The Chestnut Tree

Bible Reading:  Genesis 30:25-43

Key Verse: Verse 37 - “And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.”

Key Words: chestnut tree 

The chestnut tree is a tree of imposing appearance, often reaching to heights of over one hundred feet.  Its diameter can reach six to ten feet at the base.

If you scratch the bark of the chestnut tree, it automatically turns white, which is symbolic of cleanliness.  The wood from the chestnut tree was used to make drinking troughs.

Cleanliness is important in the life of the believer.

Did you know that scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core?  Yes, every snowflake has a dirty heart.  In the spiritual realm, the blood of Christ is applied to the heart of an unbeliever and it cleanses him from all sin.  Not a speck of defilement remains, for God removes every stain and washes each believer whiter than snow.

Did you know that in 1842, the first bathtub was denounced as a “luxurious and democratic vanity?”  Boston made it unlawful to bathe, except on a doctor’s prescription.  In 1843, Philadelphia made bathing illegal between the dates of November 1^st and March 15^th (cold winter months). 

How tragic that many Christians have adopted a similar schedule for their spiritual cleansing!  It seems as though many would rather have the stench of the world for a season than the sweet-smelling fragrance of cleanliness. 

                                                                                             Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞When you see or hear of the chestnut tree, remember the importance of being clean spiritually.

The Cedar Tree

Bible Reading:  Psalm 104

Key Verse: Verse 16 – “The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;”           

Key Words: the cedars of Lebanon 

There are three things we know in regard to the cedars of Lebanon.

First, the cedars are quite dense in that region of the country. 

Second, they produce a good fragrance.  People in general love to smell the cedars of Lebanon.

Third, the wood of the cedar was believed to be the wood used in the purification services.

There is a story that I love to tell in regard to purity.  The story goes something like this.

In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives a little animal called the ermine.  He is mostly known by his snow-white fur—and there is nothing more beautiful in the fur markets of the world.  In some countries the state robes of judges are lined with it, the white being symbolic of purity and honor.  The ermine has a peculiar pride in his white fur coat.  Against all hazards he protects his fur against anything that would spoil it.

It is said that the fur hunters take cruel advantage of the ermine’s care to keep his coat clean.  They do not set a snare to catch him at some unwary moment, but instead find his home, a cleft in the rock or the hollow of a decaying tree, and daub the entrance and interior with filth.  Then their dogs start the chase.  Frightened, the ermine flees toward his home, his only place of refuge.  He finds it daubed with uncleanness, and he will not spoil his pure white coat.  Rather than go into the unclean place, he faces the yelping dogs and preserves the purity of his fur at the price of his life.  It is better that he be stained by blood than spoiled by uncleanness.

Purity for the believer is not just important – it is imperative. 

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do: 

✞Keep yourselves pure from all the impurities in this world.

                    ✞When you see or hear of the cedar tree, remember the importance of purity. 

The Palm Tree

Bible Reading:  Revelation 7

Key Verse: Verse 9 - “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;”

Key Words: and palms in their hands 

The palm tree is a highly useful tree.  The tree grows to a height of about eighty feet.  The sap of the palm tree was used to make sugar.  Its fruit was edible and nourishing.  The seeds from its fruit were used to feed the camels.  The leaves were used as a covering for the roofs of houses.

·        The palm tree was used to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40).

·        The palm tree is symbolic of righteousness (Psalm 92:12).

·        The palm tree denotes victory (Revelation 7:9). 

It is Revelation, chapter 7, I want us to look at for the sake of the devotion.  The palm tree is symbolic of victory.  Each of us, as a believer, is ultimately victorious over sin because of Jesus Christ.  Please note the following.

Walking through a park, I passed a massive oak tree.  A vine had grown up along its trunk.  The vine had started small – nothing to bother about.  But over the years, the vine had gotten taller.  By the time I passed, the entire lower half of the tree was covered by the vine’s creepers.  The mass of tiny feelers was so thick that the tree looked as though it had innumerable birds’ nests in it.

Now the tree was in danger.  This huge, solid oak was quite literally being taken over; the life was being squeezed from it.  But the gardeners in that park had seen the danger.  They had taken a saw and severed the trunk of the vine – one neat cut across the middle.  The tangled mass of the vine’s branches still clung to the oak, but the vine was now dead.  That would gradually become plain as weeks passed and the creepers began to die and fall away from the tree. 

How easy it is for sin, which begins so small and seemingly insignificant, to grow until it has a strangling grip on our lives.  And yet, Christ’s death has cut the power of sin.  Yes, the “creepers” of sin still cling and have some effect.  But sin’s power is severed by Christ; and gradually, sin’s grip dries up and falls away.

So the next time you see or hear of the palm tree, remember your victory through Jesus. 

                                                                                                 Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Remember the palm tree is symbolic of victory, and victory for us comes through Jesus Christ. 

The Productive Tree

Bible Reading:  Psalm 1

Key Verse: Verse 3 - “And 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."

Key Words: He shall be...planted 

From our text we see the psalmist comparing the believer to a productive, fruitful tree.  The psalmist gives us at least two reasons for the tree’s productivity.

First of all, it is planted!  Verse three says, “And he shall be like a tree planted...”.   The idea is well-grounded – a good root system.  If you buy a tree and never plant it, it will never be fruitful and will eventually die.

Secondly, where you plant the tree is important: verse three goes on to say, “...by the rivers of water.”  Trees planted by the riverbank have good soil (which is symbolic of the heart [see Mark 4:20]), and plenty of water (which is symbolic of the Word of God [see Ephesians 5:26]).

Just as the tree must be planted and have the right location, good soil, and plenty of water; so must the fruitful believer.

The psalmist gives us three things that will destroy our productivity. 

First of all, whom you listen to:  “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”  Be careful to whom you listen.

Secondly, whom you linger with: “nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”  Be careful with whom you run.

Thirdly, what you take heed to: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord.”

It is easy to tell whom one listens to, the worldly or wise.  It is easy to tell whom one runs with, and it is easy to tell who spends time in God’s Word.  It shows all over them.

I heard of a man who was digging for oil.  It seemed that his well was going to be a dry hole, but he believed that there was oil at that place.  So he kept digging, and the people thought he was crazy to keep on spending money on that worthless well.  But he said that there was oil in there.  He kept digging and spent all the money he had and borrowed about all he could get.

Finally he went down until he struck a gusher.  He took his old hat and stuck it under the oil gushing out of the ground, filled it up, and put it on his head.  He ran down the main street of town.  He did not have to say anything.  He had oil all over him, on his face and clothes.  Everyone could see that he had struck oil, for he had it all over him.

Can others easily tell that we have Christ all over us?

The next time you see a tree growing by the water, ask yourself, “Where am I planted, and what am I producing?”

                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞Apply the above and ask yourself, “Where am I planted, and what am I producing?”

The Willow Tree

Bible Reading: Psalm 137

Key Verse: Verse 2 – "“We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof."

Key Words: We hanged our harps upon the willows 

The willow tree represents the tree of lost joy.  The psalmist was talking about Israel.  He was talking about the day they hung their harps in the willow trees and gave up hope.  It would be like a preacher putting his Bible on a shelf and saying, “I give up!”

Have you ever hung your harp upon the willow tree?  Have you ever said you were not going to sing anymore or play anymore?

It seems as though the writer of this Psalm is writing during a time of captivity, the captivity has led them to hang their harps and lose their joy.  But there is no doubt, no matter what the reason, they have lost the joy of their salvation.

Where is joy found?

Not in unbelief – Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type.  He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.” 

Not in money – Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of money.  Yet when on his deathbed he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable devil on earth.”

Certainly joy is not found in infidelity to God!  Thomas Payne cried out during his last moments: “O Lord, help me!  God, help me!  Jesus Christ, help me!”  Voltaire said, “I am lost!  I am lost!  Oh, that I had never been born!”  Colonel Charterius is reported to have said, “I would gladly give 30,000 pounds to have it proven to my satisfaction that there is no such place as hell.”

Joy is not found in pleasure.  Lord Byron, who reveled in pleasure all his days, wrote on his last birthday: “My days are in the yellow leaf.  The flowers and fruits of life are gone.  The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone!”  He was twenty-five years old when he wrote that!

J. Wilbur Chapman wrote: “In church last Sunday I noted a small child who was turning around smiling at everyone.  He was not gurgling, spitting, humming, tearing the hymnbooks apart, or rummaging through his mother’s purse.  He was just smiling.  Suddenly his mother jerked him around, and in a stage whisper that everyone could hear, said, ‘Stop grinning.  You’re in church.’  With that she gave him a slap on his hindside, and as the tears rolled down his cheeks she added, ‘That is better,’ and returned to her prayers.  If you cannot grin in church, where can you be happy?”

So the next time you hear of the willow tree, remember it is the tree of lost joy.  That need not be. 

                                                                                                             Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞For the believer, sin and joy never run together.  Sin and worldly fun are cohorts, though; and we should know the difference

The Sycomore Tree

Bible Reading: Luke 19:1-10

Key Verse: Verse 4  - “And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way."

Key Words: and climbed up into a sycomore tree 

The sycomore trees in the Middle East were and are often planted by the roadside.  They are planted there because they offer shade and protection from the weather to the traveler.

The trees can grow quite large depending on the soil and moisture.  The wood of the sycomore tree was often used for fire and carpentry.  While it is not as abundant as it was in Jesus’ day, you can still find many sycomore trees along the roadside of the Holy Land.

In Zaccheus’ time it was a tree that allowed him to see Jesus as His Savior.  D. M. Stearns was preaching in Philadelphia.  At the close of the service a stranger came up to him and said, “I do not like the way you spoke about the cross.  I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example.” 

Stearns replied, “If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?” 

“I certainly would,” said the stranger without hesitation. 

“All right then,” said the preacher, “let’s take the first step.  He did no sin.  Can you claim that for yourself?” 

The man looked confused and somewhat surprised.  “Why, no,” he said.  “I acknowledge that I do sin.”

Stearns replied, “Then your greatest need is to have a Savior, not an example!” 

                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do: 

      ✞If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, do so today.

      ✞Every time you read about or hear about the sycomore tree, praise God for your salvation.

The Juniper Tree

Bible Reading:   I Kings 19:1-8

Key Verse: Verse 4 - “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down   under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O   LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

Key Words: and came and sat down under a  juniper tree 

The juniper tree is the tree of despair.

Have you been under the juniper tree of despair?  I am sure the answer for each of us is a resounding yes!  The problem is not when we sit under the juniper tree of despair.  The problem is when we pitch our tent there.  Despair is the product of focusing on our self rather than on God and others.

We need to be optimistic about our situation rather than be pessimistic.  A pessimist finds a problem in every opportunity while an optimist finds an opportunity in every problem.

During his days as President, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback.  They came to a river that had left its banks because of a recent downpour.  The swollen river had washed the bridge away.  Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents.  The very real possibility of death threatened the riders, which caused a traveler who was not part of their group to step aside and watch.  After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river.  The President agreed without hesitation.  The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side.

As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, “Tell me, why did you select the President to ask this favor of?” 

The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the President who had helped him.  “All I know,” he said, “is that on some of your faces was written the answer ‘No,’ and on some of them was the answer ‘Yes.’  His was a ‘Yes’ face.”

So let me challenge you, do not spend your life under the juniper tree of despair, invest your life in others for God’s glory. 

                                                                             Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

       ✞Do not camp under the juniper tree of despair.

      ✞Invest your life in others for God’s glory.

      ✞Every time you think of a juniper tree, remember victory not despair.