Morning by Morning, January 23 - Choose the Tree of Life
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are one and You are holy. I welcome You to be one within me today. ...
"And the Lord commanded the man, 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Genesis 2:16-17).
You create us for freedom and obedience. You give us the freedom to trust You or not, to follow Your ways or make up our own, to yield to Your will or insist on ours.
You give us the right to choose, but You invite to choose well, according to Your word. You allow us to seek our own wisdom and give us power to obtain our own knowledge if we decide to choose for ourselves what is right or wrong, what is good or evil, apart from seeking You and trusting You.
There are consequences for our choices. With freedom comes both authority and responsibility. But You don't take away our freedom to choose even when the consequences of our choices can mean life or death, blessing or curse, for our lives and for generations to come.
We are created in Your image for a relationship of love -- a relationship of love with You and with one another. But love requires freedom. Unless we have the freedom to choose to love, it's not really love. And unless we have the freedom to choose to obey, it's not really obedience. So You give us the freedom that our relationship of love requires, but You also give us the grace to choose to trust You with our freedom. And thankfully, mercifully, You also give us the grace to repent and return to trusting You again when we don't choose well, rebel from Your will, and suffer the consequences of our choices.
Lord, give me wisdom to use my freedom well. Give me humility to trust You and obey You in the freedom of choice You've given to me. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I want to choose life and eat of the fruit of "the tree of life" (v. 2:9). I want to learn to trust You to know what's best for me. I want to learn to allow You and Your word to determine for me what is good and evil, instead of seeking to be my own god and make my own choices by the knowledge I attain apart from You (v. 3:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My Friend, I pray you that as best as you can and all by God's grace you will choose well in the freedom you have to trust and obey God, eating and enjoying the fruit of the tree of life. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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