In the garden of Eden, there were two trees. One was permitted and beneficial; one was off limits to Adam and Eve. The One tree gave truth; the other gave knowledge. The One gave freedom; the other gave religion.
Anyways, this post is about the Tree of Life!
"After I was baptized with the Holy Ghost the Lord gave me a blessed revelation. I saw Adam and Eve turned out of the garden for their disobedience and unable to partake of the tree of life, for the cherubim with flaming sword kept them away from this tree. When I was baptized I saw that I had begun to eat of this tree of life and I saw that the flaming sword was all round about. It was there to keep the devil away." ~Smith Wigglesworth
Isn't that wonderful? Jesus is the tree of life. And He's on the inside know. We've left the covering of the Law (Gal. 3:25) and entered into the covering of the Almighty, the Garden of Eden. In a sense, the believer embodies the garden of Eden; and Yahshua walks amongst us within.
Wigglesworth also said that he was a thousand times bigger on the outside than on the inside. It took me a while to get a grasp on that. But God wants us to be on the inside, looking out. Yahweh wants us to understand just how overflowing the fullness of God can get (Ephesians 3:19).
So, what was Wigglesworth referring to when he said that? The Tree of Life, that's what -- the expansion of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:32), the vibration of life within. This is the tree that Yahweh prunes (John 15:1), the Tree in which we are commanded to abide (John 15:4).
See, the word starts in your spirit, planted as just a seed (John 15:4). The Holy Spirit may scatter more than a few seeds into your heart before you accept it, and that's OK ()! Eventually, though, hearing is mixed with faith, and you've got a little tree (Romans 10:17)!
And God takes that tree and cares for it. He protects you from spiritual warfare (Psalms 105:15). He shelters you and allows you to grow. And the more you grow, the more exposure there can be to the elements. Some of your spiritual 'branches' may fall outside the protection of those angels with flaming swords.
It's about when the operation of the Spirit works in you and through you that you've reached maturity. If nourished, those little branches will grow up, out, and provide a resting place for others! If left to the Father's care, He'll cause such growth in you that your influence far exceeds yourself.
Allow God to prune you. Allow Him to prune off the bad parts; allow Him to burn them away. Allow the cherubim to guard you (Gen. 3:24). If you go past His instruction, the same fire that's designed to protect you might just singe a little. Allow Yahweh to be your purifying fire (Hebrews 12:29).
It feels good to feel that burn. Allow Him to sift through your life and make you more and more fruitful (John 15:2). There's always room for improvement! There's always room to grow. God wants to give you greater territory, greater gifts, greater responsibilities. Are you ready for it?
Showing posts with label Sifting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sifting. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Monday, March 16, 2015
Snapshot: To Separate The Wheat from The Chaff
Yesterday the Lord gave a vision of a wheat plant. And I saw the branches--the leaves that produce the fruit--of the plant. Some of these leaves were doing just fine, and being left alone, while others were being sifted through a little combing machine. This sifting machine just took the chaff right out of the wheat. About a third of the entire plant was being sifted and sorted so that only the wheat remained.
I realized that God was showing me the work He is doing in my own life. Sifting out the unfruitful parts, so that the parts bearing fruit--bearing wheat--have room to grow and become even more productive.
"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12
Let's look at the context here. For believers, for those already saved, this is what the baptism in the Holy Spirit and His fire does to us! This is a work of God, not in judgement, but in refining. God takes away the hindrances and sifts out the impurities. He cleanses us initially, and that process never stops.
"You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." John 15:3
We are clean because He's spoken and told us so. Praise God! It's a real revelation to know the righteousness He's given us. And then what?
"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:2
We have been clean since salvation. But have we been perfectly clean? Not yet, not unless God makes us that way. We may still have personal issues that need sorting out. We probably do! If we have issues, then we have need of a sifting. (Luke 22:31) So God takes these things and combs them off, cuts them off, burns them up. He burns them away in His purifying fire. We don't need to have issues any more! We can be made perfectly whole.
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness..."
Malachi 3:3
This is what God does to all who accept His gift of grace. He purifies us so we can give purity to Him. It's time to accept holiness. It's time to accept purity. It's time to accept that biblically, we are all saints. It's time to walk worthy of the calling with which we've been called.
"...so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..." Colossians 1:10
I realized that God was showing me the work He is doing in my own life. Sifting out the unfruitful parts, so that the parts bearing fruit--bearing wheat--have room to grow and become even more productive.
"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12
Let's look at the context here. For believers, for those already saved, this is what the baptism in the Holy Spirit and His fire does to us! This is a work of God, not in judgement, but in refining. God takes away the hindrances and sifts out the impurities. He cleanses us initially, and that process never stops.
"You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." John 15:3
We are clean because He's spoken and told us so. Praise God! It's a real revelation to know the righteousness He's given us. And then what?
"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:2
We have been clean since salvation. But have we been perfectly clean? Not yet, not unless God makes us that way. We may still have personal issues that need sorting out. We probably do! If we have issues, then we have need of a sifting. (Luke 22:31) So God takes these things and combs them off, cuts them off, burns them up. He burns them away in His purifying fire. We don't need to have issues any more! We can be made perfectly whole.
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness..."
Malachi 3:3
This is what God does to all who accept His gift of grace. He purifies us so we can give purity to Him. It's time to accept holiness. It's time to accept purity. It's time to accept that biblically, we are all saints. It's time to walk worthy of the calling with which we've been called.
"...so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..." Colossians 1:10
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