Taught through an image today....

To those who are desiring to “Walk God's Way”,

Today I rested in the Lord for quite awhile. I had a rich time of meditation, prayer and Bible reading during which time I received a spiritual picture and lesson I will share. I wish I could capture for you the image that I was given, but I can't. I WILL add a few photos that reflect the thoughts that I'm sharing. I LOVE when the Holy Spirit gives me mind pictures! I'm not sure why, but the use of images along with His Word, is a common method that the Holy Spirit uses to teach me. (Sorry this is lengthy…I tend to be wordy!)

I have been perplexed for some time over an apparent lack of ‘fruit’ in my life and have been earnestly seeking the Lord’s guidance and instruction in this area. Scripture says in the book of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 20, “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” In this scenario, Jesus was talking about watching out for false prophets, but the same principle holds true in recognizing those who follow Christ. I was questioning God this morning as to why my life does not exemplify Christ in the manner in which He instructs; the manner in which I desire to live.

Being aware that sin is a hindrance to effective prayer, ministry and to life in the Spirit, I thus turned to Christ in confession and examination of the sin in my life. As I was praying, confessing and asking the Lord to ‘clean me up’ and wash (and in my case, SCRUB) me, my meditation was enhanced with a ‘mind picture’ of a garden; not a healthy garden but one filled with weeds. In this morning’s mind picture, the once rich and healthy soil of the garden was no longer evident, having been over shadowed by a thick growth of weeds and the now scrawny garden plants (in this image they were flowers) were all but hidden by tall and unruly weeds.

*Side note: I have always loved gardening and have invested a lot of ‘blood, sweat and tears’ into the many different gardens I have tended over the years. (I think I had some form of a flowerbed or garden in nearly every one of the nine (9) homes that I have lived in since age 21). It was not surprising that the Lord would use this analogy to speak to me about the SIN in my life. Gardening is a topic that I am well acquainted with and understand.

I spiritually discerned the meaning of the image that the Holy Spirit had placed in my mind and realized from Biblical parables taught by Jesus that the weeds in the image represented the sin(s) in my life and the garden soil was representative of my very soul. Because I KNOW, first-hand, what a “garden of weeds” looks like and how much more beautiful a healthy garden looks, I was deeply convicted of the need to confess and repent of the damaging and life-threatening sin in my life. I could FEEL the pain that causes our Lord grief and I wanted to CHANGE! After seeing this image in my mind, it truly grieved my heart to realize how over run my once lovely garden has become. I am saddened, even as I write this testimony at how unhealthy my ‘garden’ had become.

*Another Side note: There is nothing more disturbing to a true gardener than to see a WEED growing in a lovely garden or flowerbed. In fact, there have been many real occasions when I have been VERY tempted to pull a weed or weeds from a ‘public’ flowerbed! I can hardly stand to see a lone weed growing amid flowers or shrubs!

I sought the Lord’s wisdom and guidance and asked for even deeper revelation of the image’s meaning. During a portion of my dialog with the Lord, I asked Him (the Lord) to (figuratively) get out the “weed whacker” and mow down all the “weeds” (sin) in my life. Immediately, the Lord said, “I am not going to just cut them off, I am going to pull them out by the root.” WOW!

The Holy Spirit further instructed me that Christ does not merely use a “weed whacker” to mow down weeds (sin), leaving the stubble of the plant only to be ‘whacked’ off later, but He meticulously PULLS EVERY WEED OUT BY THE ROOT, making sure that the entire weed is removed and eradicated forever! WOW!

In addition, I was reminded that weeding is not always accomplished with one quick and easy yank and the weed is gone. Many times, a weed has developed deep roots or the weed may be the variety that has ‘trailed’ into other areas of the garden. Weeding can be a long and pain staking process. The Holy Spirit showed me the “weeds” or SIN (actions AND attitudes) that are (have been) prevalent in my life (my garden). After confessing (I chose to write them down), and examining and repenting of these sins, my inclination was to begin to figure out a process by which *I* could get rid of or “kill the weeds” of sin in my life. I began to plan and figure how *I* could prevent weeds and what *I* needed to do to make sure my garden would remain ‘weed free’. I was quickly reminded that, not I, but our Father is the Gardener. (read John 15) Wow,…how quickly we humans try to make a situation ‘right’ and fix everything! In this situation, we cannot be a "Do it Yourself" gardener!

It is very freeing to be reminded that GOD will be taking care of my garden (my soul)….just like He did in this morning’s teaching and training! How WONDERFUL to know that HE knows exactly what work needs to be done in my garden and in what season the work must be performed! As Jesus teaches in John, chapter 15, the life of a Christian is likened to that of a ‘branch’ that grows forth from the Vine, which is planted in the soil (our soul) of the garden. As a branch, we need only to stay ‘connected’ to the Vine (Jesus)…all else will be performed by the Master Gardener.
By surrendering to our Father, we are ALLOWING Him to teach, train, correct, rebuke and nourish our souls. HE will perform all the essential work to ensure a healthy and vibrant, fruit-producing garden!