When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit from tree of the knowledge of good and evil it caused them to fall into darkness and death. When we partake from the Tree of Life offered to us from the Father, though the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the fruit will grant us the Light of the Spirit, which brings spiritual and eternal life. We are given a new beginning, as we are made alive and progressively grow through Christ; we will partake of the fruits of the Spirit offered to us from His Tree of Life. We are now accepted in the Beloved and gifted in a living connection with the Holy Spirit abiding in our hearts. Our righteousness and acceptance comes completely through grace and by the mercies of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
In our new life with Christ, our eyes are set on the Kingdom, and we desire to understand and follow His Word teachings. We long to ascend and know the Truth, which will inevitably set us free, but this is a step by step spiritual process, full of challenges and opportunities to overcome. It is similar to climbing a physical tree, you begin to ascend, but there are obstacles to clear and fears to overcome before we can experience the available beauty at the crown of the tree.
When we abide in Christ and we are connected with the Holy Spirit there is a great tree living within us. The roots of the tree are a picture of the earth, which represents our body. The trunk extends upward through the trials and testing of humanity on earth, towards the crown, which represents the Kingdom of the Spirit and eternal life. The leaves at the bottom of the tree are thick and plentiful, and not much light can penetrate to illuminate the way. But we must not fear, because Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Light. As we learn to spiritually ascend the tree, the leaves that block the light will be fewer and fewer, and it will be possible to see all the more clearly. To ascend the tree, and rise towards the light we must free ourselves, by the power of the Holy Spirit, from the heaviness of the love of this world system and all its entrapments.
The first great bough of the tree bears the fruit of love and compassion. Love and compassion is the foundation of all things of God! But before we can partake of this fruit and gain its nourishment we must be free of all judgment and wrath! It is a spiritual trade off, we work on our hearts through prayer to give Jesus our judgment and wrath, and in turn the Spirit gives us His replacing love and compassion. Satan, who is the Lord of Wrath will call and tempt you to stay in the destructive pattern of judgment and wrath. But as we continue to run back to the God of all grace, we will be given the power to deny Satan, because he has no part of us. Now we can continue to be lifted higher!
The second bough of the tree bears the fruit of God’s wisdom and understanding. But before we can taste of its bounty we must be free of ignorance and intolerance. We must embrace God’s Word, and reject the wisdom of this world and the intolerance that reigns. Only then can we eat of the fruit wisdom and understanding and pass upward. Again, we will be challenged by ignorance, but by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we have learned to deny ignorance when it calls, and replace it with God’s wisdom and understanding. Now we can continue to be lifted higher!
The third great bough bears the fruit of honor and humility. Only when we are free of double mindedness (duplicity) and arrogance will we be able to partake of the nourishment of honor and humility. Duplicity and arrogance can only be worked out of us through an on-going heart connection with our Lord Jesus Christ! Again we will always be challenged before spiritual growth; and arrogance will call, ‘You are so worthy’ or on the other end, ‘You are not worthy, go back’. But our soul has become deaf to him; because we now know our complete identity is found in Christ. So we move onward and upward into the increasing Light.
The fourth bough blossoms with the fruit of strength and courage. But to eat of this fruit, we must be free from the weakness of the flesh and confront and conquer the illusion of our fears. This is an elevated spiritual state and not many will walk in it on this earth. The Master of this world, the devil, will challenge us, and claim us as his own. But by the power of the Spirit living within, we will deny Him because He has no part of us- We are blood bought children of the Most High God! We have now totally rejected the Deceiver.
When we attain the fifth bough and the fruit of clarity and truth; only then will we know the clarity and truth of our soul. And, knowing ourselves clearly for the first time-we understand that we are children of the Living Spirit-we are fathered by God.
The sixth bough bears the fruit of power and healing. When we know the clarity and truth of who we are in Christ, then we can partake of the fruit of power and healing. The power to heal our soul will make us ready to ascend to the seventh bough where we will be filled by the fruits of Light and goodness.
On this bough, our soul is now free of all darkness, and is ready to be totally filled with the Light and Goodness of the Holy Spirit. We will be purified souls filled with a fierce joy! Then we will continue to ascend to the final bough, upon which burns the fruit of the grace and beauty of the Spirit. We have become ONE with Christ, we are eternally completed through I AM!
What I have written is an allegory of spiritual growth, I hope you are encouraged to continue on in the journey you were created to travel and discover who you really are in Him! A beautiful, completed creation and a joint heir with Christ!
“Wonderfully blessed are those who wash their robes white so they can access the Tree of Life and enter the city of bliss by its open gates” (Revelation 22:14).
