FEED FROM THE TREE OF LIFE

Table of Contents

1. Following the Holy Spirit and Recognizing Our New Identity
2. Letting Go of the Past and Receiving God's Goodness
3. Breaking the Power of Fear, Guilt, Shame, and Condemnation
4. Renewing the Mind and Choosing the Tree of Life
5. Adam's Choice and the Believer's New Creation Identity
6. Looking Up and Setting Our Minds on Heavenly Things
7. Pastor Leonard's Cancer Testimony: Refusing to Give Fear Authority
8. Pastor Lori's Healing Testimony: Learning to Rest in God's Love
9. Recognizing Negative Programming and Feeding on the Right Tree
10. Believing in Miracles and Standing in Faith for Others
11. Living in Hope and Waiting with Patience
12. Closing Prayer: Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us
13. Closing Prayer: Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us

Following the Holy Spirit and Recognizing Our New Identity

Pastor Leonard Rola begins by magnifying the name of Jesus and expressing gratitude to the Lord. Although he has prepared a message, he explains that preparation does not prevent him from following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Before ministering, he prayed that God would take control of his mouth, tongue, lips, and mind. His desire was not to deliver his own agenda but to speak whatever the Holy Spirit wanted the people to hear.

As Nina was ministering before him, something caught his attention. He had been trying to remember her former name but realized that he now knew her primarily by her new name, Ogden. This simple observation brought a spiritual truth to his heart: God sees believers according to their new identity in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Pastor Leonard emphasizes that the old identity is no longer the identity by which God knows His children. When someone becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, that person becomes a new creation. The former life, former failures, and former condition do not determine who that person is before God. He explains that this truth is especially important because of the many conversations he and Pastor Lori have with people who are struggling.

Their ministry is not simply about preaching messages that people hear in person or discover online. Pastor Leonard believes the words he ministers are given and directed by God to help His children. For that reason, he welcomes people contacting him or Pastor Lori through telephone calls, messages, and emails.

He recalls Pastor Lori spending more than an hour on the telephone with someone just two days earlier, patiently helping that person work through a situation. He also describes his own recent conversations, including an hour-long call with someone from Chicago and another conversation with someone dear to him in England.

Through their ministry, they have developed relationships with people from Missouri, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, and other places. Many are individuals they have never personally met, yet they feel connected to them through their shared faith.

Although not everyone struggles with the same issues, Pastor Leonard has noticed that some believers have difficulty letting go of their past. This observation becomes the foundation for his message. Believers cannot fully enjoy their new identity while continuing to define themselves by the person they used to be.

Letting Go of the Past and Receiving God's Goodness

Pastor Leonard openly acknowledges that his own life has not always been easy. He has experienced hardships, financial difficulties, challenging circumstances, and periods of mental and emotional anguish. He admits that many of those difficulties resulted from his own poor decisions. At other times, however, he encountered difficult circumstances that were not the result of anything he had done wrong.

Regardless of the cause, he often found himself connecting his present troubles to things that had happened in his past.

If he experienced financial problems, physical difficulties, or emotional distress, he sometimes believed those circumstances were connected to previous failures or wrong choices. He explains that this way of thinking does not reflect God's attitude toward His children.

According to Pastor Leonard, God does not continually remind believers of their former sins, mistakes, or failures. Instead, God desires that they grow in the knowledge and understanding of what He has accomplished through Jesus Christ.

He reminds listeners that salvation brings an immediate change in their standing before God.

Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

When someone believes in Jesus Christ and confesses Him as Lord, righteousness is received through faith. Pastor Leonard stresses that this is not something believers must gradually earn through personal effort.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Through Jesus Christ, believers have peace with God. His blood has cleansed them, and their relationship with God is no longer defined by sin.

Pastor Leonard refers to the cleansing power of Jesus' blood, which removes sin and makes believers clean before God.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

He emphasizes that the sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient to accomplish what believers could never accomplish through their own efforts.

Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

The work of Jesus was not temporary or incomplete. Pastor Leonard teaches that believers have been perfected through His sacrifice. He reinforces this truth with God's declaration concerning sin.

Hebrews 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

Pastor Leonard explains that God is not bringing up a believer's past sins because those sins have already been dealt with through Jesus Christ.

When God brings something from the past to remembrance, Pastor Leonard says it is to remind His children of His goodness and faithfulness, not to condemn them.

God was good in the past; He is good in the present, and He will continue to be good in the future.

This understanding is essential for believers who feel that they cannot receive God's blessings, miracles, or supernatural provision because of something they previously did.

Pastor Leonard encourages them to release those thoughts because, through Jesus Christ, God has already dealt with their past.

Breaking the Power of Fear, Guilt, Shame, and Condemnation

Pastor Leonard describes how repeatedly thinking about his former failures once affected his emotional and spiritual life.

Whenever he concentrated on difficult situations, bad decisions, and painful experiences, those memories seemed to gain greater influence over his thinking. He explains that continually focusing on negative circumstances gives those circumstances power in a person's life.

That power often appears through fear, worry, anxiety, guilt, shame, and feelings of inferiority. A person may begin believing that they are not worthy enough, not good enough, or incapable of experiencing anything better because of their past.

Pastor Leonard recognizes these thoughts because he has personally experienced them. He explains that when believers accept such thoughts as truth, they allow their former circumstances to continue influencing their present lives.

The solution is to reject thoughts that contradict what God says about them.

Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Pastor Leonard teaches that transformation takes place as believers renew their minds to the truth of God's Word.

They must learn to recognize thoughts that contradict their new identity in Christ and refuse to entertain them.

2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

He describes this process with strong, practical language. When a thought rises against the truth of what Jesus has accomplished, believers must cast it down, reject it, and refuse to give it authority. Rather than accepting condemnation, they should remember that Jesus has already made them righteous and holy through faith. The goal is not simply to develop a more positive attitude. It is to bring their thinking into agreement with what God knows to be true about them.

Renewing the Mind and Choosing the Tree of Life

Pastor Leonard introduces the central picture of the teaching: the two trees in the Garden of Eden. He explains that Adam had a choice between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9 “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

Pastor Leonard uses these trees to illustrate two different ways of thinking and living. The tree of life represents the truth of God's nature, His goodness, and the identity He has given His children.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents what Pastor Leonard describes as a do-it-yourself system, rooted in fallen thinking and human attempts to determine life apart from God's truth. He explains that feeding from the tree of life continually reminds believers that they have been created in God's image. It reminds them that they are righteous, holy, complete, and accepted through Jesus Christ.

Pastor Leonard connects this understanding with Paul's instruction concerning the new man.

Ephesians 4:24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The new man is not something believers must create through hard work. Through faith in Jesus Christ, they have already become new creations. The challenge is learning to live according to that identity.

Pastor Leonard asks the kinds of questions believers sometimes ask when they hear that they must put on the new man. How much work must they do? What must they give? What changes must they make? He points to the preceding verse for the answer.

Ephesians 4:23 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”

The process begins with renewed thinking. Rather than trying to earn righteousness or holiness, believers must learn to recognize what God has already accomplished in them through Jesus Christ.

Adam's Choice and the Believer's New Creation Identity

Pastor Leonard returns to God's original intention in creating Adam.

He explains that Adam was created in God's image and likeness, with dominion and authority.

Genesis 1:26–28 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Pastor Leonard describes Adam as having been created to live in righteousness, holiness, and authority.

In his explanation, continuing to feed from the tree of life would have kept Adam conscious of his identity, his relationship with God, and the dominion God had given him.

However, Adam was given a choice.

Genesis 2:16–17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Adam chose the wrong tree.

Genesis 3:6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Pastor Leonard compares Adam's choice with his own former patterns of thinking. Rather than suggesting that everyone else has been living incorrectly, he speaks personally about his own experience. For much of his life, he says, he was feeding from the wrong tree. His beliefs and attitudes were influenced by fallen thinking rather than the truth of God's grace.

Approximately twelve to fourteen years earlier, he began recognizing this problem.

He realized that he needed to change the source from which he was receiving his understanding of himself and his relationship with God.

As he began feeding from the tree of life, he became increasingly conscious of his righteousness, holiness, perfection, and completeness in Jesus Christ. He began understanding that God was not continually finding fault with him.

Pastor Leonard encourages listeners to guard what enters their minds because the thoughts they continually receive will influence how they see themselves and how they live.

Looking Up and Setting Our Minds on Heavenly Things

Pastor Leonard explains the importance of keeping one's attention directed toward God rather than continually looking at earthly circumstances. He uses the familiar expression of looking up, not because God is physically limited to a place above believers, but because it helps us direct our attention to Him.

He recalls Jesus feeding the multitude.

The crowd included five thousand men, with additional people also present. Jesus had only a small amount of bread and fish available, yet He demonstrated confidence in the Father's provision.

Mark 6:39–44 “And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”

Pastor Leonard draws attention to the fact that Jesus looked up to heaven.

For him, this provides a picture of the direction believers should turn their attention when facing difficulties.

He then explains that believers have been raised with Christ and are called to think according to their heavenly position.

Ephesians 2:6 “And hath raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

Colossians 3:1–2 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Rather than concentrating on former failures, earthly limitations, or troubling circumstances, believers are encouraged to direct their attention toward Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Pastor Leonard emphasizes that believers are instructed to look toward Jesus rather than continually looking backward at the lives they once lived.

Difficult circumstances will still arise, but believers can choose how they respond. He encourages them to think kingdom thoughts, live as children of the King, and accept what God says about their identity. They are to see themselves as righteous, holy, healed, perfected, and sanctified through Jesus Christ.

When thoughts arise that contradict these truths, Pastor Leonard encourages believers to reject them immediately rather than allowing them to become established in their minds.

Pastor Leonard's Cancer Testimony: Refusing to Give Fear Authority

Pastor Leonard shares a deeply personal testimony concerning his experience with cancer.

He recalls visiting a doctor for an examination. Immediately afterward, the doctor informed him that he had bad news. At first, Pastor Leonard thought the diagnosis might involve sinusitis or nasal polyps.

Instead, the doctor told him that he had cancer, specifically sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma.

According to Pastor Leonard's recollection, the doctor explained that the condition was life-threatening and that only approximately two percent of patients recovered.

He was told that there was a ninety-eight percent chance he would die within six months or less.

The doctor also presented what he described as good news: Pastor Leonard would qualify for experimental drugs that had not yet received FDA approval.

Pastor Leonard remembers being struck by the contrast between the doctor's description of good news and the seriousness of the diagnosis. He explains that he experienced a brief moment of concern, which he estimates lasted no more than thirty seconds.

His concern was not primarily for himself. He was thinking about Pastor Lori and the possibility of leaving his wife alone. He wondered who would care for her if he died.

However, he decided that he would not allow those thoughts to establish themselves in his mind.

He describes the experience using the picture of birds flying around a person's head. Although birds may fly overhead, a person does not have to allow them to build a nest there.

In the same way, Pastor Leonard determined that fearful thoughts would not be allowed to settle into his thinking. He began remembering what he believed God had spoken concerning his life and ministry. He believed God had called him into ministry and had given him a purpose that was still unfolding.

He also remembered a prophecy that he would minister before thousands of people.

Rather than concentrating on the medical prognosis, he began thanking God, worshiping Him, and praising Him for His faithfulness.

Pastor Leonard recalls an occasion in Colorado when he shared his testimony before more than three thousand people. He explains that a recording of that meeting subsequently received approximately 150,000 to 200,000 views.

To him, this was a confirmation of the earlier prophetic word concerning the reach of his ministry.

He also remembers receiving the assurance that he would live rather than die.

Psalm 118:17 “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.”

At the time of the sermon, Pastor Leonard joyfully declares that five years have passed since the diagnosis and that he is still alive. He celebrates God's faithfulness and expresses gratitude that he can continue ministering.

His testimony illustrates the central point of the teaching: he chose not to allow a frightening report to control his thinking or define his future. He describes this as choosing to live in the kingdom realm and continuing to feed from the tree of life.

This is Pastor Leonard's personal testimony of faith and his experience with illness, rather than a medical prediction for others facing similar diagnoses.

Pastor Lori's Healing Testimony: Learning to Rest in God's Love

Pastor Leonard then shares another significant testimony involving Pastor Lori. Approximately fourteen years earlier, she had been diagnosed with colonic inertia.

According to his account, doctors explained that her large intestine was no longer functioning and recommended its removal. When the doctor prepared to schedule surgery, Pastor Lori refused.

Pastor Leonard remembers being surprised by her response. He recalls telling the doctor to close his appointment book because Pastor Lori had decided not to undergo the procedure. At the time, Pastor Leonard did not fully understand the confidence she was expressing.

He explains that Pastor Lori had begun learning truths about God's grace, kingdom principles, and living according to the kingdom realm that he himself had not yet fully understood.

 As they continued growing in their understanding of God's love, they began changing the way they approached the situation. They directed their attention toward Jesus and what they believed God had provided through Him.

Pastor Leonard remembers watching Pastor Lori experience significant physical discomfort.

She suffered pain, swelling, and rashes. She struggled while performing ordinary household activities, including preparing meals and helping the children get ready. Although he could see that she was suffering, she rarely told him how much pain she was experiencing.

Pastor Leonard explains that this silence was influenced by teachings they had previously received. They had been taught that speaking about a negative condition meant accepting ownership of it. He now strongly rejects that idea. He explains that acknowledging pain is not the same as denying God's promises.

A believer can recognize what Jesus has accomplished while also being truthful about what is happening physically.

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

Pastor Leonard explains that someone can believe in the provision of healing and still honestly tell a spouse or loved one that they are hurting. He expresses regret that Pastor Lori's reluctance to discuss her pain prevented him from having more opportunities to comfort her.

He wishes he had been able to hug her, show her affection, and ask what he could do to help. This becomes an important part of his teaching. He does not believe that faith requires people to conceal their suffering from those who love them.

He continues by explaining that Pastor Lori kept studying God's Word and growing in her understanding of His love. As she became increasingly conscious of God's love and her righteousness in Christ, she entered a place of peace.

Pastor Leonard testifies that she ultimately received healing from the condition doctors had described as incurable. He attributes this experience to God's grace and the revelation of His love.

He explains that this is only one of many healing experiences they have witnessed. The testimony reinforces his conviction that believers should continue looking toward God's goodness rather than allowing difficult circumstances to determine what they believe is possible.

Recognizing Negative Programming and Feeding on the Right Tree

Pastor Leonard explains that the way people think is often influenced by information they receive repeatedly. He believes many people have become accustomed to accepting negative expectations about their health, circumstances, and future.

Although he acknowledges that doctors and medicine can accomplish good things, he expresses concern that repeated warnings and predictions can sometimes establish fear-based expectations in people's minds. He describes how people may become focused on what might happen next, what condition they may develop, or what precautions they must continually take.

His concern is that this pattern of thinking can become so dominant that people lose sight of God's goodness and provision. He then turns to a humorous example from his own life involving food advertising. Pastor Leonard recalls watching Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials and immediately wanting a bucket of chicken. He remembers being attracted by the offer of a ten-dollar bucket and thinking about ordering only legs and thighs.

He also describes seeing large images of Big Macs on television and suddenly wanting one.

He humorously recalls the familiar ingredients from fast-food advertisements and his desire for a double Whopper with cheese, barbecue sauce, and onion rings.His point is that advertising works by repeatedly presenting images and messages that influence people's desires.

Without realizing it, individuals can become conditioned to want certain things simply because those things have been continually placed before their eyes and minds.

Pastor Leonard uses this everyday example to explain spiritual thinking. Just as advertising can influence appetites, repeated negative messages can influence expectations, beliefs, and attitudes. He believes Jesus has provided freedom from being controlled by those influences. Believers must learn to recognize what is shaping their thinking and reject anything that contradicts the truth of their identity in Christ.

Pastor Leonard again encourages listeners to stop feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and begin feeding from the tree of life. He acknowledges that this was not the message he originally planned to preach. After asking the congregation whether the teaching is acceptable, he receives their encouragement and continues. He also shares a lighthearted moment with someone in the congregation whom he jokingly suggests may be sleeping. He tells the listeners that even if someone falls asleep, their spirit is hearing. The humor provides a brief pause before he returns to the subject of healing and the importance of living in God's promises.

Believing in Miracles and Standing in Faith for Others

Pastor Leonard announces an upcoming Friday evening healing service at the church. He encourages people to attend and invite friends, especially those who need healing. He shares that he has personally witnessed what he believes to be miraculous healings involving cancer, colonic inertia, diverticulitis, asthma, and a torn rotator cuff. He also describes seeing someone recover from a life-threatening condition that had left the person near death. These experiences have strengthened his belief in the miraculous and supernatural power of God.

Pastor Leonard emphasizes that people do not necessarily have to attend a healing service personally for someone to pray on their behalf. He encourages listeners to stand in faith for loved ones who cannot be present. To illustrate this, he recalls the Roman centurion who approached Jesus concerning his sick servant.

Matthew 8:5–13 “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

Pastor Leonard points out that the servant did not personally come to Jesus. The centurion approached Jesus on his behalf.

He also recalls the nobleman who sought Jesus concerning his sick son.

John 4:46–53 “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.”

Both accounts demonstrate people approaching Jesus on behalf of someone else.

Pastor Leonard uses these examples to encourage believers to pray for others and confidently expect God's goodness. He expresses excitement about the upcoming service and his belief that the congregation is growing in its understanding of kingdom principles. He encourages everyone to continue believing that what appears impossible in human circumstances is possible with God.

Living in Hope and Waiting with Patience

As the teaching approaches its conclusion, Pastor Leonard turns to the subject of hope.

He explains that believers are called to live with a confident expectation of God's goodness and salvation. He references a larger passage in Romans, explaining that he intends to teach more about the remaining verses on another occasion.

For this message, he concentrates on the opening two verses.

Romans 8:24–25 “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Pastor Leonard describes hope as confident expectation.

When believers are hoping for something they have not yet experienced, they continue expecting it with patience. Once the thing they have hoped for becomes visible and is received, there is no longer a need to hope for it because it has become a present reality. He encourages the congregation to continue living in hope together.

However, he explains that he does not believe waiting patiently necessarily means waiting forever.

In his understanding, the transformation of the believer's thinking plays an important role in entering more fully into the realities of God's kingdom. As believers become established in the truth of their identity in Christ, they increasingly experience peace rather than fear.

Pastor Leonard describes several signs that a person is beginning to think according to the kingdom realm. Fear, worry, and anxiety no longer dominate their thoughts.

Guilt, shame, and condemnation lose their influence. They stop continually rehearsing former failures, poor decisions, and the wrong ways they once lived.

He explains that constantly dwelling on those things indicates that a person is still feeding from the wrong tree. The more believers feed from the tree of life, the more their minds become established in God's truth.

They increasingly direct their attention toward Jesus, His goodness, and the heavenly realities of their new identity. Pastor Leonard believes that as this transformation takes place, believers enter more fully into the peace and confidence God intends for them.

He emphasizes that the goal is not to struggle endlessly to become acceptable to God.

Rather, believers are learning to live from the acceptance, righteousness, and holiness that Jesus Christ has already provided.

Closing Prayer: Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us

Pastor Leonard concludes the teaching by thanking the Father for Jesus Christ and everything God has accomplished and provided through Him.

He expresses gratitude for the power of the Holy Spirit, who enables believers to walk in the truths of God's Word. His prayer centers on the importance of understanding who believers truly are in Christ. He thanks God that His children can begin seeing themselves in the same way God sees them.

Rather than continuing to live under the influence of their past, they can embrace the identity they have received through Jesus Christ. The message closes with praise, honor, and glory given to God in Jesus' name. Throughout the teaching, Pastor Leonard has returned to one central truth: believers must choose what they continually feed their minds.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the old patterns of thinking that keep people focused on failure, fear, condemnation, and human limitations.

The tree of life represents the truth of God's goodness, His grace, and the new identity believers have received through Jesus Christ.

By continually feeding on the truth of God's Word, believers learn to see themselves as righteous, holy, complete, and accepted in Him.

Pastor Leonard's encouragement is to stop allowing yesterday's failures or today's difficulties to determine tomorrow's expectations.

Instead, believers are invited to live with their minds fixed on Jesus, confident in God's love, and established in the peace that comes from knowing who they are in Christ.

As the teaching approaches its conclusion, Pastor Leonard turns to the subject of hope.

He explains that believers are called to live with a confident expectation of God's goodness and salvation.

He references a larger passage in Romans, explaining that he intends to teach more about the remaining verses on another occasion.

For this message, he concentrates on the opening two verses.

Romans 8:24–25: “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Pastor Leonard describes hope as confident expectation.

When believers are hoping for something they have not yet experienced, they continue expecting it with patience.

Once the thing they have hoped for becomes visible and is received, there is no longer a need to hope for it because it has become a present reality.

He encourages the congregation to continue living in hope together.

However, he explains that he does not believe waiting patiently necessarily means waiting forever.

In his understanding, the transformation of the believer's thinking plays an important role in entering more fully into the realities of God's kingdom.

As believers become established in the truth of their identity in Christ, they increasingly experience peace rather than fear.

Pastor Leonard describes several signs that a person is beginning to think according to the kingdom realm.

Fear, worry, and anxiety no longer dominate their thoughts.

Guilt, shame, and condemnation lose their influence.

They stop continually rehearsing former failures, poor decisions, and the wrong ways they once lived. He explains that constantly dwelling on those things indicates that a person is still feeding from the wrong tree. The more believers feed from the tree of life, the more their minds become established in God's truth. They increasingly direct their attention toward Jesus, His goodness, and the heavenly realities of their new identity.

Pastor Leonard believes that as this transformation takes place, believers enter more fully into the peace and confidence God intends for them.

He emphasizes that the goal is not to struggle endlessly to become acceptable to God. Rather, believers are learning to live from the acceptance, righteousness, and holiness that Jesus Christ has already provided.

Closing Prayer: Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us

Pastor Leonard concludes the teaching by thanking the Father for Jesus Christ and everything God has accomplished and provided through Him.

He expresses gratitude for the power of the Holy Spirit, who enables believers to walk in the truths of God's Word. His prayer centers on the importance of understanding who believers truly are in Christ. He thanks God that His children can begin seeing themselves in the same way God sees them. Rather than continuing to live under the influence of their past, they can embrace the identity they have received through Jesus Christ. The message closes with praise, honor, and glory given to God in Jesus' name. Throughout the teaching, Pastor Leonard has returned to one central truth: believers must choose what they continually feed their minds.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the old patterns of thinking that keep people focused on failure, fear, condemnation, and human limitations. The tree of life represents the truth of God's goodness, His grace, and the new identity believers have received through Jesus Christ. By continually feeding on the truth of God's Word, believers learn to see themselves as righteous, holy, complete, and accepted in Him.

Pastor Leonard's encouragement is to stop allowing yesterday's failures or today's difficulties to determine tomorrow's expectations. Instead, believers are invited to live with their minds fixed on Jesus, confident in God's love, and established in the peace that comes from knowing who they are in Christ.