Trees Everywhere

Last night I was doing some more in a personal study of Galatians (I am currently on a Grace mission, reading anything and everything I can get my hands on about Grace from Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians to Swindoll, Yancey, and Lucado) when I read something that made a light click on in my head.

What clicked was an insight into the Garden of Eden and the Two trees in the midst. First off (on a related note) I realized Adam failed his test in a Garden and Jesus passed his test in a Garden. That is not the insight I would like to cover today, just a related insight I had a few weeks ago. Today's insight was about the Two Trees that were in the center of the Garden.

At the risk of allegorizing or misinterpreting (or reading too much into) scripture, I realized that the story is the same as we face now. God told Adam he could eat of any tree in the Garden EXCEPT the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He could eat of the Tree of Life (or could as I read it anyway, the only tree forbidden was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). The Tree of Life would grant eternal life (live forever). Anyway, IF Adam were to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he would surely die.

Partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would open Adam's eyes to Good and Evil, to truth, etc. This is just like The Law given to Moses, The Law does not save us or protect us. All the Law does is open our eyes to our sin, it opens our eyes to our true condition, opens our eyes to how far from perfection we fall. IS this not what the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil did for and to Adam?? He did not die immediately, but his eyes were opened to his true state (his fallen state, his nakedness, etc). The Law does the same for us.. it opens our eyes.

Also the Tree of Life is similar (if not a type of) Christ. It is the Cross, Jesus on the Cross. The Cross is our Tree of Life. We face the same choice today as Adam did in the Garden, we can eat of any fruit in the world but if we choose wrong we will suffer death. We need to choose correctly, choose the Tree of Life (The Cross) rather than the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (The Law). The Law may seem appealing, it may seem to be juicier.. in that if we can uphold all it says we can save ourselves (or that is how it appears to us anyway.. I know the Law cannot and does not save us, just using the analogy). But it will just doom us instead. We must choose Jesus and what he did on the Cross. We must choose the Tree of Life.

Cardboard Testimonies

These speak for themselves and I find to be truly uplifting and blessing. I have included a few links, but you can You Tube many more.. just put in Cardboard Testimonies.. but at least watch a few of these, you won't be sorry for the time they take.

The I AM we all hear

I spent last night furiously writing a list of topics I want to be the first few posts here and have to control my enthusiasm to space them out over time instead of throwing them all out there at once. But the first one I want to put out is a thought that I have had for a few weeks now, one that has really been speaking to me and I hope touches you in some way or another. This is not a professional speaking or will even flow smoothly, it will probably be more "stream of consciousness" but it is something that I need to get out.

We all hear a voice inside of us saying "I AM", to some of us it may be loud, to others is quiet and soft, but we ALL hear it nonetheless. It is how we interpret it that makes all the difference. Many today hear this voice and take it to be coming from themselves telling them who they are and what their place in the world is. They interpret this to be their ego, their desire, their driving force so to speak. They say that this is what drives them to be all they can be, to persevere through life and overcome. This takes the form of "I Am all that matters", or "I Am #1", or "I Am better than everyone else". They use this to justify their lying, their cheating, their stepping on anyone and everyone who gets in their way to success. They take this "I AM" they hear make it all about them.

But that isn't what the voice is or the message it is bringing. "I AM" is not ourselves telling us about who we are or what we deserve or where we belong, what is due us. Instead the "I AM" is GOD speaking to us, trying to get our attention. He is trying to tell us about himself, who he is, what he is like. GOD wants a relationship with you, he wants you to know him as he wants to know you, he wants to be welcome and he wants to welcome you. Those who think the "I AM" is all about themselves are not that far off. "I AM is all that matters", "I AM is #1", and "I AM is better than everyone else", however where they go wrong is applying to themselves instead of GOD. We must hear the voice for what it truly is, otherwise we misapply it and create nothing but sorrow and pain and misery.

There is a GOD shaped hole in everyone of us whether we want to admit it or not. It cries out to us for filling, to be whole. GOD speaks to us from that hole telling us "I AM"-who he is; he wants to come in and fill in the whole and complete us. We only really have two choices, we can either listen to the voice as it truly is and hear GOD, or we can make the voice about us and fill the whole with our own desires and self. One leads to joy and happiness; while the other only leads to misery, sorrow, and pain.

As Joshua said at the end of the campaign for Canaan, "...Choose for yourself this whom you will serve..... but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord"-Joshua 24:15.

Introductions and Minutae

My dream for this blog is to share my thoughts, struggles, defeats, and victories as I walk through life trying to live in the grace shown me by God. Some days are easy and full of victory while others are a real struggle and show nothing but defeat. I hope to share all these with you so that you can laugh or cry as you wish but to at least learn from them.

I have been shown a grace from God that I am still learning to accept and live in. The beauty is, I didn't deserve this grace and yet God shows it to me anyway. I hope to one day (at least every day) be able to show this to others.. to show them just a glimpse of the wonder and glory of such a gift. I hope that through my attempts and my efforts to learn from and hopefully be able to enjoy that exact grace yourselves.

My name is Richard Rutledge, and I am 37 years old, currently unemployed but even that is a gift from God. It allows me to focus on getting my degree as well as grow closer to God in my walk. I am currently working towards a Bachelor of Science in Religion degree with a minor in Christian Counseling from Liberty University-distance learning. I am about 60 or so credits from finishing and enjoying every minute of it. I hope to share the joys and pitfalls of that with you as well. I also work on the Tech crew at my church for services or special events and help teach 1st Grade Sunday School.. both things that I really love, so be prepared for that finding it's way into here from time to time. So as you can see, while being unemployed is not fun I don't see it as a disgrace but as an opportunity provided by God. An opportunity to focus on getting the degree and to give back a little of that Grace to others.

Well, I have bored you enough for one day, but I am excited to begin this and hope you enjoy walking this path with me and will be with me every step of the way. I must provide a small disclaimer first though..I will attempt to share the darkness and struggles (such as my constant struggle with pornography and more--I will not be graphic or such but honest and open).

As the title says: Simultaneously justified and still a sinner.