Every year we always get a real tree for our christmas tree...we spend a nite going and picking out that perfect tree and bringing it home and then decorating it as a family over the next few days. Well this year we didn't decorate it as a family...my mom put on the lights and I put on the ornaments. It was kinda boring, and different. but while i was unpacking the numerous boxes upon boxes of ornaments--homemade, glass, balls, intricate designed, etc.--the Lord spoke to me.
Last wednesday night at youth, P. Jesse spoke on Vision and the steps it takes to get there and get closer to Jesus. He used a ladder to represent the different steps. The first step was Desire. Then, Deciding. Then Seeing. Then Believing. Then Obedience. and the closer you get to the top, the less freedom you have, the closer you are to Jesus, and the more you can see. We are all on different levels of this...some are stuck on desire, some on each one, and the revolutionaries who see the vision, GOD's vision, are closest to Jesus--on the obedience level--where I am striving to be.
So, how does this pertain to christmas trees? Well, just looking at the trees, there are more branches down lower on the tree and less and less as you climb up it. and the branches closest to the top are stronger and more firm. When hanging ornaments on your tree, you don't put the most special ornaments on the bottom branches do you? you don't want a little brother, sister, niece, nephew, cousin, etc. to bump into the tree and make your precious ornaments fall and shatter. I put the prettiest ornaments and the ones that are my favorite on the upper half for everyone to see and those are the ones that wont get knocked down.
Well, Jesus is like the angel or star on top of the tree. We are the branches. And each branch is at its own level, just like with the ladder. Those on the bottom portion are not as strong and can fall off easier than the strong ones on the top. And God won't give those "bottom branches" the heaviest "ornaments" or visions, mentorees, etc. because He knows they cannot handle them...they will break and fall of the trunk (the Vine). He gives the bigger, heavier burdens or visions to those branches who are closer to the top, to the Bright and Morning Star.
As the branches get higher, they get pruned or shaped. You have things torn from you that you think you may need, but they are really just holding you down.
But, unlike my Christmas tree, once you latch onto God and grow with the tree, it is so deeply rooted- so steady- that it will never fall. Funny story, a few days after I had finished the ornaments, our christmas tree toppled over! not fun, but thankfully most of the ornaments were salvaged. ;)
--BUT THE LORD STANDS FIRM FOREVER--
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:5
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