From Which Tree Are You Partaking? The scriptural background for this teaching is from Galatians 5:19-26. The design is to see that within the freedom that Christ purchased for us, (2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1,13; James 1:25; I Peter 2:16) we are not to use that freedom or liberty in a way that is not pleasing to God. This compares to God’s commandment to Adam and Eve in the Garden in Genesis 2:16-17. We have experienced first hand what happened because they ate from the tree that God forbade them to partake from and we find ourselves daily facing the same choice. Do we eat from the fruit of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 or do we eat from the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-26? Eat from the Fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5

Tree of the Flesh Envy Hatred Wrath Selfishness Jealousy Complaints Here are some of the fruits of the flesh. Complaints Criticisms

What the tree REALLY looks like. While the previous slide was colorful and could have been enticing causing you think that there really could not be harm in just a little bite…….that is what Eve thought, yet the bite she took hopeless locked mankind into a visitation culture with the need for a sacrifice for sin. The way of the flesh is death. Yet, the way of the Spirit is life! Death

Galatians 5:19-21MSG It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; To fully see the ugliness of the old man’s nature, let us look at Galatians 5:19-21 in The Message Bible. It is interesting that this version speaks that the fruit of the flesh is born out of mankind trying to get your own way.

an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. Christ died to see us free from the law of sin and death. When we ask Him to be a part of our life, our feet are set upon a higher path. We put on His ways. We follow after His Spirit. We put away the works of the flesh. Yet, because God did not want a people who have no choice in the matter, He gave us free will and we can squander our inheritance or grow to walk in the fullness of it. Daily we have a choice. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom

Two Roads by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair and perhaps having the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear…….Two roads diverged into a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. What if Robert Frost was talking about the choice that stands before us daily in every situation? Do we take the path leading to the tree with the fruit of the flesh, or the other path leading to the tree of the Fruit of the Spirit? Think for a moment of your own life. Two roads stand before you in every situation. Is there one well traveled? Is one less traveled? Does the taking of the well traveled road lead to arguments, judgments, criticism, cynicism, woundedness? What if making the decision to take the untraveled path would make all the difference in your life. What if a kind answer could turn away wrath? What if love freely given melted hard hearts? What if preferring others before yourself changed the atmosphere in a meeting? What if?

Galatians 5:22 MSG Love G E J N O T G ODNESS Y L Peace S Kindness Longsuffering Faithfulness Self-Control But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. The Fruit of the Spirit…..there is no defense against the Fruit……in every situation, it is the better choice.

We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Legalism is helpless in bringing this about. It only gets in the way.

R I P Thank God for the Cross! Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. R I P Old Man Thank God for the Cross!