Two Trees In The Garden

In the beginning, the Garden of Eden had 2 trees that were the most important trees in the Garden --
1. The Tree of Life
2. The Tree of Knowledge of Good And Evil

We all know what happened in the Garden.  Adam and Eve lost EVERYTHING!  God told them they could eat from any trees in the Garden, except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  And if they ate from it, that day, they would die.  Well, as we all know, they ate from it, and, even though they did not die immediately, their bodies began to decay and they eventually died many years later.  I have preached for many years that the human race has HAD TO LEARN how to die because God created us, and this body, to live forever.  Well, we as humans have learned to die so well we have gotten it down to about an average of 70-80 years!  From the 800-900 years they were living in the beginning. The revelation of God's Word wants to show us that He has CREATED US TO LIVE!!!

This post is a little longer than normal, but I want to share with you what I believe the Lord has shown me about these 2 trees ---
1. The Tree of Life
Jesus is the Tree of life.  In John 1:4 it says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."  The most famous bible verse, John 3:16, says this, "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that who ever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life."  I could go on, but I think you get the point.  Jesus was/is the Tree of Life.  As you take the fruit of this tree, we discover there are many things that we begin to experience from that fruit on this tree.  First, there is love.  Not just love like we have experienced from this world, but a love that goes to the depth of our being!  A love that goes beyond explanation.  That love brings with it many things.  Joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness, self control, patience, faithfulness, grace, mercy, divine favor, power, etc.  The Tree of Life fills us full of the things of God because it shows us that the things we could have NEVER accomplished under the old law, has already been accomplished for us by Christ.  We couldn't, so He did!  Now we can too!  By the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.  That is His Grace!  That is His Mercy! That is Divine Favor!  If God can can make us to be the seed of Abraham, by faith and the Spirit, why can't He make us the righteousness of God in Christ, by the same Spirit?  If God can reckon, or credit, Abraham's faith as righteousness and therefore call him the friend of God, all under a covenant of blood that could only cover sin and not remove it, why can't we live EXACTLY as He said, and be EXACTLY what He said we were/are under a covenant of blood that doesn't just cover sin, but removes it ENTIRELY!!!  We Can because He did!  The only problem with this is that many of us still mentally live in the "Cover Covenant", rather than the "Removal Covenant".  Eat from the the Tree of Life.  It shows you and I what we are, and can be, by His blood and grace!

2. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil ---
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is an interesting but deceitful tree.  From it's name, we would think it would be very beneficial to us in our lives to have this knowledge of good and evil.  But in reality, it only brings death.   It brought death to the whole human race, not just Adam and Eve, but to us all, in the very day that they ate of it's fruit.  So it continues, even through today!  RELEGION has us eating from this tree.  It tells us and defines to us how we will struggle with good and evil all the days of our life.  How we can't be perfect and holy, even though we were commanded to be.  We will constantly come up short of trying to attain because we are only human.  Therefore continuing to keep us in the flesh, human, sinful, have to try harder without ever accomplishing, state of mind!  Here is how this tree works --- remember it is the tree of knowledge of good AND evil!  Fruit from this tree will show you and I how dreadful and sinful we are in this state of being, and how we need a Savior (that is true and therefore good).   It will even show you and I how to receive that Savior and experience the Life He brings with Him (remember, He is the Tree of Life), and all the benefits that Life has within it.  But then this tree will also remind us of how evil we are, how we don't really deserve the grace and mercy of God, after all, look at everything you have done in your life, even what you've done today!  How unworthy you are, how you don't deserve all the great things God has for you!  Because after all, you are still human, AND YOU HAVE TO MAKE MISTAKES, THEREFORE YOU HAVE TO SIN!!  And if you sin, it cuts you off from God.   You don't deserve such a wonderful God! See how this tree works?  It tries to tell you and I that we don't deserve God's amazing benefits.  Even though it first showed us all those benefits!  Or it will have you thinking, and therefore acting on, that you have to continue to strife for perfection and acceptance from God.  You must PROVE your love to God.  It can't be as simple as receiving by faith, you must work to receive it and keep it!  THAT is how this tree operates.  It shows us God and His goodness and all that He is and has for us, BUT, then it shows us we can never be good enough, pray enough, witness enough, do enough, to become, AND STAY, everything He has provided for us to be!  AND THAT IS A LIE!!!  Eating from this tree ONLY produces death!  That is why we can't eat from this tree.  Again, religion will feed you from this tree because it wants you dependent on it.

In Romans 7, Paul is talking about how he had tried and tried to do everything right according to the Law.  All he got from it was frustration, misery, and condemnation.  He tells us he has tried to live by the law and his failure in doing so.  Finally, in Romans 7:24, from The Message translation, he says, "I've tried everything and nothing helps.  I'm at the end of my rope.  Is there no one who can do anything for me?  Isn't that the real question?"  How many of us have reached that point?  Then he answers his own question in the next verse, 25, "The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.  He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."  Jesus ACTED on the cross, raised from the dead, and SET THINGS RIGHT for you and I!!!  We no longer have to live frustrated with our life in Christ. Only seeing our failures, stumblings, shortcomings. HE SET THINGS RIGHT FOR US! We can now live in the GLORIOUS POWER OF HIS SPIRIT ALIVE IN US!  See Paul is telling us he started off eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  At the end of Romans 7, he is frustrated with the outcome of his efforts of serving God.  He tried and tried, but only ended up frustrated and never attaining his goal.  He wants to know how he can get set free from that continual outcome.  He then tells us that the answer is that Jesus Christ brought an end to that continual outcome!  Jesus DONE AWAY WITH religion and the frustration it brings by showing us a better way to live, and then, letting us see and experience that freedom!  Paul says it's available by starting to eat from the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ!!!  Romans 8:1-2 then says, again from The Message translation, "(1)With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved.  Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. (2) A new power is in operation.  The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."  THANK GOD YOU AND I ARE FREE!!!


Don't just eat what is sat in front of you.  The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil might look appealing, but it is deceitful.  Eat from the Tree of Life!  IT'S GOOD!!!

What Are You Building?

There are a couple of stories recorded in Scripture that have different purposes and designs.  The first one we will mention is in 1 Kings 18.  In this portion of Scripture, Elijah has called all of the prophets of Baal, 450 of them, and the prophets of Asherah, 400 of them, to Mount Carmel.  He then challenges them all to make a decision as to who they are going to serve.  After the prophets of Baal go through all the things they do ALL DAY, to try to get their God to answer by fire, with no answer, Elijah steps up for his turn.  The first thing he does is gather the people together, then he REPAIRS the alter of the Lord that had been torn down.  In verse 31, it says Elijah took 12 STONES that represented the 12 tribes of Israel, and rebuilds the alter.  Then he has a trench dug around the alter, and after laying the sacrifice out on the alter, has the sacrifice SOAKED with 4 pitchers of water.  Then he has them pour 4 more pitchers.  Then he has them pour 4 more pitchers.  A total of 12 pitchers FULL of water poured on the sacrifice, the wood, the alter, everything!  Then he prays about a 60 word prayer, and fire comes down from heaven and COMPLETELY CONSUMES the sacrifice, the wood, the dust, and all that water!  The result?  The people turned back to God as a result of the power of God on display.

The next story is found in Joshua 4.  Joshua has just led the children of God across the Jordan river in their continuing exodus from Egypt.  Pharaoh's armies that were following them to recapture them and make them return, drown in the waters of the sea as they tried to cross on the same dry land that the children of Israel crossed on.  Now they are crossing the Jordan river ON DRY GROUND.  Suddenly the Lord speaks to Joshua and says, "Take 12 men, to represent the 12 tribes, pick up a stone on his shoulder, from the middle of the dry ground where the Jordan river was, and carry it to the shore, TO MAKE A MEMORIAL to the power of God that was on display that day at the Jordan river!

One story from Scripture (Elijah), tells of gathering STONES to repair, and rebuild, an alter to offer a sacrifice to God.  The other story (Joshua), tells of gathering STONES to build a MEMORIAL for their future generations to see TESTIMONY of the power of God to deliver!

I present to you that there are many "gathering of stones", by the instructions of the Lord, that became something they were never intended to become!  I believe there have been many "alters" built, that were never supposed to be anything but "memorials"! I think that many of the "moves" of God, were supposed to be "memorials", but due to some, they became "alters".

God does something GREAT AND AWESOME, the next thing we know, there has been an "ALTER" built and a constant trying to get it to happen again!  Praying for it, fasting for it, calling it into existence, naming churches and organizations after it, holding revivals to get the people back to that place where God had moved mightily!  But God never intended it to become an "ALTER", but merely, a "MEMORIAL", or "TESTIMONY"  if you would, of the powers of God in operation!

Alters were the place of shedding of blood, loss of life, sacrifice. Memorials are the place of REMINDING us of the great power, and love, God has for us!!!  I think the LAST ALTER EVER NEEDED WAS THE CROSS!!!  Since that time, I believe all other "gathering of stones" probably should have ONLY been memorial, or testimony, stones!  Yet, how many times have we "sacrificed" on the "alter" of our preferences of beliefs trying to get God to move "the way He used to."  I think God would really like to see us having testimony, or memorial, of the things He has done, and still doing in us, BUT, He desires us to be moving forward in His name and purpose!  We should never forget what He has done in us, and in others lives!  But I don't believe He intended us to "camp out" there and think this is the ultimate in our relationship and experience with God!  There is no end to God!  He is limitless in who He is and what He is doing in us!  Even when He gave us the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures say in Ephesians 1:14,  it was the "earnest", or DOWN PAYMENT,  of what He was, and is, going to give us!  It was JUST THE BEGINNING of the Holy Spirit's work and movement in our lives, not the FINAL PAYMENT!!!

I guess my question to you and I is, have we built alters where there were supposed to be memorials?

So...............................what are you building?

  

Quit Trying And Just Be!!!

I ran across something I had written down on January 31 of this year. As I began to read it, I was amazed at the fact I had been thinking along this line again recently. So I decided to put my thoughts out here for others to read and see if it bears witness with any others. Here goes.

There should NEVER be a struggle to try to be a Christian, or a follower of Christ. See, the Scriptures say in 2 Corinthians 5:17, from the New American Standard translation, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." I have come to really enjoy The Message translation over the last 10-12 years, and it renders this verse this way, "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!"

I think many people who grew up in pentecostal/charismatic churches and beliefs, often have a tendency to think along the lines that when we got saved, or born again, that we became a better, improved version of ourselves. But really, that is just not true. It really is contrary to the scripture we just looked at. No, WE BECAME A NEW CREATION!!! WE HAVE A NEW NATURE, WE AREN'T THE SAME AS WE USED TO BE!!! I think here is where the struggle comes from. We like most of what we were before we gave our life to Christ, but we realized we needed a Savior. So we asked Him to come into our lives and save us so we wouldn't have to go to hell. We become this newer, improved version of what, or who, we think we are. And we are satisfied with this version. Mostly because we think we are now ok and we won't go to hell. But there is so much more to this ABUNDANT LIFE we have than just some of our vague thoughts we have about it! We must realize that it is by faith that we live in everything from God!

If you and I are struggling with our Christinity, trying to be a Christian, or a follower of Christ, it is because we don't really understand that we are a NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST! Not just a newer, improved version. A NEW CREATION BRINGS WITH IT A NEW NATURE. The struggle comes from trying to be something in our own strength that we have already been made to be by the exchange of our death for His life! We still think we have to DO something to become this NEW MAN. There is where we wrestle trying to become something God has already made us.

Look at the world around you and I. There are certain attributes to each creation of species in the world. NOTHING STRUGGLES TO BE WHAT IT IS! It's nature dictates it's actions and functions. A dog doesn't try to be a tiger. A cat doesn't try to be a chimpanzee. A bird doesn't try to be a fish. An ant doesn't try to be an elephant. The nature of each species in creation drives it to be what it is! Why would our NEW NATURE IN CHRIST be any different? We can live, function, act, and be, what this new nature, with it's own DNA inside, has created us to be! That is a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST!!! We don't have to work to try to be this NEW CREATION. We just ARE this NEW CREATION! You and I don't have to WORK to try to breathe, we just do. We don't have to try to feel, we just do. We don't have to try to see, we just open our eyes and do. Why? Because that is our nature as a human being. It is the same with our nature as the believer in Christ! WE CAN DO, BECAUSE WE ARE!!!

There should NEVER, NEVER be a struggle to be the NEW CREATION God has made us to be. Just live by the NEW NATURE that was deposited in you on that day you asked Him to come in. That deposit is called, "Christ in you, the Hope of Glory." (Col. 1:27)

I have a question for you. Do you have more confidence in what God's Word says about you, or in what you think about yourself? Remember, God isn't looking for the improved, revamped you. He is looking for the NEW CREATION He has made you and I to be!

Quit trying, and just be!