Blog, Body, Soul, Spirit, Emotional Well-being, Overcoming with Scripture
Tree of Life
Feb
When I was in the 7th grade, I got to live on a farm, in a small town in Indiana, for two years. To say this experience was life-changing is an understatement. I learned so many things during this time. One of my favorite lessons was about planting, cultivating, and harvesting fruit from apple trees.
The farm had a huge apple orchard. In the fall, we would harvest the apples. This fruit has so many uses. We chose the best apples to simply eat whole, the bruised apples would go into the apple press to become excellent apple cider, and the broken ones would go into the chopper to become the best applesauce or, my all-time favorite, apple butter. The fruit we harvested each year on that unique farm was the product of time, cultivation, patience, light, and love.
We saved many of the seeds because in early spring they would be planted so more trees could one day grow. Did you know that it takes a dwarf apple tree 2-3 years to produce fruit after it is planted? A standard size apple tree that grows big and tall and produces a lot more fruit takes around eight years before it produces fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 TPT
“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is:divine love in all its varied expressions:joy that overflows,peace that subdues,patience that endures,kindness in action,a life full of virtue,faith that prevails,gentleness of heart,and strength of spirit.Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.”
The Holy Spirit that lives in me, is not only a fantastic gift that empowers me in life but there are also fruits produced that benefit me and others. I love how the end of Galatians 5:23 says, “Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.”
You can’t out use joy, patience, kindness. You can’t wear out virtue, faith has no limits!
Man, that truth fills my sails with wind! It takes away the limits that I may or may not have put on myself. This reality reminds me of the illustration of the fleas placed in a jar. Hundreds of fleas were put in a 3-inch tall jar with a lid on it. After only three days, the lid was removed, and the fleas, who have the potential to jump 8 feet, would only jump the 3 inches…the limited distance from the bottom of the jar to the lid. The lid set a limit on them that they will always live by. Did you know even their prodigy would only jump 3 inches as well? Even though there is no lid on the jar when they were born? Even though their potential is multiple feet above the limit that was set, they stayed limited by the “lie” that they are stuck in the jar.
We are not fleas, and we are not limited to any lie. But, many times, we do live under the limit of lies that others have spoken over us, or we have spoken over ourselves, or even just seen in others’ lives, so we decided we should live like them.
We were created to thrive in limitless fruits that grow from the cultivating of that limitless Spirit within each of us!
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God (2 Corinthians 3:5).
Our source of supply: mental supply, emotional supply, physical supply, and spiritual supply is from The one and only Limitless Creator. If I believe I’m supposed to live in lack in any category of life, I don’t believe this verse. He is limitless. He is my source! Lack is not an option for Him, and He already moved for me, so all I have to do is take what He supplied.
Remember I said that it takes large apple trees up to 8 years to start producing fruit? Well, that is because the tree needs that time to feed its roots nitrates from the ground. Its leaves need to absorb the vitamins from the sun. The water gives it food and moisture. Even though you don’t see the fruit in the beginning, the fruit is getting prepared. Once that tree starts producing fruit, it will overflow with almost limitless apples for close to 50 years. What started out as a small seed the size of your fingertip has the potential to grow into a 25-foot, 50-year producing, life-giving apple tree!
There may be times in life when we feel like all we are doing is struggling. But these are the moments when we get quiet, spend time working on the inside, step away from the noise of the world, and allow ourselves to absorb the vitamins, nitrates, and goodness that time with God, our limitless supplier, time in peace, and time in simplicity can give. In these moments is where the seeds start to grow, and our tree gathers nutrients as we bask in the “Son.” There’s a divine energy working in you; it doesn’t burn out, and nor does it require replenishing. Refuse, therefore to be limited by your physical ability. This is why we don’t even need to consider condemnation. We can evaluate, reevaluate, correct, and adjust our thinking, then when that is done, cultivate peace, so that is what grows – not regret or hate.
Have you ever heard, “Thoughts are the seeds of your tree of life?” Well, I actually made that statement, so maybe you haven’t heard it hahaha, but the point is, when we are cultivating what we are thinking about, we are cultivating our tree of life.
I want to show you a few things my big brother, JC, said about trees and fruit:
Matthew 7:17. “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 7:18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Each time the word bad is used in these verses, it is the greek word “safros”. This word means putrid, rotten, and foul. It is the same greek word used in Ephesians 4:32 “Let no corrupt (safros) communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
When I compared this verse with several other translations, the common thing I saw was we get to choose to not allow rotten, foul, or putrid words to come out of our mouths. We know that scripture teaches, ‘Out of the heart the mouth speaks.” Taking all these points, I came up with a formula that works for me:
Thoughts cultivated become seeds.
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Seeds fed become trees.
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Trees nurtured, develop fruit.
You and I were formed, made, and created by our creator to be a good tree!
Honestly, there are times that we think and say foul things. Maybe we say them to ourselves, to each other, or even about each other. But, in my opinion, when these moments in life happen, I believe, we forget something…we forgot for a second who we are/who we want to be/who created us, and who loves us. The beauty of this free-will life is that we also get to choose to reset our thoughts, control our words and then speak life.
Wednesday was a tough day in this ole’ household. In conversation, J and I snapped at each other, and then it just spiraled for a while. Now it doesn’t matter who, what, when, where, or even why we did this; the fact is, we did. For a while there, I could feel that “foul,” “putrid,” “corrupt communication” just lingering in the car we were traveling in. Now in the past, this would have driven me nuts. I would have gone into a state of fear thinking of all of the “What if’s, how do I fix it’s, why why why’s.”
I would have kept pushing him to talk to me because fear would have said, “You have to handle this right now or else!.”
Thankfully, I have been growing my mind with my limitless Spirit by learning ways to lead all my thoughts captive and transforming myself through the renewing of my mind. Here is where my really awesome formula came into play. I personally began thinking about what I was thinking about (there’s a word for that – METACOGNITION).
I only allowed four words to begin any thought. The four words were, “I am thankful for…” All thoughts had to begin with those words. For almost an hour, I chose to cultivate gratitude and gratitude only. When the silence in the car finally broke, mainly because I really had to pee, and this was, like I said, a road trip, there was not one foul thought, rotten attitude, or ill will in me, NOT ONE! I was joy-filled to see instant fruit produced from this, but I also know that as I cultivated an attitude of gratitude in all of life, I am going to see some major fruit in my life. It’s already in the growth process!
The other side of this is that J, who has come from a place of dramatic relationships to a place of learning to live through faith and peace, was having to work through his own thoughts. In his past, a situation like this would have been an escalated cluster of chaos with no peace in sight. Had I continued down my old way of fear-based resolutions, it would have triggered even more struggle in him. I am grateful for patience – fruit. I am grateful for kindness-fruit, and I am grateful for gentleness. These fruits helped me keep it together while I sorted through my thoughts, and he sorted through his. Ultimately, we were propelled to new heights individually and collectively, and Wednesday ended very differently than it began!
The joy that overflows, the peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of Spirit…this is available!
You love God
I love God
We want to thrive in this life, so expect to see this in your life!
