The Tree of Life And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9). There is no doubt that the story related in the book of Genesis literally happened. There really was an Adam and an Eve, a Tree of Life in the garden, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But this is not the point. What we need to do is get to the signification of those trees, and understand what they represent for us today. God told Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, with the words, For on the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. But there was no such prohibition concerning the Tree of Life. If Adam had eaten from that tree, he would have lived forever and never died. Instead he and his wife ended up eating from the forbidden tree, because they listened to satans voice which tempted them to doubt the goodness of God. This is satans tactic today with us. We neglect the LIFE God gives and end up trying to attain it by going on a path forbidden by God. How good it would have been had Adam instead chose to eat from the Tree of Life! God had said, Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat... Adam could have eaten from the Tree of Life! In doing so, he would have known God in an even greater way, and would never have died in any way! If he had eaten of the Tree of Life, he would never have been interested in the forbidden tree. But having NEGLECTED the tree of life, it was really only a matter of time before he would fall to the temptation of eating the forbidden fruit. A lot of times we get into trouble because we focus on the forbidden thing. We fight with temptation, and lose, because we focus on the temptation. God wants us to get our eyes off the temptation, and even off the moral rules of what would be right and wrong, so we can get our eyes onto what He want us to focus on. We inevitably move towards our most dominant thought. What does the Tree of Life represent? I believe it represents Jesus, the source of Life! Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the LIFE, no one comes to the Father but by Me! (John 14:6). The gift of Jesus that is available to us represents far more than the forgiveness of sins. It represents the very life of God by which we can truly live abundantly! The whole secret then, is to focus on Jesus and not to be distracted by lesser concerns, even the concern of is this good or is this evil?. If we learn to focus on Jesus, we will tap into the unlimited source of life, wisdom, joy and power that we need to be He will be our conqueror in this life. When we truly eat enough of that tree, of Jesus, we will live forever. Sin in some form will always look attractive to us unless we get a new focus. I find Jesus, amazingly wonderful. He is looking for our worship, our fellowship, our attention. Along with the Father, He is the center of attention in heaven. In heaven there is nothing better than to be wrapped up in the Father and His Son Jesus! The angels worship Him and His Father day and night, and stand in continual amazement. The only reason we dont feel like that here sometimes is because of our spiritual(truth) blindness. But however blind we may be, if in our hearts we begin to turn to the Lord, in accepting all the truth, something will happen, and we will begin to change. We will come to know Him if we seek Him with all our heart. Good change doesnt happen when we focus on ourselves. This might be a surprise to some readers. But it is true. satan loves to get us to look to ourselves. A sure mark of a satanic religion is one that tells you to look inside yourself for the answer. There are many variations on this theme. One is the eastern meditation type thing, where you are told to get in touch with your own godhood. There is another variation, far more subtle, and far more likely to appeal to Christians. That is, to measure yourself up against certain moral or spiritual principles, and consider how well or badly you are doing, and resolving to improve. Multitudes of sincere people are doing this, and fail to realise that in this way they will never become what God wants them to be. Looking at self is a fruit of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Just knowing good and evil doesnt give you the power to do what is right, However When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, they began to be self-conscious. They started looking at themselves. They knew they were naked. Until then, they werent even aware of that. In fact, they were clothed with a kind of spiritual glory before they fell, and they lived in the presence of Almighty God without shame. After eating of the forbidden Tree, they lost that glory and began to be selfish and desire to escape from the presence of God. The problem with looking at yourself and your problems is that you inevitably end up focusing on the evil within you. It is a law of the mind that whatever you primarily focus on ends up dominating your life. Its very important that God is Lord over the imaginations of our heart. satan is doing all he can to oppose this, using such means as television, video games, unclean music, false religion--https://facebook/groups/SONJAM1830AC/permalink/629284667125816, personal ambition, lying philosophies ... the list goes on and on. When Jesus doesnt have a major part of your imagination/thought, something else does, and it works to make you fall short of the glory of God. No one ever became holy/better or strong simply by seeing their weaknesses and resolving to change in their own power. No, the answer is still to go back to the Tree of Life, to Jesus. Adam and Eve lost this opportunity, but we regained it because Jesus Himself paid for all our sins at the cross, making for us the way to return to the only true God. If you look at yourself, judging yourself by your knowledge of good and evil, you will either end up congratulating yourself for your good performance (self-righteousness) or becoming depressed because of the guilt of failing to live up to those standards. Neither of these results is what God wants. God made us for Him, and He is not satisfied when we prefer to ignore Him and become wrapped up in our own righteousness or lack thereof. He wants us to enjoy Him, to trust Him, and that only happens when we dare to take our eyes off ourself, trust the power of Jesus cross, and begin to get our eyes on Him. How To Get Your Eyes on Jesus Attitude is very important here. God requires an attitude of faith. True faith comes through the recognition of Jesus as the Son of God. This knowledge of Jesus can come to us through Gods Word, through times of worship, through the direct action of the Holy Spirit of God enlightening us, through the study of the Bible. In each case we have to see beyong the means God uses to reveal Christ to us. We must not give our hearts to the methods and forget who it is about. If we focus on methods, even methods of Bible study, praise and worship, we once again fall, and end up turning to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, rather than to the Tree of Life. Make Jesus your passion, and you will change. Dont be distracted by anything. Dont even allow yourself to focus on the world. Trust in God that in everything, there is a way in Jesus. Then your faith will grow strong, and more than that, you will be filled with the fulness of God. This is the true fountain of satisfaction for the soul of man. Accept no substitutes. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,.. (Romans 8:32), For God so loved the world,.. (John 3:16,17,18 ), Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? (Mark 5:7), The key lies with our understanding of the relationship between the Father and His only Begotten Son. “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5,10, 4:9,14, ). There is something about us understanding the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that enables us to overcome the world. Certainly, Satan would try to distort this understanding. Galatians 4:4, Mathew 3:17, Hebrews 1:1-14, Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. (Acts 3:26) Something for the Young at Heart We would like to give you an interesting and easy way to study the Bible based on the book, Bible Handbook, by Stephen Haskell., so a crossword puzzle for you. In order to maintain the flow of the study, this crossword puzzle is not split into Across and Down sections—Across or Down is indicated at the end of each line. (The KJV is required.) Things Angels Know ›.“He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy ____...” Acts 10:3, 4—1 Down ›.“...and thine ____ are come up for a memorial before God.” Acts 10:4— 5_Down ›.“And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose ____ is Peter:...” Acts 10:5— 9_Across ›.“He ____ with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.” Acts 10:6—10 Across Note: Angels can know what and when we pray, when we give alms (donations), our names, and where we live. ›.“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt ____, and bear a son.” Judges 13:3—2 Down ›.“Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any ____ thing:” Judges 13:4—8 Down ›.“For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a ____ unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” Judges 13:5—4 Across Note: Angels can know future events that God reveals to them and give instruction on raising children. ›.Elijah slept under a tree, “then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a ____ baken on the coals,…” 1 Kings 19:5, 6—2 Across ›.The angel came again and said, “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the ____ of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.” 1 Kings 19:7, 8—15 Across Note: Angels are good cooks. ›.King Ahaziah fell then “he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the ____ of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.” 2 Kings 1:2—11 Down ›.“But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in ____, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?” 2_Kings 1:3—13 Across ›.“And the Lord sent an angel, which ___ ___ all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land.” 2_Chronicles 32:21 (2 words)—3 Down ›.The angel of the Lord “said, ____, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?” Genesis 16:8—14 Across Note: Angels know when a person calls upon a false god, and they know a person’s name, rank, and position. ›.“Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the ____, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?” Ecclesiastes 5:6— 6_Down ›.“Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a ____ of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” Ecclesiastes 10:20— 7_Down ›.Solomon prayed to God saying, “thou only, knowest the ____ of all the children of men.” 1 Kings 8:39—12 Down Note: Angels can hear us when we talk and can even know our thoughts when the Lord reveals them, and they can record what we say and think. Only God can read our thoughts, but He can reveal those thoughts to others when He chooses. Answers see comment for that [Editor: This crossword puzzle was printed in March 2013 issue of The present truth newsletters. presenttruth.info. ]
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 08:05:33 +0000
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