The Tree Trunk

Our focus for discipleship this year is the Tree of Life!

We spent the Fall examining the inner soil of our lives where our life with God takes place. Right now our focus is on the tree trunk: that solid protection that comes with life in community. In the Spring, we will be interacting with the leaves and the branches: our life of kingdom serving the world.

Last week in huddle, one of the women broke down crying in discouragement. Her husband is looking for a job and was hitting lots of obstacles in the process. Promised phone calls weren't being returned, interviews were being cancelled, etc.

So, we began to enter into kingly intercession, where we wait and listen for what the Lord's heart, will and direction is for us to pray, and then we speak it out. We take seriously 2 Cor 1:20 which states, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ. That is why we say, 'amen' when we give glory to God through Christ."

We are given the privilege to say Amen: so be it for what God wants to do. It's the kingdom partnership that we have been invited into....

We prayed during huddle, and our friend's spirits lifted. Here is an email she wrote for the rest of the story:

"Hi Ladies, God is so good. I have to set the scene for you when I arrived home. My husband is standing in the doorway, hands on his hips, and he asks, "Have you been praying or something?" I just shake my head....wow! One of his contracts will be finalized today, and he got a call from a head hunter about another job. Hmmmm. I shared about some of our prayer time, and he is in a good place, and has felt the shift. Yeah, Holy Spirit at work.

I want to thankyou for all the sweet birthday wishes, cards, cupcakes and ballooons. But, most of all, I want to thank you for standing in faith and prayer with me and my family. How amazing you all are! Thank you to our fearless leader for guiding us on this journey. It's been a wild ride for sure. The trunk is working!"

The Trunk is working. I love this. When we are able to be vulnerable and share what's happening in our life, go to the Lord in prayer and give one another support, this is the family that Jesus calls us into as his family.

I also have to mention that this family lives less than 5 minutes from where we met for huddle. God took the fast track to answer our prayers.

Where are you in your life in the trunk of community?

The Tree of Life: Our New Life as the Family of God

This fall we explored the inner soil of the tree of life, along with the root systems and how the tree grows with fertilizer, sun, water and special care by the Gardener.

This winter we are focusing on the trunk of the tree as we consider how we live in relationship with our Heavenly Father and one another as the Family of God.

The key passage for our development as children of God is in Romans 8:14-17: “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

I can think of so many adopted children that have the experience of knowing that they were REALLY WANTED by the parents who adopted them. Sometimes, however, the thought that the ones who created them, their birth parents, who gave them up, overshadows the reality of being desperately desired.

I wonder if sometimes we as God’s children live in that place too. We find that it’s easier to consider how our earthly parents disappointed us than to remember how powerful God’s invitation to his family truly is.

We have a real life example of this in Missio Lux.

We heard of a young woman who was struggling with an extreme family situation. Her mother had just died and she was taking a bus for over an hour each way to get to school. The school was seeking a family who would provide a home for her for the last eight months of her senior year.

A family within Missio Lux responded with an invitation for her to come and live with them.

They decided that they would treat her as a “real daughter” not just as one who was living with them temporarily. They left sweet notes on her pillow at night, took her to school and work each day, invited her to their social gatherings, and even took her with them at Thanksgiving to a visit with extended family. She got sick and the family took her the dr and nursed her as she recovered on the couch for almost two weeks. This girl was receiving love beyond anything she had ever experienced; she was living out the Spirit of Adoption in action.

However, it proved to be too much for her. It turns out that she had fabricated the whole story of her mother’s death; in actuality the mother was in prison for a short period. One day the girl just disappeared from her aunt’s house and went to live with the family from Missio Lux. Her aunt and mother never knew where she went.

I believe that as she experienced a glimpse of the true family of God; she sabotaged it because all her old messages of being rejected, neglected, and unprotected were in so much contrast that she had to blow it up. The family ended up discovering that her circumstances were vastly different than they had been told. In reality, everything about her story was a lie.

This may seem like an extreme example but I wonder how many still live out of the place of the orphan/slavery spirit rather than discovering the vast love and provision of our Heavenly Father who adopts us into his own family.

Exploring our adoption into the Father’s family is a key development part of our faith. When we truly experience the love our Heavenly Father, we are forever changed. His love sets us free from our previous experience as an orphan.

This week, I invite you to spend time meditating on the Romans 8 passage.

Ask your Heavenly Father what it means to be adopted into his family. Take time to consider what life in his family can be. Ask him to bring you into the full experience of his adopted family.

I end with Paul’s prayer in Ephesians: a prayer that he prayed for all of us that have followed after him. May it become increasing reality in your life.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:14-21

Reflections on the Tree of Life: Living our Lives as Shekinah Glory

Two themes run through the Bible: relationship and meaningful partnership. God created us to be in a covenant relationship with himself, and he desires to have a meaningful partnership with us as we live into kingdom with him.

Last week we explored the concept of Shekinah Glory. The word “Shekinah” means a dwelling place for God and glory, the presence of God so literally Shekinah Glory is a dwelling place for the presence of God.

It’s easy to imagine that Jesus was a “dwelling place for the presence of God,” it’s a bigger stretch to believe it for ourselves. One of the reasons for this is our constant question, “Do I measure up?”

This is the question that the Serpent put in the minds of Adam and Eve and he finds that the strategy continues to be quite effective even today. The interesting thing about the question is that the Snake got Adam and Eve to question what they already possessed. They already lived as Shekinah Glory because of their relationship to God.

We need to start living in the truth regarding our status as Shekinah Glory as well.

Remember the Tabernacle and the Temple? Both times that the work on them was completely finished, the Shekinah Glory came upon them. The glory was so great that even Moses and the Priests couldn’t do anything but fall down and worship.

Do you remember what Jesus’ last words on earth were before he died? John 19 tells us “Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.”

Those words are key to unlocking the question of our worthiness to live as Shekinah Glory. When everything was finished for the Tabernacle, the Shekinah Glory came. When everything was finished for the Temple, the Shekinah Glory came. When Jesus had finished everything, he shined as Shekinah Glory, even as he took his last earthly breath.

Imagine that. The moment of his greatest glory on earth was not when he was transfigured on the mountain, or when he raised Lazarus from the dead, or when he calmed the storm, or when he fed thousands for lunch.

The moment of his greatest glory was when he hung mangled, broken and bloody on a cross with criminals.

Why? Because he finished the work so the Shekinah Glory could be released to all who follow him.

I wonder if we don’t shine brightest when we are most out of our element of comfort.

Sitting in a comfortable church pew worshipping probably doesn’t compare to when we are up to our elbows in spaghetti feeding it to the poor. Or, writing a check and sending it to an African country probably doesn’t compare to when we go to visit sick and dying children in a hospital. Putting money in the Salvation Army bucket probably doesn’t compare to going out on Christmas morning to look for the homeless to invite to a hearty breakfast.

I am not discounting the activities mentioned above; they are important, but I think it thrills the Lord’s heart when we take risks in our faith and do things that make us more than a bit uncomfortable. When we live this way, we are making a declaration that we believe Shekinah Glory is in us and it will change the atmosphere that we are in.

Light always penetrates darkness. Have you ever gone into a dark room and lit a match? The darkness becomes lighter. We may think that our light is only “match like” but it still penetrates darkness and brings hope.

Faith is not a feeling, it is an action.

I encourage you to spend time meditating on the Scripture where Jesus tells us that “It is finished.” Consider how his finished work on the cross has paved a way for you to live into everything he meant for you. Pray about what his specific partnership with you is to be. When an idea comes, then act on it! Don’t think it to death and talk yourself out of it. Act on it!

As you begin to act on the ideas that you receive in prayer, your sense of identity will increase more and more. You will begin to walk with a “knowing” that you are carry the light of Jesus and that wherever you go, darkness will flee and light will come.

As we step into the time of year when generosity is more prevalent, consider how you can be generous with your faith. Where will you step out and take risks because you know that the Lord is with you and that you carry the Shekinah Glory that will change whole atmospheres to bring God’s love and purposes from heaven to earth?

Reflections on the Tree of Life - Reproduction

“The Tree of Life: Reproduction”

We got a crop of apples off of our stick apple trees in our backyard this summer. They filled our trees and delighted us when we picked one and ate it. It was a gift to have a harvest because it had been two years since we got apples on the trees.

It seems that we’ve had to wait for long stretches to see harvest happen both physically and spiritually. But, things are changing. The Spirit is moving very intentionally right now; we are in a season of greater breakthrough in many places within God’s people.

I keep returning to two passages that make my spirit leap with joy. The first one I mentioned last week in Ezekiel 47: Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing” (Ezekiel 47:12).

Trees go through seasons. Right now the leaves are turning beautiful colors of red, orange, yellow and gold, but soon the leaves will begin to fall off and the trees will stand naked with nothing to attract us to them. They lie dormant so that they can begin the process of growth, fruit bearing and harvest again.

But, notice that in Ezekiel 47 the leaves never turn brown and fall. The trees will keep their leaves for all seasons. The next statement is astounding: “There will always be fruit on their branches; a new crop will grow every month.” This doesn’t follow the natural rhythm of reproduction; it is very supernaturally exponentially multiplied.

Just so we won’t miss what God says in Ezekiel, he tells us again in Revelations 22:1-2: “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,[a] with a fresh crop each month.”

There it is. The tree of life will bear twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month.

How can this be? How can trees which are meant to bear a harvest once per year suddenly start producing a crop every month?

Look at what Revelations calls the tree: The Tree of Life. God created the Tree of Life to give us life! He put in the center of the Garden of Eden so that when Adam and Eve ate from it, they would live forever. The more that they ate from it; the more that it multiplied.

It doesn’t surprise me that we will find the Tree of Life again in heaven as we all know that we are meant to live forever in heaven. But, it does surprise me that the Lord showed Ezekiel earthly trees that will produce fruit monthly! It seems that the Lord wants us to experience “Heaven on Earth.”

He wants us to experience life in the way that he designed us to live. He wants us to swim in the river that both Ezekiel and Revelations speak about. In Ezekiel the river started out as a trickle but the more that the Lord was present, the deeper the river got until all they could do was swim.

Swimming is about letting our body go into a position of submission and rest. When we swim we no longer stand on our own two legs, but we trust the water to hold us up. It is much like that as we live life with Jesus. We have to be willing to let go so that he can move us through the river to the Tree of Life where we can experience the fruit of the harvest and to eat the leaves for healing.

Ezekiel 47 finishes the paragraph by stating that “the trees will bear a new crop every month, for they are water by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.”

Revelations 22 finishes by stating “The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.” There it is again. Repetition. The leaves will be available for healing. Healing of our bodies, our souls, our relationships, and even entire nations. Could it be that the world could even live in peace with one another? Oh, the dream of a world that resembles heaven.

That is God’s dream. It happens as we swim in the river of life, eat from the Tree of Life and pick the harvest of monthly fruit. It happens as we understand that the leaves of the tree are meant to restore of the Garden of Eden, Heaven, to earth today.

How about you?

Where do you long to swim in the River of Life?

Where do you need to take the plunge rather than staying rooted to your comfortable and safe spot?

Where do you want to see a harvest of fruit every month? What dreams are you praying into? Not dreaming? Then ask the Lord to awaken your lost dreams.

Where do you need to eat the leaves of the Tree of Life so that you can live again?

Taste and see that the Lord is good, and that he wants to bring you life. Not just life in heaven, but life today! A life on earth that gives us glimpse and experiences of heaven.

Missio Lux Weekly Reflection

Missio Lux Weekly Reflection
October 5, 2010

“The Tree of Life: the Bible”

I’ve been studying the brain the past few weeks and I continue to be amazed at how our thoughts, our responses to our thoughts and the commandments of the Bible are integrated. I have been repeatedly reminded that when I follow the ways that the Bible teaches me to live, I will have a healthy brain, body and life.

Deuteronomy 30 tells us to choose life or to choose death. I am coming to understand that our thoughts are vital in this commandment. When we think a fear thought, it actually sends a negative chemical into our body that helps to build a bush (the technical word is dentite) that becomes black and mangled. When we think a faith filled thought, it releases a healthy chemical into our body which builds healthy trees. Dr. Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist who is also a Christian, calls our healthy thought “a breeze through the trees.” Healthy trees create healthy forests in our mind and body which build a strong foundation for which to live.

Do you remember Joshua? He was Moses’ right hand person and when Moses died, the Lord came to Joshua with a message. He was to lead the Israelite Nation to enter into the Promised Land. Joshua needed to be building healthy trees in his brain through faith filled thoughts so he listened carefully as the Lord gave him the key to being able to fulfill his huge calling.

This is the key: “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

The key for Joshua to carry out his assignment was to follow the Scripture (which at that time was the Law). He was told that if he carefully obeyed the law, not deviating in any way from it, he would be successful. Then, just to make sure that he heard that word, God told him again: “If you meditate on the Scripture, you will be prosperous and successful.”

It’s an equation that makes sense: God’s way to live found in Scriptural instruction + what we are called to do = success.

It may make sense, but I find myself wondering how seriously we take Joshua’s commandment? Wasn’t that just for Joshua, after all he had a big job to do? It surely doesn’t fit into my small job as an office receptionist, or a stay at home Mom, or even a Microsoft or Boeing employee.

Or, does it? Have we gotten so far from what the Scripture tells us to do that we aren’t even sure what it says? Have we chosen to base our guidance on other things? Information is at an all time high right now, but our knowledge of how to live successfully, not just in terms of finances, but in health and relationships and integrated lifestyle, is actually declining. Information doesn’t equate to success, it can at times overwhelm and mislead.

If you like the idea of living a successful and prosperous life, then make the intentional connection to following God’s guidance to Joshua: know what the Bible says, think about it through your day, and follow it wholeheartedly!

So, I hear the question, how do I know what it says? Where do I start?

Missio Lux held a training at our kickoff for ways to engage the Bible. Keith Ferrin from “”That You May Know Ministries” led the training (www.thatyoumayknow.com)

Here are a few of his suggestions to help get you started:

Build a Foundation through reading the Bible;

Pray before you start asking for God to reveal his Word to you and pray after that God would continue to impress his Word into your thought life.

Read Continuously: read a book from the Bible in one sitting/look for natural breaks in longer books/read for purpose, theme and context/be consistent in reading it!

Repetitious Reading: read it over and over again. Read the same book or passage over and over again: perhaps 30 times in 30 days.

Independent Reading: don’t turn to all the helps in our reading, ask God to reveal his Word. Resist the urge to seek understanding of specifics during this phase.

Thoughtful Reading: work at not letting your mind wander/read out loud/think about what it says/ change your perspective on what you read with questions like:
What was the author thinking as he wrote?
What would the recipients be thinking as they read this letter?
What would the ramifications be if the purpose of this letter is carried out?

If reading the Bible is a new thought to you, here are some of my thoughts:

Set yourself up for success by choosing a reachable goal: make a decision to spend 10 to 15 minutes a day in the morning (or at night) reading. Decide to do this five days a week, so that if you miss a day during the week, you don’t give up in frustration or guilt.

Tell someone about your goal: Ask that person to encourage you in your goal and pray for you, as well as ask questions about what you are reading.

Keep track of how you see God being more present in your life; when you remember one of the things you have read and share it with others, and look for opportunities to multiply it with those who are closest to you.

Celebrate your success. Do something special for yourself each week when you accomplish your goal.

My prayer is that we can all understand that God’s call to Joshua is also to us. We have an important mission to live out on earth and we will be successful and prosperous when we follow the direction God gave to Joshua to meditate on the Law day and night so we can be careful to follow it.

The Soil in our Lives

This year we planted two tomato plants in our yard. One went directly into the soil in the ground and the other one went into a pot that sits against our outside wall. The difference in how the two plants grew was rather startling.

The first plant that went into the ground grew one tomato. The plant itself never grew and the fruit was rather dismal (even the one tomato got eaten by slugs.) However, the pot backed up against our house had a different experience. It not only grew bigger, but it grew loads of tomatoes, all rather tasty and none affected by the enemy of slugs…

So, what was the difference? I believe the major difference was the soil they were planted in. The plant in the ground was planted into soil that is hard and impacted, and the potted plant went into pure potting soil that is healthy and easy to maneuver.

Jesus got this. He knew that his followers did too as they lived in an agrarian lifestyle. So, one day he told them a story to help them realize how important it is to take care of the soil of our own lives. Read what he says in Mark 4:

3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

The soil really matters in how a plant will grow. It’s obvious that not all conditions are conducive to good growth. Hard impacted soil, like a path that is traveled often, will not even allow a seed to go into the soil. Rocky soil keeps the roots from going down deep, and thorny soil chocks the plants. It’s only the seeds that get into the deep, rich soil will grow a plant that will bear fruit and eventually reproduce.

Jesus’ followers didn’t get it. They shook their heads and told Jesus to make sense when he taught. But, when Jesus explained how important it is for us to consider our own soil in relationship to our growth, the lightbulb went on for them.

Remember that the seed is a mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds, but when it is planted in fertile, rich soil it can grow to be the largest bush in the garden. We only need a small seed of faith to follow Jesus, but we do need the proper conditions for our soil.

In fact, seeds shouldn’t even be wasted on the soil of the path. Seeds that go into rocky soil will die when any kind of adversity comes its way. Seeds that are planted into thorny soil will get distracted and choked by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth. But, when the soil conditions are right, the one seed grows into a plant that will reproduce itself many times over, Jesus tells us, even a 100 times more than the one seed.

So, obviously, we want to have fertile, rich soil in our lives. But, not so obviously, what is the pathway for getting our soil ready for the seeds to be planted and the harvest to come?

Let’s go back to Jesus’ thinking: what does a soil need to grow healthy plants? Well, it needs to be areated: loosened up so that the soil is easily moved and the seeds can find their place to root. The soil needs to be fed fertilizer. Sun is vital in growing a plant. A seed needs water to grow. Finally, protection: in Seattle, the major protection is from slugs and rotting from too much water!

If our faith is a seed, then the fertilizer is God’s Word. Jesus tells us that he is the Bread of Life and his Word is our daily food (John 6). The sun is himself; a relationship with the Light of the World (John 9). The water is the Living Water which will sustain us (John 4). The aereation is the challenge we face which causes us to allow in even more of Jesus’ life and truth. Finally, the protection comes from the Lord as we trust him to watch over our lives.

I think most of us would agree that the soil of our lives is important, but for me the question is: What are we doing about it?

How are we intentionally feeding our soil and watering the seeds, seeking out the sun on a daily basis and walking through challenge with a recognition of its importance in our growth?

Sometimes we pay a lot of attention to that which others can see. But, in order to grow a strong, healthy tree, we need to pay even more attention to that which is not seen. The Apostle Paul knew this and wrote to the Corinthians in 2nd Cor 4:16-18:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Take some time to reflect on this passage. What is the unseen that the Lord wants you to see? Perhaps there is much under the ground that will bring you great joy and overflowing fruit as you continue to prepare the soil of your inner life with Christ.