In the Bible, the Book of Revelation says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Have you ever let those words really soak in, my beautiful friends? Jesus is saying it’s going to be difficult here in this world and your humanity, as well as your flesh will scream at you, lie to you, and life will tempt in order to distract you from what really matters, but He has given us the power to overcome. The tree of life (Revelation 21:1), signifies eternal life, the white stone, signifies being found innocent and the hidden manna corresponds to your hidden life. It’s that secret place where no one knows what you’re going through except for you and God and He feeds your soul and ignites your spirit in that hidden place. You are sheltered in His wings. These are only a few of the promises made to those who overcome darkness and sin.
The Book of Life is eternally beautiful! The wealth, wisdom, and glory in it never fades.
Every day we can choose to go from glory to glory and eat from the tree of life or we can live mediocre lives and have a lukewarm faith, but that’s not what God desires for us. He said “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:5)
The journey here in this world is to learn to live victoriously, and to know that our God is so in love with us while we’re here, we’re never alone. He’s simply waiting for us to say yes to Him every day and to walk in His presence––Christ in us, the hope of glory.
He has so much He wants to unveil to His Church and we will get to see magnificent things in His eternal kingdom. But for now, many are missing out, they’re choosing to be lukewarm or to have itching ears rather than discerning ears. If we remain in Him, like it says in John 15:5, we will produce a lot of fruit, but only if we remain together. This signifies intimacy, never leaving His side, recognizing He’s the Vine, we are only the branches. We fade, we perish and we die to our true destiny without Christ nurturing us.
Do we have a life that lacks fruit? Then we should take a personal inventory and look at what we’ve chosen that is more important than living in intimacy with Christ. What could be more important than being nurtured and loved by Him—but distraction and temptation and the cares of the world, all mentioned in Matthew 13.
The Lord has so much glory He wants to reveal to us, but it also says in His Word that if we can’t understand even the simple and natural things, how can we understand the spiritual things? If He can’t trust us with a single talent, how can He trust us with 10? We’re all diamonds in the making of a grand entrance, where some, but not all, will sit at the Lord’s table. That’s the hard reality the King teaches us.
However, the other side–CHOICE. Part of the beauty of the Christian faith is the fact that you are rewarded for your faithfulness. If you choose to dive passionately into your relationship with God and His Word you will discover a treasure chest of exquisite jewels, full of beauty. The key to unlock the treasure chest where the jewels are is to grow in love for God and for His Word. However, to gain access to those riches requires that you give God your whole life, every secret thing, every hurt, every idol, every unforgiveness, every jealousy, every prideful thing you’re holding on to…all of it and all of you. The longer you hide out from Him, the longer He remains hidden from you as a result. Not because He’s not available, but because you come to visit on rare occasion. My encouragement for you today is to sacrifice whatever is in the way of an all-consuming love of Christ. That is a fire we all want, a passion we all say that we desire. But, truly there is a measure of faith to live by, but I believe we mostly live with much to be desired as believers. That’s our own doing. Few likely catch His eye as His eyes scan the earth for those who are pure at heart.
In the parable of the Hidden Treasure, Christ tells us that there is no sacrifice too great in comparison to what will be gained by investing everything in Him. Should some be rewarded for an investment they never made while others sold everything they had? This is the kingdom to buy the field. To recognize the treasure that exists in it. To have the eyes to see and be willing to invest everything. The beautiful thing is—the power is in your hands. The choice is yours, and the Day draws nearer.
So today—there’s a couple of questions I’d like you to ask honestly of yourself that can make the rest of your journey as a Christian much richer. In fact, it will alter the course of your faith journey if you’ll allow it…
“How bad do I want to experience the presence of God in my life?” And, “do I really want the treasure?”
My beautiful friends, Christ is going to unveil His Majesty and His Kingship in ways we have not seen in this generation and I pray fervently that you don’t miss it. Jesus is the prophesied “King of kings and Lord of lords.” He’s looking for Kingdom Christians who’ll say yes to the high calling of a life spent fully dedicated, surrendered and invested in Him, but also in the family of Christ. The future remnant of the Church is a modern replica of the story of the book of Acts, where a small but powerful group of believers followed The Way, became little Christs, marched in His footsteps, and sojourned wherever Holy Spirit led. They sacrificed everything to share the Good News of the Gospel of Christ. They loved not their lives unto death—the evidence of a true believer. The churches prayed together, served together, broke bread together and laid down their life for their brother.
The roots of the ministry of Christianity was a bunch of broken, misfit, mismatched people who for the sake of an eternity of true glory laid down their life for the work of the Kingdom, the Gospel of Christ and the hope of a glorious future where we’ll all be at home together, forever in the Kingdom of Light. Lord, help us.