Destination, Part 2
Summary
God Consciousness shows itself as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in the Soul of the Child of YHWH.
Introduction
Granted the previous material regarding God Consciousness, the next topic that seems logical to me is, What does it look like? What does this "God Consciousness" feel like and act like in the human being? In short, where are we going?
There is a lot to talk about here...And as long as I have strength I will continue to paint these pictures for you. And (perhaps surprisingly to some) the Bible really does have a lot to say about it.
For today, I offer this picture:
I am blessed to live surrounded by 120 orange trees. What with agribusiness being what it is they can't really pay for their own upkeep, and amount to house plants I keep outside, but don't get me started, and that is not the point.
The point IS that, from of old, a fruit tree has been seen as a beautiful symbol of God's presence in the soul of the faithful...We could talk about the Tree of Life and all that, but another time...
The tree, starting as a seed planted in the soil, watered and fed, reaches through the air towards the sun. Earth, water, air, fire, the 4 primal elements which play essential roles in the Bible stories and symbols.
(Jesus: "I am the Bread of Life." The fruit of the wheat (earth) is ground-up, we add water, it is animated (yeast), rises into the air, and is touched by the fire(!) That bread is nourishment and life-sustaining, physically and spiritually.)
And where do those seeds come from? The fruit of other trees.
The fruit, frankly, is what it is all about. Some fruit we can eat (oranges, apples), some we cannot (magnolias, pine cones), but only healthy trees can bear fruit, and without that fruit the tree cannot reproduce.
So, enough intro. The point is that the Bible uses this imagery in a deeply profound way.
The symbolism is glorious and perfect...The seed of YHWH's presence is planted in our soul through faith and repentance; that's what it means to be born again. I mean, the "New Man" (born of the spirit) is not born fully grown, he (she) is an infant, and the Bible freely uses terms like new born babes:
First Peter 2:2-3. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
That seed grows through decent, honest living, fellowship with like-minded spiritual seekers, love, charity, etc.
The Holy Spirit (YHWH's indwelling presence) grows, and bears fruit. And that fruit looks like this:
Galatians 5:22-25:
But the fruit of the Spirit is:
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness and
self-control.
Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its
passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Important Point #1:
The orange pictured above is one fruit with several attributes:
 | Connection from the stem to the fruit |
| Outer skin |
| Inner skin |
| Separate sections |
| Skin (yet a different kind) that surrounds each of those sections |
| The tiny, individual "juice sections" (sorry I don't know the more technical term) |
| Seeds |
| And so on. |
But there is only ONE FRUIT.
In exactly the same way, there is only ONE Fruit of the Holy Spirit, not 9! 9 listed attributes to the One Fruit.
When YHWH is alive in you, when you start to have God Consciousness, it manifests itself as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
That's what YHWH's presence inside of you "looks" and "acts" like.
ALL OF THEM!
You can no more pick and choose which "parts" of the Spirit's presence you "want" than you can have an orange growing on a tree without its skin!
Important Point #2:
It is only in the fruit that the seeds of new growth exist.
In other words, you must live the changes you want to see in the world. Until or unless YHWH is alive in you and bearing fruit, the Tree of Your Life cannot touch or inspire
(in-spirit, in-breathe, spirit, breath, seed, all one)
others to live a Spirit-filled life.
Look...I personally would love to live in a sinless, crime-free, hate-free world. So, the best I can do is try my utmost to live a Spirit-filled life, that others can "partake" from the fruit my life bears. That, quite simply, is the basis of the whole idea of ministry, making disciples of all the world.
In short, you simply cannot inspire Spirit-filled changes in your world unless you personally are Spirit-filled.
So that's it. Too many words, perhaps, but God Consciousness shows itself as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in the Soul of the Child of YHWH. That fruit, living in us, can nourish and touch others around us; in that way YHWH's Garden grows.
