{"id":843,"date":"2021-04-02T10:41:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T21:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/?p=843"},"modified":"2021-04-02T10:43:37","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T21:43:37","slug":"trees-beautiful-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/02\/trees-beautiful-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Trees Beautiful Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My Dad should like this post. Anyone who knows my Father, knows he loves trees and because of his love for trees, I also cherish trees and the beauty they add to our world. I hate to cut down a tree. I\u2019ve had to do this a few times in my life and for some reason it always brings such a sorrow that I can\u2019t explain. I think it is because of the thought of how long it took that tree to grow. If we compare trees to Christians, it is just as sad and more so, when a Christian who has walked in the truth of God\u2019s Word \u2013 falls.<\/p>\n<p>Flowers and trees give grace to a world that is filled with much turmoil and hate, especially hatred towards the things of God. However, God still fills our world with such a stunning creation that no one will be without excuse. People can despise God all they want; but every time they look at a tree and smell a flower, they are enjoying something in God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, I was studying and comparing our Christian spiritual growth to the growth of trees. I sincerely enjoyed this study about trees, and I pray others will as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Psalm 1:3 <em>\u201cAnd he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>First let\u2019s look at characteristics of all trees. There are certain traits that every tree process:<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-520 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/7205_6_7_tonemapped-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"142\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/7205_6_7_tonemapped-scaled.jpg 1709w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/7205_6_7_tonemapped-768x1150.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/7205_6_7_tonemapped-1026x1536.jpg 1026w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/7205_6_7_tonemapped-1368x2048.jpg 1368w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 142px) 100vw, 142px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trees have a drip line. Their roots go out far to the ends of their branches. When watering a tree, you don\u2019t water at the trunk but from the trunk all the way to where the branches end. As they grow, their branches go out further and further, so their roots go out further and further for nourishment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christians should continue to grow and reach out their roots deep into God\u2019s Word and glean more and more nourishment from the Lord as they grow.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trees have rings for each year\u2019s growth. If you cut down a tree, you can count the rings to tell the age of the tree. Some yearly rings are wide for much growth in a year and some rings are very narrow for little growth. Usually, the smaller rings were years of drought and the tree didn\u2019t grow as much, but it still grew a little. Every year there is some growth even if it is small.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christians can grow each year as well, even if it is just a small amount. Keep growing for the Lord.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Trees need nourishment. They need water, fertilizer, and sunshine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christians need nourishment. They need church, Bible reading, prayer, Christian fellowship, etc. if they are going to continue to grow. Take all these away from a Christian and he will shrivel up and die.<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-846 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/palm-tree-LQ-vert-photo-16440-scaled-e1617313154928.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"135\" height=\"203\" \/><\/span><\/em><strong>Now, let\u2019s look at a few specific trees and their unique qualities:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Psalm 92:12 <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThe righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<\/em>Psalm 52:8 <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>\u201cBut I am like a green olive tree in the house of God\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <em><u>palm tree<\/u><\/em> is stable, resists tropical storms, and has deep roots. It bends all the way to the ground during cyclones\/hurricanes and it doesn\u2019t break off or become uprooted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christians should not pull up their roots and run away at approaching storms. They should be strong during troublesome times and difficulties in life. They should grow deep roots and pull nourishment from God\u2019s word in difficult times, so they don\u2019t become uprooted and die during difficulties.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <em><u>cedar tree<\/u><\/em> is dependable, firm, solid, strong, and extremely long-lived. According to google, there is a cedar tree in Wisconsin over 1,300 years old and some in Lebanon over 3,000 years old.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christians need to be dependable to God, to their Pastor, and their church. They need to be long-lived in their Christian walk and not give up and quit. If God can give the cedar tree strength to grow for thousands of years, he can give us the strength to grow as well. So, keep growing, even if it is in small amounts \u2013 grow for the Lord.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <em><u>green olive tree<\/u><\/em> is useful, relied upon for its fruit, and does well where it is planted. All Christians are useful. Some may say, \u201cI can\u2019t do anything for the Lord.\u201d If one can pray \u2013 then pray. Some may not have the physical ability to do much in the church, but I love my prayer warriors that I can depended upon to pray for me each day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christians need to do well where God has planted them. Stop looking at other churches and thinking they have something better. Stop thinking, \u201cthe grass is greener\u201d somewhere else. Stay put where God has you and grow for the Lord. *Unless there are doctrinal issues, but that is another post for another time by a Preacher. For now, grow where God has put planted you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Jeremiah 17: 7-8 <em>\u201cBlessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-847 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/left-foggy-tree-LQ-horiz-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"162\" height=\"108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/left-foggy-tree-LQ-horiz-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/left-foggy-tree-LQ-horiz-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/left-foggy-tree-LQ-horiz-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/left-foggy-tree-LQ-horiz-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/left-foggy-tree-LQ-horiz-700x465.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 162px) 100vw, 162px\" \/><strong>Simple summary of a few things we can apply to our Christian lives as a result of studying trees in God\u2019s creation:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Spread your roots out deep and far into God\u2019s Word to strengthen you for your walk through the storms of life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Never fear when the heat of trials come in life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Year-after-year grow, produce fruit, and be faithful where God has placed you. Keep growing for the Lord.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Stay, grow and bloom where God establishes you and you \u201c<em>shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My Dad should like this post. Anyone who knows my Father, knows he loves trees and because of his love for trees, I also cherish &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[281,109,152,279,280],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions\/851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}