What Tree are You Eating From?

Welcome to another post on the Still in the Storm Substack.

Today, I want to discuss a topic that may be challenging but is crucial for these times.

It is becoming more apparent with each passing day that we are amid a mindwar. I’m not going to delve deep into what this is but, I’d encourage you to look further into it.

Essentially, the world system we live in is a matrix, a type of simulation.

We are indoctrinated to this system from cradle to grave.

It is all about the devil trying to trick, tempt, deceive, and distract us from our true life as humans, from God’s true calling for us in Christ.

As such, most of what we encounter in life (in the world system) is intended to tempt us to try and get us to fill our souls with earthly things.

We strive and hunger and, thirst for these things. But, why?

Because, we humans were specifically created by God, for God.

Our spirit perfectly matches His Spirit, without which we are dead and live a life devoid of contentment and meaning.

When we (humanity, ie. Adam and Eve) sinned and fell in the Garden of Eden God by necessity was separated from us, causing our spirits to die.

From that point on our souls were left empty.

With satan’s help, we’ve attempted to fill them up with various things of this world.

He tries to get us to build ourselves into gods as he did when he fell.

It is all about keeping us separated from God which he does by having us hunger and thirst for, crave even, the things of the world.

This all comes down to the mind, will, and emotions; aka the soul.

We still have free will so satan must get us to exercise it towards him and away from God. This is what temptation is all about.

God provides for all our needs when we are in union with Him or living within His Presence.

Outside of His Presence, we strive to provide for ourselves - see the Enoch, the first city built by Cain after he killed his brother Abel and was separated from God’s presence.

This was the first human civilization, where we first see the emergence of things like food supply, entertainment, and weaponry apart from God.

Many scholars have even claimed Enoch was the birthplace of technology and human innovation. It’s all about trying to live separate from God or to try and improve on what He created.

This brings me to a question.

Is all (or most of) human technology and innovation about trying to tempt us to fulfill our desires with worldly things? In other words, is its goal to provide things for us to try and fill our souls with when living apart from God?

I’m talking about things like drugs (illegal and prescription), sex, porn, alcohol, gambling, junk food, work/career, devices, social media, video games, etc.

Note that most, if not all, of us are addicted to these things. We try to fill the hole in our souls with them and even make idols of them.

I know that I have, that’s for sure.

Up until recently, I didn’t recognize that things like junk food, work, or electronic devices could be addictive.

I always thought that I was on the up and up since I never really got into drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc. Yet, little did I know that I was addicted to my career.

Yup, I was a full-fledged workaholic. What I wasn’t getting from any of the other things that I considered bad, I was still trying to get from my career.

I was obsessed with degrees, titles, authority, wealth, and more.

This is because Satan uses the same temptations as in the Garden of Eden to get us now. These are the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

We judge the book by its cover, look to satisfy our flesh and inflate our egos. This may be hard for some to swallow but is true nonetheless.

I think it’s clear that these are still very much in play today. Satan still has many of us eating from the wrong tree.

Why is this such a problem? How did it get so pervasive?

Well, all institutions are part of the world system. This included government, education, science, arts, and even religion.

Many are even part of the government but, also consider public-private partnerships too.

This gets back to what I was saying earlier about indoctrination.

Satan has us pretty well captured within this world system, his matrix.

I say this all not to insult or judge but to convict you. If we are going to move forward then we must be aware of where we currently stand, especially if our goal is to advance God’s Kingdom on earth.

I’m just as guilty as anyone but what I have come to realize is that we don’t have to live in that state anymore.

We do have to be honest with ourselves and with God. We need to admit that these addictions and attachments to material things that control us are dominating our consciousness and even function as false gods.

“When we give anything more priority than we give to God, we commit idolatry. Thus we are all commiting idolatry countless times every day.”

- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

Are you ready to face the truth about who you are regardless of what that means or how unpleasant it may be? That’s true honesty.

It’s not all bad news though.

If you are in Christ then you are an alien, a sojourner in this world. You are now an emissary of the Kingdom of God.

And, He sees us very differently from the way most of us see ourselves.

Thanks to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are clean and unblemished. We’ve been put in Christ.

Therefore, God sees us as pure and holy. Isn’t that incredible, that He would see us this way despite all that bad stuff that we’ve been doing?

That’s not all though.

Most importantly, we are back in His Presence just as was the case in the Garden and He still desires the same relationship.

The choice is now yours. Which tree will you eat from?

Let me know what you think in the discussion below.

Talk soon,

Mike

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