy Spirit granting divine revelation to the heart of man. Thus it goes beyond western rationalism as a learning methodology.

Price: $7.96

Meditation: How to Study the Bible in the Presence of God ebook

Click here for Kindle version.

This book is our more academic version of this topic, designed more for the theologian.

Our practical, hands-on, user-friendly version for personal or group use is Hearing God Through Biblical Meditation.

Price: $2.99

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