Bonsai

While I understand bonsai trees are both beautiful and treasured, I find them profoundly sad. Trees are designed to be big! You climb in them; swing in their branches or rest in the shade of its bushy canopy. But not the bonsai, it is too small. Trees with mature heights of 50 to 150 feet, will only reach 12-14 inches as a mature bonsai. They are not dwarfed by genetics. Instead, they are miniature by deliberate design. The blueprint locked inside the DNA of the young seedling promises a mighty giant. But to create a bonsai that destiny is altered. To grow a bonsai the tap root is clipped and the branches are pruned. Then the developing seedling is planted in a low container. The bonsai reaches maturity, but it never reaches its potential. The miniature lives a low dish while its giant relative grows outside. Locked inside the bonsai is the potential to kiss the sky, which it will never do as a bonsai.

But the reality of bonsai Christians go beyond sad to heartbreaking. A bonsai Christian is the result of unrealized and unleashed potential, God implanted potential. God’s incorruptible seed was destined to produce believers that would be called, “… trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Verse 3 of Isaiah 61:1-3) You are called to be like a tall, magnificent tree, visually displaying the nature and glory of God. You are called to be like a giant sequoia, a tree of righteousness, so God can receive glory from your life. He doesn’t get glory when you live your life chained and defeated by sin or stunted with tiny faith and miniature results. Too many believers live satisfied and content as bonsai Christians instead of being the giant God intended believers to become.

Sequoias are spectacular giants which grow to heights of over 250 feet. When I stood at the foot of the General Sherman, named for its exceptional stature, I commented to my husband, “Look how small the branches are.” My husband was reading the sign. One branch was over six feet in diameter, more than the average height of most men. The height of the branches caused them to appear much smaller than they actually were. You feel like a tiny bug in comparison to their towering majesty.

Although God put the seed of potential in every believer to live super-sized Christian lives, too often we live like a bonsai with bonsai results. Something is missing. That something is actually someone; we are missing precious Holy Spirit. Our unbelief has frozen Pentecost into a myth or a relic of the past like a dinosaur. By deliberate neglect, fear of the unknown and/or skepticism we have pushed Holy Spirit into a dark corner in the basement of our lives. Our inability to produce desired results leaves us questioning Him, instead of questioning our beliefs and values. Oh yes, we have an abundance of activities, programs and ideas, but no power. We have plenty of knowledge, but little wisdom. We know how to compromise, organize, and economize, but we refuse to evangelize. Every believer has the DNA to be a spiritual king, but we have dropped the scepter and shirk from the responsibly. We live as if Christianity were another self-help program, picking and choosing scriptures as though they were suggestions. We employ self-discipline to produce righteousness and holiness like we try to stay on a diet. We live as orphans, deserted and hopeless. Our theology insists Holy Spirit exists, but divorced from His living presence we live like a deserted orphan.

The early church was born in the fire and power of Holy Spirit. If the early church needed power, why don’t we still need it? Did God intend for the church to be born in a dynamic fire only to fizzle out? Or, has the lid of wrong teaching kept us from expecting and experiencing the infilling of Holy Spirit? Has unbelief cut our tap root so we fail to reach for and receive the deep things of God?

William Robinson Clark saidin his book "The Paraclete", “I believe that the cause of the general ignorance on this subject is that God will not reveal His fullness to a partially consecrated soul. Until our whole being is yielded to Him we cannot understand these things. God only reveals His fullness to those who are willing to go all lengths with Him.”


Let’s dedicate our hearts to discover God’s truth. What is the truth concerning Holy Spirit? We all have questions; some that don’t seem to have clear answers; others that are simple to understand when you know where to look. Who is Holy Spirit? Do you receive Holy Spirit when you are saved? Is there a second work of grace? Have tongues stopped? The truth is hidden in the seed of a mystery. Unlocking the mystery will enrich your life beyond your wildest dream. In these seven lessons we will take you on a journey through scripture to unlock the mystery of Pentecost!