(Matthew 21:21-22) 6 October 2017
And Jesus answered and said to them “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.
NKJV
Jesus spoke these words when His disciples all marveled that a fruitless fig tree withered away at the word of Jesus. He is speaking the same to us today as He calls each of us to look at our lives and take decisive steps towards the fulfillment of His promises. Proverbs 13:12 says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (NIV). There is a tree of Life which God has already given to each of us. It is a tree of desires fulfilled and answered promises. It is the place we are meant to be living in, a place of overcoming, a state of walking in the fullness of God’s desires for us. However, many of us may be discouraged and sick at heart, living in varying degrees of disillusionment with God and man, because our hopes have been �deferred� repeatedly. Many of us may be awaiting our breakthrough and getting weary of postponements, but there are fruitless fig trees and mountains standing in the way. Dear friend, God wants us to know that not everything currently in our life is meant to be there, and not everything in our life has been placed by Him. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 15:13 that whatever His Father had not planted would be rooted up. Trees are meant to serve a purpose to provide fruit, flowers, shade etc, and similarly, there should be good fruit that comes from everything God has placed in our lives. There may be things in our lives which were good for a season, but it may be that we are not meant to cling to it now. It could be standing in the way of a breakthrough. Mountains may be those specific and overt things that have been placed in our path because the enemy tries to hinder us stepping into the fullness of the blessing God has decreed for us. How do we deal with these? With the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. During the past months, the Holy Spirit has helped me to take a realistic assessment of everything in my life and ministry. He has been showing me many fruitless things, relationships, activities which were not in the heart of the Father for me and which are not fulfilling any Divine purpose. These fruitless fig trees can become mountains that stand in our way. They can become idols which we continue to pour ourselves into, trying to make them prosper, when they are not meant to be there at all! Invite the Holy Spirit to walk with you through each situation of your life, and allow Him to show you what you need to do. He gave me two strategies to call forth life and fruit from things that had none, or to uproot them and remove them from my life in the mighty name of Jesus. I agree with God that every mountain that stands in my way has to be somewhere else in the bottom of the sea!
Jesus said if you have faith and do not doubt. First of all, He is inviting us to come back to a place of faith faith in Him and all that He has promised in His Word. Doubt is like a snowball which grows as it rolls. Each time we face a disappointment and our hope gets deferred, that snowball grows, and it becomes a cycle when we agree with it and expect it to function. Break every agreement with doubt and disappointment and declare that it stops and dissolves today! A cycle of disappointment breaks today in Jesus’ name. God has a bountiful harvest of answered prayer for you!
Secondly, Jesus asks us to believe as we pray. God has already decreed that we are a fruitful tree of life. His power has given us everything we need for life and Godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He is telling us that prayers are answered when they are prayed from a place of belief. He is telling us that there are always two trees we can choose from � the tree of life, and also the fruitless fig tree (the tree of death). Some of us may be believing that we are meant to be struggling with fruitless fig trees or mountains that stand in our way and this may be the biggest mountain! God has given us the power to remove what is not meant to be there, and to call forth fruit from the trees that are. Believe today that the desires God gave you are meant to be fulfilled, and that He has called you to a powerful place of answered prayer. The fact that you want what you want is the beginning of your miracle. It is the beginning of a process that is meant to end in fruitfulness. This Godly longing was meant to be fulfilled, because God has already given you everything you need to live under the tree of life!
Dear friend, get ready for a powerful transition and a whole new season of fruitfulness. God loves you and is with you, and He is already shifting things around, as you receive His Word today in faith. He is showing us the power of our declaration, and the power of our faith filled prayers, hallelujah. Embrace this Word and step into your upgrade. I bind every hindrance that stands between you and your breakthrough, and I command that mountain to be removed and cast into the sea, in the mighty name of Jesus. I declare no weapon formed against you shall prosper, no tongue that rises against you shall stand. You have a glorious and heavenly inheritance and it is already yours! Be blessed and rejoice, in Jesus’ name, amen!
