I think its even too big of a concept for me to try to wrap my head around, much less explain: Love is our true nature. Anything we do that isn't done in love, for love, by love, because of love... is us going against who we really are. And, unfortunately, we always seem to think of ourselves in just exactly the opposite way. "I'm just a sinner." "I'm only human." Like those are excuses for doing things that we really don't want to be doing. Paul wrote a big old piece about this struggle. But he was coming at it from a man under the law. Because under the law... all anybody (including ourselves) will do is point out the mistakes. The law's biggest problem was that it demanded perfection without being able to produce perfection. It was contrary to us. Against us. So Jesus nailed it to the cross. Fulfilled it. Took it away and gave us a new law. The perfect law of liberty. The perfect law of love. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is love. The Spirit of the Lord IS the Spirit of love. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. The truth that as He is, so are we in this world. He is love. We are love. Its not just what God does. Its who God is. Its not just what we do. Its who we are. Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--is our true identity. And when we know who we really are--the inner man, the hidden man of the heart, the New Man who obeys the New Commandment--we can stop trying to be someone we're not. We can be who we are... naturally. Ready for this one: We can stop chasing love. Because we know and believe that we have it. That we ARE it. We ARE loved. And that means we CAN love. We love, because He first loved us. We fill ourselves to overflowing with what He has already filled us with. We let God love the hell out of us and then we love the hell out of each other. We receive and release His love. That's what its all about. Receiving His love BY releasing it. Giving away what we've got simply because its too good to keep to ourselves and because its what everybody--EVERYBODY--else needs. I think the Beatles said it best, "All you need is love." Love is all we need. And love is what we have. It breaks my heart when I see people who honestly believe nobody loves them. And, yes, this pain that they feel usually makes them pretty hard to love. But that's where the rubber meets the road. That's where the maximum effort comes in. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down. Not trying to get anything. Not expecting anything. It doesn't matter if you reach out and someone slaps your hand away. The point is... you reached out. You did your part. Don't worry about how you are received. People always seem to think love has an ulterior motive anyway. Don't worry about it. Just be who you are. Like Popeye. Be real. Don't try to get something you (think you) haven't got by being someone you're not. Just give people what you've got. Give people... YOU. Be real. Be natural. The love of God IS in there. Know it. Believe it. And let it out. That's how we truly live. How we experience Jesus' life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. That's who He really is. That's who we really are. That's how we partake of the divine nature. That's how we be who we really are. Naturally.

The Popeye cartoon of old made a big impression on me. Not to the point that I would actually eat vegetables... because if that was the way to get big muscles, then big muscles I didn't need. And I can't really remember much of it at this point except for Popeye's catchphrase, "I yam what I yam!" Not to be confused with Exodus 3:14 (and I'm going to quote it from the Amplified Bible and then explain why), "And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM and WHAT I AM, and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you!" I am who I am and I will be what I will be. In other words, God was telling Moses--and His people the Israelites--"I will be whatever you need me to be." God is our provider. Our provision. Because God is love, and that's what love is--giving everything you have and everything you are. But back to Popeye. The thing about Popeye is that he was who he was. And he didn't try to be anybody else. Couldn't even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. He was a stuttering sailor and if you messed with the people he cared about he'd wind up that spinach-powered python and pop you one. No excuses. No apologies. What I remember about Popeye is that he was the realest guy in the room. And I've always appreciated that. I've always craved the real. I try to be an honest Abe, because I hate it more than anything when people lie. Its the living worst. And, if you want a really cool tie-in to what we're talking about, check out Ephesians 4:24-25, "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speaking every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another." When we partake of the divine nature, or put on the new man, the first thing that is addressed is our speach. Probably because the word of a king has power. Probably because death and life are in the power of the tongue. Probably because what we say matters. And if sin is unbelief, then lying (or speaking anything other than the truth of God's love--and remember now, you don't have to use words to speak. All action is communication) is the first thing that needs to go. And if faith is knowing (and believing) the truth and living in faith, walking in faith, is our new nature... then its not about fighting with our old nature. Its about reckoning ourselves dead to sin--unbelief, the lie that we have to do in order to be--and alive unto God. Alive unto LOVE. The whole point of the whole thing is for us to have life, and that more abundantly. And not just any life, but Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love! So, because God wanted us to have that--because He so loved us--He gave it to us. Gave Jesus to us. Gave His Holy Spirit to us. Gave Himself to us. So that we could, like Popeye, just be who we are. Just live naturally from the inside-out. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what He filled us with. Let God love the hell out of us and then love the hell out of each other. Give what we've got instead of trying to get something we haven't got. I yam what I yam. And that's good. Because I yam who God created me to be. I don't have to fake it 'til I make it. I can be real. I can really love, because I yam really loved!

Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. That's important. Because that means if we ARE demanding OUR own way... we aren't operating in love. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. And if we're not operating in love we're going against our new (true) nature. Let me say that again: If we're not operating in love we're going against our new (true) nature. Because love isn't just what we do. Love is who we are. Because love isn't just what God does. Love is who God is. And as He is, so are we in this world. We are in Him because He is in us. We are in love because love is in us. I always quote the idea of "Let's make prayer first choice not last chance." Because my favorite verse in the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." But what is prayer except the language of love? Talking and (equally if not more importantly) listening to God. You can't follow your heart if you don't know what it (HE) is saying. And I just got done telling you what love ISN'T saying. Love ISN'T saying, "My way or the highway." Love ISN'T saying, "Gimme gimme gimme." Love is saying, "Here I am. Send me. This is everything I have and everything I am. All for you." Laying your life down for your friends. And understanding that you destroy your enemies by MAKING them your friends. By loving the hell out of them. Understanding that there are only two kinds of people in this world: Friends that know they are our friends... and friends that don't know it yet, but are shortly going to find out. And, as always, I'm not saying you should ever put, or keep, yourself in a bad or abusive situation. But even when you love people from afar, you can still love them. Sometimes staying away from people is the best--only--way TO love them. But I digress. My point is, well, let me say it like this: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20). In other words, we can't love God unless we love people. Because we love God BY loving people. You can't have one without the other. Because God lives IN people. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross He drew all men into Himself. All men that had ever been or would ever be. Women too. Mankind. All of us. And it doesn't matter if someone knows about the cross or not. They will know about God when you show them love. When you act according to your true nature. Not by demanding anything from anybody--I've always said and continually find it 100% true, that if you have to beg someone for something, its not worth it. Even if you get it, its not worth it--not by demanding anything from anybody... but by giving everybody what you've got. By letting the love that's inside come out. Naturally. By knowing and believing that its in there. And, listen, I'll be the first to admit that I play favorites. I can't help it. There are certain people in my life that I would literally do ANYTHING for. But that doesn't mean that I don't have enough love for everybody else. Because life isn't about what you get. Its about what you give. Even the times in my life when I do get something... what I remember is who gave it to me. That's what really matters. Giving. Sharing. Living. Loving. And it doesn't have to be a struggle. You don't have to make people earn earn it, or discriminate between who gets it and who doesn't. You can just fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with and let it come out naturally!

Its only when we understand our true nature that we can stop trying to be someone we're not and just be who we are. And its only when we stop trying to be someone we're not and just be who we are that we can stop struggling and start flowing. Resting. Enjoying the gift we've been given. I want to quote our key passage of Scripture for this Rant series again. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3-4). When I read this I come away feeling pretty good. Because, first things first, we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything we could ever need... we already have. And not only does it tell us THAT we have it, it tells us HOW to have it. "Through the knowledge of him." Jesus. Because HE is everything that pertains to life and godliness. He IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Way to the Father, the Truth about the Father, and the Life of the Father. And who is Jesus, in a nutshell? Love. God in the flesh. Love in a body. So LOVE is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Way to love, the Truth about love, the Life of love. What I'm trying to say is, when we get down to being partakers of the divine nature... its the love nature! Which makes sense when you consider (again) that God IS love. Of course His nature is the love nature. Love is not just what God does. Love is who God is! And since we are in Him, because He is in us, love isn't just what we are capable of... love is who WE are! And when you know that you have love--when you know that you are loved--you can stop trying to get love. And when you stop trying to get love, that's when you can give love. Guys: Love is NEVER about getting. Because love IS giving. Not trying to get something you think you haven't got by being someone you're not... but by giving what you've got simply by knowing and believing that you've got it. That you've got HIM. That you ARE Him! As He is, so are we in this world. We were made in His image in the beginning, and then we were conformed to His image on the cross. Which is super important. Because if you don't know what His image is... or if you think His image is different than you're image... if you see Him as a saint and yourself as a sinner... then you'll always be trying to turn over that new leaf. Instead of, as we saw in the last Rant series, getting connected to a completely different tree. The Tree of Life. That's the key. Because you are what you eat. If you eat from the tree of death (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) you'll swing back and forth between good and evil. You'll never be able to balance the scales, as it were, and you'll never be able to rest. But if you eat the fruit of the Tree of Life--which is the fruit of the Spirit, which is love--then you'll be able TO love. Because your appetite will be satisfied, and instead of trying to get--or trying to do in order to be--you'll be able to give. In fact, it'll come naturally to you. You'll be so full of it (the love of God) that it WILL come out naturally!

I think one of the biggest roadblocks to "living the Christian life" is that we come at from the idea that we are sinners. We seem to have this idea of what we're "supposed to be" and it doesn't add up with what we are. This idea of perfection that, quite frankly, can't be reached no matter how hard we try. We want the carrot, but the stick keeps moving. And when the carrot continues to always be out of reach--when there's always (at least) one thing we lack--what happens is we get frustrated. We get disillusioned. We fall short and then we think, "I might as well just stay down." Let me say it another way: "You're hopeless, you religion scholars! You took the key of knowledge, but instead of unlocking the doors, you locked them. You won't go in yourself, and won't let anyone else in either" (Luke 11:52, MSG). Religion is like a hampster wheel--no matter how hard you try you never get anywhere. We think its the key to "changing" but really its a dead end street. Because the law was never given to us (at all if we're not Jewish, but that's for another day) to be kept. Look at Galatians 3:24-25, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." The law wasn't given in order to perfect us. The law, in fact, demands perfection without being able to produce perfection. All the law can do is point out what you do wrong. It can't help you do right. That's why Jesus nailed it to the cross--because it was contrary to us, and against us. It was given in order to bring us to Christ. To show us that we can't do it on our own. Because, according to Mark 11:22, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God." To me that's about the final word on faith. But sometimes its like we want to have faith in ourselves. Or we want to have faith in faith. We want to pull ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We want to work hard and get what we deserve. That's the natural mindset, right? An eye for an eye? If I do good I'll be rewarded? But then we never seem to be able to do good. We don't do the things we want to do, and we do the things we hate--under the law. Because we're trying to fight what we thing our nature is. We're trying to transform ourselves from sinner to saint through hard work. But we can't. With man it is impossible. But with God all things are possible. Have faith in GOD. (Have faith in love.) So here's where I wanted to get to, and where I want to spend the next few days: "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3-4). There's a lot there, but like I said we're going to get into it. For today my point is: The divine nature is not something we need. Its something we have. We simply need to partake of it through the knowledge of Him. Seeing is believing. When we know who we are we will stop trying to be someone we're not. And the love inside will come out... naturally.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree because it has the same seed. And a seed can only produce after its own kind. Now watch this to finish off this Rant series: "For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches" (Romans 11:16). Jesus is the firstfruit, right? He is the vine and we are the branches. So because He IS holy... we ARE holy. Holiness is not something to aspire to, or to jump through hoops for. Holiness is what we have. Holiness is who we are. And I'm telling you, this religious view of "denying yourself of all worldly pleasures in order to be holy"... guys... the most holy thing you can do is love someone. Because love is that incorruptible seed. Love is who Jesus IS. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. His holiness is our holiness. His righteousness is our righteousness. Not self-righteousness that is like unto filthy rags. Not Cain sacrificing what he could produce from the ground, but Abel sacrificing a lamb. The Lamb. The Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world. Now add this to that: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). Jesus is that incorruptible seed that died in order to bring forth much fruit. LOVE is that incorruptible seed! (Did I already say that? Well, you learn from repetition, as my dad always says.) So we see that when Jesus died--when He drew us all into Himself as He was raised up on the cross--He planted Himself in us. "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20). To paraphrase the Beatles, "I am you and you are me and we are all together." As He is, so are we in this world. So we don't ever have to try to be someone we're not. At the end of the day that's impossible, anyway. You can't give what you don't have, and you can't be someone you're not. How could you? So what we ought to do is learn about who we really are. Get away with our Beloved and let Him show us our true selves by showing us HIS true self. Which, again, is love. Pure and simple. And all these things that we see that we don't like... those things have already been dealt with. Its just surface stuff, anyway. So stop looking AT the mirror, or AT other people and start looking IN the mirror. Start looking INTO other people. I used to have a sign that said, "The light in me thinks the light in you is awesome." And I know sometimes that light seems like its buried down pretty deep. But the deep calls out to the deep. You can't beat hate with hate. You overcome evil with good, right? With GOD. With love. Loving the hell out of people because God loved the hell out of you. Knowing who you are so you can be who you are instead of trying (and failing) to be someone you're not. The firstfruit IS holy. Which means the lump IS holy. The Tree of Life is Jesus. We are in Him because He is in us. He is that vine and we are those branches. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. So bear it. Consume it. Enjoy it. Give it away. Share it. That's how we experience it! That's how we know and believe that we are loved--by loving each other! That's the Apple and the Tree! Love, love, and more love!

Its not until we know who God is that we will truly know who we are. Because we were made in His image and likeness in the beginning. And we were conformed to the image of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased on the cross. So its no wonder that Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God when they thought they were in trouble. They didn't know who He really was. They couldn't see clearly because the light of the world wasn't yet shining (on them or out of them). Look at what Jesus told Philip, "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:9). The disciples, Jesus' hand picked guys, walked and talked and ate with Him all day every day and still had no idea who He was or what He was talking about. Because without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to comprehend the love of God. John describes Jesus in this way, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:4-5). And, listen, you are NOT darkness. But there was a time (before the cross) when we are all IN darkness. But even then, the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the face of the deep. And catch this: Just because you don't know something is true... that doesn't mean it ISN'T true. Not knowing (or believing) the love of God doesn't mean He doesn't love you. Being IN the dark doesn't mean you ARE dark. God is light and there is no darkness IN Him at all. And as He is, so are we in this world. So there is no darkness in US at all. Darkness is not who we are, or where. Darkness IS, in a sense, where we came from. Because in the beginning God created the heaven and earth--the mind and the body... you--and it was dark and void and without form. Again, that doesn't mean you yourself were dark. It simply means you couldn't see things as they really were. Not only God spoke and said, "Let there be light." Not until God gave us His only begotten Son. And He did that because He so loved us. Loved us so much that He would literally rather die than be without us. That's the story of the Gospel--I love you, I love you, I can't stop loving you! Can't stop, won't stop. That's the Word (Jesus, love) of God. THAT'S where we came from. Nothing that was made wasn't made by Him. By love. For Him. For love. Our roots... are love. We were created because the God who IS love wanted to express Himself. To us, and in us, and through us. That's how we experience this everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life of God... we, throught the Holy Spirit, receive and release the love of God. Because the Holy Spirit is our love receptor. The Holy Spirit testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. Jesus came to show us the Father. And He did that by showing us Himself. A human being who knew (and believed) that He was loved, and loved other human beings with that same love. Like Father, like Son. Jesus showed us the Father, and showed us that we ARE the Son. And Jesus is a chip off the old block. Which means YOU are a chip off the old block. The apple truly didn't fall very far from the tree!

When we know where we came from, we know who we are. In the natural that can be good, or bad, or probably a bit of both. But in the Spiritual knowing where we came from means knowing that we come from God. From love. Look at John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." All things were made by love. And, by the way, all things were made FOR love. YOU were made for love. That's where you came from, that's why you're here. Love is your roots. Love is the incorruptible seed. A life of love--being loved by God and loving others with that same love--is the eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life of God! That is the life that lasts forever. Because love lasts forever. When God made things, in the beginning, in the garden of Eden, everything He made was good. He doesn't make mistakes. Love doesn't make mistakes. YOU are not a mistake, in other words. You were made for purpose, by purpose, and on purpose. Made in the image and likeness of God. In the image and likeness of LOVE. And then, better still, CONFORMED to image of God's beloved Son. Made in His image, but not knowing what that image was. Not knowing what love was. Until, on the cross, the light of the world shined. The light shined on us, and in us. Because we are that light. And, interestingly enough, Jesus identified us as the light of the world--the same light that He is--BEFORE the cross. The cross was the revelation of Jesus. The revelation of love. The love that we have always had. The love that we have always been. Apples and Trees. The DNA (Divine Nature of the Almighty) of our Father. What's in His heart--love--running through our veins. Because His heart beats with love in our chests. As He is, so are we in this world. Jesus said, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). We are in Him because He is in us. We are in Christ because Christ is in us. We are in love because love is in us. The key, as I was trying to say at the beginning of this Rant series, is knowing. Knowing and believing. When you know and believe that you are loved, that's when (and how) you CAN love. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. What you know you do have. Because you can't believe something that you don't know. That's why I say, "Knowing and believing." Look at 1 John 4:16, "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God--which is Jesus, which is love. Our faith IN love (faith in God) comes from hearing God say, "I love you." And, believe it or not, we heart it from each other. His heart beats in our chests, and His Word comes out of our mouths. His Word comes out in our actions. Charity... love in action. The Word made flesh. God loving us and then that love filling us to overflowing and coming out through us!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Because a seed can only produce after its own kind. That's why its so vitally important for us to know where we come from. To understand our roots. And, listen, I'm talking about the natural here... but even more so I'm talking about the Spiritual. Because things ARE herititary. We do get things--more than just our looks--from our parents. And they got them from their parents. I mentioned yesterday about how sometimes we see things in our children that we don't like in ourselves. But the best part about the cross is that it crossed out a lot of things. Everything, in fact, except love itself. Love HIMSELF. Remember how the gardener cast every tree that didn't bear good fruit into the fire? He cursed the fig tree because it couldn't bear ANY fruit. And it withered and died. So instead of swinging from "good" and "evil" which were both on the same tree, the tree of death... instead of trying to turn over a new leaf... what we really ought to do--and are now equipped and empowered to do through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth--is start eating the fruit from the only tree that's left. The Tree of Life. And, by the way, we ARE the fruit of that tree. Because the fruit of the Tree of Life is the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is love. Watch this: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23). I like it even better in the NLT, but I wanted to get that phrase "incorruptible seed" out of the KJV. Here it is in the New Living Translation, "For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God." A new life for a New Man. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. Jesus's life of LOVE. It comes from the living Word of God, right? And that Word is Jesus. That Word is love. God has only ever said one thing, "Let there be light." He has only ever said, "I love you, I love you, I love you. I can't stop loving you!" He said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And that's the ultimate truth of the universe: God is love, and He loves you. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. YOU are that Son. Jesus is your true identity. HE IS the Tree of Life. And we are branches on that Tree. The branches that bear the fruit... that we are. When we talk about sharing that fruit with those who need it--feeding those who are hungry, both naturally and Spiritually--we are talking about sharing OURSELVES with each other. Laying our lives down for our friends. Giving everything we have and everything we are to those that we come into contact with. Living forever by loving people with the knowledge that love lasts forever! So we don't need to worry about generational curses. We don't need to worry about the stuff we don't like about ourselves. Because the gardener has pruned us. Washed us. Presented us to Himself without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. A bride fit for the King of kings. That's our DNA (Divine Nature of the Almighty). Those are our roots. Royalty. Kings and priests to rule and reign on the earth. To rule and reign with love. Through love. For love. Because of love! Its all about love...!

Anytime I notice similarities between parents and their children you can bet I'll raise and eyebrow and say, "Apples and trees, man. Apples and trees." Because while I do believe that your environment does have a lot to say as far as molding you... well... let me say it this way: "The land produced vegetation--all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:12 NLT). A seed produces after its own kind. Apple seeds can't produce oranges. When people meet my father they always remark on how similar we are. Ditto when people meet me son. And I always tell them, "I am who I am for a reason." Because I am my father's son. I have his DNA. Do you see where I'm going with this? (And just so nobody feels left out, there are ways in which I am EXACTLY like my mother. Things that happen where I can shoot her a look because we both catch something that nobody else did.) And here's the thing: Seeing yourself in someone--especially someone you love--goes one of two ways. You either see yourself in them in a positive way, and can't believe how proud you are to have a little mini-me. Or you see things in them that you don't like about yourself. And the latter can be hard. Really, really, hard. Because we are who we are. And every New Year it seems like we target those things that we don't like. New Year's Resolutions, right? Or when someone calls us out on it... like... we know it's there. But we live with it as best we can until someone else throws it in our face. Then we think we need to change. Turn over a new leaf. But here's the deal: The leaf isn't the problem. The tree is the problem. Remember when Jesus rose from the dead and Mary thought she was the gardener? Well, she wasn't wrong. Look at Matthew 7:19, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Wait. Let's back up a little bit. In the garden of Eden there were two trees of note. The tree of knowledge of good and evil (the fig tree, the tree of death), and the Tree of Life. Man ate from the wrong tree. He ate from the tree of death and on that day he surely died. Because what else could the tree of death produce BUT death. God didn't punish man for eating of that tree. He tried to warn man not to eat of it. But mad did what man does. Now fast forward to the gardener. Casting THAT tree that couldn't produce good fruit into the fire. Mark 11:20 (NLT), "The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up." Which brings us to the book of Revelation where there is only the Tree of Life left. What I'm trying to say, and will try to say for the next few days, is that when you know what your roots are... you know who you really are. When you know what kind of tree you came from, you know what kind of fruit you are. Spoiler: The fruit of the Tree of Life... is love. The fruit that YOU are... is love. You are who you are for a reason. And that reason is that your heavenly Father loves you!