12-22-24//TREE OF LIFE
Michael Morgan
Instead of condemning the Christmas tree as some pagan object brought into our homes from the pagan cold, it can be used to remind us that we have "the right to the tree of life"
Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
The Christmas tree, as it is now designated, is an evergreen that reminds us that we have "eternal life" in Jesus Christ.
John 6:40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
The shape of the tree reminds us that we are "born from above".
The needles on the branches remind us that Jesus was "pierced through for our transgressions".
The lights hung on the tree remind us that Jesus is "the light of the world"
The ornaments we hang on the tree and the presents we place under the tree remind us that God is the ultimate gift giver.
The stand the tree sits on reminds us that Jesus is our foundation and our cornerstone.
John 3:3 Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. AMP
Isa 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
James 1:17 "every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow".
Matt 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall."
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
A real Christmas tree reminds us that we live even if we die
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
And there is a difference between the authentic and artificial.