The fig tree and the Blame Game
I love when the Lord drops things in my spirit that I know are “right-now words”. And of course, as a prophetic person it’s not enough to just hear a word and proclaim it, I have to live the word! So this is very near and dear to my heart. Indeed he is moving amidst his people in greats ways and speaking so much in this new era! I have been feeling the nudge of the Lord to release some things he has shared with me through dreams, his word, and the moving of His Holy Spirit for the purpose of the edification of his body.
Let me start by sharing a dream I had a few months ago. My husband and I were on our way to church for worship practice and I realized that I wasn’t wearing make-up and was naked from the bottom down. Clearly this was an issue for me so I made Matt turn around so I could get clothes on before heading into church. When we came back to the church, I had found that I still didn’t have any pants on, so I went to the lost and found and put on some pants that just happened to fit me perfectly and matched my outfit too. Then I was trying to get around a smaller fig tree that was in a pot. The fruit was withered and dying and I kept shaking the tree by bumping it as I was maneuvering around it. I was trying to be careful so that I didn’t cause any of the fruit to fall.
I had a few more dreams about being uncovered at inappropriate times or exposed beyond what I was comfortable with, and I felt the Lord was really on this uncovering thing. The Lord led me to Mark 11:12-21. Jesus is with his disciples and he’s on his way into Jerusalem. He stops at a fig tree for some breakfast. The fig tree had leaves which normally would have meant fruit too, but upon further inspection, Jesus saw there was, in fact, no fruit on it. He then cursed the fig tree and went on with his day. This passage struck me in the spirit because in my dream, it was a fig tree that had withered. I felt the Lord impress upon my spirit that he is examining each one of us to see whether there is good fruit. Now while this is true in almost all seasons of our lives, I think there is something more the Lord is inviting us into corporately as his Body that he hasn’t extended to previous generations. The Great Unveiling of the Lord through His people requires a great cleansing of his Bride before this can take place. The Lord is hungering for his bride to come to maturity. Will he find a tree with “leaves” but no fruit? Is the current church culture leaving much to be desired by our Lord? There is so much to unpack here. To me, having leaves and no fruit represents the life of a person or a church body who are religious. They look good on the outside, but on the inside there is no divine fruit. They hold to a form of godliness, but they have no power thereof. There’s no real fruit, just a tree that looks like it’s doing good but can’t provide life or sustenance for anyone passing by. The Lord is expecting us to bear fruit. (John 15:1-11). Fruit is not anything we can produce on our own, it is completely supernatural. Fruit is not what we do, it’s what we become. Galatians 5:22-23 tell us what the fruit is that Jesus is looking for. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These characteristics of the Holy Spirit can only be manifested to the world and the powers that be through a pure and spotless Bride. May we be found bearing fruit during our examination by the Lord.
This brings up another interesting point. After Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they realized they were naked and sewed together fig leaves to hide or cover up their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). They were hiding their sin from each other and the Lord. In fact, it says that when the Lord came looking for them in the garden they were hiding among the trees of the garden. In my dream, I was naked and exposed. I didn’t have pants on and I wasn’t wearing make-up. The fig tree was also withered and the dead fruit was falling off the tree. I felt the Lord say, “I am cursing the very tree which my children use to hide themselves from me. I am cursing the current church culture that looks like it’s bearing fruit but really, it’s dry and dead on the inside. I am coming to my children and examining them like a Master Jeweler does a diamond. I am holding them up to the light and looking under extreme magnification to expose and bring them out of hiding. I am doing this because I love my children and desire a spotless bride for my Son.” He is examining us. And because he is a good Father, he will not violate our will and cut out what we won’t allow him to. David invited the Lord in to search him and know him (Psalm 139:23). He will not uncover us unwillingly. He wants us to come out of hiding on our own and offer ourselves naked to him, uncovered and exposed and invite him to search out the very things that need to be cut away. Now I feel I should preface this somewhere, that when we are in open rebellion to the Lord and he has continually offered us the chance to repent on our own but we refuse, he will uncover what needs to be uncovered to set us free. I heard this somewhere and I think it’s true, that if we won’t humble ourselves privately, we will be humiliated publically. May our hearts always be tender to the work of His hands in our lives so that this saying will never be true of us.
Revelation 3:19 AMP, “Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal [repent changing your mind and attitude].” The Passion translation says this: “All those I dearly love I unmask and train. So repent and be eager to pursue what is right.” If the Lord loves us, he will unmask and tell our faults. Wow. That one was hard to read for me. We love hiding. We don’t want people to know what goes on on the inside. I am telling you there is so much blessing in letting the Lord come in and examine the deepest parts of us. May we hide nothing of ourselves from him. May we invite him in to search and know us and take off every religious mask that keeps us hidden. He is the Great Surgeon. He has lovingly placed us on the operating table and is doing a thorough examination. Revelation 2:10 AMP, “Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. [Dismiss your dread and fears!] Behold, the devil is indeed about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested and proved and critically appraised…” The definition of appraise is “to assess the value or quality of something”. I have the picture in my mind of a Master Jeweler appraising a diamond. He’s turning it over and over, he’s holding it up to the light and looking under extreme magnification. He’s looking for any imperfections that will bring down the value of the diamond. We must give ourselves wholly to this process. The blessing comes in the surrender.
This brings me to the last and final thought I want to leave you with. As the Lord was unfolding this truth in my heart he was teaching me something else from the garden account. When the Lord came to Adam and Eve after they had sinned, He asked them why they were hiding. And Adam blamed Eve for presenting him the fruit and Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her. The blame game. As the Lord was working this process in me and allowing me to see the imperfections within myself, he was very clear that I was not to blame anyone for what came out of me! He could only cut away what I was willing to take full responsibility for and repent of. The anger, envy, impurities, enmity, strife, bitterness, unforgiveness (you name it) that he uncovered, if they were to be blamed on my husband or parents or children, they would continue to remain and manifest themselves. You know, the “well he made me do it! He made me mad!” He would be unable to skillfully cut them away if I was unwilling to admit they were my issues, not anyone else’s. The Lord had lovingly turned up the flame of testing in my life to bring up the impurities that were always there. We just read in Revelation 2:10 that the fiery trials will prove what we’re actually made of. He allows me to be put in situations that will bring out the anger or frustration already in me so that when it manifests I can run to him and say, “Papa! I need you to take care of this anger that lives deep within me. It’s not my husband’s fault, or even the way I was raised! It’s in me, and I give your Holy Spirit full permission to cut away all that is not of you.” When I was a religious person, I would hide my sin from the Lord and only return to Him when I felt cleaned up and good enough to present myself before him. The very same snare Adam and Eve fell into. But through his loving and caring direction in my life, I now run to him when sin manifests itself in my life! I run to him and allow the Great Surgeon to cut away all that hinders perfect love. He comes in and cuts out the cancer that would spread into every area of my life if not dealt with properly. To make the point, taking full responsibility and repenting is how sin is dealt with properly. I say this often, I only want to go around this mountain once. So Lord let us repent and repent quickly.
As I write this, I’m convicted even more to humble myself and live a life of repentance where I’m continually found by him bearing fruit in all seasons of my life (2 Tim 4:2). John the Baptist preached to the religious Pharisees and said, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” (Luke 3:8) True heart repentance looks like taking full responsibility for whatever manifests in your life and not playing the blame game. And in his extreme goodness, as he lovingly inspects us, he cuts away all that is dead and hindering true, spiritual growth. This is a growth that can only come from Him. Circling back to the dream I had, I believe the Lord is wanting me to “shake some fruit” or shake some things that can be shaken off His Church. Sometimes, it gets messy before we get cleaned up.
Beloved, may we never be found fruitless by our Lord! We are perilously close to being cursed if our hearts are hard and we continually resist the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Remember, I believe we are the generation that will be a part of the Great Unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ. That requires a mature Bride, and a mature person takes responsibility for themselves and their actions. Let me encourage you; do not go to shame and condemnation when sin manifests itself in your life. That will cause you to hide and sew fig leaves together to cover yourself up from the Lord. Newsflash: he already sees it in you and STILL loves you!! Run to the Father! Go straight to him and repent of your sin and he will do what His word says he will do! He so enjoys coming into his garden and pruning and tasting the fruit of his labor, and YOU are his garden.
Lord Jesus, we humbly come before you and repent of every evil work that has manifested in our lives. We do not presume to trample upon your grace and blame anyone for the things that need to be pruned out of our lives. I repent of ______ (fill in the blank here for what the Lord is uncovering in you today). This is not my spouse’s fault, or my children’s fault, or my parent’s fault, I take full responsibility for every manifestation of ______ in my life and I ask you Holy Spirit to cut it out of my life through the blood of the Son. I run to you Daddy and rest in your Son’s finished work on the cross, knowing I cannot overcome this on my own. I rest in knowing that It Is Finished! I cease striving to please you and gain your affection by hiding my sin and presenting myself covered up in fig leaves. Lord, let that process that is so prevalent in your church die! May we live naked and exposed knowing we are in perfect standing with you, Jesus. I ask that you do this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
God bless,
Living Water Ministries for All Nations
