god: the tree of life
For the past couple of years, I have been asking God to reveal Himself to me in a tangible way. I have been diligently seeking Him to truly understand and to know Him. I want to have more than mere faith, hope, and belief in Him who I have not seen. I want to see Him and to know Him fully as I am known by Him, my creator and savior, so I might have a more intimate relationship with Him. Faith in Him alone can be challenged and can waver but knowing Him cannot be attacked or weakened. Once you know the One who never changes, you can never “unknow” Him. Once you know Him fully, you will never want anything or anyone other than Him. It is in this seeking that He revealed Himself to me.
I was praying one day in the Spirit, and I was asking God to reveal the truth of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to me. I wanted to understand Him as the One true God. Who is the God who hears my prayers? How should I address Him? I know He calls Himself by many different names in the scriptures, but what exactly is in a name? If I introduced myself to you and told you my name, would you say that you know me or would you only know my name? I was raised in a church, and I was taught to believe in the Trinity (three persons in one God), but I never really understood what that meant and I never knew that God personally. I wanted to know the One true God, and I wanted to know how He reveals Himself as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I was at a loss for words as I was trying to ask God to help me understand and to know Him, so I decided to ask the Holy Spirit to pray through me since He would know exactly what to say.
God granted me the gift of speaking in tongues a couple of years ago, and I use that gift as often as possible especially when I am unclear on what or how I should be praying. The scripture says in Romans 8:26, “Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” As I was praying in tongues, I began to feel a sensitivity in my spirit as my spirit began to take control of my mind rather than the other way around. As the Holy Spirit spoke through me, I began to receive a vision from the Spirit in my mind.
I saw a great tree whose branches spread out over all the earth. The tree was full of fruit and its roots were running deep within the earth. The trunk of the tree was thick and strong, and the tree had no death in it but only life. The trunk and branches of the tree were visible throughout the entire earth, but the root system could only be seen in the Spirit as it was buried deep in the fertile soil. The fruit was numerous, luscious, and filled the branches of the tree. The leaves were a vibrant green and showed no signs of death or decay. It was a stunning tree, and as I gazed at it, I began to understand “Who” I was looking upon. It was not merely a tree. It was the Tree of Life. It was God. He was showing me that He is the Tree of Life as described in Revelations 22:2, and His Spirit flows through every part of it from the root system to the branches. He began to explain to me how the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are a part of Him. They are manifestations of God. They are all symbolically a part of the Tree of Life.
The Father is the heart of the tree. He is the seed that is planted in the earth as described by Jesus in Matthew 13. The heart of a tree, or the seed, holds the DNA of that tree. It is the seed that willfully determines the kind of tree that will be grown. The Father is the heart of God, and in the Father is God’s will. From the Father’s heart, the whole earth is filled with His glory as His roots run deep and throughout all of His creation. The glory of God originates with the Father but radiates through the Son as described in Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Jesus shared the parable of the Sower to help us understand how the heart of the Father is planted in us, so He might grow in us. It is from the Father that all things originate and are rooted. The many names of God are the root system that go deep into the soil and give strength to the tree. He draws from these roots when He answers prayers. When those roots can grow into the soil of our hearts, they manifest God deep within us. They give us strength. They give us life. This Tree of Life grows within those who belong to Him.
The Son is the Way to the Father as the trunk of the tree is the way to the heart of the tree. Jesus was the physical manifestation of God in the earth. The heart of God, or the Father, is not known by anyone except through Jesus, and the Father is only revealed to those whom Jesus chooses. Jesus said in Matthew 11:27, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.” The trunk of a tree comes from the root system and is the part of that system that becomes visible on the earth. Jesus said in John 14:9, “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Anyone who sees the Son has seen the Father because He and the Father are one. It is no coincidence that Jesus was hung to die on a cross made from the trunk of a tree. Jesus, the Son of God, hung naked and visible for all the world to see, and since they could see Him, they could see the heart and will of the Father or the heart and will of God hanging there in Him on that cross. Jesus was fully connected to the heart and will of the Father.
Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” The vine is the trunk of a plant. He said we are the branches that produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Those fruits are identified in Galatians 5:22. When we are grafted into God’s family tree, we become one with it. This is evident because apart from Christ we can do nothing, but in Him, we bear much fruit. We must become one with God as Jesus is one with the Father and the Father is one with Him. The trunk of the tree is an extension of the root system above ground, so the branches of the tree are an extension of the trunk into the world. The branches are a way for the heart of the tree to interact with the world. The life of the tree flows throughout every part of it just as the Holy Spirit flows through the Tree of Life. We are to take His life or Spirit into all the world as it says in Matthew 28:18-20, “Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As branches, we are to share the fruits of the Spirit with whoever wants to eat of them. We share His love, peace, and kindness. Those fruits hold the seeds which hold the DNA of God that will be planted and reproduced. That is the heart of the Father, His will, His plan, His gospel being sown into all the nations by His children or His branches.
What makes it possible for us to be one with the Tree of Life? How can we possibly be one with the Father and Son as they are one with each other? The Holy Spirit is the life that runs throughout the entire tree. He connects us to the Father and the Son and transfers God’s life, love, and glory to us and allows us access back to the Father though Jesus. When we praise and worship God, we are sending glory and love from the earth back to the Father through the Son. This entire process is happening within the tree. It happens inside of God because we are all in Him, and He is in us by His Holy Spirit who flows in and out of us. Just as the leaves of a tree release oxygen into the earth and gather carbon dioxide, the Holy Spirit releases life into the world through us, the branches, and gathers love and glory for the Father, the heart of the tree. This can only happen when we in Christ who is connected and one with the Father. As it says in Romans 8:9, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
God is One God. He is manifested in three different ways or persons. The Father is the heart and will of God, Jesus is the manifestation of God in the earth, and the Holy Spirit is God connecting everyone and everything together. Those of us who believe in Him, who know Him, who are known by Him, who obey Him, who have the Spirit living in us, who are grafted into Him, and who are producing fruit are also a part of God. We are a part of the Tree of Life. Jesus said in John 15, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit…If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” The Father is the vinedresser. In His will, He decides what branches need to be removed from the tree for the tree to thrive and produce fruit. He disciplines or prunes the ones He loves, and He casts off the dead branches into the fire.
You can read more about this and other truths by obtaining a copy of “Prodigal to Prince” by Beau Walsh at BarnesandNoble.com or Amazon.com.
