A vine is as good as where it is planted

There are a lot of good people who are just planted in the wrong place

Trust Maanda
Looking at the Unseen
PSALM 80:8-11
[8] Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. [9] Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. [10] The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. [11] She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
Israel was transplanted from Egypt and planted in the Premised Land. In Egypt they were slaves. They were serving with rigour. Not many spiritual visitations are reported. They were not thriving because they were out of their land of promise.
They had no temple. They were a vine, not planted in the right ground. They were not rooted. They were not permanent.
God had told Abraham that there were going to be temporarily in Egypt until God would bring them out.
David in the Psalm is describing Israel as a vine. They were a good vine. They were God’s chosen. But if a good vine isn’t set in good ground, it will not bring forth good fruits. It depends on where the vine is planted.
That is what will determinate the results of the crop. So, God picked up Israel, out of a barren ground of Egypt
He brought Israel out of Egypt. He prepared the ground for planting it by removing the heathens from the land. When they were planted, their roots went deep, their branches reached far.
Your environment determines your growth. Israel had the capacity to grow, but while in Egypt, its growth was stunted.
In the parable of the sower, the seed that fell on the stony ground, pathway and thorny ground is the same as was planted on good fertile ground. What determined the fruit was not the seed, but the type of ground on which the seed fell.
The church which you attend plays a role in your growth or lack of it. The Word you hear makes or breaks you. Faith comes by hearing the Word. Doubt and fear also come by hearing. There are a lot of good people who are just planted in the wrong place.
Now if a real believer is brought to Christ, and he’s planted in some church that doesn’t believe in the full Gospel, that person may be a genuine Christian but that church cuts off the Life of that Vine.
It can’t bear Its fruit. No church can get anyone to heaven but the environment it creates by the of the Word It preaches, helps the vine to grow or be stunted.
Fruits from a water starved tree are not succulent. If they are apples, they become knotty and worm-eaten. The fruits are susceptible to all insects.
A good healthy vine doesn’t even have to be sprayed.
It’s healthy enough to throw off all of its enemies.
That is the same thing with a born-again Christian. You don’t have to be spraying them all the time, and patting them on the back, persuading them to come to church and participate in a church service.
They are spiritually healthy enough to fend off all the things of the world. They are living off the true nourishment.
If a tree is planted where there is no water, it withers.
David said a man who does not sit in the seat of the ungodly is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. It will not wither. It will produce fruits in the right season.
Check what you feed on. It determines how healthy you will be. Check who is surrounding you. It will determine your character and attitude.
A person who grows where there are rivers of all sorts of encouragements and good influence shall be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water. Many rivers of good attitude, gratitude, positive ideas, positive thinking, vitality and everything that nourishes the soul and mind are rivers coming into the one channel.
That person will have possibilities and potential, waiting to be unleashed.
Plants that grow in the desert are different from the ones that grow where there is water.
Their leaves are thorny and they can prick. When you stay away from nourishment, you become pricky. You will have no fruits.
Stay where you hear encouraging words, where your energy is fed into.
Where there is grumbling, complaining, murmuring, doubting and pessimism, growth is stunted.
The problem does not lie in what you are. It is in what you surround yourself with.
From today, know where to plant your vine. Know where to plant yourself.
You cannot be established where the ground is not right. Change your thoughts. Change what you watch, read or occupy yourself with.
You have potential in you which can only manifest when you are planted on good ground.