DEVOTION
09 / 23 / 05
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

• There I was reading God’s Word, praying and meditating on what I had just read … then I heard:

“Look up my child” (almost as if it were an audible voice)
So I looked up and saw a large tree … full of life and fullness.
“What do you see?”, seemed to be asked by this voice within.
I see a beautiful tree, I responded.
“Look at the tree more closely”, He replied.

• It was then that I saw a branch, a very large branch high up in the tree. It was without any life at all and full of death.
• This is where I will begin. The walk through God’s Word after this was like a walk on a deserted beach with a friend. One verse, after the other, the waves kept flowing to show. He seemed to talk to me as clear as a sunny day.

• The branch in the tree was like a soul … a human being who was a part of that tree for quite some time. I kept asking my Friend, “What caused that single branch, a branch surrounded with so much life … to just die? Did the tree suddenly cease to supply sap?” He replied, “The branch encountered a disease that ultimately brought about its death?”

• Remember the devotion I did some time ago about the Spirit and grafting? The summary was that once one starts to receive the sap (the Spirit) flowing through the vein … he or she is there permanently. I feel that God corrected me that day as He spoke to my heart about that dead branch in the tree. Now, this is not “Thus says the Lord!” … It is just a walk and what I found. I used to think (and was taught), that:
o Once the Spirit is given, we cannot lose our Salvation.
o It was after the “time of testing” that one would receive Him as the guarantee (This is where I was before this walk).

• Can a branch (people) ever be grafted into the Root (Yeshua, or Jesus) without accepting Sap (His Spirit)? Of course not; that branch would die. When one is grafted in to the Root … that appears to be the justification done by God (Since this can only be done by God. He is the one who calls and He is the one who justifies! (“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him …” … John 6:44a)) Obviously we cannot graft ourselves, either … that would be doing something to gain salvation. Although some try by saying mere words, yet that is not the case, but only a misinterpretation of what “profess” means (Isaiah 29:13 and Matthew 15:8). It is only by faith, and still, it is only a gift from God!! (Ephesians 2:8-9)

• So, back to the branch (I know I ramble) … what caused it to dry up and die? Why did it stop receiving the life-giving sap?
• Who are the “players”:
o (Sin) = this could be a disease or even bugs that may have invaded the branch at one time. The branch did NOT just die one day. It slowly stopped accepting the sap. Can that happen with us?
o (Children of God) = these are the branches that are part of the Tree
o (Our Savior) = Root / Trunk
o (His Spirit) = Sap / Life-giving Nutrition

BELOW ARE SOME VERSES THAT SEEM TO SAY (at first glance) … “ONCE TRULY SAVED … ALWAYS SAVED”:

• 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 … “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit on in hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (After reading the other verses, though, this guarantee seems to be good as long as we continue receiving the life-giving Sap sent from the Root. This started to make sense to me, then.)
• 2 Corinthians 5:5 … “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (The Spirit of God seems to be a deposit given freely to us. What IF we choose NOT to accept the deposit at any time? We simply give back the deposit … deal’s off. The rightful owner has His deposit (Spirit) back. BUT, if we keep His deposit, we are guaranteed what is to come!! This is the line of thinking that I seem to be seeing.)
• “Lord, what are you saying”, I asked. He kept pointing back to that branch and reality … “Look at that branch again. If it continued accepting the sap of the tree, would it have died?” I responded, no.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE IS “FRESHLY” GRAFTED IN? WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

• A newly grafted-in branch (or even a green sprout of a natural branch) is a mere infant. At this stage of life, we know nothing. About His Word or even who is feeding us. Let me ask you, does a newborn baby know His parents? How about the rules of the house and what to obey? Of course, not. But that baby is just as much part of the family as the older children. Salvation does NOT depend upon what one knows OR does … life has been given to the branch by the Sap sent by the Root! Read the next verse … It appears that these mere infants in Christ seem to be worldly and just starting to share in the nourishing sap. Just receiving knowledge … “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2) Worldly people are generally not in obedience to God’s Law … but they may still be part of the family. (Hint: Time will tell if it is truly part of the entire Tree) If the baby no longer gets food … death will result. So these infants need nourishment, or they too may die spiritually (and possibly never know it until judgment day). But for now … they are part of the family … saved and receiving the life-giving Sap from the Root.
• Just like a real young branch, it is at this stage that baby believers will easily accept lies, false doctrines and deceptions about the truth. (Just like a young sprout / branch that is still green on the outside … it is more acceptable to disease and death) Babies in Christ accept what ever they are taught because they do not know God and His Word fully, yet … they are still babies, mere infants … “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:14)
• So, can people lose their salvation at this point? I now believe they can. This stage of life is critical! It is at this infancy that they will usually accept anything they hear about God. It is usually at this stage that they fall away, or during times of extreme testing:
o “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.” (Luke 8:13)
o “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21)

DURING THE COURSE OF LIFE, THOUGH, CAN ONE LOSE HIS SALVATION (Or die because of rejecting the nourishing Sap)?

• Just like the branch that the Lord showed me … it did not die all at once. Something began to kill it and caused it to hardened its veins. It could have been a bug at first, or a disease that came around … but the death is usually a slow process. Sometimes, even storms blow down a dying branch only to find bugs INSIDE, that were not evident from the outside. We can only tell that death is looming by this branch lacking in producing fruit (leaves, etc… ) Spiritually, this represents sin. Sin is a disease that can eventually harden our hearts. Remember, we were justified by God and His work. But one may die because they chose to stop accepting the sanctifying work of His Spirit.
• “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION with fear and trembling, for it is God who works IN YOU to will and to act according to His good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13) (You see, during our entire life, we are supposed to be producing fruit for God. Fruit that is according to HIS purpose. We are to be GROWING as the Tree grows (Remember, the Root was only a seed at one time). It is when we fear and tremble before God, that we remain close to Him and attached to the Tree system … the Root and its Sap. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to put guards up to protect ourselves. We need to be held accountable by others who will let us know when we may be in a sin (have a disease that may start to kill us if we allow it to grow). (1 Corinthians 8:13 and Galatians 6:1)
• “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a FEARFUL EXPECTATION of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (Hebrews 10:26-27) (It did NOT say that we die if we deliberately sin … it did say that if deliberately KEEP ON sinning … we would be on the road to death. This is a warning … get the bugs off you … get to the Doctor so that He can cure you. WE would be the ones who are rejecting the sanctifying work of His Spirit (Who is attempting to write the Law on His children’s heart). The raging fire is NOT a guaranteed fate here … but the writer seems to be revealing that there are signs that may be the proof that the branch is starting to die … REJECTING the Sap’s sanctifying work. This is only a warning sign! It’s time to “spray for bugs” and “give special care to this branch”. This branch should start fearing, though!)
• “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:38-39) (Can we shrink back? Of course, we all do … we all back slide. Is God pleased when this happens? It appears not. The writer even goes on to the point of saying that those who shrink back are destroyed. So when we slip, it is critical to repent and turn from our wicked ways. This is where we count on His mercy and compassion. Shrinking back hinders and quenches the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19 … “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”) In other words, do not hinder the flow of Sap into your veins.)

Rejecting the sanctifying work of the Spirit will eventually stop the life of the Spirit from flowing into the branch … that branch will die … apart from God):

• Read the verses below carefully. This is no longer about infants … these are the older branches that the Gardener EXPECTS to produce fruit. These branches have been part of the Tree for some time and are mature. Attached securely to the Tree system. These are who the Gardener expects to see fruit from. What fruit does He expect? “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8)). We must accept that God, in His love, gave us His Laws to live by. Remember, sin is being without the Law … 1 John 3:4 … “Everyone who sins BREAKS the Law; in fact, sin IS LawLESSness.”) What happens if we grow along with the tree, but are barren, without fruit? What happens if we accept being justified, yet refuse to accept the sanctifying work of His Spirit … producing fruit (Obeying)? Let us read:

• “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10)
• “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that WILL produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43) (So WE are to be producing fruit. But man has been taught that there is no Law to obey!! Do you believe that? We all sin … God knows that. Is it intentional (we know and understand a rule of God’s, yet refuse to obey), or is it unintentional (because we do not know the Law yet, even though His Spirit may be TRYING to write it on our heart?))
• “He cuts off EVERY branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:2)
• “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:19)

LAST THOUGHTS:

• My friends … nowhere in the Bible does it say that we must reach a certain stage in our faith in order to be saved. We need not know anything to be part of the family, but have faith. Nether does lip service get you grafted in … it is the will of God and Him calling us. It is a process, like a real tree. Salvation is a gift (It is HE that justifies), but it seems that it is US who has the “free will” to reject the Spirit’s life-giving nourishment. In other words, God is trying to conform us to the IMAGE of the Tree we are attached to (That is the proof … some may be attached to the wrong tree. We can tell by the fruit they produce …. Matthew 7:16-20) A true child of God MUST be growing and producing fruit in accordance with, and in line to God’s Law (for it is THAT Law that the Spirit is writing on our hearts.) 2 Peter 1:5-9 even states that we MUST be adding to our faith; We must possess certain qualities in INCREASING measures (Remember … this is the proof that one is still alive in Christ … is still receiving His Spirit, the Sap.) Many have forgotten that we are to be CLEANSED from our sins … it is HE that cleanses us as He writes the Law on our hearts.

• Here are some verses that seem to reveal the disease (sin) that may cause one to eventually die:

o “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast (sin) works through the whole batch of dough.”” (Galatians 5:7-9) (Let us NOT let a sin control us. We must conform to the image of our Creator / Savior!)
o “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” (2 Peter 3:17) (All of us must stop and think … what is God’s truth and what is based upon tradition and man’s interpretation. God DOES care! He is patient and is waiting for many to repent and obey. (Romans 2:5 … “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are STORING up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.”) Just because the entire world or everyone around us is doing something, does NOT mean that it is right before God.)

• What does our Savior seem to be saying in the next verse?

“REMAIN in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can to do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”” (John 15:4-6)

• Yeshua (Jesus Christ) is telling us … IF we remain in Him … He promises to remain in us. If we continue to remain in Him, He guarantees what is to come!! If we do not remain in Him … we will die! That seems to be a guarantee, as well. (Just like the branch I saw). That branch did NOT remain in the tree. It was because of outside influences that the branch eventually died. It may have been a disease, or a simple hardening of its veins … The branch did not guard itself. That is how careful we must be to protect our faith, obey God out of love and live! We WILL be sanctified IF we are justified. The proof and the Gardener’s expectation is fruit (obedience). Those who claim to be justified are grafted into the Root of Jesse … Isaiah 11:10 and Romans 15:12. If we truly believe that … we will shudder and fall to our knees and obey (producing “fruit in keeping with repentance.”).
• Here’s another frightening verse for those who do not want to obey God (show fruit) … how long will it be until one is removed and discarded from the Tree? “So He (The owner … God) said to the man (Our Savior) who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (Luke 13:7-9)