ARE YOU IN THE GARDEN?
As I was watering my freshly planted flowers and listening to the song of the birds, I was reminded of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It seems that many in the Body of Christ are experiencing great mental attacks of anxiety, fear, doubt, and unbelief. The whispering disembodied spirits are sending lies and evil forebodings into our soul. We must remember our instructions to pull down every stronghold and vain imagination. Everything that doesn’t line up with Gods Word, anything that lifts itself up against the true knowledge of God, we are to take captive to the obedience in Christ.( 2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
We must not allow the enemy to play mind games and trick us into thinking that we have done something wrong. The accusing voice of the enemy must be silenced !!! Thoughts of guilt, shame, and condemnation, must not be tolerated . Kingdom decrees and declarations must be spoken out in the boldness and authority of which it was given. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!! (Romans 8:1)
2 Corinthians 1 gives us some great insight as to why we sometimes will suffer these strategic attacks while reminding us of the great compassion and love the Father has for us.
We are to go to God and His Word for comfort .
2 Cor 1:3. Heart felt thanks be to God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ , the Father who is full of compassion and the God who gives all comfort; :4 Who comforts us in every kind of trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God; :5 For just as Christ’s sufferings are ours in abundance (as they overflow to His followers ), so also, our comfort is abundant through Christ (it truly more then enough to endure what we must ).
It seems to me the Word is clearly stating that we often times (like Christ) we suffer in order to be able to help others, and we are to go to God to be our comfort . Isn’t this what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Is this what allowed Jesus to be able to endure? Jesus was betrayed by Judas and He forgave Him. He was abandoned and denied by His disciples who failed to watch and pray and denied Him in times of fear and doubt . Jesus even performed miracles in the Garden when He reattached the ear of the roman soldier. Knowing full well what He was about to endure, Jesus spent the night communing with God, getting comfort and strength to endure the Cross.
( Luke 22:44) And being in agony He prayed more earnestly and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.
Jesus was under great mental torment, fear, anxiety , and anguish . (HEMATOCHIROSIS) caused by extreme stress or anxiety and your blood mixed with sweat. A very rare medical condition .
Have you picked up your cross? Are you following after Christ at a higher level and therefore experiencing a greater level of attacks against your mind? We must be diligent to keep our minds stayed on Him, for He will give us perfect peace!! Jesus wasn’t in the Garden to smell the flowers and enjoy their beauty. Jesus was in the Garden, to spend time alone, in Gods presence , to gain His instructions and strength to endure. Jesus prayed to the father saying, “Father, If you are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not My will, but always, Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42 AMP)
Remember the words of Jesus in John 15:19 "If you belonged to the world, the world would love yours its onward would treat you with affection, But you are not of the world, you no longer belong to, but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this, the world hates you.” Following Christ comes with a price.
“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees The Father doing, because whatever The Father does, The Son does also.” John 5:19 Jesus is the example that we must follow. Gardens are full of life and new growth, and beautiful blooms of beauty all pointing to the God of all creation. Let your time in the garden be a time to get alone with God, silence the lies of the enemy, listen to His instructions, focus on His love and compassion , and let Him lead you into your next assignment to help others .
I find it interesting that The Holy Spirit led Jesus into a garden to be arrested . This arrest leads to His death burial and resurrection. It was a garden where Adam and Eve fell from glory and turned their authority over to satan.
It was a garden tomb where the stone was rolled away and Jesus first appeared to Mary who mistook Jesus for the gardener.
Luke 12:27 comes to mind as I think about flowers and how we are instructed to “ consider the lillies who do not toil or spin, yet are clothed by God”. This is encouragement for us to trust in Gods care and to focus on our spiritual needs and His Kingdom.
Jesus time in the garden is why we can rejoice not only in His resurrection , but His ascending back to His throne , seated at the right hand of the Father. Only He is not seated alone. We are seated in Christ Jesus.
LET YOUR YES BE YES AND YOUR NO BE NO !! *(Matthew 5:37)
I see that many in the Body of Christ are in a season of pruning. * ( John 15:2. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit )
God is asking of us to allow Him to step away, to cut off, to let go of anything and anyone that we have allowed to attach to us , that was not meant to be a permanent attachment. These unhealthy attachments are like dead branches that need to be completely cut off. Just like a crepe myrtle tree that needs to be cut back and down to bare limbs in winter, only to yield full budding blooms of glorious splendor in the spring. Before those branches are cut off, they look healthy and strong, and full of life. But if left on, they become heavy , unable to maintain their natural shape and beauty. This pruning allows development of strong branches , allows more sunlight to reach the inner branches promoting health and maturity . Diseased , dead, damaged branches must be removed to prolong the life of the tree. What was once allowed and a part of the tree must now be cut off and removed for the sake of life, being able to grow and flourish and mature .
The Body of Christ must be willing to let go of those things that He leads us to leave behind. (* Philippians 3:12-14). We must embrace new beginnings and allow our times in the wilderness, alone in His presence , to reveal His plans and purposes for our individual lives . *( Isaiah 43:18-19 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I AM doing a new thing ! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I AM making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.)
Some people , places, assignments, are not meant to be a permanent fixture in our lives. For everything there is a season. *(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ). We must remain humble and quick to hear and obey, discerning our seasons like the sons of Issachar *(1 Chronicles 12:32)
As Holy Spirit begins to reveal these people and places to us, we must be willing to give Him our YES. That YES must be a complete surrender and complete obedience. Partial obedience is disobedience . Disobedience is an open door for the enemy to attack us both in the physical and mental realm. Obedience is better than any sacrifice that we could offer to The Lord . * ( 1Samuel 15:22)
Often times, we are led to separate from friends, family or groups of people that we feel we have an obligation too. God will lead us to set boundaries in relationship and environments that have become unhealthy and harmful to us in ways we sometimes don’t see. *(Matthew 10:37-39 )
God wants us to lean, rely, and trust on Him to be our everything to meet our every need. The closer we walk with God, the more closed our circle of friends will often become. Everyone that we expect to go with us will not be willing or able to go. *(Matthew 10 :34-36). Fear of rejection, fear of man, fear of loneliness , fear, fear, fear, must not be tolerated. Fear will paralyze you and keep you from fully obeying Gods leading. God is desiring to free His Body from these fears. FEAR OF THE LORD is an absolute must!!!
A resounding NO is also required. We must say NO to the people and things that God says are not for us. We must say NO, to things that our prior generations failed to say NO too. The generational things that follow our bloodline and we have seen become curses and wreak havoc in their lives.
Obedience unlocks the door to our victory which is assured in Christ Jesus. *( 1Corinthians 15:57) Obedience will enable us to cut off the head of the giants that have been mocking and stalking our bloodlines, waiting to attack the next generation.
Jesus was completely obedient to The Father and completely surrendered and yielded to Holy Spirit. *( John 5:19-20 Jesus gave them this answer. “ Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, and He will show Him every greater works than these, so that you will be amazed .)
GODS COVENANT TO HIS BELOVED ONES
As we prepare to go into Passover , April 12, 2025, Holy Spirit is speaking to me of the importance of remembering His covenant promises that we, His beloved children have with Him. Studying out the lives of King David and His Apostle Paul has proven to be very enlightening. One revelation that these servants of God had is that they were in chesed with God.
As I examined the life and times of David, I saw that this chesed or covenant with God was his secret weapon, his Krytonite that made David a superman. Chesed is not just covenant. This is the word that we see over and over again referenced in the Psalms of David . Sometimes chesed is translated as grace and mercy, loving kindness , tender mercies, unfailing love. Chesed is Gods deep unwavering love and commitment to His Beloved. (Psalms 23, 50, 89, 91, 103, 105)
Some would say that David was fearless and brave. We know that David slew the bear and the lion, and the giant Goliath. Let us not forget that David was human , and at times faced the spirit of fear as we all do. Fear, doubt and unbelief is one of the greatest enemies to those of us called Believers. 1John 4:18 tells us clearly that fear brings with it an evil tormenting spirit upon those who do not fully experienced Gods perfect love. Those that are not relying on Gods Hesed.
David went from driving out the tormenting spirit of fear from King Saul to being pursued by that same evil spirit . In the book of 1 Samuel 22-27 , we see David hiding in a cave and because of much persecution, trials, and attacks, David seems to be on the verge of a mental collapse and breakdown By 1 Samuel 30:6, we see a greatly distressed David begin to encourage himself in The Lord. In the above mentioned Psalms, we see David focusing on His Covenant with Almighty God. David knew from personal experience and intimate fellowship with His God, that He was protected. David knew that his mental and physical battles had to be won by opening his mouth and speaking of his covenant rights . Remember when David called Goliath an uncircumcised Philistine? David was saying, this giant, regardless, of his physical size and strength, has no covenant with the Almighty God, but he did. Dvid was not relying on his own strength and abilities. He was relying on his covenant rights in God. David knew where he dwelt, where he made his home and abode. He understood the great psalm of Moses. He dwelt in The Secret Place of The Most High God. David knew that God would manifest His presence when He blessed and praised His Holy Name!!!!
I see great parallels between David and Paul. in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we see Paul pleading with God to remove the “thorn in the flesh”, the agitator to his soul. Paul recognized that satan was opposing him at every step of obedience. Paul's response from Holy Spirit was “ My grace is enough for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.” In other words, Holy Spirit was saying ,” My covenant , my chesed, my unwavering love and commitment to you , My Beloved, is enough” “. Rely on Me, not yourself.” Sound familiar? I can do all things in Christ, Who strengthens me ( Philippians 4:13). The prayers of Paul in Ephesians are a great reminder of how important the revelation of Gods love, this chesed, is to us who believe.
For this reason , seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ, I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ,
For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named
May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by Holy Spirit Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality
May Christ through your faith actually dwell and settle down abide, make His permanent home in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love
That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all Gods devoted people , the experience of that love what is the breadth and length and height and depth of it
That you may really come to know through experience for yourself, the love of Christ which surpasses mere knowledge , that you may be filled through all your being, unto all the fullness of God, may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself (Ephesians 3:14-19) AMPC
Jesus is Gods chesed made manifest . His blood sacrifice, and resurrection made our victory complete. So when our trials and troubles come, we must remember that like David, and Paul, we have the most powerful chesed,a blood-bought covenant with God through Christ Jesus!!! We are overcomers, and more than conquerors through Christ Jesus!!!