By Chip Brogden of The School of Christ

The following article by Chip goes well with our articles about “Resting in the Spirit”. The New Covenant relationship is all about what Jesus has done and wants to do for us, yet we still try to do so much for ourselves. Enjoy this excellent article, rest in His Spirit and give God ground to perform a miracle.

“In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

These writings are meant to convey something of the depth of the Lord Jesus, that is, the Lord as INFINITE SUPPLY. Although material needs are important, what we have in mind here is not an earthly wealth or resource, but a spiritual treasury of blessings, all found in the Person of Christ.

Not too long ago I was ministering to the Lord and became conscious of how vast He is. It was then that I felt the Lord saying that in Him I have wealth and prosperity beyond imagination. He impressed me of my role as a steward, and in giving me the key to the Storehouse, indicated that every day I should take something of these riches and distribute them for the benefit of His Body. “But Lord,” I asked, “will there be Life in [yet another] daily list? Won’t people get tired of hearing from me everyday? And isn’t the message taken for granted when it is heard all the time?”

That is when the Lord showed me that HE IS INFINITE SUPPLY. There is never any lack of Life so long as we are abiding in Him. And who on earth would not like to have a daily deposit of money into their bank account? How much more should we long for the heavenly deposit of Christ in us, day by day? Indeed, he showed me that instead of holding back for fear of all the negatives, I ought to invest heavily into His Kingdom and into His Church and leave the results to Him. So I yielded to the Lord, and from there He opened the Scriptures to show me this principle over and over again.

I would like to make these deposits into your life as well, and to share with you what I am learning of the Heavenly Economy which centers around the Infinite Supply of the Lord Jesus.

The Bowl of Flour and the Jar of Oil

“…the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty…” (I Kings 17:14ff).

In a time of severe famine and drought, the Lord sent Elijah the prophet to Zarephath, saying, “I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.” How wonderful it must have been for Elijah, thinking that now he would not have to be fed by the ravens in the desert. Now he could go back to a normal life and not have to live by faith.

What a disappointment it must have been for him to finally meet this widow and discover she is no wealthy lady. Indeed, she has enough oil and flour to cook one last bit of bread for herself and her son. They plan to eat this “and die”. This does not sound like the Lord’s provision at all. Perhaps Elijah has not heard from God. Perhaps he has the wrong person.

But Elijah says, “Make me something to eat first, then go and make something for yourself.” How arrogant this man is. How selfish! How dare he ask this poor woman to give him anything. It would be better for him to go back to the desert and die. This man must be a false prophet, because he compounds his sin by claiming that the Lord is telling him to do this. “For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’”

Whatever you and I may think of the audacity of this man Elijah, it came to pass just as he said. The bowl was always full of flour and the jar was always full of oil. This speaks of the Infinite Supply of the Lord. But what would have happened if Elijah had said, “I will not ask this widow for anything”? He would have died. What would have happened if the widow had said, “I cannot give this man anything”? She would have died. Elijah was obedient in asking, and the widow was obedient in giving him what he asked for. Thus, the Lord was given ground to work a miracle. Every miracle in the Bible follows this pattern: someone hears from the Lord and does what the Lord says to do. It is just that simple.

“…pour out the oil into all the empty vessels” (II Kings 3:4ff).

With the prophet Elisha we find a similar situation that illustrates the Infinite Supply of the Lord. The creditors were coming to take the two sons of a widow away as slaves in order to pay her debt. This seems to be a hopeless situation indeed. There is no money, nothing of any value in all the house - except for a single pot of oil.

Elisha tells her to borrow as many vessels as she can and to fill them with oil from the pot. The oil continued to flow until every borrowed vessel was full. Then, she sold the oil, paid her debt, and lived with her sons on the money that was left over.

There is no lack of supply with the Lord. There is only a lack of willing vessels. The oil kept flowing until there were no more vessels to fill. A willing vessel is both yielded and empty. A vessel which is unwilling to be used cannot receive of the Infinite Supply. And a vessel which is already full cannot receive. The Life of the Lord is always looking for expression through a willing vessel that is both yielded and empty.

It is never a question of how to get the Life to flow, or how to get the Lord to move. To tap into the Infinite Supply it is only a matter of being yielded to the Lord and emptied of ourselves. When this happens then the Life will flow of its own accord. On the negative side, this Life answers to every assault of the Adversary and stops his harassment against us. On the positive side, this Life supplies us with all the spiritual resources we need to maintain our abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus. With less of me, there will be more of the Lord: this is a spiritual law. Therefore, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Every disciple of the Lord Jesus is at a different level of growth and spiritual maturity. But may I say that no matter how long you have walked with the Lord - be it several years or only a day - you have at least one “pot of oil” in your house.

Now what you do with that one pot of oil makes the difference between a victorious life and a defeated life. The single pot of oil is not much in and of itself. It is not sufficient to meet the demands of your creditors, nor is it sufficient to sustain your spiritual life. It is only sufficient when it is poured forth. The one who “saves” his life will lose his life, but the one who “pours out” his life will really have it in abundance.

Whenever Christians are gathered together there are two kinds of people represented. One kind is there to receive and to be fed, while the other kind is there to give away. It is a fact that the ones who are there to receive are always dissatisfied. They must return to the meeting week after week, sometimes several times a week, in order to receive something. For all their receiving, they never seem to have anything in abundance.

But the ones who are willing, yielded, and giving find that the Life is sufficient for the needs of those they come in contact with as well as their own needs. It is never a drain to be around a brother or a sister like this because something of the Lord is always pouring forth. The more they give away, the more abundant they become. It is as though they possess a strength which could keep them going forever. This Infinite Supply should be the normal experience of all disciples of the Lord.

The Cup That Overflows

“Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need… He anoints my head with oil, and my cup overflows” (Psalms 23:1,5b).

The Hebrew word for “overflows” here has in mind a cup filled with liquid that spills over the sides and into the saucer. This again speaks of the Infinite Supply of the Lord.

I hope we will not translate this into some material, physical, or earthly benefit. Certainly we trust the Lord to supply our material needs of food, shelter, clothing, and so forth. But the Infinite Supply of the Lord is a spiritual reality, a spiritual Life. It is an infusion of Heaven into Earth, but not with the idea of making our natural lives better on the earth. Rather, it is to make us see that our real life is not on the earth at all, but is in Christ, in the heavenly places (Colossians 3:1-4).

An anointed head and an overflowing cup - this is the hallmark of the Christian. An anointed head exudes a heavenly fragrance that sets us apart from the world, even though we walk about in it daily. It is bearing the Testimony of Jesus that witnesses of a heavenly reality that is quite distinct from the earthly fact. The overflowing cup means we have an ample supply of the Life of the Lord. If we can contain ourselves then we have yet to touch the Lord. For once we have indeed touched the Lord we will overflow. We will not be able to contain Him.

All who walk with the Shepherd should experience Infinite Supply: a never-ending flow of the Life, Light, and Love of the Lord Jesus Himself. This is the normal Christian life, and it is God’s provision for every disciple.

A Net That Cannot Hold

“Master, we have toiled all night, and caught nothing: nevertheless, at Your word, we will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5).

If we were to interview several Christians I think we would find many of them are like Simon Peter. They work and they toil but seldom do they see any result. So they become frustrated and tired. It seems as though they are running in quicksand. All too often they give up, thinking the Christian life is too difficult. Or they become “burned out” and leave the work the Lord called them to do.

There is only one solution for “burn out”. If only we would see that the Christian life is “not I, but Christ” (Galatians 2:20ff) we would see that God’s way is not for us to toil all night and catch nothing. We have our limits, and after a night of failure, we are ready to go home. So the key is to rely on Someone Who is limitless, and not make a move until we hear from Him. It is never a question of my own resources, but of His. I will always fail, but He cannot; therefore, I trust in His Life to do what I cannot do, and the Infinite Supply of the Lord is released.

Too often, when we toil all night and catch nothing, we look for something to blame: the weather is bad, the fish are not biting, the boat is too small, the water is too cold and so on. Or we travel from lake to lake, pond to pond, looking for the right “spot”. And sure enough, there is always someone willing to sell us a new boat, a special kind of bait or lure, or a manual for how to catch more fish. We work harder and harder, but are disappointed.

When we cease trying to do what we cannot do then the Lord will begin to do what only He can do anyway. The Lord is Infinite Supply. So it does not matter if we have much or little, if we are skilled or unskilled, if we are experienced or inexperienced. “And when they had done [what Jesus said to do] they caught a great multitude of fish, and the net broke” (Luke 5:6). Peter, James, and John can try as they might and do their best, but without the word of the Lord it is in vain. They might have saved themselves a lot of effort had they sought the word of the Lord to begin with. Which would you rather have: a whole night of wasted effort on your own, or five minutes of abundance with the Lord? Yes we should work, but first we must wait. And if we will wait for the Lord then we will have Infinite Supply for the work at hand.

Water Into Wine

“His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it’” (John 2:5).

The way to have Infinite Supply is to be thoroughly bankrupt of our own resources. Indeed, until we have reached the end of ourselves, we cannot accept what the Lord wishes to do. The problem is that we think we can still do something. We give it our best effort and only really trust the Lord after we have failed. The reality is that “apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5b).

In this instance we are again presented with Man’s impossibility. With Man there is limitation, but there is no such limitation with the Lord. With Man there is always “I cannot”, but with the Lord there is always, “I can”. Therefore, the answer is never with Man - Man’s thinking, Man’s ability, Man’s wisdom, Man’s support, Man’s help. The real solution is this: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

If we would only heed this advice from Mary. To be sure she has learned this in years gone by. Through many experiences she has at last learned where to go. Her automatic reflex now is to go to Jesus and lay the problem at His feet: “They have no wine.” That is all. In this relationship she makes no demands, she does not even ask Him outright to do something. He knows what she means. It is an understanding that is borne out of relationship.

And so the water was turned into wine. This Scripture says that in this way He “showed forth His glory” (John 2:11). “Showing forth His glory” is another way of saying He revealed something of Himself. This, brothers and sisters, is the whole purpose for the trial you find yourself in. It may be that you have no oil, no bread, no fish, or no wine. Whatever the situation, bring your problem to the Lord of Infinite Supply, and do whatever He says to do. He wishes to reveal His glory in you. He longs to see His Power displayed through your weakness. The very thing you see as a problem is really an opportunity to see Jesus in a depth you cannot otherwise see.

Bread and Fish are Multiplied

“Jesus looked and saw a large crowd of people beginning to gather around Him. So He asked Philip, ‘Where can we buy bread to feed these people?’ He said this only to test Philip’s reaction. Jesus already knew what He was about to do” (John 6:5,6).

Jesus desires to show forth His glory, to reveal Himself to us in the midst of our weakness. When we see a need we grow frustrated. But when Jesus sees a need He already knows what He wants to do. Not only will He meet the need, but He will reveal Himself in the process. Sometimes He will leave the need unmet, at least for a season, and just reveal Himself to us as All that we need (II Corinthians 12:8,9).

This explains why it sometimes appears that the Lord delays in answering us. He already knows what He is going to do, but we do not know. He waits for us to see if we will trust Him as Infinite Supply. Is Jesus “Lord” only after He answers us? Or is Jesus “Lord” whether He answers us or not? The Lord’s “proving ground” is just there, in between the Need and the Answer. And sometimes it is, indeed, quite a stretching, and a thorough test.

Now the Lord does not tempt us with the intent of making us stumble. That is the way the adversary works. No, the Lord indeed tests us and proves us, but His Way is to strengthen us in the testing, whereas the devil wants to weaken us in the testing. It has been said that our circumstances will either leave us better or they will leave us bitter. Ultimately, the decision is ours. We should steadfastly resist the temptation of satan, but we should also learn to distinguish between the assault of the enemy and the proving of the Lord.

Jesus already knows what He is going to do. In His mind it is as good as done. But He waits, and He proves us. Not because He does not know us, but because we do not know ourselves.

“Jesus took the five loaves, blessed them, and gave them to the disciples to pass out to the people who were sitting. He did the same with the two fish. And everyone ate until they were filled… and they gathered twelve baskets of loaves that were left over” (John 6:11,13ff).

There is much to be learned from this miracle of the loaves and fishes. In the way the food is distributed we learn something of Infinite Supply. First, Jesus gave instructions through His disciples for everyone to sit down. We see that only the ones who were seated were fed (v.11). So Infinite Supply only comes to those who are at rest, not those who are standing or walking about.

Next, we see that the distribution begins with Jesus, goes through His disciples, and finally reaches the people who are seated. This indicates that the disciples of the Lord Jesus, while possessing nothing of themselves, are the channel through which the Lord desires to bring Life to the world. He will do nothing apart from His Church. This explains why the more Life we give away the more Life we receive. The Lord moves through open vessels, not closed vessels.

But most importantly, we see that the only thing that matters in our work for the Lord is the Lord’s Blessing. We are always looking at the need when we should instead look to the Lord. Whether we have much, or whether we have little, is of no concern at all. Here is a need. The Lord has compassion on the multitude and wants us to feed them. So we take inventory of what we have and find only a few loaves and fishes. Let us bring that to the Lord and lay it at His feet. Since what the Lord is asking is beyond what we can do, we can and should expect a miracle. Indeed, that is why He puts us in impossible situations.

When confronted with such a circumstance we should remember that if we have the Blessing of the Lord then He can multiply what little we have and will even give us “twelve baskets” remaining. But without the Blessing of the Lord, “two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them to even taste a little” (John 6:7). So the issue is never what we have or what we are doing, but rather, do we have the Lord’s blessing? With the Lord’s Blessing we have Infinite Supply. Practically speaking, it means instead of trying to convince the Lord to bless what I want to do or what I think needs to be done, I should find out first what the Lord wants to BLESS and do THAT instead. Remember, “Jesus already knew what He was going to do” (John 6:6b). Thus, we pray, “Not my will, but Your Will be done; not my kingdom, but Your Kingdom come.” And then we enjoy the Lord’s Blessing on our work.

Daily Bread For Those Who Seek First the Kingdom

“Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

I just wrote that instead of trying to convince the Lord to bless what I want to do, or what I think needs to be done, I should find out first what the Lord wants to BLESS and do THAT instead. We should not try to get the Lord involved in what we are doing. That is to bring Him down to our level of understanding. Instead, we should discern and perceive what the Lord is doing, and align ourselves with His Will and His Kingdom: “Not my will, not my need, not my plan, not my purpose, but Your Will, Your Need, Your Plan, Your Purpose be done”. That will bring us up and onto the Lord’s ground, which is in heavenly places. That ensures the Blessing of the Lord. We must stop bringing the Lord down to our level. We must go up to His level. Otherwise we remain shackled to the earth, when our True Life is in heaven (Colossians 3:2,3).

All who seek first the Kingdom of God will find their needs are met (Matthew 6:33). A word of caution is in order, however, because most of the time we do not even know what we need, or what we think we need we really do not need at all. In fact, for us to always get what we think we need would be a curse, and not a blessing.

So the principle here is not to seek for “needs” but to seek the Kingdom - to find out what God “needs”, and give it to Him (cf. Luke 17:7-10). When we have met His Need then our needs will be supplied, be they spiritual or material. When we are aligned with God’s Will and God’s Kingdom then we have a powerful Ally, for He is working “ALL THINGS together…according to His Purpose” (Romans 8:28). This tremendous energy of God is working in all things, past, present and future, and bringing them into perfect alignment beneath Christ as All in All. When we are cooperating with this, instead of resisting it, we have the authority of heaven and the Infinite Supply of the Lord backing us up.

So when we pray, “Father in heaven! May Your Name be sanctified, may Your Kingdom come, may Your Will be done: as in heaven, so in earth!” it is quite natural to pray for daily bread (Infinite Supply). For anyone who rises up to pray in this manner will find satan comes immediately to dissuade them from this kind of prayer, to cut off their heavenly supply lines and bring them back down to earth. For when we pray after this manner we are not asking for ourselves. We are asking God to supply, strengthen, support, and protect His Remnant who stand for His Will on the earth. We are asking for Infinite Supply, that the Name, the Kingdom, and the Will would have the preeminence. Every day the adversary comes to steal, kill, and destroy; and every day the Lord gives us Infinite Supply in response to our prayers. Thus, the dragon is defeated daily, and the preeminence of Jesus Christ is demonstrated daily - but only if we pray after this manner.

The Source of Infinite Supply

“Of His fullness have we all received, blessing upon blessing” (John 1:16).

We have all received the fullness of the Lord Jesus, and every spiritual blessing is in Him (Ephesians 1:3). Hence, every disciple of the Lord has Infinite Supply. It is not that some are full, and some are half full, and some have little, and some have nothing, for “we have ALL received”. It is not really that we need more from the Lord, because we have already received of His fullness. It is not receiving something new, it is releasing what is already there. Thus, the Living Waters do not fall upon us from without, but spring up from within (cf. John 7:37-39).

“You are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10a). The truth is that you are no more complete in Him today than you were when you first received Him, however long ago that may have been. And you will never be any more complete in Him than you are right now. You are complete in Him - of course, in yourself, you are far from complete, but that is not the issue. “In me” I am growing, learning, struggling, maturing. But the issue is not “me”. The issue is, “not I, but Christ”.

With less of me, there is more of Him. That is why we say that true spiritual growth is not more knowledge or increase of years. It is simply more of Christ and less of me. In time we will learn not to be discouraged or depressed should we run low on oil, bread, fish, or wine - or even the spiritual graces these earthly things are meant to represent. This is only the decreasing of Self which makes way for the increasing of Christ (John 3:30). Eventually we will view every weakness of ours as an opportunity to see Christ revealed as Strength. Every momentary “lack” is an opportunity to see Christ as Infinite Supply. For this is the Will and Purpose of God: that Christ may be All in All.

Father: we trust in You, we wait for You, our hope is in You. We thank you for the Infinite Supply of the Lord. Supply and strengthen the Remnant of Your people this day, that Your Kingdom would suffer no loss. May Your Will be accomplished, and Your Name be glorified in heaven and in earth. Amen.

© 1997-2007 Chip Brogden and TheSchoolOfChrist.Org.
Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.

Rest in the Spirit

Without a doubt, part of the key to learning to live in the Tree of Life is to learn to “rest” in the very spirit of Jesus Christ. When we are weary, heavily burdened by religion, Jesus calls us to himself and promises us rest. Why, why, why is rest an action verb for so many leaders?

Jesus was serious. As long as we, with our wonderful driven personalities, keep striving and trying to do it all by our own strength, we can never rest in the spirit. We will run by our own resources until we come to an end of ourselves, and burnout.

I live in Colorado and have been rock climbing for 37 years. Let me use a climbing example to make a point. Picture in your mind the scariest mountain face or rock wall you have ever seen. My task is to surmount this “impossible” goal.

I might start by buying rock climbing books and reading them over and over. But I find when I go out to the rock, I can’t make much of the advice and teaching work. So I read and re-read the books again. But the more I try the more frustrated I become. So, I start attending climbing conferences and seminars even when I can’t afford it. I want to learn from the big name speakers who entitle some of their lectures “Seven Keys to Climbing Cracks”, and “The Golden Secret of Face Climbing”. I attend conference after conference and re-read all my instruction books, yet I can’t apply it well enough to climb this rock wall. I become even more frustrated. What’s wrong with me?

Next I obtain a teacher. A master. I travel up to Estes Park, Colorado and get personal instruction from one of the best in the world - a young man named Tommy Caldwell. He shows me how he does it. I try to imitate Tommy. If this is how Tommy jams his hand in the crack, then I jam my hand exactly the same way. If this is how Tommy jams his climbing shoe in the crack, then that’s exactly how I jam my shoe in the crack. The more I try to imitate Tommy, the more I fail and the more I want to throw away all my climbing gear and buy a bowling ball! Imitating the master seems like a short cut to burnout.

Tommy has power and strength in a different dimension than I do. As hard as I try, my biceps, forearms and legs only have so much strength and endurance. My attempts to imitate Tommy only leave me feeling like a complete failure. My desire and reality seem to be growing apart - a sure sign burnout is growing within me.

Now, what if? What if the very spirit of Tommy Caldwell could enter into my being. His spirit filling me, and working with my muscles, and my mind and my desires. Tommy’s thoughts become my thoughts. Tommy’s power and strength become my strength. He maintains his personality and I maintain mine. After all, he’s Tommy Caldwell and I’m Kim Wenzel!

Now, Tommy starts to climb the rock wall, using my body to climb. His spirit guides and directs my every move. What’s my role? Staying out of the way - just rest in Tommy’s spirit. My muscles can now draw on a power and strength beyond themselves. My nerves, ligaments and muscles now work in perfect harmony.

I don’t have to worry myself silly about all the safety laws and rules governing climbing - Tommy’s spirit is in total harmony with all the rules. I don’t have to worry myself silly trying to remember all the principles in the climbing books I have read - Tommy’s spirit is the sum total of all the books, methods, priciples and techniques.

I no longer need to stress myself out and get headaches trying to decide which hand holds to use. Even this stress can be left up to Tommy. The more I understand this concept, the more I really can rest in him.

But, if I ever decide to step in and choose a different hand hold than the one Tommy wants to use, his spirit will back off and let me do it my way. This quickly leads to muscle fatigue and burnout. I start to panic and complain and scream and even start to blame Tommy for the mess I quickly find myself in.

Resting in Tommy’s spirit puts me into a situation where my responses to the lead of his spirit can be called faith. Tommy’s spirit directs my arm up and jams two fingers in a crack. I look at my situation. I am 1,000 feet off the ground on the rock wall. Tommy’s spirit has jammed only two of my fingers into the crack. Fear of falling to my death seems too real to ignore. What do I do? My response to the lead of Tommy’s spirit reveals my faith. I either trust Tommy with my life or I don’t. Either he knows what he is doing, or he doesn’t. Either he has my best interests at heart or he doesn’t. I may choose to step out of resting mode and direct my entire arm to fit into the crack. Tommy’s spirit will allow this. Now I find I cannot move upward or downward! I’m stuck in the crack, rapidly growing tired and frustrated. Tommy’s spirit is very kind. He does not laugh at me, or say, “I told you so.”

If I never learn to rest in Tommy’s spirit, then all my talk about faith is meaningless. The word has no real application when I am not working with Tommy’s spirit. My faith is a response to his lead. The rest of faith occurs when I stay out of the way and enjoy the climb Tommy’s doing using my body. Burnout is what occurs when I keep stepping in and trying to climb the unclimbable wall myself.

When I learn to rest in the very spirit of Tommy Caldwell, I find myself reaching the summit of the mountain. But here is another potential problem of my flesh. I, Kim, stand on the summit, but, it’s Tommy who gets all the glory. After all, he is the one who just did the climb - all of it - using my body. Tommy has the right to raise his arms and shout for joy in success. My flesh wars against this. My flesh wants to raise it’s arms and shout, “I did it!”

Tommy getting all the glory is no small pebble along the mountain trail. This is a stumbling stone. In reality, it is the very cornerstone of a successful climb to the summit, but, to the flesh it is a stumbling stone. The spirit of Tommy Caldwell will allow my flesh to take over the climb as many times as need be to where I totally burn out in a heap of exhaustion. I must come to the place where I unconditionally surrender and rest.

Hard question. How much of your ministry and walk has been resting in the spirit? Answer to yourself honestly and it may be the beginning of a whole new chapter of your life!

In part 10, we will discuss how “resting in Jesus’ spirit” is a short cut to deeper repentance, holiness, character building and having the very mind of Christ - a Tree of Life mind and heart.

Practical Application

When living in the TKGE comes so naturally to human nature, and is so prevalent in our society, what does Tree of Life living look like in everyday application?

When you live in the Tree of Life you walk in a simple, childlike innocence. You are not an expert in right and wrong , good and evil. You have a childlike approach to life and relationships. The abilities that come with the TKGE , which are - know, blame and judge - are not a part of your personality or life style.

When you meet people, you have a beaming smile on your face, not a frown of evaluation and caution. When you open your mouth and speak, words of life come out, even when speaking with someone who greatly dislikes you. You speak words of life because it leads to life. You avoid gossip because it leads to death. You speak the truth because it leads to life, and lying leads to death.

Everything you do leads to life in you and in others. You avoid those things that are very common but lead you or others toward death. When you are accused by others, you speak blessings into their lives. When a staff member does something wrong you work with them in love and bless them and love them into better service. You don’t get into mini sermons on right and wrong and moralizing until the staff member decides working in another church would be fun.

When the worship leader forgets his guitar, you don’t get angry or frustrated. You speak life into him and into the congregation, and then get on with worshiping God which leads to life. How church service “looks” that morning is not important, and certainly doesn’t affect your image.

The main issue here is life. Making life choices in thousands of decisions everyday, is Tree of Life living. It may seem natural to accuse your teen of laziness when you find the sink still full of dishes, but does accusing lead to life when we may not know the whole story?

Maybe you’re a youth pastor, and you are upset at a young man in your group who shows up for services with more body percing than a Spanish bull near the end of a bullfight! So are you going to speak life into him, or allow your worries about how it makes your youth group look cause you to try and control and brow beat him? Life or death. That’s what it is about. If you go off running around worrying about right and wrong , good and evil, and you will wear out and burnout in due time.

Life and death. Life does not come from expertise in good and evil, but, it does come from the revelation of life and death. Unless you and I can understand this, we should not re-enter ministry. Unless we can understand this we will never be life-giving ministry leaders.

Everything we do and say should be because those actions or statements lead to life. We should not do and say things because we are angry, insulted, embarrassed, fearful, intimidated or wounded.

Everything should lead to life. Even tithing. Why do you tithe? Because God commands it? Because your denomination teaches so? Because it sets the right example? Because if you don’t God will fry you in hell? Because there is a big fat promise in Malachi of blessings and you want to cash in? Or, do you tithe because it leads to life in you and others? Do you tithe because being a cheerful giver leads to life?

It’s true, being a cheerful giver in any area of life leads to life. Writing a nice big fat tithe check on Sunday morning with deep regret in your heart only leads to death in your spirit.

The innocence in the Tree of Life comes from knowing Jesus personally. The purely intellectual believer who knows much about Jesus, but doesn’t know Jesus from the heart will find it impossible to walk in this type of innocence. When you have this innocense, the anointing can flow freely. Without this innocence, well, knowledge is all you have.

Since it is all about life and death, how can we tell if we are living in the Tree of life? With time, and understanding that it is a heart issue, you will know easily. Here is one interesting test. How do you react to other people’s sin? Do you respond with life? If you do, you will experience something Jesus died to give us - freedom! If you respond with a sour spirit to their sin or your own sin, then you have eaten of the wrong tree. If your response is free from victimization, you are well on the road to the Tree of Life.

Choosing Life

As we go through life as a ministry leader or lay-member, we make choices. The choices we make move us in a direction, either toward death or toward life. Toward God or toward the world and it’s operating system - which leads to death.

When a ministry leader slides toward the world’s operating system and still hopes for Tree of Life results in his/her ministry, disappointment and disillusionment are inevitable. The TKGE method of ministry has wonderful promises, with all its formulas, cliches, and programs. In view of all this exciting sophistication, the simple innocence of the Tree of Life seems so naive.

Please remember, Christianity is a relationship between bride (church) and groom (Lord Jesus) and it is not a religion. If you have an old version of the dictionary, look up the usage of the word religion from a generation ago. One of the first usages listed is, “a return to bondage.” Bondage or slavery wears you out. You end up exhausted and totally depleted of your own resources, because that’s the energy source you are relying on. All the formulas, rituals and techniques you are using are getting very mixed results in your ministry. You’re trying harder each week or month to make it work, and your frustration with people and God is growing. You have entered into self-imposed bondage like an athlete training for a marathon, and you are growing weary.

In scripture we see Jesus sitting down and viewing the crowds. He weeps because they wander like sheep without a shepherd. Their weariness is so obvious to Jesus. They are caught in religion, and it is taking the people to death, step by step, with all the teaching about right and wrong, good and evil. The crowds are worn out, and still so far from God they don’t recognize him when he walks up to them and says hello. The TKGE seems sensible to so many people that many a ministry leader becomes seduced by its fruits.

The Tree of Life is not about right and wrong, good and evil. The Tree of Life is about life. If you choose to become an expert in right and wrong , good and evil, you are moving toward death. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were experts in this area. They could spot a sinner from a mile (how many cubits is that?) away. Even when they were technically correct, death surrounded them and infected everyone they came in contact with.

Jesus, however, walked in life. Life was so appealing to the sinner, they often invited Jesus over for a meal and fellowship. The sinner never felt evaluated, judged, or condemned by Jesus. They loved his presence, and the hope and respect he gave to them. It was fun to be around Life. It was invigorating for these people. Life made them feel very different than religion. Life filled them with joy and hope. The religion of the scribes and pharisees made them feel hopelessly condemned to failure.

People who live in the TKGE often have a presentation problem. In other words, when they see a woman who is a prostitute, they see a fallen failure. A sinner! If you walk in the Tree of Life like Jesus, you see a woman who is a child of God. She may be lost at the moment, but she is one of His, and needs to be treated with love and respect. Jesus never called anyone a sinner. He referred to them as lost. When something valuable is lost, you spend time finding it. It is something precious, not something to be scorned. Jesus much preferred hanging out with the prostitutes, tax collectors, thieves, lepers, and street people - than the religious. Religious people are rarely fun to be around. To Jesus, breathing life into the lost was so much easier than breathing life into the religious! You can not eat the fruit from the Tree of Life when you live in the branches of the TKGE.

God set before his people life and death, and recommended to them to choose life. Life is Jesus. He makes that clear to us in no uncertain terms.

The bread of life - John 6:35,48
The living bread - John 6:51
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life - John 6:53
I am the resurrection and the life - John 11:25
I am the way the truth and the life - John 14:6
The Messiah - John 4:26
The light - John 9:5
The Gate - John 10:7
The son of God - John 10:36
The Lord - John 13:13
The Vine - John15:1
The Alpha and the Omega - Rev. 1:8,17

It is by focusing on Jesus and making him the very center of our lives that we will find life, and escape the thinking of the TKGE. When you choose life, you are choosing a whole new way to think - one not taught at seminary. When you choose life, you are choosing the deepest form of repentance.

An old definition of repentance is, “turn and go the other way.” Turning and going the other way is a by-product of repentance, not repentance itself. We need a new way of thinking. We need a renewing of the mind.

Rick Warren once gave a great story defining repentance. If you have a motor boat with an auto-pilot set to south, you can grab the steering wheel and turn the direction around to north. As long as you exert effort and determination you can keep the boat going north. At some point you are going to get tired or bored or fed-up exerting effort to force the boat to go north. At some point you let go of the steering wheel and instantly the auto-pilot turns the boat south. The “mind” of the boat had remained the same even when a will was exerted to force a different direction. What is needed is to reprogram the auto-pilot (renew the mind) and then it becomes ten times easier to travel in the correct direction. Repentance is a change of mind - and the change of direction is a fruit or by-product of that change (renewing).

When we choose the Tree of Life (and don’t assume you already have) we are choosing a whole new way to think, relate and minister. We are choosing a deep form of repentance that opens a new door to life than may be beyond what our hurting, burned-out, cynical, angry heart and mind can presently understand.

Under the Bark

“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love of the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world - wanting your own way (fear and selfishness), wanting everything for yourself (greed), wanting to appear important (pride)- has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out - but who ever does what God wants is set for eternity.”
1 John 2:15-17 The Message (emphases mine)

Let’s have a good look at Genesis chapter 3 again and see how the roots of the TKGE branch out in the limbs of the tree and bear fruit that is definitely not good. The serpent questioned God’s character and integrity by making Adam and Eve wonder if God had their best interests at heart. Pride and greed were stirred in the people.

The root of pride hidden under the dirt where eyes can’t see, branches out into a limb that becomes visible to all. We can call the tree limb control, an obvious expression of pride. The serpent was offering what sounded like a better level of control. Now the people could see and know good and evil for themselves. They now could decide for themselves what is right and wrong. They now could determine success and failure. They now had a new value system, not coming from God. They now had a new world view, not coming from God.

Once this limb of control has developed, what is the fruit it produces? We could call it superficiality. Mankind convinces himself he is really in control of his life and has his act together. He no longer is totally dependant upon God, no, far from it. He now has become his own god. This results in mankind having to wear masks in addition to fig leaves to keep up the facade of success. So, if you have the most dynamic worship band in town, you must be a great worship leader, or even senior pastor. If you had more baptisms at your church last year than any other church in town, you must be successful leader who’s got it together! If your youth group appears to be well organized and disciplined you must be the best youth pastor in the state - even if you have to use strong threats to keep them in line! So what if they call you Saddam Hussein behind your back - as long as it all looks good in public!

Modern man finds this fruit of superficiality manifest in ten thousand activities that define success - while their relationships with spouse, children, God and brethren suffer and die. A Tree of Life leader understands Christianity is a relationship, not a religion, and relationships take first precedent over “busy-ness.” A Tree of Life leader understands the life flow of God is through dynamic relationships, not religious activities.

Have you ever been eyeball to eyeball in an important conversation, two human spirits interacting with the flow of the Holy Spirit present - and the other persons cell phone rings? Suddenly, the live, one on one conversation is dropped like a hot potato, and the unknown invisible caller on the other end of the call is given first priority.

“Hello, uh, no, no, I don’t want to buy a year’s supply of cat food. No, no, thanks anyway. Goodbye.” The TKGE has long-reaching vines into every area of life. Destroyed relationships is it’s common fruit.

Greed is another long dirt covered root of the TKGE. The serpent appealed to Adam and Eve’s desire to be more like God. The desire turned evil, and became greed. The desire to be like God overwhelmed the desire to obey God. For modern man, greed often manifests in materialism, or perceived power or influence over others. This branch or limb of materialism or influence produces a fruit we can call distraction. Adam and Eve were distracted to the point of disobedience. How often are we so preoccupied with tasks and obtaining and achieving we are distracted from a deep relationship with the Lord Jesus? Again, we see the contrast between the two trees. A Tree of Life leader will focus on knowing and relating to Jesus more everyday, understanding God’s life flow is through that relationship.

How many pastors and ministry leaders have I met in the past thirty years who have had so many goals and visions they ended up missing out all together on a wonderful rest with Jesus and in Jesus? Far too many. There are the pastors who read every church growth book ever printed, and still the church doesn’t grow - but in the meantime the pastor’s children have grown up and moved out and he doesn’t know it yet! How many believers spend half their life and most of their money racing from conference to conference to hear the latest greatest speaker, hoping somehow “it” will all come together and their Christianity will work for them? For some, the endless conferences are the “addiction kick” you get when you attend your monthly multi-level marketing meeting on your way to riches, fame and fortune - or great heartache.

Distraction is often the opposite of focus. Don’t be the ministry leader who is going to save the whole world. Focus on your gifting and become a pillar in that area. Become the expert in a small area, and leave plenty of time for Jesus - after all he is the center of the plan - not you.

Fear is another major root in the TKGE. The visible limb is called insecurity. It causes us to run and run hard like Adam and Eve. The fruit is called, driven. We want to feel secure. We don’t like failure. We want everyone to believe in us. We drive ourselves, and sometimes we even drive others to the breaking point. Fear causes us to hide, hide from God, or mate or reality.

Drivenness is not the classic Type A personality that is so admired and worshiped here in America. As a Canadian living in America I am always amazed how the very roots of American culture going all the way back to 1776, are incorporated into American Christianity. Success in life, business and sports are all part of the American version of the Gospel. I have always been amazed how many of the apostles and early church fathers would have been labeled total failures by the expectations that are preached in many pulpits today.

Drivenness disguises itself sometimes as godly commitment, dedication, sacrifice for the Lord, and a dozen other terms. Jerome Daly says it well in his excellent book, Soul Space, “Drivenness is not a quality of the Kingdom of God. Passion is, perseverance is, determination is, but drivenness is not! If you regularly feel pressured, stressed, and always behind, then you probably struggle with drivenness.” Much better to simple rest (Matt 11:28) in the very spirit of Jesus.

So, what do these roots of the TKGE look like - fear, pride and greed - in a ministry leader? A ministry leader who lives and operates in the TKGE will have a lot of secrets and insecurities. It will be very important that the ministry look good on the outside, and a level of legalism (control) will be incorporated to insure this. Fear religion will creep in and signs of control and more control will grow. A negative dark spirit (attitude) may become very evident, and the sermons, or teachings will have a corrective tone to them far more often than inspiration or encouragement. The unconditional love of Father will not be talked about much if at all, and God may be presented more in judgment language than in love language.

People will not be given their freedom, and the only way things should be done is the way the ministry leader would do them. This expresses itself in constant evaluation of people and actions and the giving of unsolicited advice too quickly and too frequently. Freedom and creativity are stifled in the group, and love is not the most obvious quality followers notice in the ministry leader. God forbid you should ever have a different interpretation of scripture then the ministry leader in the TKGE.

• Do or did you desire more control in your ministry?
• Did you wear a mask, or were you who you truly are?
• How big is your carnal ego? How important was it for everything to look right on the outside?
• Honestly, how much do you worry about what people think?
• Are you more relationship oriented, or task oriented? Are you sure? Does it bother you when tasks are not done and therefore things look disorganized?
• How much does it bother you when tasks are not completed? Does your wrath sometimes spill out on the brethren or your own family?
• Would others describe you as a relationship oriented leader with sharp focus, or a person of endless goals and dreams?
• Have you started building your “pillar” in the church so many times in so many different avenues that you look back on your ministry and what you see are a dozen pillars of various heights, but none of them reach the roof?
• Can you clearly see the difference between passion and drivenness?
• Do you have secrets and insecurities?