One Fruit

 

One apple yet clings to my apple tree,

including a wormhole, as you can see;

hang on, little apple, till maturity: 

one fruit can make a difference.

One fruit in a garden was all it took,

 a woman gave ear to a serpent's rook;

the couple lost life when they partook:

one fruit can make a difference.

One fruit on a fig tree was all that was needed

to ward off a curse, to block it, impede it;

yet leaves of self-service its vigor depleted:

one fruit can make a difference.  

One fruit in a life, reaching toward nine,

yield to the spirit, obey and align; 

despise not small starts; abide in the vine:

one fruit can make a difference.

The Tree of Life Through Scripture

 

When we think of the tree of life, our minds usually go to Genesis first. After Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (thereafter knowing evil as well as good), besides kicking them out of the garden, God had to put a guard around the tree of life. Genesis 3:24 AMP 2015 says cherubim were permanently stationed with a "flashing blade that turned round and round [in every direction] to protect and guard the way (entrance, access) to the tree of life." This was because, had Adam and Eve eaten of this tree after having sinned, they would have lived forever in their fallen state, and this would remain the human condition. There would be no possibility of redemption for us. 

When God acts, even if it feels spoilsport-ish to our flesh, He's acting for our good. He really is.

Every motive, intention, and reason of God's is purely good at every level. Had physical death not been our penalty, we'd live forever as we are now--sinful world, crumbling bodies. Just like the seed in the ground, and just like Jesus our Prime Example, we have to die to live. 

Notice there was no rule against eating from the tree of life before they sinned.  

We may think the tree of life exits the narrative after Act 1, if you will. But no--not only does it reappear in Revelation (which many will realize), but it's a recurring motif all through Scripture. The earthly tree of life became lost to us. But the concept, and some of the comforts of it, have not. 

Proverbs 3:18 says wisdom "is a tree of life to all who take hold of her."

Proverbs 11:30 says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.

Proverbs 31:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Proverbs 15:4 says, "A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life." 

How can we experience a tree of life now? By pursuing wisdom (which includes winning souls), by living according to the righteousness we have in Christ, by rejoicing in Godly longings fulfilled (answered prayer--and sometimes blessings we didn't ask for or know we needed!), and by speaking edification and encouragement to others. 

So, we have the temporal, earthly tree of life and the metaphorical tree of life. But the real, lasting, heavenly one (the one on which the Edenic tree was modeled, I'm guessing) is in the Paradise of God, says Revelation 2:7. And if we overcome the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God, we will get to eat from that tree. 

If humans could play the long game even 1/1000 as well as God does, there's no telling how our lives would change.

But now, let's see the tree! It appears again in Revelation 22 (notice how the Bible pretty much opens and closes with the tree). The tree grows on either side of the river flowing from the throne, and it bears twelve kinds of fruit, yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Whoa. I remembered from several readings of Revelation that the tree bears fruit every month. What was harder to keep hold of, for me, was the fact that it produces twelve kinds of fruit. Twelve kinds of fruit and a fresh crop every month. I am a fruit lover. I cannot wait.

And the tree grows beside the river that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb (Revelation 22:1). Jesus is the source of all this. 

Jesus is our Source. Our sin with a tree made Him die on a tree, and in the end, the tree of life springs forth from Who He is. If we wash our robes in His blood, believing and trusting in Him as the righteous who obey His commandments, we too will receive the right to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 22:14). 

A Few Favorite Aphorisms from the Bible

 

"The beginning of wisdom is: Get wisdom!" (Proverbs 4:7 AMP 2015, no brackets) 

This is my absolute favorite one-liner from the Amplified 2015. Its pointedness makes me laugh. 

"In the mouth of the fool is a rod for his back." (Proverbs 14:3 AMP 2015, no brackets)

The fool's words will, eventually, become his own punishment. 

"...A glad heart has a continual feast." (Proverbs 15:15 AMP 2015, no brackets)

You know--I read that verse this morning and felt an immediate spark of guilt for good fortune. It's not that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, because God isn't like that. But I feel, often, that I've not suffered nearly the number nor degree of misfortunes that seem heretofore normal for someone my age. And I'm filled with wonder and thanksgiving because of it. For this and other things, my heart is glad. And the verse tells me a continual feast is the condition of the glad heart. It's as if, in a way, the verse has granted me some sort of permission. No, a better word is freedom. And a promise. If my heart is glad (even if bad circumstances do come, my future with Christ is assured), I can expect a sense of continual feast as a consequence. And gifts from God come with no guilt attached. Verse 19 adds: "...the way of the upright is smooth and open like a highway." Christians are often cautioned to expect a hard road, and we do know suffering is involved in the Christian walk. But some of the time, part of the way, a smooth highway is also our lot, if we have made good choices as much as possible. 

Lord, help those believers who have received more than their share of trouble to live the life of the upright in Christ, and help them experience a smooth highway with You. Amen. 

Giving Jesus the Preeminence

 

Maybe this is just me, but there's a name I've been hearing a lot lately that I would like to see take a back seat for a while (despite the fact that I like the actual name quite a lot). 

PAUL. 

Paul, Paul, Paul. Paul said this, Paul wrote that. I mean no disrespect. Paul was a great man. After his Damascus road experience, the Lord showed Paul what he would have to suffer for His name's sake (Acts 9:16) and Paul accepted the call anyway. He was asked to count the cost and still said yes. Could I have done that? I'm not at all sure. 

But Paul also said, concerning "quarrels and factions" in Corinth, "Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul" (1 Corinthians 1:13b)? If the cloud of witnesses can look down on us ("I'll be looking down on you," my grandma always said), what would he think about the ubiquity of his name in the church? I wonder.

Maybe my thoughts started going this direction when, as part of last semester's class requirements, I had to prepare an oral presentation on Paul's reasons for writing 2 Thessalonians. Other students drew other topics, and the result was a lot of "Paul, Paul, Paul." Fair enough, perhaps; we were studying the New Testament and he wrote close to 60% of the non-gospel portion. (Of the whole, Paul wrote more books, but Luke wrote more words.) And thank God for the Scripture He gave us. But is our focus too often drawn from Jesus to Paul? I wonder. 

I feel the need for a palate-cleanse. I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, read about Jesus, meditate on Jesus, remember Jesus. In other words, just now I want to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified--which, of course, are words of Paul (1 Corinthians 2:2). 

Thank you, Lord, for anyone and everyone through the ages who has helped us lift up the name of Jesus. And may JESUS, Yeshua, Ἰησοῦν, be the only name we lift high. 

P.S. Since I drafted this post several days ago, God seems to be speaking more to me about Paul. It's possible that in the near future I'll be writing more about him rather than less. :) 

I Never Knew You

 

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Those of us who are born again often speak of "knowing the Lord." We state that we know the Lord, or, when asked to pray for someone, for example, may ask if the person knows the Lord. This is meant to identify and encourage a saving faith rather than mere knowledge about God, or religious practice such as church attendance or benevolence, which are different and sometimes separate things. Perhaps more bluntly, it's meant to distinguish as best we can (in the end, only God knows the heart) whether someone is in the family of God, because only the new birth in Christ makes us children of God (all are God's creatures, and all are loved by God, but all are not God's children). And there's plenty of scriptural support for speaking of knowing the Lord. "This is eternal life, that they know You," Jesus prayed in John 17. "We know we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments," John wrote in 1 John. "I want to know Christ, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings," Paul wrote in Philippians. These are only three examples.

Still, something struck me recently that is lingering in my mind and heart. Toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about entering the kingdom of heaven. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?' And then I will declare to them publicly, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly'" (Matthew 7:22-23 AMP 2015, emphasis mine).

He doesn't say, "You never knew Me." He says, "I never knew you."  

This is perhaps a lot like 1 Corinthians 13, which in Underground-Scribe paraphrase says, "None of your gifts and deeds, no matter how fancy, matter one bit without love." Similarly, nothing of what we do for the Lord, be it as momentous as prophesy, exorcism, or miracles, will count for eternity if He doesn't know us. Perhaps, since He is the Bridegroom and we are the bride, it's more significant for Him to know us, not unlike Adam knowing Eve. Plus, when people say they know the Lord, they may mean they know of Him, or know what they want Him to be and have knowingly or unknowingly made Him in their image. They may mean they try to "follow His teachings" and stop there; many who admire Jesus will not grapple with the cross. Considering all this, it seems much steadier and more secure to emphasize Him knowing us. A surer relationship. 

Maybe some or all of this is why Paul wrote as he did in 1 Corinthians 8:3--"But if anyone loves God [with awe-filled reverence, obedience, and gratitude], he is known by Him [as His very own and is greatly loved]." In Galatians 4:9, Paul seems almost to correct himself: "Now, however, since you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God..." 

To know God is absolutely desirable and necessary, as shown by the above and other scriptures. But to be known by God--there's a next-level power, humility, and rock-solidness in that. 

My prayer is to love God with awe-filled reverence, obedience, and gratitude, so that I am known by Him, so that I will never hear spoken to me some of the most chilling words in the entire Bible: "Depart from me; I never knew you."

Summer Musings

Beauty and humor have this in common: both contain an element of surprise.

One thing that makes great art great is vulnerability, an openness to fluid interpretation, even misinterpretation. This is why art with an agenda so often falls short.

Humility consists largely in overcoming the pride of life. 

Our society considers cynicism, skepticism, doubt, and criticism to be intelligent, wise, and discerning. It's why God requires faith. He wants the opposite of worldly wisdom for us. 

Losing our Lives to Save Them: Esther

Many years ago, I was listening to a radio program in which two conservative white American Christian women were discussing the book of Esther. They raised a question that both had apparently tiptoed around for a long time and had never heard discussed openly--so kudos to them for even going there, perhaps. It concerned Esther's night with the king and what might or might not have occurred. "Surely, she didn't..." one of them ventured. The other answered with an uncomfortable laugh. "I don't know. I guess I never wanted to think about it too closely."

Good grief. 

Let me save you some time.

Yes. Yes, she did. Of course she did. And quite conceivably, consent was irrelevant.  

This was a pagan king. When she went to see him and he was so pleased with her, do we think he limited himself to saying, "Gosh, Esther, you sure look nice"? To extrapolate to a broad point, we need to stop assuming the unsaved will or should behave like the saved are called to, in any way and at any point in history. The world is the world, and we need to stop tutting at them for not living by Christian conscience or practice. There's no reason they should, our scolding won't win them to Christ, and how dare we forget that used to be us--and still would be if not for grace? But not to digress too far.

Before Queen Esther even heard of Haman's plot against the Jews, before she was ever admonished by Mordecai not to ignore it, she had risked her entire life as a Jewish maiden against almost impossible odds. Imagine being rounded up with all the other virgins "in all the provinces of his [Xerxes's] kingdom" (Esther 2:3) and being taken to the palace to be given a tryout for the position of queen to a pagan king, a position any one individual had an infinitesimal chance of attaining. This, by our standards, is sex trafficking--and Mordecai either could not fight it or chose not to; he was an attendant in the king's court (2:11, AMP). We aren't sure what Esther knew or didn't know about the deposition of the former queen, who had been asked to appear before her drunken husband and his drunken guests for them to, at best, ogle her. Some believe Vashti was commanded to wear only her royal crown, but there's doubt and debate about whether she was ordered to attend nude. Nevertheless, what if the young women went into this whole audition knowing that, if they were chosen, the same might be demanded of them whenever the king had overindulged his appetites? What is surer, though, is Esther knew, after her night with the king, that all prospects of life as a normal Jewish woman were gone. She would be retired to the king's harem, guarded by eunuchs, where she either would never hear from the king again--or she would.

When life can't get any bleaker, we are still in the palm of God's hand if we're in His will.

Some readers try to romanticize the story of Esther. Though we never see the king treat her less than kindly, she couldn't ever go to her own husband unless he called her, and protested to Mordecai that he hadn't called her in a month. (And do we think her husband spent that month, and probably other months like it, celibate?) Calling their marriage a love affair comes across as a stretch meant to pretty things up for a prim and proper audience. No, Esther was there because He who turns the hearts of kings chose Esther as His instrument to turn the heart of this particular one. 

It wasn't about Esther; it was about God's people.

It wasn't about Jesus; it was about the will of the Father.

It's not about us; it's about losing our lives to save them.  

For Noble Purposes

Along with flowers, I love beautiful dishes and china, and silver is my metal of choice. As I began reading in 2 Timothy, thinking not at all about dishes of any sort, I was praying aloud as I read, about many things but mainly about my biblical studies degree. It's summer--a breather from school--a time to think, reflect, rest, and diligently check myself to be sure the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom (something urged by Proverbs, as we know) never surpasses relationship with Christ: seeking Him for Himself, obeying, following, learning the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

How humbling, I've been feeling, it will be to attain these degrees--to know I will be then prepared to become a student of the word. As I prayed along these lines, the example of the household articles of gold, silver, wood, and clay came to mind. Some for noble purposes and some for common use. As I read a little farther in 2 Timothy, those very verses came up! Have you had that happen? You're praying with your Bible open, a passage comes to mind, and there it is, partway down the page? God has no end of delightful ways of speaking to us. 

How can I become a vessel for noble use? I asked. While I would be happy to be a pretty clay bowl, 2 Timothy 2:21 suggests I should desire more. Here are the verses:

"In a large house, there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work" (2 Timothy 2:20-21 NIV).

If becoming a noble instrument is what makes me holy and useful to the Master, this is what I need. And cleanse myself from what, exactly? The evil desires of youth, foolish arguments, quarrels, resentments, godless chatter, anything dishonorable, disobedient, sinful--as the chapter details. 

Lord, through my study, make me a vessel for honor. Set me apart--as I willingly choose to be set apart--for Your special purpose, useful to the Master. Prepared. 

Prayer for July

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Father, thank You that we have a country like the USA to celebrate. Thank You that the Grand Experiment worked for 250 years and counting. Thank You that the first Europeans to land on the Eastern Seaboard really did seek freedom of Christian worship--knowledge that I fear is being lost or buried as time goes on. I know they did; I researched them in their own words, and wrote about them. Those first few boatloads lived and died not knowing they clung to the edge of a continent stretching almost 3000 miles to the west. If they can see from heaven, I'm sure the fact that their new, wild land became a vast, diverse, and unprecedentedly wealthy nation astounds them. 

Lord, when we think about the history of this country, its triumphs, tragedies, adventures, discoveries, and crimes against humanity, help us be sober-minded about the truth of humanity that it illustrates. We are, humans all, sinners in need of a savior. When we think about the miraculous outcome of the revolution that should never have gone our way, help us remember that with God all things are possible to those who believe. What You shut, no one can open; and what You open, no one can shut. Unless the Lord builds the house, he labors in vain who builds it, but when the Lord builds it--watch out. 

Lord, I pray that people will not confuse God and country on this significant anniversary. I am so grateful to have been born when and where I was, yet the life of relative ease that Americans enjoy lulls too many into thinking they can do life on their own. We need You, and if we have You, all these things will be added. Father, thank You for your grand plan for Earth that we only grasp pieces and parts of. Help us cooperate with it, both intentionally and unwittingly. May gratitude and its expression explode in this nation, drowning out moaning and complaint where it isn't warranted. Thank You that we are citizens of heaven, of your kingdom, first. And may many more Americans join your kingdom this year.

Let the celebration be more than a superabundance of beautiful fireworks, even as we marvel at them. Teach us what You want us to know. Speak to us what You want to say. Download new insights to minds and hearts. Help us understand what You want us to understand about possibly the greatest country to ever exist, and may nothing on this earth, however shiny and bright, deflect our eyes from You. Amen.