Week 11 - THE TREE of LIFE

WEEK 11

“THE BEAUTY & FALL of Ms. EVIE”

PART TWO… ‘WHAT’S IN PARADISE?’ 

Continuing CHAPTER SEVEN:  “TWO TREES EDEN”

“THE TREE OF LIFE”

Genesis 2:16-17  …“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…”

 LOL>>>From the Funny Side of My Comic Brain:                                                

I truly don’t understand why God’s first commandment had to do with eating!!! Do you?? This was the ‘first diet’ recorded in history, and it was… “Don’t Eat of this certain food!!”

“DO NOT EAT!!!” One commandment, not ten, but one and it had to do with eating…one of my favorite things to do!! 

Now, if God had said something in reference to… “Don’t eat anything that is more than 200 calories at a time…” Eve may have obeyed!  Just saying…!  We could have been enjoying the Garden with her at this moment. Just a thought. LOL  

However, it would be EXTREMELY crowded in the Garden by now. Why? We’ll find out in the coming PART THREE – “THE FALL”!!

OK, WE’LL GET DOWN TO BEING SERIOUS NOW:

   For the past three weeks we have talked about what God shared with Adam and Eve in the Garden, and that was…

ü  FELLOWSHIP  (Part Two… “What’s In Paradise - CHAPTER SIX)

ü  RESIDENCE IN ITS HIGHEST PERFECTION in the Garden (Point Two)

ü INTIMACY LIKE NON OTHER  (Point Three)
 

  Then we learned about…

ü OUR TREE AND BREAD OF LIFE  (CHAPTER SEVEN - Point Two)

ü LIFE AFTER DEATH  (Point Three)

ü OUR GREATEST GIFT IS OUR SALVATION  (Point Four)
 

  From there we looked at…

ü FROM THE TREE OF LIFE – TO THE TREE OF LIFE  (CHAPTER SEVEN - Point Five)

ü BACK TO THE GARDEN  (Point Six)

Where we then took a…

ü GARDEN WALK  (Point Seven)

POINT EIGHT…. “THE COMMAND OF RESPONSIBILITY”

Genesis 2:17… God commanded man…”You must not eat from…”

NOTEWORTHY:  God gave Adam and Eve “responsibility” by telling them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Rather than physically preventing them from partaking of this one tree, God gave them a responsibility to obey His command or they would surely die.  Here again we see the word “responsibility!”

   {Was that command really a command or was God giving Adam and Eve freedom to make a choice?? We’ll find out that answer in our next chapter!}

   How do we see that command from God as a responsibility?  When God gives us a command in His Word, we as His children are obligated to follow His command. We have a responsibility as His child to do what He asked of us. Do we always obey?  NO!

Why?  Sometimes we walk away from our responsibility because it…

·       doesn’t fit into our lifestyle

·       will cause change in our lives, and we aren’t too fond of change

·       would ask too much of us, and our lives are too busy with other things

·       is a belief, in our belief system, that it’s impossible for us achieve what He commands

·       has never been a priority to learn what God has written in His Word

·       is the bottom line… just NOT what WE WANT TO DO!

·       Can you name other reasons why we walk away from our responsibilities? I’d like to hear them, because I’ve most likely have used them myself at some point and time in my life!!!

   Do any of the above fit why you may have walked away from your responsibility to obey God? I see myself in almost all of them at certain times in my life. Ouch! An Eye-Opener!

So, what was the only limitation God placed on Adam and Eve? ____

You’re right…. “…must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…” Hold on to that thought!

POINT NINE…. “KNOWING the KNOWLEDGE”

   Remember, Adam and Eve had a sweet fellowship with God like non-other since that time. They did not know anything but doing right, all they did was pleasing to God and sin was not an issue as of yet.

Max Lucado puts words to it as in this… “He (God) created a paradise to where He placed Man. A sinless sanctuary. A haven before fear. No time. No death. No hurt. No sin!”

Do you rightly understand that eating the fruit of this tree would reveal knowledge of good and evil? Not only having the understanding things of ‘good’ (which Adam and Eve knew already) but also that of evil, which brings into our knowledge of sin (that of which Adam and Eve soon realized once partaking of the forbidden fruit).

In your own words, write your understanding of ‘knowing the knowledge of good and evil.’

   Let’s search out our belief thoughts on our understanding of… ‘knowing the knowledge’, and then after we have gone deeper into this topic in the weeks to come we’ll revisit what we wrote to see if our thoughts are still the same.

POINT TEN… “CHOOSE LIFE!”

(Matthew Henry) “…it proved to Adam an experimental knowledge of good by the loss of it and of evil by the sense of it. As the covenant of grace has in it, not only Believe and be saved, but also, Believe not and be condemned.) (Mark 16:16)

READ: Mark 16:16… What are the two assurances in that verse? ____
 

A MUST READ: Deuteronomy 30:19-20… What is God asking for us to do??

   God is asking us to choose Him, which is ‘Life.’ The Lord and life are bound together. “Life” in this context refers to all that makes life rich, full and productive-as God created it to be. (commentary from NIV Bible)

Let’s go up a few verses in Deuteronomy 30 beginning in verse 11 and read through verse 18…

What is God saying? 

1.  That “LIFE” (salvation in God) is too difficult to obtain?  YES or NO

2.  Is it beyond our reach?  YES or NO

3.  Is it in a place (heaven or the sea) we have to go to first in order to receive it?  YES or NO

4.  Is it in our mouth?  YES or NO

5.  Our heart  YES or NO

6.  What commandment did God give in verse 16? ___________

7.  That we may what? _______________________

8.  That the Lord may _________________ you!

9.  If we turn away what will happen? _____________________

 ALSO READ Romans 10:6-13. What is Paul saying in these 8 verses? ______

Over all, what is the message? ________________

 “…but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

   God was willing to continue giving Adam and Eve ‘life’ and ‘blessings’ if they obey His commandment; because God’s desire from His children was to continue to receive worship and obedience. However, enjoyment of God’s paradise was contingent upon Adam and Eve ‘keeping’ God’s one and only commandment.

The Message Is…

·       When God gives us a command in His Word, we as His children are obligated to follow His command. We have a “responsibility” as one of His creations (Believers and non-believers) to do what He asked of us.

·       Adam and Eve had no worries, no problems, no pain, and no reservations about anything. They lived in total bliss and harmony! It was their heaven on earth, and that was God’s desire for them to continue with that life!!

·       They lived their lives without knowledge of the meaning of sin, because they had no sin in their lives as of yet.

·       God plainly shows us in His Word how and why we should ‘choose life!’

1^st MEMORY STATEMENT FOR THE WEEK… "I have the assurance that I have chosen “LIFE with GOD and I am so thankful for that GIFT!”

2^nd MEMORY STATEMENT FOR THE WEEK… My eyes are planted on God and I will fulfill my responsibility to Him and do my best to follow His commands.

3^rd MEMORY STATEMENT FOR THE WEEK… Memorize…Ps. 84:1-2

 

   In PART TWO of “TWO TREES EDEN” we’ll begin examining the long asked question… Did God give Adam and Eve a… “COMMAND or FREEDOM TO CHOOSE?”

   I pray that when you close your eyes tonight that you know in your heart that you have chosen “LIFE!!!”

Hoping you have a very special VALENTINE’s DAY this week!!!

cj

2-13-13

P.S.  I have commitments for the next two weeks that’s going to demand a lot of my time; therefore, I will not be posting again until MARCH 6^th. See you back here then!!!!

 

 

Week 10... BACK TO THE GARDEN - GARDEN WALK

WEEK TEN

“THE BEAUTY & FALL of Ms. EVIE”

PART TWO… ‘WHAT’S IN PARADISE?’ 

Continuing CHAPTER SEVEN:

“TWO TREES EDEN”

With Insert… ‘Back To The Garden?’

POINT FIVE…. “FROM THE TREE OF LIFE  - TO THE TREE OF LIFE!”

    Let’s look back for one moment to the “TREE of LIFE” from last week’s lesson… Genesis 2:8-9 (NIV)… Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and…”

   We learned last week that God created the ‘Tree of Life’ in the middle of the Garden of Eden and He told Adam and Eve they could eat from its fruits. This tree is symbolic to…. ‘giving and having life!’ Therefore,….

What was Jesus Christ nailed to?  A c______ made from a t____

Why did He die upon that tree?   T__  G________  U___  E___________________  L_________! (five powerful words)

A CJisum….   The tree in the Garden of Eden that God named… “THE TREE of LIFE” symbolically became the cross that His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, died upon in order for us to have Eternal Life in heaven!!! From the TREE OF LIFE – To the TREE OF LIFE!

   Last week’s lesson brought before us that the Tree of Life is now our greatest ‘GIFT’… our Salvation in Christ Jesus. That we were created for the ‘purpose’ of spending eternally with God in heaven once we leave this earth if we have accepted Jesus to live in our hearts. At the end of last week’s lesson you read the ‘Plan of Salvation’ - presented purposely for the unsaved on how they too could become a child of the King. Today’s lesson is speaking mostly to the born again Believer in Christ!

Well, God has done it again!!!  I had planned for the following text to come at the very end of “The Beauty and Fall of Ms Evie” but God directed my thoughts to place it here for this week’s lesson. So there must be a good reason for the change and I will leave that in His hands!  So, here goes….

   For the past two weeks we have envisioned what the Garden of Eden must have looked like. Eden was a place of all good and beautiful things, including intimate fellowship with God. We talked about what the Garden could have been to…

·       a Chef… endless flavors of TASTE

·       a Florist…sweet heavenly aromas of SMELL

·       the Music Lover… capturing the music of birds singing and rushing streams of SOUNDS

·       an Artist… a canvas of endless color to rest the eye upon in SIGHT

·       and a Decorator… many textures for the hands to TOUCH

Have ‘we seen’ such beauty here on this earth?

 

POINT SIX….  Insert… ‘Back To The Garden?’

A Bit From My Personal Life…

   I have had the greatest pleasure to visit and live in several places across the globe, and enjoyed some of God’s creations that words like ‘phenomenal’ couldn’t come close to describing the beauty I witnessed! I lived in Great Britain for a period of time in the 70’s. We made our home in Aberdeen, Scotland. On hillsides we saw palaces that you only see in the movies or in magazines. And oh my goodness, the castles, they were everywhere! My goal was to see as many castles I could see in the time we lived there. So, I traveled all over England and Scotland exploring as many of them as I could. I would gaze in awe at the craftsmanship these long ago dwellings announced about themselves. But today we’re going to place our focus on…

‘GOD’s’ PHENOMENAL CREATIONS!!

   Even more unbelievable than the palaces and castles were the gardens that surrounded them! As I walked around the grounds of these castles, I was amazed at such magnificent beauty! Some of the plants, trees and scrubs were announced to be hundreds of years old. Well, you can imagine the remarkable time I had too walking through acres and acres of these gardens that would brighten anyone’s life!!

   We took trips up to the highest peak in The Highlands of Scotland, and even went exploring for Nessie at Loch Ness… the Loch Ness Monster. No, never got a glimpse of her. HaHaHa.  But the type of unique beauty high up in The Highlands was like non other that I’d ever seen before or since! Totally Awesome!! The shores of the North Sea were also a memorial splendor, with its jagged rock cliffs that were the breaking walls of the mighty force of the North Sea waves!  

   I traveled the back roads of our New England states here in America one year in October and experienced more of God’s beautiful creations as we saw the exploding colors of the Fall leaves! This beauty is something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime!!! To see how God brings about the change of color in the leaf on every tree is unbelievable! How He displays each tree’s own array of vivid color that artist have painted down through the ages but they can never quite capture the intense beauty as what you experience when you’re actually standing in amongst our Creator’s colorful art!

   Going over the top of the majestic snow covered Rockie Mountains would give anyone reason to believe there is a God!!! Winding through the gorgeous Smokie Mountains was absolutely a great memory of beauty. Here again, neither artist nor the greatest photographer could ever capture the total beauty these mountain ranges behold. I have walked through some of their rich valleys and even lived in one in Colorado for three years, and to look out our window and in the distance see the magnificence of God’s creation bordering with the skyline filled me with motivation to go explore their beauty first hand.  

   I will always cherish the times I walked and played on different beaches all along the east coast, from Bridgeport, CT to the Florida Keys!  Also can’t forget the walks I’ve had on a couple of beaches on the west coast in California, and one in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  On one beach, listening to the roaring sound of exploding power digging small cavities into the high rock cliffs filled me with energy beyond explanation, jogging my memory of how powerful our God truly is!!

   Another beach I walked on the wet sand that squeezed between my toes as the waves calmly covered my feet making me wish I never had to leave the tranquility and serenity it brought over me. And yet at another beach I played in the warm waves wiping the flavor of salt from my face where God reminded me that we are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13 – *

   I remember at all the beaches looking past the ocean waves and wondering about what beauty in the depths of that ocean would present to me if I were to go deep under its top surface to explore; and I would have if I wasn’t afraid of its immeasurable vast darkness – because I don’t swim well at all!! LOL. But knowing there’s another whole world below the waves on the floor of the ocean of astonishing beauty that God created always gives me pleasant goose bumps!!

   When I visited Nigeria Falls from the Canada side, I marveled at the waters astonishing power! It took my breath away! I will never forget that unbelievable sight!!

   I’ve traveled in the deep southern states and saw gigantic plantations nestled within lavishing manicured gardens that left my eyes wanting to see more. I loved the unbelievable heavy moss hanging several feet off the branches of huge beautiful trees, and blooming magnolia trees filled the air with sweet aroma that lingered in our nostrils for hours.  Looking at the beauty of God’s paintbrush across vast flower gardens would bring to my spirit such a calm and peaceful feeling.

   OK, I can’t tell of all this beauty without bringing to the forefront the breathtaking beauty of the Texas Hill Country in the spring!!! All the wildflowers that God planted for all to enjoy makes this Texas girl’s heart beat faster when I’m standing in all that beauty. The bluebonnets, the sunflowers, the cornflowers, the poppies, and the list goes on and on and on. If you’ve ever been to Tyler in east Texas and seen the famous Tyler roses and azaleas you know it’s a beauty beyond words!

   I used to stay at a friend’s condo in the mountains of Ruidoso, NM while I worked my territory as a home interior sales rep. I would take my pen and notebook and sometimes my camera as I walked back into the woods behind the complex of condos and find a place to sit and relax. I felt so close to God while I was in that peaceful place. The only sound I could hear were the birds and the breezes making their rustling sounds through the pines that looked like from below they reached the heavens above. Occasionally a deer would come into view as it rummaged through the covered vegetation ground looking for a snack.

   Then there were the times when I would just sit leaning up against a big pine tree and have a one-on-one talk with my Father, the Creator of it all. When I think back to those times, I still remember how I felt as I sat in God’s presence in that forest on the mountain side. I felt God was sitting right there beside me. What a stillness and peaceful feeling that was. There, in a forest, up in the mountains, I was having my time “in the Garden!”  I would always come down from that special place refreshed and eager to face anything and everything life had for me to deal with.

   From the jungles of Old Mexico to the plains of Canada, from the shores of California to the manicured gardens of Great Britain has seen me behind my camera trying to capture a capsule of the beauty that God has created right here on this earth.

   Throughout all the beauty of God’s creation that we may have the unforgettable pleasure to experience on this earth, I have no doubt that the beauty of the Garden of Eden exhibited ten times that over. So yes to my question at the beginning… we do have on this earth bits and pieces of the kind of beauty Adam and Eve lived among! They also had the sweet peace and tranquility in fellowship with God.

   I wrote this segment… “Back To the Garden” several years ago, and it was not written to come across as a boast of all the places on this earth I’ve had the honor of seeing bits of God’s extraordinary creation.  For some who read this, you could add so much more than what I've seen and experienced. I hope the Lord lets me live long enough to explore much, much, much more of His wonderful creations!
Instead I wrote it for the reader to…

·       get a feel of how amazing our God, the Almighty Creator truly is.

·       have a miniscule glimpse in comparison of what heaven is going to look like.

·       see how He gives us His love, peace and beauty within our relationship with Him as we walk anywhere on this earth.

·       show you how you can take a Garden Walk with Him…

POINT SEVEN…. “A GARDEN WALK”

   As you read down through the lines of the above text, what two words did you see reoccurring over and over??  The word ‘BEAUTY’ and ‘PEACE.’  The BEAUTY of GOD’s CREATION is breathtaking, and the PEACE He gives us is unbelievable!!!

   My friend, you don’t have to physically go upon a mountain, into the woods, sit on a calming beach or walk through manicured gardens to experience a walk in the Garden with God! The Garden that I’ve implied here is that of your own personal relationship with your Creator, your daily hand-in-hand walk with Him.

   You may have asked the Lord Jesus into your heart and you know without doubt where you’ll spend eternity when you die, but do you walk in the Garden with Him daily??

    When you come into a close fellowship with your Creator, He will then take you for a walk in the Garden. Knowing that whatever trials or adversities come about, you have a Protector who will walk with you and never forsake you. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother! Proverbs 18:24

   It’s when you exit from the world’s pleasures, temptations, troubles and worries and enter into a walk in the Garden with the God of beauty, peace and tranquility will you know life is truthfully worth it all! Knowing you have a Kingdom palace at life’s end makes time on this earth worth walking through. We Must Return To the Garden!!

   What do you expect to find when you enter into your Garden… your time in God’s presence? I find peace, understanding, patience, love beyond comparison, bountiful blessings, and relaxation, all in the intimacy with God. How about you??

   How long has it been since you’ve experienced God’s presence in your life?   Do you need a roadmap to the Garden?

   He’s never left you, you know. He is standing at the entrance of that peaceful Garden with outstretched arms, waiting to have fellowship with you again. He wants to walk and talk with you, and give you everything you need for that place of peace in your heart that only He can give you.

Have you been to the Garden lately???

What’s hindering you? What or who is standing in your way from going on that Garden Walk with your Creator?  You can begin your walk right now!

{If you have not been born again through the blood of Jesus Christ, don’t you want to have that experience of walking in the garden with a Savior that loves you more than any words could describe?}

cj

2-6-13

I COME TO THE GARDEN ALONE

(Written by… Charles A. Miles, 1913)

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I'd stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> 

[* RE: Matthew 5:13 – “Salt”… Salt is used as a preserving and purifying agent. Jesus was telling His disciples to live as an example of righteous (to preserve themselves to righteousness) in their personal lives and as they spoke the gospel to show purity to a corrupt world.  Therefore, as we are today's Disciples of Christ to this continuous corrupt world, we are to be purified as salt and live an example of piety (preserve ourselves to righteousness) before others.]