Walking in the Garden

Genesis 3:8-15
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...

I love to garden and I live in the city so I don't have much room for one, but my hubby and I turned an old dog kennel area into a little garden for me! (That is a picture of it below before I put in raised beds) I have spent many early mornings there in prayer and enjoying the peacefulness. I can't help but think how wonderful it would be if the Lord just showed up and we walked in my garden. Granted, it would be a short walk, my garden is about 60 feet long, but what would we talk about? What advice would He give me to better grow my garden? To better grow my life and the lives of my children, my marriage? What weeds would he tell me to eliminate right away and work hard to keep away? Weeds of bitterness, backbiting, anger and jealousy? Weeds choking out self discipline and time spent in His Word? Our lives are just like a garden, we need to allow the Lord to walk and talk with us there and let Him grow beauty in us.

"Father, walk in the garden of my life. Show me where you want to grow me and prune me. Show me the weeds that need to be removed and what I need to plant in their place. Let my life glorify You in every part of it. Amen."

FOOD for thought

Genesis 1:29-30
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

These verses make me pause and wonder what God's original eating plan was for the human race.
As someone who has struggled with weight loss this makes me think on what I should be feeding my body according to how God designed it. He created us and then supplied what He calls ‘meat’ for us. 

Consider, we would never consider using cooking oil instead of Castrol is our cars, they were not created to run on that; the same way we were not created to run on fast food burgers and quadruple shot coffees. I have searched and searched the scriptures but could not find a Dairy Queen mentioned in the Garden of Eden anywhere, but I'm still looking!

A while back I was praying for the Lord to help me to honor Him in every part of my life, and He gently asked me, “Are you honoring Me in your eating habits?” Ouch! That really hit home with me because sweets and pasta are my biggest downfall.  I am also an emotional eater.  When I'm overjoyed, "Hey let's eat!"  When I am sad I turn to sweets to comfort myself.  When I am mad, "Well, It doesn't matter anyway so I'm going to eat pasta and ice cream!"  

Obviously the key is moderation, but I know if we put more herbs, seeds, fruits and veggies in our bodies we would be much healthier and be more productive in our Christian walk.

“Father, help me to honor You in every area of my life, even my eating habits. Help me to take care of and feed properly the body You have given me. As I feed my spirit with Your Word guide me as I feed my body with the ‘meat’ You have intended. Amen

Fruit Yielding Seed

Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

One of the dearest things to my heart is my children’s salvation. In this journey of nugget discovery, I have found many verses I believe we can apply in our prayers over our children. There are also so many verses that we as parents need to apply to ourselves as well; I believe this is one of them. This verse states that the herb and fruit tree yielded fruit after its own kind. The Lord shared with me, as a parent, a Christian parent, have I produced Christianity in my children? Have I yielded fruit after my own kind? Have I passed on a Godly heritage? What kind of example have I been?

My three children have all been in church since they were infants, many times they sat in the front pew while my husband I played on the worship team.  Yes, I took them to every service, every kids class and every revival meeting we had but what example did I set for them outside of church?  My intentions were always good but at times I went way overboard; like when I decided the Smurfs and My Little Pony were created in the pits of Hell and had to be banished from our home.  My kids still tease me about that.  But then there were, shamefully, so many other times that I was expecting the Sunday school teacher and youth group leader to get them saved and walking with the Lord.  It was in those times that I didn’t pray like I should or be diligent in my watch over what they were doing or what they were being exposed to.

We, as parents, have a great privilege to intercede on behalf of our children.  Many times this privilege can become a burden, seemingly ripping our hearts from within us.  There has also been, though, the times when the Holy Spirit overwhelmed me with His presence when I was in prayer for my children.  When that happens it is imperative that we yield to His leading, to His prayer language over our children.  I  had a conversation about praying in tongues with an elderly man one time. He was questioning praying in tongues and its effectiveness. My response to him was, “Who am I, when the Holy Spirit wants to pray through me, in His language, to pass up that opportunity.  Who knows else how to best pray for my children than the Holy Spirit.”

In my E-Bible on my I-pad I have highlighted all verses that I think can be prayed or pertain to my children’s salvation in purple. I would encourage you to do the same so that when it seems they will never turn to the Lord, and the enemy is telling you they never will, that you can read and encourage yourself in those verses and pray them as many times as it takes. 

 I would also highly recommend Stormie Omartian's book, The Power of A Praying Parent,  as it has so many wonderful scriptures and prayers throughout that us, as parents need to pray over our children.

Prayer: “Father forgive me for all the areas I have fallen short in teaching and setting a godly example for my children. Help me each to day to be an example, to be a light. Draw my children to You and stir up the gifts and purposes You have set for their lives. Amen”

Creation

Amazing how the first verse of the Bible, a verse we have all heard a thousand times, leapt off the page to me with the realization that Satan, the enemy of our souls, actually witnessed creation.

I paused to reflect on that.  Satan was in heaven long before the earth was created, long before the human race took our first God given breath.  He saw God speak into existence the very planet we live on, he watched as the sun and moon were formed. He saw the chaotic mess in the universe turn into grass and trees and oceans and rivers.  He watched as God breathed His breath into a mound of dirt and it became a living being fashioned after God Himself.

As I reflected on this I found myself amazed that Satan could actually witness all of this and still turn against God.

 I have often said I hope there is a movie theater in Heaven with all the stories of the Bible on the big screen as they actually happened.  Imagine with me, surround sound, and God's voice booming out "Let there be Light?" The graphics of Hollywood will be no match for God wielding the power of His voice and his right hand! I can see lightning flashing and chaos and darkness coming together with thunder and an incredible strength. I am sure the first trilogy will be, “The Creation”, followed by “A Snake in the Garden” and ending with “Banished”.  You can be sure if this is the case I will be first in line to buy a ticket!

So, back to my original thought.  If Satan and 1/3 of the angels could witness all of this and still turn against God, how much more we, as humans, need to guard our hearts and minds from all the deceiving forces in the world that would set us up as our own god, our own boss.

Prayer:  Father, I am amazed at Your wonderful Creation.  I can see Your awesomeness in the skies and the mountains.  When I feel a gentle breeze or breathe the smell of fresh rain it reminds me of everything You have created for our pleasure. Help us to honor you in every part of our lives and to guard our hearts and minds against anything that would draw us away from You.  Amen.

I took this photo along the Columbia River shore this past winter on a very cold and foggy morning. It reminds me of how creation may have looked.