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We are the plantings of the Lord, His Trees of Righteousness in the Garden of God. The offshoots that come forth from our plantings are to become useable in the temple of our God. But in order to become useable we, and our offspring, must come into God's perfect order and His intended purpose and plan for our lives. God has intrusted the care, the nurture, the development of these seedlings unto us.
To become the plantings of the Lord, we must begin to consider the great responsibility we have in developing these Trees of Righteousness, these men of renown, *** Mark 8:24. Before we can even consider building the house of God, we must plan wisely for the clearing of the earth and the plantings to be set out. The landscaping must be determined with great thought and design. The trees, of course, must be planted first because they will take many years to become useable timber in the house of God.
The Cedars of Lebanon are among the most stately trees on earth and possesses many useful characteristics. Cedars are very durable trees. They are disease resistant and because of their durability, cedars are desired when wood must come in contact with the soil, such as: fence posts, rails, siding, woodenware, furniture, boats, etc. Because of these God-given character-istics, the Cedars of Lebanon were chosen for the construction of Solomon's temple.
When cedars are young, they are pyramidal in shape, but when they mature the cedars develop massive trunks and large, table-like branches. We, too, when we begin to mature must develop strength and stability, and branch out with open arms to help others. But beware, again, the cedar may become prideful in its own strenth, uprightness and beauty. Therefore, before these strong, durable, stately cedars can be used in God's temple, they must come to a certain place:
"For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up...".
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Isaiah 2:12-13a, 17
"The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." *** Psalm 29:5
Even though the cedar is a tall, strong, firm tree, to be made suitable for construction in His temple, God's cedars must be willing to be broken to pieces. To be upright in God's kingdom, we must be willing to bow in humility and true repentance before we can become useable.
Our cedar seedlings must be developed, nurtured, pruned and watered to their full God-given potential if we are going to place them as pillars of strength, objects of crafted beauty, and durable posts in the house of our God. Their pride and lofty ways must be brought to nought.
The cedars are symbolic of long life. Even when disaster strikes, the cedar is one of the first trees that will grow after a fire. It is called a "pioneer" tree. Although slow in forming the first really good leading shoot, the cedar's growth from then on is rapid. These characteristics make the cedar a wise choice for "plantings of the Lord" because they will be able to repopulate the land with strength and beauty; and once they have come to true repentance their growth in God's kingdom ways will be rapid. We must allow God to break our pride before we can become the strong, beautiful, disease resistant cedars in His permanent temple.
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