Depending Exclusively on the Tree of Life
David W Palmer
(Matthew 6:33–34 WEB) “But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. {34} Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.”
I feel the need to emphasize again that Mammon is not a provider; he is simply a deceiver. His aim is not to meet your needs no matter how much you worry over them; his objective is to use anxious worry and fear to distract you from God’s word, God’s vision for your life, and holy revelation. Mammon wants you to go to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to solve your own problems and to find a way to meet your own needs. He wants you eating from that tree so you will die—like Adam and Eve did—and be no further threat to his reign of terror:
(Genesis 2:17 NKJV) “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Sadly, commissioning that tree cuts you off from God’s light, faith, and life— “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Everything we need for life and godliness comes by hearing from God—the tree of life:
(2 Peter 1:3–4 NKJV) As his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, {4} by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Mammon doesn’t provide for you; he can merely deceive you into thinking that providing for yourself is a better option than walking by complete faith in God. Our enemy’s main objective is to prevent us trusting God and his word. That is why he specializes in guilt and condemnation. If he can bring us under them, he seizes the opportunity to accuse us night and day before the Father—humiliating and shaming us into hiding from God as Adam did.
Satan wants you eating the deadly fruit so you sever yourself from God’s supply of light, life, and revelation. Without these, you are disengaged from fresh faith; and without faith it is impossible to please God, or to receive anything from him (See: Heb. 11:6, Mark 11:24, Jam. 1:6, 8). Hence, Satan protects his kingdom.
Therefore, our battle with the daily evil is simply about focus and distraction. Keep your hands clean, your heart pure, and actively focus on faith; or the wrong tree will get you—just as darkness always overtakes one not receiving any light. Faith is the wise way to operate, because faith is the only way to be justified before God; he makes us righteous by believing:
(Romans 4:5 EMTV) “But to him who does not work but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”
Through that righteousness, we have unlimited access to God, from whom we receive revelation—hearing and seeing things with him. Faith comes as we see and hear; then, as we receive, plant, and grow that faith; and as we step out on it—saying, doing, and imitating what we have seen and heard with him—we walk in God’s kingdom with his supernatural supply.
Note especially that anxious thoughts are evil—they are the evil he calls us to overcome daily. Jesus said:
(Matthew 6:34 DKJV) “Do not be distracted by anxious thoughts about tomorrow … sufficient to each day is its own evil.”
Note again the word, “distracted,” or, dis-track-ted. Yes, Satan wants you off the “track”—the only path to life; it is “constricted,” and has a “narrow” entry. In other words, access to life has no wiggle room to include anything else or any diversions. It’s exclusively the tree of life, or you don’t get “life.” You cannot get life through a mixture of the two trees: it’s one or the other:
(Matthew 7: 13–14 DKJV) “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are entering through it: {14} how narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way that leads to life! And there are few who find it (the narrow gate).”
I encourage you today; make a firm resolve to actively resist Mammon’s strategy. Refuse to go to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—for anything. Resist worry; instead, cast all those cares on the Lord. Choose the tree of life exclusively; choose simple, childlike trust in a loving Father who cherishes and provides for his children. Reject the deceptive lie that toiling for your own provision is superior to the risks involved in humble trust.
Yes, complete trust in another feels a little uncertain at times; that’s why we need to renew our minds daily to the fundamental truth that God is our loving Father: he knows our needs, and can create supply out of nothing if he has to. He is a romantic genius who can surprise us, overwhelm us, and lavish his love on us in fresh, exciting, and new ways every day. But we simply need to remember that “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6 KJV).
