01/03/25 A WALK AND TALK

01/03/25 A WALK AND TALK

The Negative and Positive Side of Getting Rid of the Deadwood.
The spiritual application is in the last half of the video.

Salvation is a positive thing, but there is a negative and a positive side to salvation. NEGATIVE, in this case, does not mean a bad thing. The negative and positive should be seen as "take away" and "add to."

I had dead and dying trees in my yard, so I wanted to get rid of them. I helped brother Wade cut down five trees, separated logs, branches and limbs, the piled them. We just planned to use the logs and burn the debris in campfires.

It was important to get rid of them because they were dead, cluttering the yard, unsightly, dangerous, and useless. After we dropped the first five trees a couple of local guys stopped by and were interested in our trees for firewood in the wood burner for their workshop. I told them they could have them if they would also move the leftover limbs and debris. They agreed.

When they came back on Thursday I helped them load most of the wood onto their trailer. Wow, was that a lot of wood. Then they dropped the other three trees (three clusters of trees). They will come back to cut them into firewood also.

I miss my trees out front, but they needed to be removed. Already I felt better. The danger they presented in high winds always concerned me. So, the negative part is past. The dead trees are gone.

Now I look forward to the positive part, which could include other trees planted out front, or a Gazebo for sitting, or places for flowers or swings, or fountains or seasonal decorations, such as Christmas. I could even have fruit trees.
Our lives also need to have a removal "dead trees" (dead wood). In salvation we have the dead wood of sin removed through regeneration. After our conversion we still need God to remove the Carnal Mind, aka Double Mind, Old Man, Evil Heart of Unbelief, The Flesh, The Root of Bitterness and The Law of Sin and Death (the Sinful Nature). Throughout our Christian experience God will be removing other forms of dead wood from our lives, such as habits, attitudes, relationships, goals.
But the Christian life is not just about removing the dead wood, it is about adding the blessings of God to our lives.

The positive side begins with newness of life in Christ Jesus, including forgiveness, purposefulness, deliverance from old ways, Old Man, growth in grace and knowledge, going from faith to faith, from light to light, from grace to grace.

Sadly, many who actually experience the saving grace of God do not move on in faith. They don't understand the continuous cleansing and development that is part of salvation.