How Does Your Garden Grow?

 Do you love to garden?   Maybe you are one who hates gardening.

I love the results. I do not like all the work!     

There are many types of gardens.

Are you one who has a flower garden?

They are so pretty to look at and attract butterflies and hummingbirds & bees
Bees, especially Mason bees, can be pesky, but yet they are necessary to pollinate the flowers

Have you ever tried your hand at planting fruit trees and bushes?
That is the least and rarely talked about gardening.
So far, that has given me the least amount of work and trouble.

You may be amongst the many who have planted a vegetable garden this year.

We planted a garden.
I know some are far more advanced and knowledgeable at gardening than I
I’m just a beginner trying to learn from those with more experience.
It took us several days to get the ground tilled up, then we tilled it again, then we tilled it again.
You would think the hardest part is past, but then you have to dig each hole, add the proper nutrients, then carefully place each plant in each hole, then cover it just the right amount of dirt.
With some plants: you have to add a trellis or something for them to climb, some you have to add stakes to secure them to because they won’t be able to stand on their own, some you can just plant a seed and watch it grow with little effort or work.

But even after all that work, effort, and energy poured into it, you’re still not done.

Now you have to make sure they all get water each day – not too much, not too little.

You have to watch for and pluck out any weeds that may begin growing in the garden

It is soooo much work!  But the results can be so rewarding…and overwhelming if you planted too much.  :-S

As the plants begin to grow and produce, then you have to go out and check each day for any food that may be ripe and ready to harvest.

And finally, you get to enjoy the fruit of your labor.
         

Each of us have a garden……

We all want to be as a beautiful flower garden, something that others will admire and compliment when they see.

But the garden I’m referring to is more than beauty or outward looks.

Each of us have a garden that we tend…. It’s located in our heart. 

What is growing in your garden?

The Bible talks a lot about gardens, about sowing, and about reaping.

The first garden ever mentioned is found in Genesis when God created a garden called Eden to place Adam and Eve in.  He then directed them to tend the garden. 

Isaiah 1:8 – mentions a garden of cucumbers.

Isaiah 1:30 – issues a warning about being as a garden that hath no water.  When a person does not pray or read their Bible everyday they are like a garden that has no water.

Isaiah 61:11 – for as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

*is righteousness and praise springing up in our garden?

 

Luke 13:19 – mentions a man who took a grain of mustard seed and cast it into his garden.  That one tiny little seed grew and became a great tree that the birds were able to lodge in.

Jesus talked about having faith the size of a mustard seed. (Matthew 17:20)

A Mustard seed is tiny. But although it is tiny, it can produce great things and we can see great miracles in our lives if we have faith.

*Are you allowing mustard seeds of faith to grow in your heart?
          

Rahab was a harlot, an ungodly woman who lived in Jericho.  I’m sure many avoided her because of her lifestyle, but she had let seeds of kindness grow into her heart.  Those seeds of kindness caused her to hide the 2 spies that Joshua sent before they came to conquer Jericho.  Because of it, she and all of her family were spared. Not only that, but she married an Israelite man named Salmon and had a son named Boaz.

*Are seeds of kindness growing in your heart?

 

Ruth was a Moabite woman. She was considered an outcast by the people of Israel.  Yet, she remained faithful to her mother in law, Naomi, even after her husband passed away.  She followed Naomi to Israel, a land foreign to her, and worked hard to provide for them both. 

Her faithfulness paid off and she became the wife to Boaz (making her the daughter in law of Rahab).  Ruth became the great grandmother to King David and both Ruth and Rahab are in the lineage of Jesus.

*Are seeds of faithfulness growing in your heart?

 

God turned these two messed up lives into a powerful message for His glory!
A lesson to us all to not look at where a person may be right now but what they can and will be as a testimony for God’s glory!

It is one thing to be grieved over sin.  It’s another thing to have a critical eye and critical spirit. 

God set a mark upon the forehead of those who sighed and cried over the sins and evil being committed throughout the land and even within the Sanctuary. (Ezekiel 9:4-6)

But Jesus rebuked those with critical eyes and critical spirits over and over again. (Mt 12:2,14)

A person who grieves over sin will intercede and pray for those bound or deceived by the devil, wanting to see God do a work and make a change for the better in that person.

A critical spirit will nitpick, condemn, look for and find faults, gossip, backbite, and sometimes want to see that person fail.

A critical spirit gets the measuring tape.  A grieved spirit gets into their prayer closet.

*Are you growing seeds of intercessory prayer in your heart?

*Or are weeds of criticism reaching out with their thorny vine hurting those in its path?

Martha & Mary –

Martha was busy trying to make sure everything was perfect, everyone was served, making sure that everyone had plenty of everything. 

While Mary, her sister, was sitting quietly at Jesus’ feet listening and soaking up every Word that He had to say.

Mary was wore out and frustrated.  Her life was too busy!  If only she could have just a little help, it would ease her load some.  So, she went straight to Jesus and complained.

“Jesus, do you not see all I’m doing?  Do you not see how I need help?  Do you not see that my sister here could help ease my load but she’s just been idly sitting here while I do all the work?”

Yes, Martha, Jesus sees and knows.  But sometimes you have to MAKE time with Jesus.  You can get so caught up with the hustle and bustle with life, putting Jesus on the backburner, or not even really giving Him much thought throughout the day because you’re….too busy.

Jesus turned to Martha and said, “Martha you are careful and troubled about many things.”  Jesus was telling Martha, “you are anxious and disturbed about too many things.”

Sometimes anxiety and troubled thoughts can bombard our minds when we’re not spending enough time with Jesus.

Mary chose the one thing that was needed above anything else – spending time with Jesus.

When those troubling thoughts or feelings of anxiety begin to overwhelm you, stop what you’re doing and spend time with Jesus.

*Are anxiety, worry, fear, or troubled thoughts growing in your garden?

*Or are you weeding those out by spending time in prayer and Bible reading?

 

Pride and rebellion

Ezekiel 28 – mentions lucifer being in the Garden of God until seeds of pride and rebellion sprung up in his heart.

Instead of repenting and weeding them out, he continued to feed those negative thoughts and let them grow and multiply until they choked out any good that was originally in him. 

Pride and rebellion led to his fall.  It also spread to other angels and caused them to fall as well.
Those are two kindred spirits we have to diligently guard our hearts against because it spreads like weeds.

Can you imagine trying to exert your will above God’s?

Would you even think of telling God, “who are you to tell me what to do?  I don’t have to listen to you! I’ve got everything figured out.  In fact, I’m going to put my throne above Yours!”

We say we wouldn’t and yet our actions say something different every time we:   
        - ignore His Word,
        - think we don’t need to come to Church – just once in a while/special occasions - because we're too tired, too busy, have other events going on. 
        - think we don’t need to pray – just occasionally when we need something,
        - don’t think we need to read His Word every single day.
        - don’t think we need a pastor – he is watching for your soul

Are the fruits of submission and obedience growing in your heart?  Are you keeping Him, His will, and His ways as top priority in your life? 

Or are there weeds of pride and rebellion growing, thinking you can do things your way instead of God’s way?

 

What about Bitterness?

Life can bring some hard blows.  Some have gone through more than their fair share of sorrow, loss, grief, attacks, storms of life – so many things that can make a person bitter if they let it.

Naomi knew about grief and loss. 
They faced a famine in the land of Israel so her husband moved her and their 2 boys to a strange far away land. 
Her boys grew while there and married Moabite women. 
Her husband died.
Then both of her boys died without leaving her any grandchildren.
Her heart was hurting as she made the decision to go back home to Israel.
She thought for sure both her daughter in laws would stay in Moab and remarry
But Ruth – we already talked about her – but she followed Naomi to a strange land

Naomi allowed bitterness to take root in her heart.
She even told the townspeople to call her Mara – meaning Bitter.

God looked upon her despite her bitterness & blessed her with a grandson to love

God cares about what we’re going through.  He knows and sees.

We can either allow the things we’ve gone through to make us bitter or better.

Job went through far worse trials and lost far more than Naomi.  Not only did he lose his children and everything he owned, but he also had a wife and so-called friends scrutinizing him, trying to figure out what sin he may have committed.

Yet through all of it, he continued to praise and live for God. And because he didn’t allow bitterness in his heart or toward his friends, God restored back double!

*will you be like Naomi and allow bitterness to consume you?

*Or will you be like Job and say “Blessed be the Name of the Lord!”

 

What is growing in your garden?

The Bible says “Favor is deceitful and Beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Prov 31:30)

Beauty is vain – outward beauty will not last. But inward beauty will.    

Do you know what that means when the Scripture says ‘favor is deceitful’? 

Favor is referring to the charm a person can portray. 

Women, let’s face it, we know it’s true: some women can be sweet as honey to another lady’s face all while there is a dagger slung within their words.

I’ll never understand – other than there are weeds growing in their garden.

I hope you're not one who slings the daggers. But maybe you have been a recipient.  When those daggers are slung at you, guard your heart and don’t allow it to make you bitter, or angry, or hateful. Keep loving others!

Prov 31:31 says – Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates.

What is the fruit of your hands? 

If you were given of the fruit growing in your heart, would it be good fruit?

Or would it be thorns, briars, and thistles?

Your works, whether good or bad will be what we’re known by.

Going back to Prov 31:30 - “…a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised”  When a woman really fears the Lord, her words, her deeds, and all her works are going to bring honor not only to God but also to herself. 

A woman who fears the Lord will have the Fruit of the Spirit evident in her life.

How does your garden grow?

Matthew 13 - Jesus talked about the sower who sowed Good Seed.  The sower refers to the preacher or teacher who delivers the Seed which is the Word of God. 

What grows in the garden of your heart will depend on the type of soil that is within.

The type of soil that is in your heart will depend on how much time you tend your heart through prayer, Bible reading, and fasting.

The garden of our hearts will produce good things as long as we keep tending it with daily prayer, spending time in the Word, and letting God have His way in us.

THAT is how your garden will grow and produce good fruit.

 

We have a huge responsibility….

Not only to tend the garden of our own hearts to make sure good things are growing in us but we also have the responsibility to help our children and grandchildren or any child we have influence in the lives of to help tend the gardens of their hearts.

What we example is what they will learn.

Are you teaching them….

·        That more than keeping the body clean, they must keep the heart and mind clean?

·        More than teaching them how to walk and talk and dress themselves – teach them to walk, talk, and dress in a way that brings honor to God

·        Teach them to be kind and loving – consider others, not just self and wants

·        Teach kids to be obedient and respectful – not only to yourself but also the teachers, bus drivers, and others in authority. 

o   Isaiah 3:12 issues a strong warning….
As for my people, children are their oppressors…

o   Oppressor means to ‘exercise authority or power over’

o   Do not allow your children to exercise authority or power over you nor any other adult. 

o   When you do this, you are allowing rebellion to take root in them

·        Most importantly: Are you teaching them to love the Lord our God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength? 

Are you teaching God’s Word to them diligently and daily?

The Bible instructs in Deuteronomy 6 to talk about God and His Word when you’re:

·        sitting in your house,

·        when you’re traveling down the road to activities, events, the store, wherever

·        when you lay down to sleep at night

·        and first thing as you get out of bed in the morning

·        Scripture should be posted throughout our homes so all who enter can see and be reminded about the Word of the Lord.

 

The reason was to remind us and to remind our family that we need the Lord!

We need Jesus every single moment of every day!

Don’t get so busy with life, its cares, the hustle and bustle of running here and there, all the activities and events, that you forget to spend time with Jesus.

I know working and tending a family, taking care of the home, plus all the activities can leave us exhausted.  I’ve been there – but don’t neglect taking time to read the Bible to your family and pray with them. 

 

Search your heart - What is growing in your garden?

How is your Garden growing?  

How is your children’s garden growing?

Is it fruitful and growing with the things of God?

Or is it being overgrown and choked out by the activities of life?

When I wanted to figure out how to grow a good garden, I went to others with more experience.

If you want to know how to grow in God – pray, read your Bible, fast but also listen to those with more experience. Listen to the Pastor.  His messages are to help us grow in God.  To become spiritually healthy.

We don’t want to just look beautiful outside, we want to be healthy spiritually inside so we will bring forth fruit to the praise and glory of God.