A TREE PLEASING TO THE EYES

02_19

“The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground–trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Genesis 2:9

The tree was pleasing to the eyes. This suggests that you have to look with your spiritual eyes in order to see the great blessings that God has already prepared for you The first couple God created were spiritual beings. They were not slaves to lust, adultery, fornication or other inner impulses. You are a spiritual being who lives in a human body. Adam received the breath of God, and so he had God’s nature. After this, God invited him to eat from the tree of life and receive all of the blessings found in it.

In the garden there were two trees. One possessed all of the blessings that Adam and Eve needed. However, God warned them that if they ate from the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would lose their divine purpose. Eve did not want to go to the tree where the blessings of God were. Instead, she went to the other tree and looked at it. In that moment, Satan took advantage and told her, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Eve thought that the fruit of this tree looked good to eat so she gave up the delicious fruit of the tree of life for what appeared good in her own eyes. In the same way, there are things that seem good to our eyes, but result in destruction.

The Apostle Paul said, “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10.). The things that he is speaking about, those things that our eyes have not seen, come from the tree of blessing that God planted for man. There are things that Adam and Eve did not see in the Garden of Eden, because they focused on the tree that gave them earthly wisdom, self-centeredness and distorted vision. Paul says that if we turn to Jesus, the tree of life is restored to us, because our spiritual eyes will be opened so we can see the blessings of God.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
One of the Pastors that works on my wife’s team had a great challenge. It was to take 144 women to a three-day encounter. She applied the principles of faith and in order to help herself visualize this number, she decided to cut out the faces of different women and paste them in a big poster board. By the time she had cut out 121 pictures of women, she got tired of working so she postponed the project. However, due to her other commitments, she never returned to finish the job. On the day of the encounter, only 120 women attended. Everything you need today is in the spiritual realm. By faith, you can take those blessings and bring them into the natural realm. You need to fix your gaze on what the Word of God has declared about your life.

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“My gaze is fixed on the Cross, the tree of blessing for my life.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume One.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

    • Old Testament: Leviticus 11-13; Psalms 41
    • New Testament: Matthew 18:15-35; Acts 25:13-27

A TREE PLEASING TO THE EYES