Going to The Garden Place

                Yet again I was having a difficult time of finding what God wanted me to write about on this blog. When I first started this blog it was easy to write, because I had so much bottled up I needed a place to outpour everything that was in my Spirit. I had an overflow so to speak of the Word of God, and I am trying not to repeat myself, but to give a fresh NOW Word from Christ. I have really been studying on the power of our words, and faith in God which produces healings and miracles, but this is not what this blog is about. He has really put on my heart to speak on the garden place with Him. This week alone I have had two confirmations from God on this topic in two of the intern classes I had with two different teachers. It truly was an, “Okay God I get it” moment. The word garden isn’t mentioned too often in the Word, but it is a very sacred place when you begin to study it. There are two formal definitions I would like to give on a garden. The first definition of a garden is a plot of ground where plants are cultivated. The second is a yard or lawn adjoining a house.  When you think about these spiritually a garden is really the heart of God. The garden of God is where we cultivate intimacy or fruit of the spirit. The garden is where our house, which is our spirit, soul, and body, are adjoined to His heart. In this garden place is where we are able to spend much time with God, and to learn who He is and what He is speaking. The garden is where we get to enjoy Him, and see Him in all His beautiful splendor.

                First I want to talk about the garden place in Genesis that He created for Adam and Eve. This is the first paradigm of a garden being the heart and secret place of God. Genesis 2:8-9 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The Lord made the garden first and then put man there. He created us to dwell within His heart. He put us in His heart before He did anything else in the garden. We are His most prized possession, and He longs for us to dwell in His heart every moment of the day for that was our intended purpose. The word pleasant to the sight in the Greek and Hebrew means beautiful in countenance. This is just God showing us the beauty of His heart. He created the garden as a paradigm of what His heart looks like. He wanted to show us in the natural what He was on the inside. The word good means beautiful, best, bountiful, cheerful, joyful, kind, loving, pleasant, prosperous, and wealthy. Food breaks down to eatable or fruit. Everything God has in His heart for us that we are to consume which is the Word is basically the fruit of the Spirit (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control). We are to find all of these things in His heart, and when we give our heart to Him we begin to take on His heart. All of the things in the garden become things in us. We are to be wealthy, prosperous, loving, and joyful. He longs for us to have all of these things and above. He created His garden as a place for us to come enjoy the very beauty of Him, and to partake in the fullness that He has for us. His garden (heart) is not a place just for the ministers in the pulpit, but for all of the followers of Christ. His garden is so beautiful, and it shows the very personality of Him. Yes, later when man fell he was cast out of the garden, but when Christ died for us we were allowed back in to the garden place with Him. Once we ask Him to come into His heart we all become kings and a part of His royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Never forget who you are in Christ, and allow yourselves to go to this sacred garden place with Him as royal kings through Him.

                The next aspect of the garden that I am going to talk about is the garden experience as the Bride of Christ. I will be stealing some of the information that I gathered in my class with Norma on this portion, because it was such a great revelation.

 Song 4:12-15

12 A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed. 13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates With pleasant fruits, Fragrant henna with spikenard, 14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, With all the chief spices —  15 A fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And streams from Lebanon.  

This is the Bridegroom (Christ) speaking to His Bride (us).He is saying that when we go to the secret place with Him and cultivate the garden of our heart in Him we produce pleasant fruit. I long to and burn to bear good fruit, so that others can eat from the revelation that He has given me. My hope is that God uses the fruit that He grows within me to spur others to grow to deeper levels with Him. I want to be used as a person that encourages others, and exhorts them and can be used as an example of how to bear good fruit. Bearing good fruit can only occur when we get into the secret place with God. In the secret place is where we learn about who He is, and we are allowed to gaze upon His beauty. Our praise is what brings Him the fragrance of many spices. I believe that different aspects of how we praise Him bring a different smell to Him. When each form of praise and worship is special, it also serves its own purpose.  I am not going to go into each specific way to praise Him, but know that when you do praise Him throughout the day it brings to Him a sweet fragrance of pleasure, and cause Him to burn for you with a new level of passion. When it says a garden enclosed it is speaking of a private garden. He has a private garden for each follower of Christ. He took the time to make a special private garden for each of His Brides. We are all so special to Him, that He has catered certain facets of Himself specifically to what season we are in in our lives. In the period which this book was written “King’s had special gardens that were enclosed to keep out all of the animals from polluting it. The purpose of the king’s garden was to provide pleasure and rest in contrast to most gardens being grown for food.  It was costly and required much work from many servants to cultivate (Norma Tanton’s notes).”  God created the garden for us as Kings and Brides and enclosed them to keep out all of the bombardment of the world. The secret place in His heart that He has created for us was made for us to go to in order to rid ourselves of defilement, and to commune with Him and all His beauty. This is not only a garden that you can eat from, but another purpose of it was to find pleasure and rest. In my first example of the garden of Eden I spoke of eating of His word and beauty, but another paradigm of His heart is a place of rest and pleasure. To stay in the garden of God requires a great price. We are to constantly cultivate in the garden, and spend time in the intimate place with Him. We are to grown intimately with Him as His Bride and through that we are cultivated to make our heart His heart. His garden thus becomes our garden. 

Song of Solomon 4:16

16 Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.

                This is the Bride speaking to the Bridegroom. We are to pray and ask that winds of testing come and blow over our hearts. As I said in the last blog “Search me thoroughly O God! Try and know my heart!” We are to ask as David asked and as the Bride asked to have the Bridegroom test our heart so that we know what we need to work on to bear good fruit, and how to cultivate our own garden. She then asks God to blow His breathe on her heart so that praise can come forth. With His breathe comes a reviving to our heart, which in turn brings a revival. I do not know about everyone else, but I want His breath to constantly breathe over my heart so that I can have a fresh awakening of His love. We as Brides are to also invite Him into our heart (garden) and to eat of the fruit of our labor of love. When we cultivate in the garden we produce good fruit, and He eats of that fruit and gains pleasure from it.

                Lastly I will touch on the last garden place that God has really highlighted to me which is the garden place of prayer. In the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46) (Mark 14:32-42) is where we see Christ distressed and goes into major prayer. I am not going to touch on most of which I have gained from these scriptures, but look at the picture of how Christ intercedes for us in this garden.  Christ is always in the heart of God for they are one, and He is the One whom intercedes and cries out for us. When we continue to stay in the garden with God and our heart becomes His we began to intercede for what He intercedes for. His prayers become our very own prayers, and we are moved with compassion as He is. We must understand that when we pray He hears is and begins to come into agreement with it as long as it. Please do not take this out of context and think that if I pray for murder He will too, but in the sense of the desires of our heart which come forth from righteousness. He longs for us to have what we desire, and has even put desires in our hearts.  In John 14:14 states, “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” Christ comes into agreement with what we pray. I pray often to Him to give me a heart of an intercessor. I want to pray what He prays. I so long for the garden of my heart to look like His I cry out to Him daily. I want my heart to be transformed into His and in doing so the rest of my body follows including the renewal of my mind. He interceded so passionately on earth that He sweat blood. How much more do you think He intercedes for us in His heavenly body?

              When we get into the garden place with Him we begin to see His beauty, a feel His love, and to take on His heart. I urge each of you to get into the garden place with Him. Allow yourselves to see what beauty He has to show you. We are all each in different seasons of our lives, and each garden experience with Him is different. Do not compare your garden with others, but be content with the beautiful garden that He has to show you in this timing. Allow yourselves to be taken in by the love of the Bridegroom, and let Him sweep you off your feet into a love place with Him. Let your heart become His so that you are moved with compassion for others.  I promise you in this garden place comes growth and good fruit, and He will began to outpour a love for others that you have never had before. You will begin to intercede for those who cause you pain and anger, and nothing will phase you because of the deep secret place you are in with Him. Let your day fill His nostrils with the fragrance of your praise to Him. He loves you so much and burns with a passion for you. I love each and every one of you and I will not cease to pray for you all. I long for a new awakening of love to come into each person in a different level that we have no choice, but to consecrate ourselves to Him because His love has overtaken us. He is worth everything I have, and the exchange of my life for His is worth the cost. Breathe Your revelation over each person that reads this Father. Fill their hearts with a new capacity of abounding in love, and gaining knowledge of Your love for them. Open up new heavenly realms in their hearts, and take them to Your garden, to Your heart Father and show them Your beautiful splendor. Amen!