[b][u]Two Trees[/u][/b]

The rest of God is inseparable from the presence of His life. Watchman Nee, in a booklet called Two Principles of Conduct, writes,

"One of the most serious misconceptions among the children of God is that actions are determined by right and wrong. They do what their eyes tell them is right; they do what their background tells them is right; they do what their years of experience tells them is right. For a Christian, every decision should be based on the inner life, and that is something totally different from all else."*

Nee, in illustration of this truth, refers us to the two trees in the midst of Eden’s garden and to God’s commandment concerning them:

[i]And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.[/i]” (Genesis 2:9, 16, 17)

As we all know, Adam and Eve did eat from that tree, poisoning the entire human race, and mankind has been eating from it ever since. The greatest pity is that most believers are still eating from it, trusting in their human judgments, reason, exercise, will, striving, and exertion. They are living from the knowledge, not just of evil, but of good and evil. It is a cursed tree, a tree of death.

You say, "Katz, if we are not supposed to make our judgments on the basis of what we think is right or wrong or what our eyes, background or experience tell us, then on what basis do we live?" We live, not from the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but from the principle of the tree of life. We live from the life of God. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life …" (John 14:6a). There is no life apart from God’s Son:

[i]He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His son.

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and [b]this life is in his Son.

He that hath the son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life[/b].[/i] (1 John 5:10–12) (emphasis mine)

When we depend upon the strength of our own flesh in the governance of our daily lives, we deprive ourselves of the fullness of God’s gift of life to us. John writes in the previous chapter of the same letter:

[i]In this we manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.[/i] (1 John 4:9)

I once attended a Hebrew-Christian conference, and before long, I had a pain in my head, because much of what was going forth was cerebral, mental. It had its origin, not in the Spirit, but in the flesh. It was well-meaning, full of good intention, but it was human and not divine; it was not perfect, because it did not come from the heart of God. When I expressed my dissatisfaction to some of the leaders of the conference, they asked me what I thought of one of the principal speakers, adding, "He’s like you. He’s a Spirit-filled believer—speaks with tongues—just like you. He’s a Spirit-filled believer-speaks with tongues-just like you. Surely you can’t have this complaint with him?"

Something started taking shape in my heart. I asked, "Then why does he use all of these clever little tactics, and is so full of all of these goodies; cute little quips and jokes and endless little schticklach (affected mannerisms) and devices to get the audience’s attention?"

"Oh well," they said, "he’s nervous, Art. He’s insecure. He feels that if doesn’t use these things, he couldn’t hold anyone’s attention."

Suddenly the light of truth broke upon me. He may be "charismatic," he may be filled with the Holy Spirit and may speak with tongues, but, in the moment of confrontation, he abandoned all things that springs from God’s life, and went back to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was working out of his skull, out of his flesh, out of his human striving and energy; he was nervous and apprehensive because he was not trusting the Lord, not living by faith. "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17b). Without faith, it is impossible to receive anything from God, and we have no faith if we do not truly rest in God’s very life within us, knowing that our old man has gone with Jesus to the cross:

[i]I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh [b]I live by faith of the Son of God[/b], who loved me, and gave Himself for me.[/i] (Galatians 2:20) (emphasis mine)

At any given moment, a moment of witness, a moment of ministry, a moment of relationship, a moment of any kind of religious activity or service, we can refuse to live through God and choose to live from ourselves. In a moment of our own choosing, we can abandon Him and trust in our own devices. In that moment, we have left the perfect and have adopted only the "good." The alternatives before us are either the unfolding of the glories of God in our lives or a whole lot of coming and going, having and spending, sweating, striving, grinding, and exertion. All of that activity, though it be done in the holy name of the Lord, will, if its origin is not in Him, have no capacity to bring life, because He alone is the life.

*Watchman Nee, Two Principles of Conduct, The Stream Publishers, Anaheim, California, pp.11-12, used by permission.

From: [url=http://www.benisrael.org/OnlineBooks/reality_book/reality_contents.htm]Reality: [i]The Hope of Glory[/i][/url]

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Mike Balog

It does take a determined approach from ourselves to put this into 'practice', similiar to the same sentiments expressed by Brother Lawerence in Practicing the Presecence of God it seems. This has really stuck with me:

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Mike Balog