Roots

 Roots

April 21, 2026

Hebrews 12:14-15 (NKJV) 

14 Pursue peace with all [people,] and holiness, without which no one will see theLord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Deuteronomy 29:18 (NKJV)

“so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go [and] serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;

Yesterday, we were working out in the yard. A couple of years ago, we had a tree cut down, and we were working on the stump to make it look better as a flower bed. Needless to say, things didn’t go as easily as we thought and it took considerable effort to try to remove even a part of that stump. The root of the problem remains…

This week at the retreat, we will be praying with people for healing and deliverance. One of the things that we will try to address is getting at the root of the problem. Like our tree, the visible part of the tree is gone, but the root still remains and causes additional problems. In our lives we frequently see unforgiveness and resentment linger on after the problem seems to be resolved, and this can lead to a root of bitterness which causes more trouble. In Deuteronomy, this is called bitterness and wormwood. Like our tree stump, it is harder than it looks to uproot these types of problems and heal the bitterness. The process starts with forgiveness, but sometimes it takes some healing of rejection or abandonment in order for a person to be able to forgive.

So pray for us this week, that we will have the wisdom to see the root of the problem and be able to pray for deep healing in the people that come. The Lord wants to heal and deliver, but He usually uses unworthy servants such as ourselves to minister this healing, so we need His wisdom and guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring healing to the people