TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN OF OUR HEARTS

Part 1 – The Fruit of Independence

 

 

In this first series of blogs, we will explore the different fruit the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’ bears. This is the tree within our souls our Father forbids us to eat from; it also is referred to as ‘the hideous flesh.’

 

We live in both a natural and spiritual world. The natural world is where we use our five senses; touch, taste, smell, hear, and see. In this world, we also apply our mental faculties from our souls such as our personalities, thoughts, wills, and emotions. We are spirit beings just like our Father, who is a Spirit, who also has thoughts, a will, and emotions. We are to enjoy both worlds by living from our Lord’s and Papa’s Life as ONE. In essence… WE ARE SPIRITS, WITH A SOUL, AND DWELLING IN A BODY, DEPENDENT UPON OUR LORD TO MEET OUR NEEDS!

 

 I Thessalonians 5:23 (Amplified)

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

When Adam and Eve ate from the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,’ they experienced something they had never experienced before, independence. Independence isn’t always a good thing. Independence for Adam and Eve didn’t mean ‘freedom.’ For Adam and Eve, it meant ‘death.’ They became disconnected from their ‘Life Source’ the Life and Love of their Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They were no longer dependent on them to meet all of their needs as they had done all of their lives. After eating from the forbidden tree they had to learn to MEET THEIR OWN NEEDS AND TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES IN THEIR OWN STRENGTH (THE FLESH).

 

 

When examining the story of Adam and Eve, for us, reading it, it is just a few chapters, but we don’t know the time span of which they enjoyed fellowship with the Father in the Garden of Paradise. We can’t see through the scriptures the beautiful relationship they had developed over the years. We can’t see how they delighted in the company of each other as they strolled through the earth holding hands, innocent, like children on a life adventure of discovery. All we know is in one day, their lives changed forever. And in one day, when they became INDEPENDENT from their Father, they learned quickly how to take care of themselves, by taking leaves from a tree to make an apron to HIDE THEMSELVES. But, greater than that, they learned the most heartbreaking strategy of them all… they learned how to HIDE FROM THEIR FATHER. We will look more in-depth at this fruit in our next blog.

 

Being independent is wonderful if you are in bondage to a tyrant, an oppressor, a slave master, a dictator, or a vicious, mean Father. But, that isn’t who our Papa is at all. In His great love for His children, He stayed with Adam and Eve even after He removed them from the Garden of Eden. He was right there when Cain and Abel were born. He interacted with his grandchildren as they grew up into adulthood. Remember the conversations He had with Cain and Abel when they were men? He was always right there. But they ignored Him and lived a life independent of Him. It was our Papa’s love and grace to remove Adam and Eve from the garden when they sinned, had He not, they would have partaken of the Tree of Life (eternal life) and lived in their fallen state forever. When we look at some of our brothers in the Old Covenant down through the ages, we see our Papa’s love, favor, and grace is shown to His children despite their disobedience, let’s look at a few.

 

• But Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8
• The Lord said to Moses ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ Exodus 33:12
• King David said, “Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.” Psalm 31:21

 

In the New Covenant, we see our Father’s love and grace revealed in such an amazing way toward us (Gentiles). In the Old Covenant, we were the scum of the earth, vagabonds, like wild beasts, outcasts, and forbidden to enter the temple of the Most High God. We were forbidden to fellowship or have any relationships with His favorite children, the Jews. But just look at our Papa’s heart for us in the New Covenant.

 

• See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, (both Jews and Gentiles) that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. I John 3:1
• But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us… Ephesians 2:4
• When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (worldliness, manner of life), God made you alive together with Christ, having [freely] forgiven us all our sins… Colossians 2:13

 

Living independently and acting independently of our Father is not a good thing but an evil thing to do. Life comes from Him alone, all else is death. When we live life from ‘The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,’ ‘the flesh,’ we experience death. I describe death as the absence of life; frustration, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, stress, being out of control, impatience, etc. When we eat from the ‘Tree of Life,’ the Spirit, we experience love, peace, joy, rest, self-control, patience, etc. We were created to LIVE FROM THE LIFE OF GOD!

 

Prayer: Thank you, Papa, for teaching us through this blog being independent of You, is the BIG LIE given to us from the evil one. When we live a life apart from intimacy with You, we experience death. Thank you, Papa, we don’t have to anymore, because when Christ comes into our hearts and we depend on Him, we experience Paradise and the Garden of Eden with You all over again! AMEN