This post was born out of a conversation that changed something in me.
I have been coming out of religion—not walking away from Jesus, but leaving behind a framework that taught me to live toward God instead of from Him. I realized that much of my spiritual life had been shaped by wanting, striving, waiting, and needing—rather than abiding.
And I began to see that I didn’t know how to steward the dream God gave me because I was trying to steward it from the wrong tree.
This is not abstract theology. This is about how we live, how we desire, how we carry dreams, and how we experience God.
The Difference Between Wanting and Abiding
Wanting always assumes distance.
When I want something, I am positioned outside of it:
I don’t have it yet.
I’m hoping for it.
I’m waiting for it.
Much of religion is built on this posture. We want God’s presence. We want breakthrough. We want healing. We want the promise to arrive.
But Jesus does not invite us into a life of wanting.
He invites us into abiding.
Abiding means remaining where you already are.
“Abide in Me, and I in you.” (John 15:4)
Abiding is not effortful closeness. It is shared life. It is union.
The moment I saw this, I realized why my inner world was so tired. I had been living as if God and His promises were always out there, just beyond reach.
Thinking About vs. Living From
Here is the shift that unlocked everything for me.
Thinking about God, faith, or the dream keeps me as an observer. There is separation in it. I analyze. I evaluate. I manage.
Living from God assumes participation.
I am not trying to get life; Christ is my life. (Colossians 3:4)
I am not waiting for love; I am living from love. (1 John 4:16)
I am not striving for victory; I am standing in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:57)
This is the difference between religion and relationship.
Religion teaches us to think about God. Relationship invites us to live from Him.
The Two Trees: Why Framework Matters
The Bible opens with two trees in a garden.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil teaches us to evaluate life from the outside:
Is this working?
Am I doing enough?
Am I approved?
How do I get there?
The Tree of Life is different. Life flows from the inside out.
What is alive?
What is being expressed?
What is flowing through me?
The tragedy of the fall was not just disobedience—it was relocation. Humanity moved from living in union to living in separation.
Religion is humanity’s attempt to manage life from the Tree of Knowledge.
Jesus came to restore us to the Tree of Life.
Jesus Lived From Abiding, Not Wanting
Jesus never lived from lack.
He did not heal to prove anything. He did not pray to persuade the Father. He did not obey to earn love.
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
Everything Jesus did flowed from union.
That is why He could say:
“The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)
“The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing.” (John 5:19)
Jesus lived from the Tree of Life—and then He made a way for us to do the same.
The Cross Restored Us to the Garden
The cross was not just forgiveness. It was restoration.
Through the cross:
separation was healed
union was restored
abiding became possible again
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)
This is not metaphorical language. This is identity.
Jesus didn’t die so we could try harder to follow Him. He died so He could live His life through us.
This is the garden restored.
Why I Didn’t Know How to Steward the Dream
God gave me a dream that was bigger than my strength.
But for years, I held that dream as something out there—something I was waiting for, hoping for, trying to arrive at.
That posture slowly became heavy.
I realized the problem wasn’t the dream. It was the tree I was living from.
From the Tree of Knowledge, the dream becomes:
proof of faithfulness
justification for suffering
something that validates the journey
From the Tree of Life, the dream becomes:
fruit
expression
overflow of union
The dream was never meant to be my Promised Land. Jesus is.
Abiding Changes How We Carry Dreams
When we abide, we stop waiting for life to begin.
We are not living for the dream. We are living from Christ.
That means:
joy is allowed now
obedience is not postponed
love is not delayed
The dream is not something we chase. It is something that flows through us in seed form, day by day.
“If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7)
Asking flows from abiding—not from lack.
From Religion to Relationship
This journey has helped me see that much of my exhaustion came from living from the wrong framework.
Religion taught me to want. Jesus invites me to abide.
The Tree of Knowledge taught me to evaluate life. The Tree of Life teaches me to express life.
Because of the cross, we are restored to the garden. Because of abiding, the life of heaven flows through us. And because of that, the dreams we carry are not burdens—but fruit.
We are not waiting to live. We are living from union.
And that changes everything.
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In everything you do -eat, play, and love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!
Footnote: 1. Text generated with the aid of ChatGPT, February 8-9, 2026, OpenAI, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
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