Pruning for Progress: From Bare Branch to Bountiful Blessing

oh jesus jesus jesus jesus we honor you we exalt your name so this morning um it was quite scary to actually realize these things because as you go on to your daily life and you go through things that you are going through you you actually might be thinking you but how come these things happen and and you are christian but honestly as christians that's the unfortunate part many things happen because we are christians it's not because of you are somebody else it's because you are christian that's the reason why these things actually happen because if you if you're looking at it um some of the things happen because the devil knows that you are christian and and and and you you've been wondering but lord i live such a a grateful life i love a life that is that that i think it's pleasing to you mara why this all these things um happen in my life why am i not uh getting a promotion why am i not uh able to to pay my my bills why all this why why why and all the a lot of why's that comes out of your life it's actually the reason why you are christian is why the certain things do happen and uh but i want to i want to get back to my message um this morning and i just want to make sure that uh obviously everybody understand that today's message is going to be a message that i i can tell you you won't like it or you will like it you will you will agree with me or you will not agree with me there's no in between uh of it some of the things i will say to you that um i leave it in the middle of of things and you won't you won't understand but how come somebody uh say something like this uh knockhouse in in a church then i will tell you it's up to you for interpretive because some of the things we use analogies um so that you can in your own life get an understanding of where you see yourself so uh my message is entitled a pruning for progress now pruning for progress doesn't stop there but it says from bare branch to a bountiful blessing from a bare branch to a bountiful blessing so pruning for progress it's it's it's literally about a tree now so many trees we found in life and trees um when you find trees now do you know that a tree is there for specific reason unless you have planted sometimes you plant the tree because of you actually want to um have certain things in your life like for argument's sake um you find a tree that you deliberately planted there because you want the shadow shadow in years to come and then some of the trees are there just because you found them there and then you you're thinking to yourself but this tree is in my way and and and most of the times when trees are bigger or higher or whatever you call them when they are old it's harder to to uproot them so it takes it takes more strength to take out the tree than just to leave it let it be so why i'm saying pruning for progress it's that certain trees is there that you can see the way it it moves you wonder um but how come this tree grow so funny and the closer it comes to the house you think what if it one day needs to to uh what if it one day break my my roof then what you do is you just start cutting it because of the consequences that you see for yourself that's as a threat and then some of them you find the tree standing in your yard and then the tree is so close to your house that the tree root is starting to lift your house and then you say before it becomes too big let me cut off this tree or just cut the root and make a plan with it so a lot of things is pruned for specific reasons that it needs to be pruned it's either that uh you as a person being a tree it's either they see you as a danger that where you are heading so they want to prune you before you becomes too much like a child for argument's sake you know that the child is is is something that you need to prune from the beginning when a child start using the f word you need to tell him hey no no no that is not how we speak around here and the more you tell them that's not how you speak the more the kid starts understanding it's wrong some of the kids will will see it as a uh you know those rebellions rebellious ones they will always say i'm going to use this i want to see what what is going to happen and something happening you know so all these things when it comes to a tree you need to know today i'm talking about the tree but it's less about the tree than what it is actually about the tree it's more about yourself as a person it's more about yourself as a person when the bible says in john 15 the the the the nicest part of it is let me let me just read it for you uh let me just read it for you so that you can understand where am i at like i've previously mentioned it's it's it's rarely that when life happens that you actually get into a situation where um you will not be tested it's rarely especially when there's growth coming you will be tested you will be you will literally be put into fire to see if that fire will make a move on you but when i look at this um the bible says in john 15 um i am the true vine and my father is the husband man every branch in me that beareth not fruit you take it away and every branch that bear fruit he purges and that it may bring forth more fruit i'm not going to read the whole scripture but what it actually says here is that when when when when when god is the is the actual the actual uh tree standing there and you need pruning then you ask yourself where are you as a person in god if god is a tree and you are just a mere branch are you the one that with it away and with it meaning uh the the the branch become dry and it it fell off or somebody take it off and do you know that branches that uh that normally are dry they are used for one of two things it's what number one is either they will make a nice uh decoration with you like for argument's sake um let me make an example of this this this is not real uh flowers but there's other things that when a branch they use it and put it in a pot like this and the branch they make something with it so that things can hang on it but it's a dry branch they can use it for decoration other times they will use it for fire or or must i say most of the time they will use it for fire it's the same in your life like i said to you previously if you are not bearing fruit do you know that that um you might be the one that will be in the fire and that's what we call trouble getting yourself so dried up that you are in trouble getting yourself so dried up that anytime whenever somebody speak to you about something you are you are you know that you are the hot the hot person that one like like myself uh i i am i can be the the man that you think i am but i am very hot-blooded i get angry quickly and that is one of my things i can tell you uh the thing that i i i don't want to to hide it do you know what when i say i don't want to hide it now i the reason why i say i don't want to hide it so that one day you don't come and push me over the limit and say ah but you didn't tell me you are this short tempered i am telling you this because i know when i get into a situation where i need to run because i know something is going to happen i'm that kind of branch that will get myself into fire because of who i am but let's talk about the tree do you know that the tree have so many different reasons why it exists as people we are the same there's so many reasons why we exist and that's the reason why if you are a tree that stands and you don't know what is your purpose the unfortunate part is that you will be seen for every purposes one day you will be seen as somebody who gives others shadow one day it will be somebody who give others fruit one day it will be somebody you give others uh uh firewood so when you know your purpose in life you will not be the one that gives out everything but the unfortunate part is do you know that we as human beings we are not a tree that can stand and withhold where it's planted um i remember when i was in northern cape because we we don't have a lot of water you find a lot of trees that have um they call it a tap root um bay wortel like i mean not bay wortel pen wortel so pen meanings step meanings that it goes deeper in search of nutrients or water that's the one tree but do you know that when the wind comes that tree stands the strongest it's there for reason because it can withstand the wind that comes like um here by the uh the old age home just after the old age home there's those trees man yeah i don't know what you call them but it has like a cone um or once normally dinner bomb and afrikaans is dinner bomb but i don't know what's the english word for it so this tree it can stand so much wind the wind can be as strong as strong but that thing will just move a little bit and come back a little bit come back wherever the wind is that's how strong the roots is it's not because of the the tree is strong it's because it's rooted into something so strong that no wind can take it and therefore when we stand strong as person and our roots the foundation that we are built on he said i'm the cornerstone that most people rejected and when he says that you are like wow the cornerstone and then when you look at it the cornerstone is the one that makes the building to be stronger i'm the foundation that has this christianity has been built upon so if the foundation is wrong how high can a a a builder build because once the foundation is wrong the builder can't build higher now once you as a person when your foundation is wrong do you know that what you you're getting yourself into is when every wind of it takes you you know so that's why i'm saying to you i will leave these things up to your own mind to describe it for yourself like myself i i know that because my my my foundation has been rooted some 24 years ago in a small town called postmasburg where the people think that anytime you smoke or drink you are not a christian the moment the moment you you you you you come to jesus you must leave everything even not wearing shorts you must you must wear long trouser and even me preaching like this it's wrong so i come from a place like that where religious is the religion is so bad that anytime you you do things you feel like the worst of sinner but do you know that it's actually the place that made me stronger to stand where i can stand after 24 years still because of the foundation that was laid in a church called christian assemblies now the christian assemblies is an international church that was built uh upon okay i'm not going to get into the history of that but what i'm trying to say is that there was a man called pastor corner and this apostle may his soul rest in peace was the one that that rooted me deeply he put me so deep into into the ground that i can stand for any wind that comes do you know what i mean by wind that comes most of the time we have a situation where somebody can tell us jesus is not lord and you will go you will agree you will agree because you are not rooted you you are like you are like certain times now do you know that with the or with this uh tab root when it looks for for for for nourishment it goes as deep as where the water is that's how deep it goes to look for things and it will not stop there it will still goes not just go deep but it will go sideways as well so that there is some sort of a a movement that cannot make it to fall down but this is the the roots that look for fruit you find another one which is the the vintage teacher's uh root now this is what we call in afrikaans bivortel stelsel now what it does it stands on top with a lot of roots like this but it stands on top of any place you know that one can even stand on a concrete standing like this and go and look for for something other places where where the the the the the the tip root when it can't penetrate in there it can't stand longer there so it needs to remove itself and that's where the wind comes and throw it all over while this other one then will have place where it looks to hold on some of us are like that where we we we see where we are and you see i i'm not flourishing where i am at the moment let me out my roots a bit and look for a place where i can stand strong look for food where i can stand strong and that is when you're talking and venti teaches um how can i say root that is the one do you know that on this one they're so different of them when you take a a sacred reed um okay let me use a millie as a an example now the millie you find there's some roots at the bottom then you find some roots a little bit up that is also coming like this that's what you call this this kind of root so it it helps that thing to stand stronger then you find the other one like a a a a strawberry for argument's sake do you know that the strawberry it it has a root here it grows it starts another root there it grows it starts another root there so it has so many roots and that is how you as a as a christian also grows into your life do you know how you grow you you find a little bit of of of a scripture and you think in your life how can i be the one that can use this scripture and then you go to to to to somebody that you you don't follow like you don't like even the person's teaching but one day you heard something from him i'm just making an example now you go to joyce meyer and you you've heard something about this scripture and then you you start searching on google and then you that thing that you've got there you tell yourself it's not because i i want to follow this i'm going to look for someplace else and then you find that you find td jakes and td jakes talking about the same thing now you take that root and put another root there and then put another root on somebody else by the time you realize you've got so many roots and so many nourishment but the thing is we are not trees that can just be planted at one place the unfortunate part is when you are planted in one place it's where you won't be able to grow bishop you won't you won't be able to grow the the reason why i'm saying you won't be able to grow is because of when the wind of of circumstances come and you are not into a tap root situation you might be blown away if you are on an adventurous root system because that root system is not made for stronger winds that root and and and and and the worst part of it is now when you're looking at that when uh uh how we call it when you're looking at tap root a tap root makes the the the tree to go straight it doesn't have two outside branches where an adventurous one will grow like having a small part here but a bigger section around the corner so that makes it easier to to to to to give shadow when a when a a a tape root does not give is not made for for for for for for uh for shadow it's not made for shadow you will what it actually means is that you're sitting uh uh on a fire but the the ash is long gone there's no fire you're making your home there but there's no fire so you mark your warranty and cover us when it when you think that the tape root you will find shadow from it because the moment the sun just move a little bit you have to move with it the moment it moves you have to move with it you have to move with it you have to move with it until there's no sun and then you think to yourself i've been sitting in the sun the whole time but because you are not focusing on the sun you're focusing i've been sitting in the shadow and now you're focusing on something else you miss the shadow and i'm not talking about the shadow here and i'm not even talking about the tree what i'm talking about is when you when you're looking at god and say god protect me like you said in your word you remember he said i will be uh during the day the sun will not smiley by day nor the moon by night so when you when you talk about jesus like that and you are looking at you said the sun will not smile this one i'm sitting here every time i have to move i have to move is to align yourself with god that's why i'm saying to you don't get me wrong when i talk about the tree because it's more about you aligning yourself with god than you aligning yourself with the tree and when you're looking at yourself thinking to yourself you are a small boy and then no i can't be doing this i can't be doing that i'm a small girl i can't be doing this and then god tells you i'm uh do you know that you are a mustard seed and you say you mustard seed is so small that even the the the the smallest of kids will even struggle to pick it up that's how small it is but do you know the tree that that thing is bringing the tree is such a big tree that you can't believe coming from a small seed it's how you are you are a person that is that that is the the the the seed that you provide is such a big seed but you're looking at yourself as a smaller person come on if i if i if i talk about seeds now and i and i talk about a a tree that has a seed do you know that the bible says but faith without works is dead when the one when when in actual fact james said it in james 2 verse 17 he said it faith without works so now when you are a mustard seed and you believe that you are too small in the kingdom of god you will not do anything because it would hold you from having the faith that you need but you know what faith is faith is faith is something that comes by hearing but the problem is that where you are you're not hearing nice things you're forever hearing about the worms that your tree is is literally eating those are the worms that you surrounding yourself with and these worms is the things that you need to make sure that you get rid of that worms you get rid of that the dead fruit fruit flies that is eating your fruit and making your your fruit to be rotten get rid of those things because when you are in a situation where you don't hear the word of god you need to ask yourself hey man i can't hear my faith has been has been dismantled so i need to align myself to where faith faith is preached and i'm talking about faith that is preached and i'm not talking about faith that is preached i'm actually talking about hearing god's word because by faith you can only grow through hearing what god has done through somebody else if you hear that the more you hear it the more you become better person the more you become somebody that that can say okay here i am there's somebody i need to help that person that's the kind of fruit that you need to give off and you know that some fruits are not there uh for for for for eating they are there for for show and you know what what is the one i'm talking about specifically i said today i said today i'm going to tramp on toes and and today the unfortunate part is i'm going to do it you know that the the guys that give off fruit that it looks like fruit but it is not the fruit it's the one that will kill you those are the prophets that says that kill your enemies before they kill you and then you're looking at yourself and saying but didn't god says i will fight your enemies for you and then you're asking huh those are the fruits because you heard the scripture one scripture but you know bishop there's a there's something that god says out of one mouth ah it's not there's nothing this that's just a word but the moment it comes out of two it's settled it's settled but you because you heard that you took the one scripture and you're now building a whole theology around this that scripture and then that theology becomes so bad that you as a person gives of a nice fruit but it doesn't mean anything the tree the tree the tree is that one that look sherry when you walk you see the green brings and you see the everything but no no nothing in the in the in the head nothing nothing but when you're looking at the person you you you have respect for what is wearing but you don't have respect for him that's the fruit i'm talking about the fruit that it's just by the looks of it but it has nothing to offer so so so when you you're looking at roots and trees and things like that and then you you ask yourself in the beginning what happened is that when when when when noah was was about to say hey guys but this rain has been raining for too long raining raining raining i can't take it i can't take it anymore do you know what it does there's some fruits that give you a sign of it is god is at peace with you these are the things that god is at peace with you what i mean by that is that there's a olive tree that is standing out and saying yo don't worry god is still here he said although it was raining there is still some olive branch that sits on there there's still all orange all of branch that sits there and this olive branch i'm talking about is literally the one that that says yo do you know even though you you you feel like you are in a storm but what you did was a good thing that you did it what you did was a good thing that you did it this is what i'm talking about let me make an example there do you know that no one no one was preaching probably uh bishop i don't know how noah got it right now by preaching for many years storm is coming prepare storm is coming prepare rain is coming prepare and everybody sees him like mumu how how he got it right i don't know but remember this is a guy that probably preaches to a millions of people but only out eight went into the into the ark you know god god helped him to to to have grace to believe that whatever i'm preaching at least some will join me some people are preaching for years and nobody is even following them and then you ask yourself oh okay so nobody is following me then you think that you are not doing something good if you are using god's word there's no way that something will not stick something must stick when you talk about god's word and that is what what happened to to to to noah when noah was standing there doing everything according to god's word the only thing that that made him to know that he is at peace at the moment is when that tree was taken from the by the bird and show you see god says it's over this is a sign of it's over this is a sign to tell you that although you went through such a storm god is at peace with you and that is what we talk about that is what we talk about uh uh when we talk about uh the the it's a it's it's it's like literally a a spiritual connection i'm just trying to to look at get my notes here just so that you can i want you i want you to to understand what i'm saying so that it doesn't feel like i'm just talking it doesn't feel like i'm just using words but i want you to take this time and go to your bible and then ask your bible what does psalm 1 says the righteous is like a like a tree planted by waters bearing fruit in due season so so so when that tree was standing there although there was a lot of water that comes that is the same person i'm talking about that went through so many storms and still can tell to tell somebody it is over look at me i'm still standing above the water it's the tree i'm talking about and i'm not talking about that tree i'm talking about you now the the amount of storms that you went through do you know the amount of storms that you went through noah would have said to you hey man yo yo yo well done you did it that you can show me that god is still able to tell me i am the the the the the flood is over these are the kind of floods that you went through you went through so much floods and still you're standing strong wow why are you why are you planted where you are not needed why why are you planted where you're not needed uproot your your roots and take yourself out of the equation because where you are planted your your your your fruit is not shown or even though you do give fruit there's no way no one how do you say no one being grateful they don't show gratitude you are planted by a place where everybody just eat your fruit and nobody comes and water you why do you why do you why do you keep on sitting there where when they don't water you they don't even give you fertilizer they don't even give you food but you just give out fruit as you give you've been sitting for far too long at one place where you've only been been been been given giving fruit giving fruit giving fruit anytime whenever it's that time of the year people are standing in line in line to come and eat of your fruit but never ever have they taken the time just to to to to move you a little bit let the sun comes through this is the tree i'm talking about today and it's not about the tree not about the tree you know that there's trees that when you when when you uproot them you can throw them away you think it's a rubbish like through them by the time they get to the dustbins or the rubbish place whatever you call that the dump place they find in that dump there's too many nourishment for them there and they started flourishing again and you throw them away as thinking that this is rubbish i'm throwing it through the rubbish but it's the one i'm talking about you so many people has thrown you away thinking that you are rubbish and that's the reason why they threw you for the for uh on the dump to think that they they are there to to kill you but less did they know that where they put you there's more nourishment than even in your place where you've been before because that way you you will will be planted there was no gratitude towards you there was no nothing that feed you and that's the reason why they didn't see it that they needed to feed you and but they didn't feed you they rather look down on you and says ah this one is just useless uproot him and throw him away but at that time was the appointed time for you to move out of being drained drained they just eat from you but nobody gave back to you nobody nobody it's like it's like you are you are you are you are telling yourself you're this morning when i was busy inside the yard trying to to to do make the yard look nice but these kids they don't even care if the yard is nice or not you you you you started doubting yourself am i doing the right things but god is saying keep on doing good good at the appointed time keep on doing good because at the appointed time the fruits that will come to you will be as best but i also need to say keep on doing wrong and you will bear the fruits of being wrong because that is the opposite of it what it is the more you do bad the more bad will come your way and here i'm not talking about that let's i'm focusing on the tree i'm not talking about you because when i speak about you it's like i'm i'm i'm i'm i'm i'm i'm i'm pressing on things that i'm not supposed to press do you know that there's a tree that when it got hurt there's this there's like watery like a let's say milky thing that goes off and that's when the tree start crying because it gets hurt some of us has been so much that we went through we are crying and people didn't didn't see the tears that we cried and you know that that tears forms something else it makes it to be harder it makes you to be a person that is harder and uh and it's it's it's it's it's tough to say it life throws so many challenges to us like hash beans and and and probably dry seasons you know we all all went to dry seasons like dry dry dry yo yo yo it's like it's like the one that um um they call ezekiel marapo uh dry wounds like we went to a dry season that there's not even meat on us that's how dry it becomes it's so dry that when people look at you they say you are a skeleton on on on on on on feet the way you are dry it's dry in your life those dry seasons that we went through you you you you thought maybe if i can be the one that maybe just get one person to look at me and say hey i feel for you and nobody did nobody the dry season that led you to almost almost got into into the fiery side where they say if you are if your tree is not used for decoration or or fruit or or let's say furniture it goes through the unfortunate part it's firewood but do you know what is the problem with firewood firewood the problem is it is it it doesn't have a long lasting um how do you call a long lasting uh help to you do you know that firewood is a good thing to have but they don't last long you put fire now within 20 minutes one it's finished don't be firewood that just and be down don't be like that because once you are firewood once they have burned you they have used you they have abused you they use and abuse you so much that you die within yourself die for being what god has called you for purpose and that purpose dies within you and you with them with them don't let them use you as firewood because firewood is quick to fire get caught get fire and then they say you you you he's helping us this guy is so on fire so much on fire so much on fire then suddenly the fire just they are warm enough to walk away to walk away from you these are the things that makes you to need to understand what is your purpose in life because if your purpose is the one that needs to help Zacchaeus if your purpose is the one that needs to help Zacchaeus to see the lord use that opportunity to lift somebody to see god that is coming jesus jesus jesus jesus i'm here i'm here i'm too short to see you and therefore i needed this tree to make me stand out from the crowd if you are that kind of person that needs somebody that needs to help somebody to lift him up to know jesus you are the one that needs to be preaching about the the end time is close by repent or you will be in hell maybe you are that person but you have not used that sycamore tree stand up and let them see jesus in you or through you or lift them so that jesus can see them sycamore tree don't just stand there and look nice don't just stand there and look nice be of great help be of great help sycamore tree don't just don't just don't just see the crowd passing by without wave your your your leaves a little bit so that they can see your wave your your leaves so that they can see your leaves sometimes i wonder how can it be that when you are helping others when you help others you don't understand how when you are in need there's a problem the biggest of problems the biggest that you can find of problems but let me let me tell you something about the the the the tree now that that is why my my my my um message is entitled pruning for progress there's certain things that you need to understand that you don't have to walk with them it's like carrying 10 bags of oranges and then the 10 bags of oranges it's fruit that you need but narrow is the gate it might be something that you need it's the fruit that is necessary to to to help you but do you know that by you going through a narrow gate you can't carry all of them you need to leave them so that you can go move forward and do you know some of the fruits doesn't need to be a lot or because of the nutritions that they have in nutrition nutrition i'm talking about something let me make an example if if if if if there's fruit that that has hundreds of of nutrients and you eat one you suddenly feel full and your body is nourished do you really want to take and eat a lot of them i can't get an example of fruit now but let me talk about what we ate last night liver do you know that liver the nutrients of liver if i eat so much of liver i won't be able to eat it but because it's so nourishful that i can only eat this small part of liver like small piece liver i don't i don't need to eat the whole full plate because it's going to fill me too much and that's the fruit i'm talking about sometimes the fruits that you give is is of such a a nature that some people think they might be of use of you and take you what but they will drop you off halfway they will drop you off halfway halfway through the line they will say you are not in need you must go now you must leave now but you need to know from a bare branch to a bountiful blessing just a bare branch a branch that when you're looking at it some people will even say to you ish askis we don't need you trying to throw you away but the way you you you interact with them it makes you to be of different if i can give you a few analogies about a tree a tree sometimes take the the the leaf and turn it to the sun to gain more from the sun do you know that same leaf when the sun is too hot you will just move away so that the sun isn't directly it's the same like yourself you have mechanisms that god has put in your life that makes you to know that the sun is too hot now you need to move away some people are appraising you too much now then you become getting a big head now yeah you're me i'm the man i'm the man and then suddenly god says to you i burn you and you weather away some some some sometimes when you're looking at the sun it's a spiritual connection because it comes from above to come and help you that's a that's a connection that will help you it find something that can feed your spirit can feed your soul and you can use that as as something like for argument's sake prayer do you know prayer can be the sun that can move you from some place the the thing i like about prayer is the fact that prayer prayer is something that is not a one directional it's a conversation you have with god you ask god are you good and you wait for a response you don't say god you are good because the response that you need to get is you know that the bible says where uh uh when it comes to to god inhabit the praises of his people do you know when what he does the bible also says that the earth is the foot so now when he inhabit the praises isn't it that he does with his feet like this and and and and you feel that the earth is shaking and you're wondering wow but the one that is praising uh that is not praising next to you you are praising god is keeping you to be in rhythm with his feet and what i mean by being in the rhythm with his feet when he goes down you goes down as well when he up you are up as well so you you you you go with in rhythm with him but the one that is not using him is the one that falls off is is is the one that that that oh everything was thrown in one place but only the things that is useful gets taken out only the things that is useful it's like a a a a syf that you use when you when you use a syf and you don't want a flower to have the termites you use that thing you throw the flower in you shake shake shake shake shake shake shake and by the time the flower comes out by the termites or whatever those things is called will stay in there that's the same thing that god makes you go through that by the by you praising him you keep on praising him he inhabits the praises of his people and his because the earth is his footstool he started moving in rhythm with you and that's what makes you to stay with him and others to fall off that's a spiritual connection that's something that will help you but also you need to understand one thing a tree that doesn't do anything and wait for others to come will not will not grow because it needs something to help either if it's a fertilizer because sometimes when when when we get fertilized do you know how do you get fertilized you get fertilized by going through this man and let me not talk about fertilizer let me talk about what we call in south africa manure that is it it's so the ship that you're going through is the things that makes you stronger that feeds you and these are the things that i'm saying to you that you will not understand how can somebody talk about these things it's shitty shit it's not macacas it's that thing when you when you take the the the the the the manure outside of the what is that thing of the cow cow dunk whatever dunk they put it on the grass the moment you put it on the grass the grass starts becoming green but in your life when i talk about manure is the things that satan has been throwing you into such nonsense that he didn't know is those things that make you to grow so you need to go through certain things you you can't just be a tree that just stand and bloom you can stand and bloom you can stand and bloom where you are planted but it doesn't mean you have to stay there you're not a tree sometimes when you bloom you need to go and give others also what you go through what you're going through and i'm going to take a few things fertilizer can also be something that to step out of your your comfort zone you know stepping out of your comfort zone is easy what is it called man comfort zone is is things that you become familiar with you are in a familiar situation i know great one is easy so i want to stay in great one it's comfort zone not knowing that if you move to grade two you it's easier to get to grade 12 but because you are familiar and you are in your comfort zone with great one you're not moving to grade 12 in any time soon stepping out of your comfort zone the last thing i want to talk about this and this is probably the most painful of them all the most painful of them all is the the fact that when it comes to to you letting anything comes on you and you're not moving away from it the destructive wounds those ones that eat your life the worms that eat your life let me talk about the worms that eat your life number one is that negative influence upon your life just like worms where it can damage a tree it's people and habits that that hinder your growth those ones that whenever you around them they know they're always the one that tells you that you need to do bad things those are the destructive worms for a tree those are the destructive worms for the tree they this could be toxic relationships for argument's sake somebody who's in a relationship that forever when you're in this relationship you never see growth you always just see fights there's an addiction that you're going through and this addiction keeps on killing you as a person because anytime when the addiction comes you have to either go still to to to to help you with that addiction or you have to go and and and and and rob and kill to get that addiction there's other things that which is not even necessary to do but let me talk about negative thoughts negative thought patterns yeah the bible says let the weak say i'm strong but you keep on saying yeah i'm so weak didn't the bible also says that think of these things which is noble no no no no no no i'm not going to even go into that one but what the bible is saying don't think of others think of these that's the negative things that that within you are eating you alive as a tree it's eating you alive as a tree there's something that also is a worm and that's procrastination let me talk about procrastination you know procrastination is putting things off constantly they say to you they say to you look um there's a there's a there's a doctor there uh you don't have to pay anything uh you don't have to pay anything whenever you go there this doctor can take out the tooth for you or it can how do you call it um help the root thing inside the tooth and you leave it till last minute then the night you don't sleep because of toothache toothache can cause you to to to have a bomb that is next to you and somebody died there and you you're not even going to bother because of toothache but you've been procrastinating to go to the dentist just so that the dentist can just check it out and i'm not talking about the dentist here there's other things in your life that has been taking for far too long that you have not moved out of it there's also another worm i can say to you that's the fear of failure do you know bishop the the nicest part of it is you you are a deliverance minister yeah but because you are a deliverance minister the the fact that you are a deliverance minister you think maybe what if i deliver this one and all his demons come and attack me it's it's the fear because now i'm going to i'm going to be the one that i've done it but now i am feel feel like a failure remember that there's there's certain things that you need to know the moment you do god's work is going to be such a blessing to you because god will help you man some preacher says that when they preach about healing somebody's expecting healing to happen and now they feel i'm not going to preach about healing because just now somebody comes out with a wheelchair and ask me that i need to move fear of failure thinking that it's himself that cure that cure people that is fear of failure and not trusting on god more than you trust in yourself once you start preaching about healing you say in the name of jesus be healed done but how do you get away from these destructive wounds what will help you to stay fruitful what will help you to stay fruitful number one is setting goals and i keep on talking about goals i will preach goals for for until thy kingdom come because if you're not going knowing where you're heading any road will take you there any road will take you there do you know that if if i don't know i need to go to to senton any place i'm going is where i'm going i'm supposed to head there if i know i'm going to senton the moment i find myself in pumalanga i know it's not senton they said senton is is 45 minutes drive from here but i use the different opposite direction so by the time i get 45 minutes and i see in pumalanga i know i'm in the wrong wrong side when god is is god actually said to to to to david that he is the shepherd david knew him as a shepherd he didn't know him as somebody that will will make a a lion to devour him because he even killed a lion he is the the the the the worst of the worst he knew he's better than that although he's he taught about it a lot of times and he even write about it that how useless he is but still he knew that he's the king he knew it so if you set your goal and say one day from now i want to become a police officer the best way is to go to police college or first start right by police station and ask for inquiries knowing that where you're going that's how you stay fruitful number two is to develop your talents and gifts that god has given to you do you know that when when when i was i was a christian the very first time i never know about prophetic words up until 2010 i saw on tv people that can tell you hey your name is course peter class and then i'm like these people are from the devil because i didn't know about it but as i started going into developing this thing i saw wow god has actually been helping me to see these things that i'm against i was so against it that it helped me that now i am so with it so how do you develop your talents is by by by by by not saying my talent is is speaking and you keep quiet you say the one word hi guys then the knees start shaking how are you guys the knees start shaking more are you guys well the knees start shaking more the more the knees start shaking the more they respond no we are well in you then somebody is like okay now at least they responded when i said are you guys really well it's like it's like it's like some preachers they will they will ask for hallelujahs the whole day because they want to make sure that you listen to them because if you don't listen to them they think that you might miss something i have not have that opportunity to keep on saying can i have an amen because if i don't preach right i will lose you quickly and then i know once i lost you it's gone for me it's the tree that says look can you hear them it's screaming that there's a wind he tells you can you hear the wind i'm going through windy situation here can i have an hallelujah can you say amen this is a tree that that is in a storm at the moment screaming for help but that are somebody that sometimes wants to make sure that you keep with with the message with him that's how you develop your talents and other ways to get that worms and and the things that kills you is to serve others and and and serving others is nice day because when you do things to others out of selfish not i mean not in yeah if you do things for others out of selfish reasons you will not be able to keep up but once you do things without any reason do you know how it will help you nicely it will literally literally help you and also how you keep the worms from you is by self-evaluating you know self-evaluating is nice when when somebody says i'm a christian but you find him uh fighting with any second person that he sees screaming at them like nobody's business and not just use normal words but the words that is not appropriate for christian then you must know that one needs jesus you know what self-evaluation self-evaluation is the the the is what we call the hunger and the thirst for god i know i'm not right where i am at the moment i need to become closer to god so i need to read the bible more i need to to pray more i need to to fast more because for some reason i feel like i feel like i'm i'm i'm further from god than what i was before andre crouch take me back take me back dear lord to a place where i first receive you that's when andre crouch sang that song it made a lot of us to think about that day when we gave the our hearts to the lord the amount of zeal that we had the amount of of passion that we had so many things that we we needed to do for god that's self-evaluation where were you at that time and where are you now so when you did that now i know i'm not on track what do i need to do now now i need to do course correction like correcting my ways the tree that stands in the sun knowing that the sun is too much will turn away that is like a you know that the sunflower always put their heads to the sun it's not a tree but i'm just saying like always put their heads towards the sun and the moment the sun is down it's like they hang like this then the the it's like this don't be a sunflower that whenever there's no sun you put your head regardless whether there's sun or no sun get yourself towards where the purpose is for your life you find yourself sometimes slipping you know like i made a mistake you go back to god and says god you know i've made this mistake and that's the reason why i'm i'm a little bit not right when you go back and you ask him he will correct your path and that's how direction comes the worms in our lives can kill us if we don't know it's worms if we don't know these are the things that kill us so lack of knowledge is why my people are perish no more the more you know the more you want to know the moment i know one plus one is two i want to find out how do i get to 20. so one plus two is one plus one is two then two plus how much is 20 it's like it's like these are the things that helps you so the more you know that the sun moves around the earth the more you want to know but it doesn't put food on your table make sure that you want to know the things that will help you to grow not because of why is the why is there light somebody already take care of the light for you don't worry about why is there light worry about why am i not at the right place where god wants me to be why why is my root system that can go so deep into sitting above levels isn't it that god is showing me something that you are not rooted there you're supposed to move away because anytime when that roots fall they can remove you take you to other places but once you are having where that the root is is going so deep inside that they can't take you out that you know needs to be a good place to be in a place where you are satisfied where there's waters running around you and you bear your fruit and you don't have to go and look for waters waters waters waters will come to you that's where you're supposed to be that's where you're supposed to be and i'm not saying you're supposed to stay there you're supposed to move i still have so much to to to to talk about the tree but time doesn't allow me let's leave the tree and talk about our own lives and ask god let us strive to be those fruitful trees and not the trees that we we are selfish let our roots be firmly planted and and and and not just be planted but planted in feet and let us brown branches reach out with acts of service acts of service where you go out and help people let us offer shade to weary people you know shade where where some people needs just that wing of you and shelter where the lost is you know some people don't know where they are but once you can tell them look you are lost come to jesus and he will show you rest that is the kind of thing that you need to do and also make sure that nourishment for hunger nourishment for hunger is what the bible says that they are thirst and hungry do so to fulfill the purpose of god in your life do so to fulfill the purpose of god in your life heavenly father heavenly father help us to to be like fruitful trees rooted in your love and bearing good works my god give us the strength to overcome challenges challenges like winds in weather dry seasons challenges that we're going through help us so that we can have compassion to serve others may our lives be such of a testament that whatever we do we get seen as the best of trees in life and heavenly father may our testimonies that where we've gone through be of such a blessing to others that they also want to see you in every situation and may that bring glory to you wherever they speak and not glory unto the one that is spoken because anything we do father god we do because of we know greater is you that is within us than he that is in the world and we know because of whatever we do there's no such thing that will help us unless we are rooted in you and being rooted in you my god helps us to stay firm and let not every wind of of of situations made us to fall and today as i speak to you father god i ask that everywhere we go may we as human beings see you pruning us for progress pruning us from where we are bare branches to be bountiful blessings unto others to be more of a blessing unto others than to be a curse in jesus mighty name we pray amen and amen now may the grace of our lord jesus christ the love of god and the sweet fellowship of the holy spirit rest and abide with us all until jesus comes surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall rally the house of the lord forever and ever in jesus name amen amen amen