Introducing Life From the Tree

A weekly invitation to receive the life Jesus gives.

There is a question I have been thinking about for a long time:

Where am I receiving my life today?

Every day, we receive messages about who we are, what matters, what success looks like, what we should fear, and what we need to accomplish. Without realizing it, we can begin living as though everything depends upon us.

That can happen in our spiritual lives too.

We can approach following Jesus as another project to manage. We try harder, learn more, serve more, accomplish more, and hope that somewhere along the way we will become the people God wants us to be.

But Jesus offers us something very different.

He does not simply give us a better way to live. He gives us His life.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5). A branch does not manufacture life. It receives life from the vine. Its fruit grows because it remains connected to its source.

I believe that simple picture gets to the heart of the Christian life:

Life is received, not achieved.

That conviction is at the heart of Life From the Tree.

The name comes from the biblical story itself. Scripture begins with the Tree of Life in the garden, and near the end of Revelation we encounter the Tree of Life again. Revelation describes a river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God, with the Tree of Life beside it, its leaves “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1–2).

Between those two trees is the story of God pursuing humanity, ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ.

And that story is still shaping us.

Beginning next Wednesday, Life From the Tree will arrive each week with one simple purpose: to help us learn to receive and live the life Jesus gives.

Each issue will begin with a short reflection rooted in Scripture and everyday life. Sometimes we will explore a passage of Scripture. Sometimes we will consider a Christian practice. Sometimes we will look at the Kingdom of God, spiritual formation, ministry, relationships, or the ordinary places where following Jesus becomes real.

But underneath all of it will be the same question:

Where are we receiving our life?

You will also find an Ecosystem Spotlight each week. It will introduce something happening somewhere in the ministries and resources connected with our work—perhaps an Online Bible Institute course, a Christian Practice, an Encourager Pathway, a resource for churches, or a story of something God is doing.

And each issue will provide simple opportunities to learn, practice, and encourage—not as more things to accomplish, but as invitations to respond to what God is already doing.

Some of you receiving this introductory issue have been connected with Keys Vineyard. Others have studied with the Online Bible Institute, participated in one of our ministry initiatives, used one of our resources, or subscribed directly to Life From the Tree. However you arrived here, I am grateful that our paths have crossed.

My hope is that this will become a small, quiet place in the middle of your week—a few minutes to turn our attention away from all the voices telling us what we must achieve and back toward Jesus.

The invitation of the Tree of Life has always been an invitation to receive.

And that seems like a very good place for us to begin.

Pastor Steve Lawes

ECOSYSTEM SPOTLIGHT

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Daily Life Intake

Thirty Days of Learning to Live From the Tree of Life

The same conviction behind Life From the Tree is also at the heart of a new thirty-day journey called Daily Life Intake.

Each day’s reading begins with Scripture and an ordinary story from more than forty years of life and ministry, followed by a simple invitation to slow down, pay attention, and consider where we are receiving our life.

My hope is to make Daily Life Intake available as a gift around Christmas. It can then become a companion for anyone who wants to begin the new year learning what it means to live from the Tree of Life.

Where am I receiving my life today?

CONTINUE THE JOURNEY