Candice Simmons: "God is Pulling Out Roots and Weeds and Bringing His Fire"

The Lord keeps taking me back to two things this month of June: Our roots and the fire of God. The Lord has been so "in my face" on these two topics lately, that I just can't ignore either one of them.

Where Are We Rooted?

Everywhere I've been lately I keep seeing the word "root" or "roots"; I have had so many confirmations of this—even in one of my granddaughter's Instagram messages. One morning while taking my walk, I saw a truck pass by with the name "Roots" painted on its side panel, and the Lord began speaking to me about making sure that we're rooted in the right place. Then He spoke to me about the danger of all the bitterness that we're seeing in the tensions around the world, and how easy it is to get caught up in it all. I hear Him warning us:

"...make sure no one lives with a root of bitterness sprouting within them which will cause trouble and poison the hearts of many." (Hebrews 12:15)

"Lay aside bitter words, temper tantrums, revenge, profanity, and insults. But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ's love." (Ephesians. 4:31-32)

Four Ways to Recognize Any Bitterness in Our Hearts*

1. Are you replaying the tapes, rehashing conversations, and looking to justify your anger?

1 John 4:20: "Anyone can say, 'I love God,' yet have hatred toward another Believer. This makes him a phony, because if you don't love a brother or sister, whom you see, how can you truly love God, whom you can't see?"

2. Is your mouth out of control? Are you losing your cool, being critical, snappy or rude?

Romans 3:14 (emphasis mine): "Bitter profanity flows from their mouths (those who are under bondage to sin), only meant to cut and harm."

3. Are you sick? If bitterness is left unchecked, it interferes with our body's hormones and immune system, causing sicknesses.

James 5:15: "And the prayer of faith will heal the sick and the Lord will raise them up, and if they have committed sins they will be forgiven."

4. Are you causing others around you to be infected?

Hebrews 12:15: "...make sure no one lives with a root of bitterness sprouting within them which will only cause trouble and poison the hearts of many." (*Note: Adapted from 4 Ways to Spot a Bitter Root" Erin Davis)

The good new is this: the Father has already provided everything you need to be free of bitterness! Romans 8:4: "So now every righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled through the Anointed One living His life in us. And we are free to live, not according to our flesh, but by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit!"

Every command that the Father gives us, He has already give us the power to perform and overcome. 1 Corinthians 15:57: "But we thank God for giving us the victory as conquerors through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One."

A Vision of God Pulling of Roots and Weeds

In a vision, I saw the Father pulling up weeds that had very long roots from an otherwise beautiful garden. I thought to myself, "If I had to pull up those weeds all by myself, I would never be able to do it." But He seemed to do it effortlessly.

Then He set the weeds on fire and I heard Him say:

"I am going to weed My garden, for I want My people to be free. And I'm going to do a mighty work in those that carry bitterness, for I need them to be free. I will set them on fire with My love and then I will use them as an integral part of the work that I'm doing in My Church. They are destined to be a part of My pure and spotless Bride that I have given My Blood for. And instead of their hearts being overtaken with this sin, I will use them to set others free by My love and grace."

Get ready to watch as Christians that have been deeply rooted in bitterness for years and years begin to encounter the true and living God in His beautiful ways of grace. Those who were once entrenched by the ways of judgment will now discover the Father's unconditional love. They will discover Him like it was their first time, and He will truly root and ground them in His love. Ephesians 3:17: "...the resting place of His love will become the very source and root of your life."

Ignited by the Fire of the Father's Love

We (my husband and I) took a few days away in the mountains of Colorado to write, and every day I would see fire trucks. At one point, there were five fire trucks sitting in our hotel parking lot. I found out later that they had a Code Red alert going on (a warning of heightened alert of the possibility of fires). The night before we left, a huge fire started just 10 miles north of Durango where we were staying. It burned up 2,402 acres of forest and forced evacuations of 1,500. Even before that, when we were in Florida for our granddaughter's graduation, I saw fire trucks there every day, too. I also saw the same thing when we got home! Just the other day, I pulled up on an accident with two fire trucks present, and then a fire alarm went off in the evening. And again most recently—another fire truck. God was speaking a message!

Get ready to be ignited by the fire of the Father's love. Watch as bitter roots are set on fire and love takes its place. For the Father is ready to ignite and fill His people with His passion and fire. He will set people in place that you have given up on, people that you might otherwise have overlooked and said, "No way, not that person." But the Father is saying, "Yes way! Watch as I set people on The Way." The fire of His presence and of His love is coming to do a deep and personal work in His people, His Beloved.

Let the love revolution begin as He sets your heart aflame! Let your heart be rooted and grounded in His irresistible love! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Candice Simmons
Stairway Ministries | The Passion Translation
Email: brian@passiontranslation.com
Website: www.stairwayministries.org | www.thepassiontranslation.com

Brian and Candice Simmons have been married for 43 years. With their three children, they spent nearly eight years in the tropical rain forest of the Darien Province of Panama as a church planter, translator, and consultant. Now, nearly everyone in the village follows the Lamb of God. After their missionary career they came to New England, and were involved with starting Gateway Christian Fellowship, which they pastored for 18 years. After turning the church over to a wonderful leadership team, they began to travel full-time speaking, teaching, and helping churches and leaders to grow in Christ. They've had the joy of traveling to over 30 nations, sharing the message of God's greatness and His end time glory that will be revealed through His people. Brian is also the lead translator for The Passion Translation Project which will result in a new, dynamic version of the Bible for this generation. Brian and Candice have three children, six grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

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