May 27, 2025 • 11 mins
In today’s Spiritual Foundation Episode, I talk about Revelation 21: 10, 22-22:5 and John 14: 23-29. I share how the call to healing is not literal but important. I also share how healing can come from trees both literally and figuratively.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thanks for joining me on episode 1544 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. Hi everyone,
I'm Rob Kraczak.
I challenge you to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
develop your influence and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
(00:24):
Having the ability to find a way to not lose sight
of the importance of people and is key and one way
to be inspired to do that is to listen to this
the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Mater Again,
(00:44):
on the earth as a whole as well as on us
as people,
becomes clear in this symbology as well.
And it's calling us to be peaceful together,
not just with each other as people,
but also in community with each other and with the world
and clearly with God and with Christ as well.
(01:07):
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast,
you will learn to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
(01:27):
and develop your influence so so that you can impact the
world. In today's spiritual foundation Episode I talk about Revelations 21:10
and then chapter 21,
(01:48):
verse 22 through chapter 22,
verse 5 and John,
chapter 14,
verses 23:29.
I share how the call to healing is an important call,
but not always literal.
And I also share how healing can come from trees,
both literally and figuratively.
(02:09):
Revelation 21:10 says,
and in the Spirit he carried me away to a great
high mountain and showed me the holy city,
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
Starting now with verse 22,
I saw no temple in the city,
for its temple is the Lord,
God, the Almighty,
and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to
(02:31):
shine on it.
For the glory of God is its light,
and its lamp is the Lamb.
The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into
it. Its gates will never be shut by day,
and there will be no night there.
People will bring into it the glory and the honor of
the nations,
but nothing unclean will enter it,
(02:53):
nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of
life. Then the angel showed me the river of the Water
of Life,
bright as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through
the middle of the street of the city.
On either side of the river is the tree of life,
with its 12 kinds of fruit and producing its fruit each
(03:16):
month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing
of the nations.
Nothing accursed will be found there anymore,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be
in it,
and his servants will worship him.
They will see his face,
and his name will be on their foreheads,
and there will be no more night.
They need no light of lamp or sun,
for the Lord God will be their light,
(03:38):
and they will reign forever and ever.
John 14:23 29 says Jesus answered him,
for those who love me will keep my word,
and my Father will love them,
and we will come to them and make our home with
them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.
(03:59):
And the word that you hear is not mine,
but is from the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you while I am still
with you.
But the advocate,
the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything and remind you of all that I
have said to you.
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
(04:21):
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let
them be afraid.
You heard me say to you,
I am going away and I am coming to you.
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,
because the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it occurs,
so that when it does occur,
you may believe.
(04:44):
This week,
picking up from last week,
invites us to now go into that holy city of Jerusalem
that John had seen coming down from heaven and becoming here
on earth.
And this again fits into this idea of peace being something
(05:05):
bigger than what we just normally see.
John's passage From John chapter 14 reflects this,
where Jesus invites his disciples into breathing a peace that he
shares with them.
They talk about not being afraid and what those things are
cast out from this because peace is flows like a river
(05:28):
and connects everyone together into this kingdom of God.
Notice in Revelation,
John sees a tree growing in the heart of the city,
flowing from the seat of power,
of the river of power that is flowing from God and
Christ. And this tree produces 12 types of fruit and the
(05:50):
leaves are for the healing of the nations.
That resonates with a passage from Ezekiel of trees growing along
the sides of the river with fruit ripening each month and
their leaves are there for healing.
With Ezekiel,
life giving water flows as a river from the temple.
But in John's vision,
(06:11):
now that the temple has been destroyed,
the whole city reveals that God is there,
that God has become all in that city there's a fruitful
and hopeful future that is being pointed to here and back.
In Isaiah there's a prophecy of God's invitation for the nations
(06:33):
to come drink clear water flowing freely from the Temple Mount.
And this seems to echo that.
This welcome is that the new creation is not a return
to Eden,
but rather a new kind of community and connection in the
city of God.
(06:54):
You seem to see and hear that John is dreaming of
a multiplicity of nations,
but nations not like we see them today,
but finally at peace.
Not because they are all the same,
but because they're at peace with their differences.
They are united but not uniform.
(07:18):
You hear me talk about that over and over,
that there's things unclean outside of the city,
but inside there's the glory and the nations and the kings
of the earth plural.
Not one thing that has now become completely alike,
but rather they are joined and stronger and connected more because
(07:41):
of their differences.
This prophetic message of John is meant to be taken seriously,
but it's not necessarily meant to be a literal picture.
It taps into archetypes and cultures and symbols from throughout history.
The idea of the tree of life shows up in all
(08:04):
sorts of religions and traditions,
both that came before Christianity and that exists now alongside Christianity.
This idea of the tree being a symbol of wisdom and
kinship and nourishment and abundance,
and of water being that is clearly something that is important
(08:26):
to us as humans.
Trees can mark places of importance,
places of commitment.
They're a place of peace.
I don't know about you,
but have you ever had the experience of walking underneath trees,
feeling that sense of calm and pre peace that they can
give you,
(08:46):
that the very air that they're putting out cools and calms
you? And that's both figurative,
but it's also literal.
They produce the very oxygen that we believe and breathe in.
All of these things are connected to this idea of the
life giving nature,
of leaves and fruits and trees,
(09:09):
both again in a figurative and as a literal way as
well. These ideas of using food and natural things to connect
us to nature in a more whole way is also real
and both literal and figurative.
(09:30):
That is part of what we're seeing here.
That the very truth that we begin to reveal through science
about how trees work and how they fit into the ecology
and the ecosystem and the climate and all of these other
effects that they have both again on the earth as a
whole as well as on us as people,
(09:51):
becomes clear in this symbology as well.
And it's calling us to be peaceful together,
not just with each other as people,
but also in community with each other and with the world,
and clearly with God and with Christ as well.
(10:11):
Thanks for listening.
Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.
As a subscriber and listener,
we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
but act on what you've heard and find a way to
(10:32):
to live your calling.
If you enjoyed this episode,
do me a favor,
go over to facebook.com
inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it that
you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can
connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving
(10:55):
you to the best of our abilities with time and tips
there. Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent,
and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.
Thanks for joining me on episode 1544 of the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. Hi everyone,
I'm Rob Kraczak.
I challenge you to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
develop your influence and impact the world by using your time,
your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.
(00:24):
Having the ability to find a way to not lose sight
of the importance of people and is key and one way
to be inspired to do that is to listen to this
the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Mater Again,
(00:44):
on the earth as a whole as well as on us
as people,
becomes clear in this symbology as well.
And it's calling us to be peaceful together,
not just with each other as people,
but also in community with each other and with the world
and clearly with God and with Christ as well.
(01:07):
Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship
Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God
wants you to be,
then you must learn to use your time,
your talent and your treasures for your true calling.
In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast,
you will learn to invest in yourself,
invest in others,
(01:27):
and develop your influence so so that you can impact the
world. In today's spiritual foundation Episode I talk about Revelations 21:10
and then chapter 21,
(01:48):
verse 22 through chapter 22,
verse 5 and John,
chapter 14,
verses 23:29.
I share how the call to healing is an important call,
but not always literal.
And I also share how healing can come from trees,
both literally and figuratively.
(02:09):
Revelation 21:10 says,
and in the Spirit he carried me away to a great
high mountain and showed me the holy city,
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
Starting now with verse 22,
I saw no temple in the city,
for its temple is the Lord,
God, the Almighty,
and the Lamb.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to
(02:31):
shine on it.
For the glory of God is its light,
and its lamp is the Lamb.
The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into
it. Its gates will never be shut by day,
and there will be no night there.
People will bring into it the glory and the honor of
the nations,
but nothing unclean will enter it,
(02:53):
nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of
life. Then the angel showed me the river of the Water
of Life,
bright as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through
the middle of the street of the city.
On either side of the river is the tree of life,
with its 12 kinds of fruit and producing its fruit each
(03:16):
month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing
of the nations.
Nothing accursed will be found there anymore,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be
in it,
and his servants will worship him.
They will see his face,
and his name will be on their foreheads,
and there will be no more night.
They need no light of lamp or sun,
for the Lord God will be their light,
(03:38):
and they will reign forever and ever.
John 14:23 29 says Jesus answered him,
for those who love me will keep my word,
and my Father will love them,
and we will come to them and make our home with
them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.
(03:59):
And the word that you hear is not mine,
but is from the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you while I am still
with you.
But the advocate,
the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything and remind you of all that I
have said to you.
Peace I leave with you.
My peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
(04:21):
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let
them be afraid.
You heard me say to you,
I am going away and I am coming to you.
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,
because the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it occurs,
so that when it does occur,
you may believe.
(04:44):
This week,
picking up from last week,
invites us to now go into that holy city of Jerusalem
that John had seen coming down from heaven and becoming here
on earth.
And this again fits into this idea of peace being something
(05:05):
bigger than what we just normally see.
John's passage From John chapter 14 reflects this,
where Jesus invites his disciples into breathing a peace that he
shares with them.
They talk about not being afraid and what those things are
cast out from this because peace is flows like a river
(05:28):
and connects everyone together into this kingdom of God.
Notice in Revelation,
John sees a tree growing in the heart of the city,
flowing from the seat of power,
of the river of power that is flowing from God and
Christ. And this tree produces 12 types of fruit and the
(05:50):
leaves are for the healing of the nations.
That resonates with a passage from Ezekiel of trees growing along
the sides of the river with fruit ripening each month and
their leaves are there for healing.
With Ezekiel,
life giving water flows as a river from the temple.
But in John's vision,
(06:11):
now that the temple has been destroyed,
the whole city reveals that God is there,
that God has become all in that city there's a fruitful
and hopeful future that is being pointed to here and back.
In Isaiah there's a prophecy of God's invitation for the nations
(06:33):
to come drink clear water flowing freely from the Temple Mount.
And this seems to echo that.
This welcome is that the new creation is not a return
to Eden,
but rather a new kind of community and connection in the
city of God.
(06:54):
You seem to see and hear that John is dreaming of
a multiplicity of nations,
but nations not like we see them today,
but finally at peace.
Not because they are all the same,
but because they're at peace with their differences.
They are united but not uniform.
(07:18):
You hear me talk about that over and over,
that there's things unclean outside of the city,
but inside there's the glory and the nations and the kings
of the earth plural.
Not one thing that has now become completely alike,
but rather they are joined and stronger and connected more because
(07:41):
of their differences.
This prophetic message of John is meant to be taken seriously,
but it's not necessarily meant to be a literal picture.
It taps into archetypes and cultures and symbols from throughout history.
The idea of the tree of life shows up in all
(08:04):
sorts of religions and traditions,
both that came before Christianity and that exists now alongside Christianity.
This idea of the tree being a symbol of wisdom and
kinship and nourishment and abundance,
and of water being that is clearly something that is important
(08:26):
to us as humans.
Trees can mark places of importance,
places of commitment.
They're a place of peace.
I don't know about you,
but have you ever had the experience of walking underneath trees,
feeling that sense of calm and pre peace that they can
give you,
(08:46):
that the very air that they're putting out cools and calms
you? And that's both figurative,
but it's also literal.
They produce the very oxygen that we believe and breathe in.
All of these things are connected to this idea of the
life giving nature,
of leaves and fruits and trees,
(09:09):
both again in a figurative and as a literal way as
well. These ideas of using food and natural things to connect
us to nature in a more whole way is also real
and both literal and figurative.
(09:30):
That is part of what we're seeing here.
That the very truth that we begin to reveal through science
about how trees work and how they fit into the ecology
and the ecosystem and the climate and all of these other
effects that they have both again on the earth as a
whole as well as on us as people,
(09:51):
becomes clear in this symbology as well.
And it's calling us to be peaceful together,
not just with each other as people,
but also in community with each other and with the world,
and clearly with God and with Christ as well.
(10:11):
Thanks for listening.
Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.
As a subscriber and listener,
we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen,
but act on what you've heard and find a way to
(10:32):
to live your calling.
If you enjoyed this episode,
do me a favor,
go over to facebook.com
inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it that
you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can
connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving
(10:55):
you to the best of our abilities with time and tips
there. Until next time,
invest your time,
your talent,
and your treasures.
Develop your influence and impact the world.
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