Garden Enclosed...... Revisited

My roses are struggling!!! I have two rose bushes in my front yard, they are called "American Beauty" roses. When they bloom the bloom is this beautiful bud of red and white. It is quite stunning. This year the bettles have been terribly hard on my rose bushes and they are really struggling. It has been a month since I have seen healthy leaves much less some buds on the bushes. But, now after some delicate care they are beginning to look healthy again.
This has made me think once again about being a "garden enclosed". What exactly does this mean, and how does one acclomplish it? Back in May I caught a glimpse of what I think a "garden enclosed" looks like. God speaks to me me visually, so I took a picture of what I saw.

Buried in one of my rose bushes was this beautiful bloom encompassed, surrounded, and protected. Huh! When I saw this bloom it took my breath away, it was what God was trying to say to me. Go with me to Song of Solomon 4:12-16, "A garden enclosed and barred is my sister, my [promised] bride-a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomengranates or a paradise with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants. You are a fountain [springing up] in a garden, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon. [You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits." (Amplified version)
Earlier, in one of my posts I had written about this "garden" that God desires us to be for Him. I had entitled the post "The Secret Garden". These passages are so deep and so full of spiritual meat it takes continuous studying to glean all God wants us to know from this important scripture. I often go back and reread this passage and get something new from it every time.
As the summer has progressed and the memory of that enclosed rose in my rose bush has dimmed I have fought just to keep my rose bushes alive. Each time I have lovingly tended to them, water them, and sprayed them with pesticides I have thought of God. The beetles and mold have been bad this year, my rose bushes on some days have looked like nothing other than a brown decrepted thorn bush. I have often thought what a great analogy these bushes are for us- the people of God, and me the gardener that despite all ugliness and fault is trying desperately to save her beloved rose bushes- well that would be God. My thoughts have often been brought to this place as I have tended my rose bushes this summer.
What a beautiful place it is too! It is the place where I realized the true meaning of being a "garden enclosed". It is the place that made me cherish even more that visual that God gave me of the actual rose that was enclosed and protected. It is the place where I began to see that those pesky beetles were symbolic of all the sin and ugliness we allow into our lives. That same sin and ugliness is what prevents us from being the "garden enclosed". Instead much like the beetles it eats us alive and takes over our beings, until the unrecognizeable remains (like the plant that is left after the beetles have destroyed and eaten all they can).
Sin, takes a different form in many of our lives. At times it creeps in so silently and without much discomfort that we don't even know it is there. Beloved, sin will destroy your very being! Much like the beetle it will eat you up from the inside out.
In the times we are living in most often we do not hear much from the pulpit about sin. We often we try to act as though sin is not the uninvited guest looming in the room. Beloved that is a lie! The sin we live with and allow in our lives prevents us from living the life God wants us to lead. The sin in our lives prevents us from flowing in the Holy Spirit, it prevents us from being close to God. Let me tell you the truth, sin is real and we all carry it around in our hearts. It is the one thing that prevents us from being Christlike.
Beloved! We can all walk free from sin. I have come to a place where I unashamedly ask God to cleanse me, purify me, and refine me everyday. I ask the Holy Spirit on a daily basis to reveal to me the things I need to change in order to be more Christlike. It has become something that is apart of my walk with Jesus. You see in order to be that "garden enclosed", that place where the well will spring with living water I have to ask God to cleanse me and empty me of all my junk. So, many of us desire to be used of God and to move in power and authority in the Kingdom. But, we often skip a step. In, order to move in power and authority you have to be springing forth with the flow of the Holy Spirit. In, order to be springing forth and wading in the water of the Spirit you have to be a clean and righteous vessel. A vessel that is worthy of God moving through, a vessel prepared to listen to the Holy Spirit, a vessel free from self, and a vessel ready to be filled of God (because it is already empty).
The rose that was in my garden was protected by the thorns on the rose bush. I have thought of those thorns in relation to us in the Kingdom of God.....when we are pressed in to Jesus, and we have set ourselves apart then the Holy Spirit is there protecting us, encompassing us, and surrounding us. As, long as we stay pressed in to Him, and we remain humbled before Him (an empty vessel) He will enclose us. You see beloved, it takes you letting go of things in order to empty yourself but the enclosure of the garden of your heart comes only from one place.....the well spring of the flow of the Holy Spirit in you as God continues to transform you into who He wants you to be!!
I pray my friends that each of you takes the time to go before God and ask Him to start revealing the things in you that hold you back from being a "garden enclosed"!

I Will Return

I feel like I am vibrating! I don't know if its because I just got out of a spin cycle, or because I feel a vibration in the Spirit that is making me very restless. I am almost to the point of anger. I feel like people are speaking, but not saying anything... kind of like the the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons. It is just days before Easter and I feel as though I could just cry, people around me just don't get it. It's all about a sacrifice that was made for us over 2000 years ago by God who came to earth in the flesh. He died for our sins, and then was resurrected on the third day in order to be with us forever. I feel like people hear it, and they understand, but that it does not penetrate deep into the core of their hearts. Sometimes, I feel like I am at a tailgate party for the best team in town and when the team does not produce the results that the fans desire they pack up and leave. Its like we just go to church because we have to, isn't it expected? But, when it gets to the core people don't really know the reason why they attend church, except out of ritual and religion.
The spin cycle I referred to earlier is a spiritual "spin cycle". I feel as though for the longest time I was spinning, going through the motions but never really getting anywhere. Then I realized that Jesus was so much more than my Savior, and it pierced my heart to the core. I realized that He is my Healer, my Provider, my Friend, my Redeemer, my Lover, my Beloved, and my Bridegroom. When I realized all He truly is to me, and what He has done all in the Name of Love, I was able to get out of the spin cycle and allow God to start the process He desired to complete in me. Often we look at God as the answer to the need we have that is urgent, or as the tool to get what we desire in life. So, we wade out into the waters of life on our own "using" God as a buoy when we get in too deep. This is so far from the role that our Heavenly Father wants to play in our lives. It makes me almost angry! I just want to scream, "Don't you get it!". But, I don't because God requires me to work and minister in the love He has for His people, a tender love that is so patient and kind. A love that is so overwhelming, that when you really feel it your breath will be taken away!
We all have things and circumstances in our lives that take our time and attention away from God. If we all looked closely, most of us could admit that we do not spend the time with God that He desires of us. Most people would be able to admit that God is second to many things in their lives.... work, family, friends, hobbies, entertainment, media, vacations, partying, drugs, the list is never ending. But, these are not the things that God desires us to fill our lives and hearts with. He wants us to give Him an undivided heart. He wants us to turn away from the things we use to fill the void in our empty hearts and turn to Him to fill that void.
Turn with me to Hosea 2. Let me set the scene if I may.... the book of Hosea is about a man named Hosea who takes Gomer a prostitute as his wife. Gomer bears Hosea children and God tells Hosea to name these children names that have prophetic meaning to Israel. As time goes on Hosea goes to his children and tells them in prophetic words what will happen to Gomer and the nation of Israel.
"For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has done shamefully, for she said , I will go after my lovers that give me my food and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my refreshing drinks." Hosea 2:5 (Amplified)
Here Hosea is talking about Gomer and her lifestyle of being a harlot. He talks of how Gomer looks to her lovers for fulfillment of her needs. Huh! Sound familiar? I will share with you that I never studied theses verses in depth, until my own daughter brought them to my attention. The more time I have spent in them, the more treasure I have found. Hosea was speaking of Gomer, but remember he was a prophet. Hosea was also speaking of the world.
"Therefore, behold I [the Lord God] will hedge up her way [even yours, O Israel] with thorns; and I will build a wall against her that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them [inquiring for and requiring them], but shall not find them. Then shall she say, Let me go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now." Hosea 2:6-7 (Amplified)
The more I read those verses the more they dig deep down into my heart, digging up roots so long forgotten and disregarded as normal. Roots that were planted by other lovers, things that have long pulled me away and distracted me from my One True Love. Things that I have in the words of my wise daughter, "prostituted myself out to". Things that I thought would fill my empty heart, things that I thought would fill the void in my soul. Things I did not want to let go of because they "comforted" me, for a season. Things I convinced myself were even in the name of Jesus, but they were just things to make me feel better, active, more involved.
Look deep inside... I bet I am not the only one who has these things rooted deep within. Rooted so deep they have gotten entangled and you can't tell one from the other and maybe can't even tell a good root from a bad root. In the words of Isaiah, "And now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten and burned up; and I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden down [by enemies]. And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or cultivated, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." Isaiah 5:6-7 (Amplified)
God does not want your heart to sit and lay in waste. He desires for your "vineyard" to grow plenty and fruitful. All it takes is surrendering to Him. The things you "prostitute" yourself out to, hold you in bondage and hold you a prisoner in the "vineyard" of your heart. Jesus, wants so desperately to breakdown that stronghold and be near to you. He wants so much to be the Lover of Your Soul. He is calling you to return to your First Love!!
"Therefore behold I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. There I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt." Hosea 2:14-15
As we approach Easter look with me to the cross, and beyond to the resurrection in a new light, with new eyes. Seeing God to be Your First Love, the Lover of Your Soul. The Bondage Breaker, that just wants you to love Him in return, that just wants you to fellowship with Him, that just wants to spend time with you, and that just wants to share His heart with you. In order to do all of that, we have to get rid of all the junk that holds us back.... control, fear, unforgiveness, rejection, religion, shame, and bitterness. Allow Him to start the work in you today. You may say I want Him too, but I don't know how. Just tell Jesus you surrender to Him and the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. It is not easy, and is rather hard at times. But, the continuous process of refinement, purification, and growth is so worth the price. It will bring you to a place you have never been before, a place where you no longer have need of any other "lover" to fill your soul but, Your One and Only First Love.

The Secret Garden - Misty Edwards Garden

The Secret Garden

I have had this blog subject on my heart for a while and have kept it hidden. Afraid of offending, afraid of it's impact, afraid of sounding preachy.... Just down right afraid of sharing what God has placed on my heart, and the things He has shown me. I just got back from Guatemala, about a week ago. Many have asked how the trip was and how many patients did we see? It was the best I have ever been on. It was an amazing trip! Not because of any special procedures performed, or how many patients that were seen. But, because of how much ministering in the Lord that took place while on the trip. We ministered to the people, we ministered to the translators, we ministered to our hosts, and most of all we ministered to each other. I was so very blessed during this ministry time. On one occasion as I was being ministered to, one of the young ladies that was praying for me shared a scripture and she said it was for me from God. Ironically, or not so ironically it was the very scripture I have had on my heart to share about. It was like God was saying, "OK, you have tarried long enough; just write it already!!".
Have any of you ever seen the movie "The Secret Garden"? It is a movie based on a classic book, by the same name. In the story the children who are the main characters find this garden that is hidden and locked away. After they are able to get into the garden, they find great joy in playing in the garden. The children cannot understand why this beautiful place has been locked away and hidden. In the story the owner of the property, I think the main character's uncle, has locked the garden away due to a tragic event that took the life of his beloved wife who had spent much time in the garden.
Putting aside the tragic circumstances behind the garden being locked up, the garden in the story could be compared to you and to me. Go with me to Song of Solomon 4:10-16. In these verses the garden is a place to dwell and fellowship with God. In Hebrew garden is ganan, which means hedge about, protect, or defend. If you look at that in context to verse 12, the garden is you and you are to be enclosed and fastened, or shut up. "A garden enclosed and barred is my sister, my [promised] bride- a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." How does this compare to you? Do you protect yourself from the world, or do you allow yourself to be conformed to the things of the world?
Let's go back up to verse 10, "How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride! How much better is your love than wine! And the fragrance of your ointments than all spices!". God looks upon the church as a whole as His bride. He finds our love more pleasing than wine and more fragrant than any perfume. Your worship to the Lord should be a sacrifice of your most "fragrant spices"!! Are you giving up yourself for Him? Let me remind you of the unnamed woman in Matthew who used all of her expensive perfume to wash Jesus' feet. It was a sacrifice of expense that shows us how we should sacrifice ourselves, our time, our money, etc. in worship unto our Heavenly Father. Was His sacrifice not enough?
"Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, or a paradise with precious fruits, henna, with spikenard plants. Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices." Song of Solomon 4:13-14 (Amplified version) Let me remind you of John 15:5, we are supposed to abide in and rest in Christ. Here is an orchard with all the choicest fruits, ready for picking and harvest. How do those fruits grow there in the orchard? By dwelling in Christ, and allowing Him to take root in you. If you do this, you will bear fruit that is "abundant". In verse 14, some of the spices that are mentioned are used in the anointing oil that God told Moses to make for Aaron to use in the tabernacle. If you have all of these ingredients God's anointing will flow out of you and onto others. Each plant or spice represents a different thing:

Spikenard- intimacy, costly; surrender and sacrifice; it's the fragrance of a bride
Henna- broken spirit, repentance
Cinnamon- rejuvenation
Frankincense- intercession
Myrrh- suffering, dying to self; death (was used in embalming bodies)

"You are a fountain [springing up] in a garden, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon. [You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits." Song of Solomon 4:15-16 (Amplified version) In John 4:10, Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well and refers to Himself as living water. Later in John 7:37, He states that from whomever believes in Him shall flow springs and rivers of living water. God desires for us to be so filled with Him and so cleaved to the Holy Spirit that it flows out of us like living water. When we have cleaved to Him, He will have brought us through a cleansing and refining process that will "burned" away the things that hold us back from being more like Christ. The residue that is left, the ashes will be blown away in the wind that will come to refresh. First the cold, and brutal north wind then the soft and warm south wind..... one to blow away, and continue the cleansing the, other to refreshen. As this wind blows over you, the anointing that God has placed in you will start to flow out. In, order for any of this to happen you have to be willing; you have to invite God to refine and purify you. He will not empty then fill a vessel that is not willing and yielded to Him.
Beloved, I cannot impress upon you the urgency I feel to share these thoughts and so much more with you. We are at a crossroads.... eventually our Prince will come. Are you ready? Have you tilled your garden? Have you enclosed it? Have you watered it, and cared for it? A garden will not grow if the soil is not prepared and rooted in the Word of God. A garden will not grow if it is not fenced in and protected from the outside world. A garden will not grow if it is not watered by the Living Water that flows from the Holy Spirit. A garden will not continue to grow if it is not harvested and its fruits shared with others. Beloved, don't wait! Yield and surrender to the Holy Spirit, all that He is asking of you. I promise the spices that will flow out will taste so sweet!!

Identity Crisis

I have been having an identity crisis.....who am I? God has been clearly speaking to me, and He has been asking me....Kevan, who are you? Normally I would get rather puffed up and say, head tilt and all....I'm an RN; I'm a missionary; I'm a wife; I'm a mother. The list could go on, and on. But, in reality do any of these things matter if I do not identify myself as Christlike first?
What is identity anyhow? Identity is defined as an aspect of characteristics which a person, or thing are definitively known. I found something interesting though in a second source, which states that identity can be "sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing: oneness." Huh! Now there is an interesting thought.
So, though I do activities that constitute being a nurse, a missionary, a wife, and a mother those things do not define who I am. What defines who I am? Go with me to 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, keep your Bible open I will be referring back to this passage.
Let's start in verse 17-18. "Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God. Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with himself} and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]." (Amplified version) I am a new creation ingrafted in Christ. I love that word, ingrafted. In vision a skin graft that a doctor uses to repair a person's wound the graft has to be protected and dressed often until the new piece has become a part of the old part of skin. The old and the new become one. Through Christ you and I have been reconciled to God, and restored to His favor. Through our faith and personal belief in Christ we have brought into harmony, or oneness with Christ.
Now I could stop here and you would have received a profound thought for the day. But, the real treasure of who I am and who you really are lies in verses 19-21 of 2 Corinthians 5. "It was God [personally present] in Christ restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of restoration to favor). So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for his sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God. For our sake he made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]."(Amplified version)
Paul reiterates that we have been reconciled to God's favor through Jesus Christ. Beloved, if there is one thing you take away from reading this blog post, let this truth be it....Christ has reconciled and restored your favor to God by dieing for your sins. He took the ashes and rubbed them away, the slate is clean, and you are stamped as His forever. Don't allow not understanding and receiving this truth to hold you in bondage. Lay down the shame and stigma your sin has caused, and allow God to release you from those chains, once and for all. When a person can release their identify to Christ that is when they will find true and complete surrender to the call God has placed on their life.
In verse 20 Paul states we are ambassadors for Christ which means exactly what it says....we are God's representatives on earth. As we are His representatives, verse 19 states we are to commit to sharing the message of reconciliation. So, essentially we as followers of Christ to commit to sharing the Gospel with others. In, verse 21 of 2 Corinthians 5 we see that Paul gives us a reason why we should proclaim God's message to others. Paul, reminds us that God sent His blameless Son to be sin in our place and to become our righteousness. He did all of that so we could be approved, accepted, and reconciled to the favor of God (in right relationship). My friend hear me....this is the key to your identity. We are reconciled and made whole; in turn we are to go and be His representative.
I had a lot of pride to let go of to get to the place where I could truly say I am made whole in Christ, and that Christ is my identity. God has really been dealing with me on the subject of pride. he has shown me over and over that if I want to serve Him that I need to remove myself from the equation. There are several circumstances in my life He has caused me to look at with new eyes. I have realized that if I fill myself with more of Christ and more of what God's desire is that my true identity will shine through. That identity does not take the character of anything except, Christ Himself.
Here are some additional scripture references about identity and pride: Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Proverbs 11:22, Romans 12:3, 2 Corinthians 10:17-18, and 2 Corinthians 11:30

Welcome Home

I have always thought of what it be like to buy and restore an old Victorian home. What a challenging, but exhilarating experience that would be. To start with something old, falling apart, and broken down then to see the finished product of a home brought back to it's prior existence would be fulfilling. I can even imagine moving day...the day I move into a fully renovated and rejuvenated home.
Over the summer I had a dream that I believe God gave me, in order to show me what He was doing in my life. Over the past year and a half I have grown closer to God, than I have ever been. My heart's desire has become to be as Christlike as I possibly can be. In the dream I saw a home that was decrepit and falling apart around me as I walked through it; the house was literally falling apart around me. The house was dark and had no light in it, and it was hard to see where I was going. At the end of the dream just for a flash I saw the house new and refinished.
I realized after I had this dream that God was showing me what He was doing in my life. The house in the dream represented my heart. He wanted me to know that He was actively tearing down the old walls in my heart in order to restore and renew it into what He wants it to be. How amazing to me that He loves me enough to help me understand what He is doing in my life.
There is a song by Shaun Groves called "Welcome Home", I love the second verse which says: "Take a seat pull up a chair, forgive me for the disrepair, and the souvenirs from floor to ceiling, gathered on my search for meaning, every closet's filled with clutter, messes yet to be discovered, I'm overwhelmed, I understand, I can't make this place all that you can." The words of this song have always spoke to me, because God wants to take our heart and truly make it into His image.
My heart is still full of some of those messes the song refers to, but I have found out that as I seek God more He wants to restore those messes. Jesus desires to take all that is broken in you and replace it with something new. He wants to restore you to a place better than where you have started. One, by one the Lord is moving from room to room in this "house" of mine and removing the debris. As, He clears the debris Jesus rebuilds, renews, and restores my heart. It is not an easy process, but God promises us in Psalm 51:12 that He will, "Restore to me the joy of salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit." (Amplified version) If I approach each new revelation with a willing heart, then God will continue to restore and heal my heart.
Beloved, life is hard...many of us have broken hearts from the wear and tear of pain. Know that whatever has happened to you, or whatever you have done that there is no pain that God cannot remove. By bringing you through the pain, Jesus will restore your heart to it's fullest potential and then move it beyond where you started. No concept in your walk in Christ is more important than to know that He is capable of restoring your heart and healing your pain.
Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound." (Amplified version)
Later, in chapter 61:4, it says that God will rebuild the ancient ruins; and raise up former desolation. If you allow Him to, God will bring restoration to your "house" too. The key is that you have to have a willing heart, that is open to Him rebuilding it in His way and according to His will.