In the Bible, the Tree of Death is a symbol of the temptation of sin and death, while the Tree of Life represents eternal life.
The Tree of Death
In the Garden of Eden, God placed a tree of knowledge of good and evil, which promised death and sin if Adam and Eve ate from it. Satan convinced Eve that the fruit was beautiful and good, when in reality is was deadly poison.
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life was also a tree in the Garden of Eden that promised eternal life if Adam and Eve had remained obedient to God. This tree represents God’s blessing and providence, and what Adam and Eve’s life would if they remained obedient.
The Tree of Life reappears in several places in the Bible. Including the Tabernacle, the Temple in Jerusalem, and in the Revelation.
The final chapters of the Bible describe the Tree of Life as a physical life in the center of God’s restored creation. It produces fruit each month, has leaves that heal the nation and sits by a river that comes from the Throne of God.
When Jesus was crucified it was done on a dead tree. Jesus died on a tree of sin and death. (He died for our sins and death). And gave us a tree of life so we could have eternal life with Him.
If we choose the Tree of Life – promises, and blessings come from it. We can also choose the Tree of Death (deny God). The Tree of Death that promises sin and death.
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
Now that winter is here I change my outdoor activities to indoor ones. They may include a game a phase 10 with my friends, or just going to an afternoon movie at the theater. Or maybe a lunch or coffee with friends, an afternoon of shopping with my daughter. I also enjoy taking photos of nature.
There’s not much to do in the town I live in, everything is pretty low-key during the colder months.
As we go through life we accumulate countless experiences. Many of these experiences will create wonderful memories, which we will cherish, however some experiences can torment us for years. This is because we are never immune to pain.
Pain is inevitable in life
Most people avoid pain and the emotions that lead to suffering
Pain can be our greatest teacher if we can foster the wisdom to harness the lessons
Our ability to learn and grow even when it involves difficult and uncomfortable experiences can be a valuable asset that should be embraced. Lessons learned can lead to significant personal development, despite the initial pain and discomfort we have to endure.
Pain is a teacher that challenges our situations and setbacks but can serve as valuable learning opportunities, pushing us to grow and adapt.
We when can accept painful learning experiences we demonstrate resilience and the capacity to overcome obstacles. The old saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” comes to mind.
While the initial process of learning might be difficult, the knowledge and skills we gain can provide significant benefits in the long run.
Modern society prioritizes rapid outcomes over effort. The hunger to over perform is indirectly proportional to the pain we are willing to stand. The “no pain, no gain motto seems no longer a thing.
We have come to believe that easy and fast equals better. And the best teachers are those who make learning unchallenging.
Aristotle said “Learning is not child’s play.”
Easy learning is deceiving. Its effects are an illusion, and are anything but long lasting. We have it backwards. When learning is easy, we become over-confident.
Spoon feeding, in the long run, teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon” -E.M. Forster
It’s true that people often give up on their goals because they are stressful. There is a benefit from learning to do something well.
The biggest challenges I face has been following Jesus. Going against the grain of society. In a world that values materialism, and instant gratification. Some people have misconceptions about what it is to follow Jesus. Such as its association with judgement, or fundamentalism. While society is in pursuit of material wealth, and instant gratification, Jesus emphasis on humility, and love.
God’s plan is always best. Sometimes the process is painful and hard. But don’t forget that when God is silent, He’s doing something for you.
Being offended means being upset over minor things, but simultaneously feeling no shame or remorse for one’s own actions which often implies a sense of defiance or disregard for someone’s sensitives.
This person might take offense at the slightest perceived criticism or disagreement, feeling hurt or disrespected.
It’s a willingness to acknowledge any wrongdoing or take responsibility for one’s on behavior.
Ephesians 4:31 tells us to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
When people are offended, they tend to talk negatively about anyone who hurts us. Instead of trying to resolve any issue peacefully.
Not many things makes me feel nostalgic for my childhood. I don’t really yearn for the past. Most of what people think of as nostalgic brings back bad memories. The simple things in life were valued, cheaper houses, food, and good morals and values I yearn for. The thing that brings back good memories is the music.
Our Salvation rests on three things: God, sin, and death. This is the hardest thing to teach because today in our world generally, these three things have lost their meaning. For millions of people, God is no more than a name with which to personify their a feeling of beauty and goodness, for a reservoir of goodwill. God is a dream, an ideal, almost devoid of existence. God has become dependent on man and the only inference to be drawn is that if there were no men there would be no God. And if there is no God, there can be no sin, and the word “sin” has almost vanished from use.
All that remains of the idea is a social maladjustment or the vestiges of a earlier stage of evolution. Where God and sin have been banished from minds, and death is no longer with a evil, but an event to be accepted as the natural end of life. W
hat happens after death and to the soul, there are no qualms. Many people give no conscious thought to the problems of death or future life.
John speaks of sin in 1 John 3:4, saying sin is lawlessness. This definition is profound because it is much more than the transgression of law, it is the act of passing over a mark set by law. It’s a tendency towards transgression and the motive that impending it, as well as the deed itself. Lawlessness identifies the sin as the characteristic in men which abandons restraint or control from a source outside themselves. It is that which man sets up himself as the standard by he measures his own life. A demand for self-rule, and becomes their standard of truth to whatever the person wants it to be. An invention if you will of a doctrine of immortality of their soul. Which in the long run invades their relationship with others, and brings abandonment of truth and faithfulness with God.
Through lawlessness people become their own measure of good, the good the desires that satisfies their own ego, and may be the cruelest evil for other people.
Paul says in Hebrews 11:6 “God is the rewarder of those who seek Him.” It is the very ground of hope in reward the fulfillment of promises. This faith is the ground on which righteousness is reckoned to men by God. And since is the exact opposite, since is denial, not formally, but in practice that God is true, or that He exists. Only a fool says “There is no God Corrupt are they, and have done abominable works. There is none who do good” (Psalm 14:1). Corruption is the direct result of the inward denial that there is a God.
People that deliberately go their own way against the will of God is eitherto make Him a liar or to treat Him as non existent. With God people would draw no breath.
It is the absolute being of God which makes the sentence of death for disobedience not only just but inevitable. If God is God, then the wages of sin could not be other than death. The one thing that God cannot do I’d to deny Himself, to deny His own being and truth, and for God to allow who He has made to claim moral self-rule would be to tolerate a challenge to Hid supremacy. That would be nothing less than the abdication of the Devine Dynasty from the rule of His own universe, leaving it in chaos – a hypothesis which is literally unthinkable. It can be stated only to be rejected, because it disrupts reason itself and no sane mind could contemplate it.
Positive relationships involve honesty, trust, respect and open communication between people and they take effort and compromise from both people. There is no imbalance of power.
Partners respect each other’s independence, and each can make their own decisions without fear of retribution or retaliation, and share in decision-making.
The characteristics of healthy relationships include
Respect for privacy and space.
Your partner encourages you to spend time with friends and family without them and to participate in activities that you enjoy.
You feel comfortable expressing your opinions and concerns with each other,
You feel physically safe and they don’t force anything on you or do things that make you comfortable
Your partner respects your wishes and feelings and you can compromise and negotiate when there are disagreements or conflicts.
Every relationship must have boundaries, communication, trust, and consent.
The difference between a “good mistake” and a “bad mistake” is how you respond to them. It helps to consider what might be fixable and what we cannot change.
There are strategies that can help us learn from our mistakes including mindful awareness, self -compassion, and self-exploration which leads to greater balance in our lives.
Whether we take the wrong path, or say the wrong words, it’s sometimes difficult to get the old stories out of our heads that lead us astray. We wish we could have a do over.
Of course, many situations do not allow a do over. As human beings, we can learn to live with the “what ifs,” wondering how things might have been different if we had made another choice. There’s always going to be fill-in-the-blank moments of “I wish I hadn’t——-”
Self-inquiry can offer to explore how we experience this “what if” discomfort and how we might enable our past missteps to illuminate our lives in ways that light our days forward, rather than staying stuck in the dark hallway of the “what ifs.”
Good mistakes teach us valuable lessons and bad mistakes as the ones we hide from in shame and regret. The bad ones are the ones we can repent of and ask God to forgive us and move on from. They both inspire greater awareness, learning, and inner liberation -a way forward that shifts change in our lives.
I think as long as we strive to be a better version of ourselves and live authentically, stay true to our values, and do what brings a sense of purpose, happiness, and meaning to our lives we are on the right track.
Ephesians 4: 22-24 tells us,
“Put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lists of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.”
With this verse we can be encouraged to shed our old ways and strive to live a life that reflects God’s character, essentially becoming a better version of ourselves through spiritual growth and transformation.
What does it mean to think like Jesus? 1 Corinthians 2:16 tells us after we accept Jesus into our lives we have the mind of Jesus.
You may be thinking that sounds great , but if I have the mind of Christ Jesus why am I still battling negative, fearful, or sinful thoughts.
After all Jesus’s brain was calm, mines chaotic. Jesus was responsive, not reactive. He focused on others and we often focus on ourselves. Jesus was purposeful mine tends to be on the procrastination side.
We have to understand Jesus was always obedient.
“I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me had commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life, so I say whatever the Father tells me to say” – John 12:49-50
Jesus was humble, so we try and be humble. Jesus was gentle so we try to be gentle. We make the mistake of trying to copy His behaviors. But if we really want to be like Jesus, we must first learn to think like Jesus.
It’s important to remember that everything begins in the mind. I’ve not only about trying to be like Jesus, but thinking like Him also.
Nowhere in the Bible does God say He will take over our out-of-control thoughts, but He did give us specific instructions on how we can.
We have been given the “mind of Christ,” but it is the Holy Spirit who saturates it with Godly wisdom. If Jesus didn’t do it alone, what makes us think we can? Jesus tells us in John 5:19,
“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does.”
Just like Jesus, we need a partner. Jesus assures us that He is sending us a partner-helper. Our guide is the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit who will lead and guide out thoughts if we let Him. We must partner with Him in order to retrain our brains to think like Jesus.
Most people have years’ worth of gunk and junk polluting our minds. From vile images to negative thought patterns. Simply telling ourselves to stop thinking a certain way doesn’t work. If it did then all we would have to do is tell ourselves to stop eating sugar and the diet industry wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar industry.
The truth is we cannot do anything on our own. We need our partner. The one who has the power to renew our minds. The Holy Spirit needs to be our partner on this journey called life to help us reach of destiny.
Our minds are ours to think however we wish. And we have the power and authority to set it in whatever direction we want.
The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:8, how to accomplish this.
“…Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
We can get bombarded with thoughts with such ferocity that our minds feel invaded. It’s just one way Satan gets us to think that we have to pick up what is being put down.
We have the power to set our minds to think how we want. Society likes to tell us what and how to think. If we want to think like Jesus we need to think of the things above.
I love how Jesus told his parents after He was “lost” in Luke 2:43-51 He told His parents “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
If you’re like most people when you wash a dirty bowl full of junk. You allow the water to first run through it until the junk runs over and out. That’s what God’s Word does for us. We’re filled with junk from this world, old experiences, toxic thoughts, anger, bitterness, and lust but God’s Word cleans us up.
Ephesians 5:26 reminds us that we are “washed in the word.” I don’t know about you but my old self needed to be cleansed. Not with a little dab of water, or a sprinkle with a hose, I need to be continually washed and fully immersed in His Word until every ounce of the old stuff runs over and out.
Jesus came to this earth to give of knowledge of God’s Word. He knew His walk on earth had to be to teach us to fill our minds with His Father’s Words. He knew we couldn’t do it on our own.
We can’t always trust the thoughts our minds think that’s why 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us,
“Throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
You wouldn’t just open the door and allow whatever whoever to walk into your house and do whatever they want in your home. Why would you allow it in your mind? Instead, we need to be diligent with challenging thoughts as we are who let in our home. Find out what the intention of the thought is. Is it there to give you life or destroy you?
Was it sent by God or Satan?
It’s your mind, don’t let any thought be given free rein.
We must be able to test and approve what God’s will is -his good pleasing and perfect will. The Bible tells us,
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” -Romans 12:2
Never did we see Jesus tolerating, giving in, sugar-coating, or “fitting in.” His mind was set apart from this world. He lived in it but He was not of it. And neither should we. If we resist the ways of the world and fix our minds on how God calls us to live then we will be transformed into His image.
If you started a sports team, what would the colors and mascot be?
If I began a sports team, I would be a girls baseball little league team I would call it “Bats and Boujee” their colors would be dark purple and blue. Their mascot would be a fox.
Baseball is a way to teach ideals of sportsmanship, fair play and teamwork.
From Pity to Praise 