Apples and Trees part 5
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!