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God's Garden


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God's Garden - Part One

Did you know that God has a garden? First Corinthians chapter three verse nine talks about this garden. In the King James version of the Bible we are called God’s husbandry. This word has a variety of definitions such as: cultivable, farm, or a field. The Amplified version of the Bible also uses the word, "garden." That word garden best describes what we need to see in this verse of scripture. In the Song of Solomon, chapter four, verse twelve, we find the word garden being used to describe the Shulamite woman. This woman is a type of the Church. So now we can more clearly see that the "garden" of the Lord is His Church!

Everyone who is born again has been planted in this garden. Now do not think so much in terms of a little spring, summer, or fall garden. Remember, the things of God are eternal! His garden is also an orchard. In this garden, or orchard, there is a variety of trees. The Bible calls us trees. There are many scriptures which describe Christians as trees. Now as you read these pages please keep in mind this definition of God’s garden. The most clear meaning will be that we are a cultivable field.

There are several dimensions of understanding this truth. On the first level, we, as individuals are a garden. In your personal walk with the Lord, He is constantly working in your life in the same way as one would work in a garden. He is digging up weeds, killing bugs and rodents, plowing, fertilizing, planting, and watering.

In a garden we need to keep a balance of many things. Certain things should be planted at certain times. Whatever we plant must be planted in prepared ground. The Lord takes great care in preparing our hearts to receive the seed He plants in us!

Know this for absolute certainty, that the Lord will start every work in your life in the form of a seed!

Matthew chapter thirteen verses three through eight tells us that the sower sowed the word into a variety of ground conditions but, only the good ground yielded a crop! Some a hundred fold; some sixty fold; and some thirty fold. So we see that preparation is vital to producing a crop. Preparation in a garden means removing undesirable elements. Burning, plowing, and digging may be involved. All of us on this level have experienced all these things as the Lord prepares certain areas of our life to receive seed. Mark chapter four and verse fourteen tells us that the sower sows the WORD! In first Peter chapter one and verse twenty three we are told that we have been born again of the "incorruptible seed which is the word of God." We know by this that what the Lord plants into us (we are His garden) is truths we need to know so that we can produce the fruit of that truth!

We are all familiar with John chapter one which tells us that Jesus is the word made flesh. We also know that in John chapter fourteen, Jesus says that He is the truth. In John chapter seventeen Jesus, Who is the word made flesh, says, "Thy word is truth."

Now with that in mind let’s look at what Jesus said in John chapter fifteen. He said," I am the true vine, you are the branches." The vine, or tree, finds its’ expression through the branches. Fruit is not for the benefit of the branch but, it is for the benefit of others! What are we saying? Truth demands that we give others those things that will nurture and sustain them. Giving without asking or expecting anything in return. In the natural we know that fruit contains its’ own seed. When we do things according to the Lord there will always be seed involved!

The seed will be the word. We may not quote Bible verses but we will be doing our best to live out the scriptures in front of God and others. Now as you make an honest effort to be what the Lord wants you to be, do not let other people "pressure" you with their opinions of you.

You are God’s garden!

Now to move on to another dimension of this truth , we can see that the local church is also God’s garden. Of course, the local church is made up of people like you. People with whom the Lord is dealing very intensely. When we see other people behaving as they do, we must understand that they too are under the cultivation of the Lord. We should "lighten up" on each other and encourage each other. We are all in the same garden. Be a fruit-bearer, not a weed! Local churches should be careful to keep in mind that the fruit that is produced corporately is what all outsiders will see! You will know "them" by their fruit. In first Corinthians three verses six and seven, we are told that there are those who plant and there are those who water but, God alone gives the increase! Plant and water all you will, but do not try to produce the fruit in other people. Only God gives the increase!

In Galatians chapter five, verses twenty two and twenty three, we are told of the fruit of the Spirit. Look at this fruit: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance. If we want to be fruit-bearers, this is the fruit we must bear! Also if we want to plant and water we must keep in mind that the seed is in the fruit. To plant the seed of love into another’s life we must give them the fruit of love. To plant the seed of Joy and, so on. Give people the fruit and the seed will naturally follow. Remember in order to plant or to water just give the fruit that you want to plant or water, but, and this is very important to remember, only God can give the increase! In our zeal we often offend people by trying to "make" them bear fruit. Relax, the Lord will do all the work necessary to make sure that His garden is fruitful. Sometimes the Lord is not so much producing fruit as He is "clearing the land." There are times when people are expecting fruit from us when we are painfully aware that all He is doing at the time is weeding, killing bugs, or digging up rocks. During these times try to remain "sweet" and "agreeable" but, do not try to produce. Remember, do not let people "high-pressure" you to produce, what you do not presently possess! By the same token, do not yourself try to make people give you what they do not presently possess!

In the first Psalm we are told that we are like a tree. This tree brings forth His fruit "in His season." Friend, we are not always in season. There is a season to bear fruit and there is a season when the Lord is simply "working the ground" in order to plant more seed. These seeds will be planted into your life by other people! These seeds will be watered by other people! But God will give the increase! For those times that you would be the one doing the planting or the watering, the Bible gives encouragement. In Galatians chapter 6, verse 9, we are told "be not weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." And also be careful to remember that there are others whom the Lord has sent into your life with the responsibility to plant or to water. Try to make it an easy thing for others to minister to you.

Let’s turn out attention to Song of Solomon chapter 4. Here we find the Lord giving a description of His garden (church) from His viewpoint. And we must remember, He sees things from a different position than we see things., In order to see as He sees, we must stand where He stands. In chapter 4, verse 8, we are told to come up to see from His perspective. He invites us to look from the top of Amana. Without getting involved with a lot of the Hebrew meaning of this word Amana, let me say that it most simply means, "Amen." The word amen simply means, "so be it." Now as we see things from His position, we see things as they really are. From the top of Amen, so be it, we will see the truth. At the bottom of this mountain Amana (amen) is lions dens. 1Peter chapter 5, verse 8, describes the devil as a roaring lion. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe Judah. Judah means "praise." The devil is "as" a roaring lion. It does not say he is a lion but, he walks about "as" a roaring lion. The Lion in the bible symbolizes royalty, dignity, and kingship. The devil is none of these! The lesson here is, that at the bottom of the mountain, all we hear is the devil roaring. Every time we hear and see people constantly caught up with "what the devil is doing," we can be sure that they are at the bottom of this mountain. They "see" from their own limited position.

In Mark chapter 9 we are told of what has come to be known as the "mount of transfiguration." Jesus took three of His disciples to the top of this mountain with him and He was changed before them. The lesson here is , that in order to go to the top of this mountain, we must be willing to change. That means we will accept what the Lord says about people rather than what we "think" about them. God sees things differently than we do. We tend to "measure" people by ourselves. God measures them by Christ! Remember, if there is a disagreement between what we see and what God sees, we are always wrong, He is always right! We must come into agreement with Him! From the top of "Amen" we will have no desire to criticize and condemn people.

Now from the top of this Amen we are going to see "a garden (church) enclosed" fenced in, shut up, sealed. In Revelation chapter 3, verse 20, we see the Lord on the outside knocking. He wants into your life!


God’s Garden part two...


Now from the top of Amana we can see things the way they really are! Remember, only God knows the absolute truth! We see things and then we usually form our opinion of what we "see" and, from our opinion we usually try to draw what we perceive to be truth. This limits our understanding to such a point that truth is traded for illusion many times. So, if Amana means amen and amen means, "so be it’ or, "let it be" (truth) , then we can see that we cannot always count on our "view" of truth. We must view truth from Amana or, if you will, "God’s amen."

Now, I am going to get a little deeper here than most folks are accustomed to being. Bear with me if you will. This truth, or the understanding of this truth, is buried (hidden) in Romans chapters six, seven, and eight. The eleventh verse of Romans chapter six gives us a great insight into what I am about to uncover. It says, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sins, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." That word "reckon" is an accounting term word. In other words,"put this on the books; you are dead to sin!" Accounting terminology says that two plus two is always four! So as sure as two plus two is four-you are dead to sin!

Dead people no longer exist in this realm of reality that we now live in. When someone dies, all that is left are a few earthly possessions, the remains of their influence and accomplishments, and mostly the memory we have of them! The person who died no longer exists on this earth except in those ways I just listed. In other words, they are a memory! (That is, a memory to us.)

Now if you are born again, or as we like to say it, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, then your old man is a MEMORY! All that remains of your old man is his influence and accomplishments! But, he is no longer alive, he is dead! Now I know that you remember him but, you need to "reckon" him dead.

The struggle is to stay on track with the subject matter but, I want to inject this little piece here. The death of a loved one brings grief. But, grief must serve its purpose (run its course). Now sometimes we grieve over our past too much. A great deal of that grieving is over the "old man." Romans chapter six and verse four says, "...walk in newness of life." The old man (old you) is dead! The new you is alive! The old you was born on earth, the new you was born from above, the old you was born of the flesh, the new you is born of the Spirit! (John 3:6) Your old life was, "in the flesh" ; your "new life" is in the spirit.(Romans 8:9) If you are having trouble with the old man, (flesh life) then do what the Bible says in Galatians 5:16, "walk in the spirit", and Romans 13:14, "make no provision for the flesh to satisfy its evil desires."

Some memories are good and some memories are bad, but they are just memories. Live your life in the present reality of who you are in Christ. (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

Now let’s return to the matter of God’s garden. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." (Genesis 2:7) That is the physical natural man. Again I must measure things out in small doses in order to bring the greater understanding of this event. Genesis 3:19, "...for dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return." Man was "taken" out of the ground. Ecclesiastes 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:..." You get the picture, our flesh body , the physical man, came from the ground, earth, dust. That part of us shall return to the dust. It was made from dust. Genesis 3:14, God said to the serpent (devil),

"......dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Isaiah 65:25 says, ".....dust shall be the serpent’s meat.(food)."

Now let’s see if we can collect all this together and see what it reveals. Follow closely, our physical bodies are made from the same basic ingredients found in the ground. We know that we plant seeds in the ground. Mark 4:14 says, "The sower sows the WORD!" We plant natural seeds such as wheat, corn, cotton, or other crops in the ground of the earth. Just where do we sow words? In our inner being! Just as natural seed must be buried beneath the natural earth, so must the words (seed) be planted beneath the earth of our physical body.

When we clear land for planting seed, one thing we know is that, if the season permits, cleared land will provide the necessary environment for whatever seed we plant. We could plant corn, soybean, wheat, or cotton. The dirt(ground, earth) will receive the seed. (Genesis 8:22, "seedtime and harvest......") If we plant we will harvest. Galatians 6:7, "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." Sow corn, reap corn, sow wheat, reap wheat! Uncomplicated and very simple to the point of being automatic. Sow-Reap! Plant-Harvest!

In this study,(for the purposes that hold us to simplicity as much as is possible) we will consider seeds to be words and the ground where we plant these seeds(words) to be our mind. Remember, ".....and man became a living soul."(Genesis 2:7) . We know that we cannot plant words into our physical bodies by cutting a hole in our body and planting a word. But, we plant words into the earth of our being by "speaking" them into our minds.

Let me clear up one thing here before we continue on. Flesh, in the Bible, is more than just the physical part of us. The term "flesh" means that "fallen nature", or if you will, that part of our being that is contrary to the will of God. An important thing to note here is that if you "clear" your ground,(mind), without planting seeds into that cleared ground, then weeds will pop up everywhere. In Genesis 3:18 we are told that "thorns and thistles" will be competing for room on your cleared earth. We must keep our fields clean of weeds,(evil thoughts and deeds) or they will choke the life out of our seeds. Weeds rob the earth of the necessary nutrients needed to grow as good crop. Here is our solution.....

Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, THINK ON THESE THINGS! Guard your garden !


written by Pastor Jerry Mercer

Church of New Beginnings

2673 Nursery Road
Blackshear, Georgia. 31516
912-283-0343

All Bible Studies © 2003 Jerry Mercer