A Tree Planted by the Rivers of Water
Let’s begin today by reading Psalm 1. After we read through the verses, we’ll take some time to break it down and really reflect on what it mean for our lives.
Psalm 1 (NKJV) says:
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Now let’s take a moment to unpack this powerful passage together and see how it applies to us today. In this teaching, my focus is on showing you how to practically apply God’s promises in your life, using Psalm 1 as our scriptural foundation. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know I often emphasize this truth: God’s Word operates on a cause-and-effect principle. In other words, you must take action to see results—faith requires participation, it only works when applied in action.
Take Psalm 1, for example. It shows us exactly how this principle works. If we delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night, then it shapes our decisions. We won’t sit with the scornful, put ourselves under the influence of habitual sinners, or hang around with the ungodly. In other words, we close the door to anything that feeds evil.
And here’s the effect: if we make those choices, then we become like a tree planted by streams of water—deeply rooted, steady, and fruitful in the right season. If we stay planted in God’s Word, then whatever we do will prosper. That doesn’t mean problems disappear, but it does mean we’ll have the strength to overcome them. Our leaves won’t wither, because we’re continually nourished, and we’ll remain strong and victorious.
Remember, when we are in Christ, we’re called to become more like Him. That means we’re not just holding on to His promises—we’re actually living them out through His Word. In fact, our lives become a reflection of Jesus, so that He’s seen in everything we do. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
What this scripture is really showing us is that an exchange took place. Our old life was put to death, and now Christ Himself lives in us. We are His temple, His vessels, chosen to be used by Him. Through this new life, we’ve also been given authority in His name to walk in everything He has commanded us to be.
But here’s the key—God’s Word must be applied to our lives daily. We need to be aware of this truth and live consciously of it every day. To grasp it fully, let’s revisit how God originally created us.
We are created as three-part beings: spirit, soul, and body. And we live between two realms—the physical and the spiritual. In the physical realm, we rely on our five senses: sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. But in the spiritual realm, things operate differently. This is where truth (God's word), dreams, visions, and supernatural experiences occur—things that often can't be explained in natural terms.
Faith itself is spiritual. You can’t see it or touch it, and many times, it doesn’t make logical sense. The Bible, from start to finish, is a spiritual book—because it’s the very Word of God. And for its principles to truly work in our lives, we have to approach it God’s way—by following His Word and living in obedience to it. When we do that, we begin to unlock His promises and experience real, lasting change.
Words are spiritual—especially God’s Word, which is truth. And remember, Jesus is the Word made flesh. Let me explain. Jesus is the living manifestation of God’s Word, the perfect example of how to apply it in our lives. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
You see, words carry power. They carry energy and truth. God’s Word is potent—it’s alive and active in the spiritual realm. That’s why the enemy works overtime to plant seeds of doubt in your mind, hoping you’ll speak the opposite of what God has said. Because the moment you start confessing against His Word, you begin to give power to the very things meant to hold you back.
As we talk about our three-part being—spirit, soul, and body—today we’re going to focus on the soul, specifically the mind. The mind plays a vital role in our everyday lives because it’s where our thoughts are formed, and those thoughts ultimately shape our actions.
Think about what the Bible says: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45), and “By their fruit, you shall know them” (Matthew 7:16–18). These scriptures point to an important truth—our actions are rooted in our thoughts.
The mind is essentially the center of our thought life. It’s where information is processed and stored. Another way to look at it is to view the mind as our mental life, which is made up of two parts: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. And here’s something powerful—about 90% of our mental activity takes place in the subconscious mind. That means most of our habits, reactions, and behaviors are driven by thoughts we aren’t even fully aware of.
Now, when we talk about the mind, it's also important to understand how our five senses—what we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch—operate mainly through the conscious mind. This is the part of the mind we use to make everyday decisions, process information, and interact with the physical world.
But beneath that lies something far more powerful: the subconscious mind. It’s deeply spiritual in nature and makes up about 90% of our thought life. Think of it like this—your subconscious mind feeds your conscious mind. It stores your beliefs, patterns, and impressions, and often shapes your reality without you even realizing it.
The subconscious mind is your spirit man, which is why it operates in a spiritual realm. Life itself is spiritual, and everything that manifests in the physical world starts in the spirit. As I often say in my teachings, the spiritual realm governs the physical realm.
Your subconscious speaks in quiet but powerful ways—through intuition, gentle nudges, sudden ideas, instincts, and thoughts that seem to appear out of nowhere. These aren’t random; they’re often spiritual impressions flowing from deep within.
That’s why the Bible tells us to meditate on God’s Word (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1). Meditation isn’t just thinking about Scripture—it’s a spiritual discipline that allows God’s Word to sink deep into the subconscious mind through intentional repetition of hearing the word of God.
It’s more than just reading or studying—you have to be intentional about it. Let God’s Word fill your space until it becomes part of you, something you naturally live and breathe. One practical way to do this is to let Scripture play softly in the background while you cook, drive, or handle everyday chores. You can even keep it on quietly while you sleep, allowing it to soak into your spirit. It’s like hearing a favorite song on the radio—you’re not trying to memorize it, but after hearing it over and over, the words become second nature.
When God’s Word takes root like that, it begins to shape your thoughts, influence your actions, and align your life with His purpose.
The mind is the core of our lives, and at the core of the mind is the subconscious. So, if we want lasting transformation, it starts with renewing the mind—by feeding it the Word until it takes root in our inner man.
In the physical world, this process is known as programming. We’re conditioned to think, act, and believe in certain ways—not overnight, but gradually. From a young age, we’re subtly programmed through culture, school systems, media, music, movies, and trends. All of this shapes our subconscious mind until our thoughts eventually show up in our actions.
The same principle applies to the Word of God. When we hear it repeatedly—when we meditate on it, confess it, and keep it before us—it begins to sink into our subconscious (Hearts). Over time, it shapes what we believe and begins to transform the way we live. That’s exactly what Romans 10:17 reminds us: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This is how faith works: we hear the Word enough to believe it, and eventually, we start acting on it. It’s not always logical, and you can’t always explain it—but that’s because faith is spiritual, not physical. You can’t touch it or measure it with your senses, but its results are real. Transformation begins on the inside—by changing the way you think—and eventually shows up on the outside through the way you live and act.
Let’s use dreams as a case study. Have you ever thought about how what happens in your dreams can reflect your true spiritual state? In many ways, your spirit man shows up clearly in your dreams. The way you respond in a dream often reveals how strong or weak you are spiritually—whether you’re being nourished by the word of God or still malnourished in the spirit.
Think about it: have you ever done something in a dream that you’d never do in real life? For example, many Christians know that eating in a dream often has spiritual implications. They’re aware of it and try to avoid it, yet they still find themselves eating in dreams. Then they wake up and immediately start renouncing any evil covenant they may have unknowingly entered just by eating that food.
That kind of reaction shows your spiritual condition—what you truly believe and how much strength or authority you walk in. Often, these patterns stem from being spiritually malnourished. In some cases, it may be due to open doors through sin or generational covenants in your bloodline.
And here’s further proof that your spirit man is the real you in the dream realm—take the story of Abimelech in Genesis 20:1–18. God appeared to him in a dream and warned him to return Sarah, Abraham’s wife. What’s powerful is that Abimelech didn’t just dream aimlessly—he responded, reasoned, and even pleaded his case with God in the dream.
That shows us something deep: your spirit man is fully alert and able to interact in the spiritual realm, even when your physical body is asleep. The conversation between God and Abimelech was real, and it happened in a dream. That tells us that dreams aren’t just random—they’re spiritual encounters, and how you act in them reflects your spiritual state and authority.
So when you find yourself reacting passively in dreams—eating or drinking, having sex, running from battles, or falling into traps—it’s often a sign that your spirit man needs to be strengthened, renewed, and nourished. But when you stand firm, resist, or even pray in your dreams, that’s evidence of growth and spiritual alertness.
Just a reminder—when I talk about the spiritual realm, I’m referring to another world, a dimension where only spirits operate. And remember, we are spiritual beings housed in human bodies. It’s the unseen reality that shapes our physical world. Simply put, what you experience in your life first takes place in the spiritual realm before it shows up here in the natural.
The good news is, God has given us the ability to prepare for—or even approve—what happens in our lives. The earth was entrusted to mankind, and for any spirit, including God, to operate here, permission must be given through us. The spiritual realm operates by one main rule: a spirit must have human agreement to function in the physical world.
God is always direct and honest about His intentions when He moves on earth. The enemy, on the other hand, uses deception to get what he wants. Spirits gain access to our world through covenants—agreements that establish spiritual altars—giving them legal rights to work through people. And make no mistake, spirits don’t operate alone; they always work through human beings.
Your dreams can be one way covenants are formed, allowing spirits to attach themselves to a person—often through their bloodline. This happens because of altars that were established by previous generations. These spirits strengthen their hold through sin or iniquity within the family line, giving them the legal right to pass from one generation to the next. They remain until someone in that bloodline breaks the covenant and destroys the altar.
We are creatures of worship—created to worship something. It will either be the Almighty God or lesser gods such as self, money, idols or demons; there is no middle ground. Whoever we worship ultimately influences our thoughts, actions, and choices.
Iniquity separates us from God and gives the enemy legal access to operate in our lives. And here’s the sobering truth: the spirit attached to you is what influences whether you walk in sin—or in righteousness.
Let’s dive back into our Bible study in Isaiah chapter 55. In this passage, God offers an open invitation to an abundant life for His people.
In verse 1, He says (paraphrased): “Anyone who is thirsty, come and drink. And those who have no money, come—buy and eat without cost, without price.”
Let that sink in for a moment—God is literally giving us the key to experiencing an abundant life. He’s saying that what He offers can’t be bought with money. It’s freely given to those who come to Him with a willing heart.
Then in verse 2, He asks a powerful question: “Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”
In other words, God is reminding us to stop chasing things that don’t truly fulfill us. Instead, He invites us to find real satisfaction in Him.
He goes even deeper in verses 3–4, urging us to listen and come near to Him so that we may truly live abundantly. God promises a life rooted in His everlasting covenant—a promise that can never be broken. And to drive the point home, He uses David as an example—a witness to His faithfulness and a reminder that what God promises, He always fulfills.
Let’s look at the rest of Isaiah 55, verses 7–13. In this passage, God calls us to turn away from our own ways and return to Him, promising mercy and abundant pardon. Then He reminds us that His thoughts are not like ours, and His ways are far above ours—higher than the heavens are above the earth.
He goes on to paint a beautiful picture: just as rain and snow come down from heaven to water the earth, causing it to produce fruit and provide seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is His Word. When God speaks, His Word never returns empty—it always fulfills its purpose.
Then comes the promise: “You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace.” Even creation responds with celebration—the mountains sing, and the trees clap their hands! God ends the chapter with a vision of transformation: instead of thorns, there will be cypress trees; instead of briers, myrtle trees will grow. It’s a picture of restoration and fruitfulness—of life flourishing under His blessing.
In a nutshell, when we come to God, listen to Him, and apply His Word, He blesses the work of our hands. We become like that tree planted by rivers of water mentioned in Psalm 1—steadfast, nourished, and fruitful in every season. That’s what happens when we walk in God’s wisdom and follow His direction. He doesn’t just want us to survive—He wants us to prosper.
Here’s a powerful revelation: God created us in His own image and likeness, and then breathed His very life into us (Genesis 1:26–27; Genesis 2:7). Think about that for a moment. He poured His Spirit—the Holy Spirit—into us and made us like Him. When we live in alignment with Him, we share in that same Spirit, and His will flows through us. That’s why Adam had the authority and wisdom to name the animals.
But it doesn’t stop there. God also gave us dominion over the earth—the physical world—and designed us to function in both the spiritual and physical realms. No other being was created with this unique ability.
And here’s the best part: we were created for God’s pleasure and purpose, and every provision we need has already been made available to us. All we have to do is come into alignment with God—just like Psalm 1 reminds us.
To put it simply, we are designed like God—created in His image and likeness. That means we were made to carry His presence, so that His kingdom is known and His will is done here on earth. This is our primary purpose. Our relationship with God reflects His glory, and He delights in that relationship with us.
Think of it this way—God is our ultimate source, and we are an extension of Him. Everything we need to succeed has already been provided through Him (Ephesians 1:3). Our part is to stay connected. And that connection starts with one simple step: surrendering to Him. From there, growth happens as we get to know God personally—by reading His Word, applying it in our daily lives, speaking it in faith, and spending time with Him in prayer.
Cultivating a prayer life is of paramount importance for your spiritual journey, particularly in a fast-paced society where allocating exclusive time for prayer can be challenging. The solution is clear: "Simply Prayer for Our Daily Journey," a scripture-enriched prayer book designed for all aspects of life. Additionally, pair it with a Faith-building scripture book to assist you in persevering through the waiting time on God’s promises and strengthening your faith. However, it's essential to note that this prayer book doesn't replace genuine, quality time with God; you must spend dedicated time with Him.
