Tree of life.

[ez2u]

Jesus is never referred to as 'she'.

[santgem]

Mharrell08   read Isaiah 53:7  study it a little deeper the words

7 He was oppressed and tormented,
   but didn't open his mouth.
Like a lamb being brought to slaughter,
  like a ewe silent before her shearers,
didn'tidn't open his mouth.

ewe is a female sheep. The He there (oppresed and tormented) compared to ewe which is a female sheep which is describe as "silent before her shearer".

In my understanding the analogy between ewe (her) a female sheep and like a lamb being brought to slaughter is being compared to the one who "he didn't open his mouth". That is a comparison.there are two different distinct thing that is involve in that verse. one is the ewe (her) and the other is a lamb and they are like He that was oppressed and tormented and he didn't open his mouth.

in simple explanation just like this;

He was oppressed by his father and he didn't open his mouth,
like Lito who is silent when his father hammered him,
and also like Gina is silent when her father hammered her.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[mharrell08]

Jesus is never referred to as 'she'.

That's more of an analogy to an animal, not a female person or personality. I'm not saying one gender is greater than another, only that God constantly refers to Himself as 'Him'. I don't think it has anything to do with gender preference, but in regards to Him being a Father to us all.

[DougE6]

I am pretty sure the Apostle Paul will be in the First Resurrection..

2Co 6:4  but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
2Co 6:5  beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
2Co 6:6  by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;
2Co 6:7  by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
2Co 6:8  through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
2Co 6:9  as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed;
2Co 6:10  as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
2Co 6:11  We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open.

2Co 11:23  Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
2Co 11:24  Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
2Co 11:25  Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
2Co 11:26  on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
2Co 11:27  in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
2Co 11:28  And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
2Co 11:29  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
2Co 11:30  If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

I bet Paul would say that the burden was light...but WHOA WHOA looked what it cost Him to qualify... read the above....and how do I know Paul thought all that above was light? By his own words...

2Co 4:17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
2Co 4:18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

So I do think if you are chosen to be in the First Resurection Kat hit it right on the head when she said...

if you are one of the few. I do not believe that anybody will wake up in the first resurrection and think, 'wow I made it and it wasn't that hard at all, I just waited on God and here I am.' I truly believe to be in that first resurrection His Spirit in us will bring about a great deal of striving and overcoming, which will product good works and you would certainly know you were in a hard, long race to get there. So yes we should strive, that is why Jesus said "Strive (fight, labor fervently) to enter in at the narrow gate" (Luke 13:24).

And I think all the blood sweat and tears will be but a momentary light affliction, an easy yoke, with Jesus in us and the comparison to the eternal weight of Glory put before us.  Let everyone judge themselves but I think the standard is high and I think the proper attitude IS to pursue the First Resurrection EVEN though no one has been told in advance whether we are chosen or not.  Just because God has already ordained who does not for one second the command to seek for it with all your heart.

1Co 9:24  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
1Co 9:25  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
1Co 9:26  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
1Co 9:27  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

[Dave in Tenn]

Be careful elevating the words Paul wrote 'speaking as a madman' into a "How-To Guide" for anything other than boasting.  If Paul is to glory in anything, he's glorying in his weaknesses--the things that axiomatically make him unable to glory.  Paul was converted against his initial wishes and became a slave to Christ.  He didn't wreck his own ship, to pick just one. 

I'm not saying there aren't things to do, things to not do, and things to stop doing.  To pick just one, I'm leery of any scriptural 'application' or sermon that I might have heard in church, and I'm determined to not add to or take away from His testimony, to match spiritual with spiritual, to seek out two or three witnesses, and to not go back to the way I used to do it, which is anything the way the Scribes and Pharisees did it.  I want to do those things to the best of my ability as the Lord graces me.  That's not easy either, trust me.  I've been at it 4 years and I'm just slightly beginning to gain traction.

 

[ez2u]

KAt 

But don't be deceived, Jesus Christ IS the "tree of life" in the Garden, and NO ONE can partake of that tree of life except he first pass the through the "FLAMING SWORD" that points in all directions and guards the tree of life. Remember, "Our God is a CONSUMING FIRE" (Heb. 12:29).
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