Having Bible knowledge and understanding is great, however if the scriptures are not living and active in our lives, it is all in vain (Hebrews 4:12-13). The life application selections contain thoughts provoking, real life challenges that will prayerfully transform us to be more like Jesus in our spiritual journey. James 1:23-27 challenges us to not just merely listen or read the scriptures, it says “But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” Do not miss your blessings my friends!
"Set your hearts on things above… Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
A friend recently told me she was asked to choose her favorite holiday, and she chose her birthday. I thought that was clever because the day we were born matters; it is the day God breathed His very Spirit into us. Scripture reminds us:
“…the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”
— Genesis 2:7
After she shared, she asked me, “What is your favorite holiday?”
I gave her an honest answer: I no longer have a favorite holiday.
If she had asked me this question six years ago, I would have said Christmas without hesitation.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.”
My friend, what fruits are you producing in your life?
Did you know we have access to two vines? Each of these vines has a purpose in humanity’s story. Two trees—two vines—define the entire narrative of human life:
- The Tree of Knowledge: where humanity reached for wisdom apart from God.
- The Tree of the Cross: where Jesus surrendered His will to the Father and became the Tree of Life, giving humanity another chance to choose God.
The first tree brought separation and death because humanity believed Satan’s word over God’s Word. We must remember: God did not make humankind sin; humanity chose its own path instead of trusting God.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
My friend, where is your heart?
I grew up hearing the saying, “He died of a broken heart.” But let me ask you, are you dying of a broken heart? No, I’m not referring to an earthly love story. I’m speaking about a spiritually decaying heart.
Our heart becomes the house for everything we register through our eyes. What we see impacts our mind, and our mind directs our body, either toward spiritual health or spiritual decay.
Jesus’ statement in verse 21 does not stand alone. He continues by warning us about how the condition of our hearts can lead us into darkness if we store the wrong things inside. In Matthew 6:22–23, Jesus says:
“Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.’”
The Mystery of “One of Us”
Have you ever pondered what God meant when He said, “one of Us”?
That phrase reveals the divine counsel of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united in perfect wisdom, holiness, and purpose.
From the beginning, God possessed full knowledge of both good and evil. Yet His knowledge was pure, holy, and untainted, because evil could never corrupt His divine nature. God knew evil only as something to judge and overcome, not something to experience.
Adam and Eve were created in the purity of God’s image to reflect His holiness. Although humanity was given free will, their souls were nourished initially by righteousness; no inclination to sin existed within them.
But Satan knew that. When God forbade eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, His warning wasn’t meant to withhold wisdom; it was meant to protect purity.
God was shielding them from a corrupted awareness that would separate them from Him.
“Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth, and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.”
Streams from Within: The Living Water of the Holy Spirit
I never cease to be amazed at how I can read a verse for years, and suddenly, one day, it hits me like a brick. It stops me in my tracks until God reveals what He wants me to see.
As I begin this new journey through the Old Testament, I realize that in this season of my life, the Holy Spirit is opening my eyes to things I have never noticed before, even though they have always been there. Genesis 2:6 is one of those passages.
“But streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.”
As I read it, my spirit whispered, “Don’t move on until you hear what God wants you to understand.”
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
The Heart: The Storehouse of the Soul
My friend, when was the last time you paused to assess the condition of your heart?
Did you know that your heart is a storage room that feeds your soul?
When Jesus says in Luke 6:45,
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart... for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of,” He is warning us that what we allow to be stored in our hearts will eventually become the fruit of our speech.
The heart is the storehouse of the soul, the place where truth or lies take root.
What enters the mind through our eyes, ears, and experiences shapes our belief system.
Those beliefs form our perceptions, which eventually settle in the heart and feed the soul.
Who Is This Jesus? Ministry, Inc. is a nonprofit organization based in North Carolina.