Garden

Growing Gardens

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment

Recently I gave a message at the church I attend and I wanted to share it with you all. I hope it is an encouragement to you all. Blessings!

In 2019 a movie came out that would go on to be the highest grossing movie of all time. Any guesses? Avengers Endgame is the culmination of 22 Marvel Universe films over an 11 year period. All of those films built up to one peak moment. The villain, Thanos, was attempting to reset the universe by eliminating a third of all living creatures. His methods weren’t based on merit or the salvation of the righteous but solely on mass destruction to preserve those left behind.

Besides what some of us may think, we don’t live in a superhero universe. But we do have an endgame that all of life is building up to. So what’s the endgame? As believers in Jesus, what is all of this leading up to?Is it heaven? Is it something else? For all of my childhood and much of my adult life, I was under the impression that heaven was the goal. After all, we’re told that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20) and that Jesus went away to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). But none of those things speak of our final destination. You see, heaven is just another temporary stop on our way home. To understand the end, we have to go back to the beginning.

“then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis‬ ‭2:7-15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The garden was created as a place for Man and God to coexist. It was a place where heaven and earth overlapped. God and His creation could experience and intimacy unhindered by brokenness and death. It was a place filled with beauty and purpose. The entire salvation narrative is imaged in these few verses. God forms us, He gives us life, and then he takes us to a home prepared for us. But it wasn’t to last for Adam and Eve. After an unknown number of years, they messed up and the result was exile. Refer to Genesis 3:23-24. Ever since we’ve been living in exile with a longing to get back to the garden. Throughout the remainder of the Bible our attention is constantly drawn to the Garden.

The tabernacle and the temple both contained illusions to the garden. The Gold and onyx, the lampstand, the flowers And vines, the olive oil used, etc. It was a place where God’s holiness resided. A place where a certain few could come and meet with Him. The promised land is also a picture of God bringing us back to Eden (Num 13 the fruit that the spies brought back). It was a land flowing with milk and honey. A place between the Great rivers.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Revelation‬ ‭22:1-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Tell me that doesn’t sound like a garden. Earth will be renewed. We are coming back with our Savior King. The Holy City will descend and Heaven and Earth will be one. Intimacy with God will be final and glorious.

Understanding our origins and our destiny helps us to know our purpose here and now.

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19 and 2 Cor 6:16). So what does that mean? We have the garden living inside of us. Our hearts desire new things, eternal things. God resides within us. If the tabernacle and the temple were meant to be sanctuaries of God’s peace and love and truth, then that’s what we’re supposed to be. Christ’s sacrifice opened up a whole new intimate relationship with our God that hadn’t been enjoyed since the Garden. Even the tabernacle and the temple had a veil, but Jesus tore that down. So what does that mean for our purpose?

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”” John‬ ‭7:38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Our role is to water the soil of our surroundings and work to bring the kingdom of heaven to our place on earth. We are springs of living water and we are called to help perpetuate new life. Not that we can give life ourselves but that we show people the source of living water within us. The believer is a Gardner. Our homes should be a garden. Our area of the workplace should be a garden. Our relationships should be a gardens. Think of all the words Jesus spoke comparing us to the branches and Him the vine and how we need to remain connected to Him to bear fruit. Or later when Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit that all believers should be hearing. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness should all be growing within us and spring forth into our homes and relationships.

Our words, prayers, and actions can bring about healing, encouragement, and hope. Our life should point others to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The only way that’s going to happen is if our spring isn’t stopped up. My hope for you and me is that the springs of living water would break free within us.

Let’s go plant some gardens!

The Trees in your Garden

~ ForCommonGround ~ 7 Comments

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The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV)

There is something innate in all of us that wants the one thing we can’t have. We don’t have to look any further than the Garden of Eden to know that humanity lacks thankfulness on an epic scale. For that is what leads to seeking that which we do not have. We can have the world, and all the goodness therein, and yet be lured into wanting the one thing that leads to our destruction.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul said to be thankful in ALL things (5:18). That has to be a typo right? How can I be thankful when my car breaks down? Well, considering that only 55% of those living in Russia, 35% in Mexico, and 6% in India own a car, I think I can find thankfulness in even owning a car. Or how about when a loved one passes away? If they were a believer in Christ, it was the best thing that could have ever happened for them! How about losing a job? That happened to me too. It turned out to be a sweet divine redirection in my life. I had my whole life mapped out, problem was, it was not the path the Lord knew was best for me. Thank you Lord for not allowing me to walk of course! How about that crippling physical injury that derails your life? Check! I have battled a near debilitating back injury for near 20 years now. It ended my competitive sports career and plagues even the most menial activities in my life today. Could it be worse? Absolutely! No matter the curve balls in life, we can find thankfulness in them all.

What causes ‘want’ in the human spirit? Being discontent. I know people who are never happy no matter the job they have, the person they’re with, the amount of money they make, the place they live, etc…I’m certain they would unhappy living in the Garden of Eden. I think most all of us would be. Why? Because we don’t know the art of being thankful in ALL things. We have lost touch with the garden that God has placed us in. If you know thankfulness in all things, bless you! It is definitely possible to have but hard to grasp. Until we can be happy with little or nothing, we will never be happy with plenty. No matter our abundance, it won’t be enough. Even if we had the whole world, and all the goodness therein, we would want more.

Adam and Eve had the best this world had to offer, before corruption existed. After God created it all, He said that it was good. Two people, with dominion over the entire Earth, full of goodness, still fell into the trap of wanting what they did not possess. I have an amazing wife, wonderful children, and live in one of the most affluent nations in the world. My garden is lush. Yet at times, I find myself wanting that which I don’t have. It can be subtle and it can be blatantly obvious. But it only happens when I am not as thankful as I should be. When I’m not being thankful, I complain, I want what I don’t have, I stress, I get worn down, and I don’t treat others as I should. With a picture like that its fair to say that the unthankful person is not a pleasant one to be around. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

In the book of James it says that godliness with contentment is great gain. That’s because contentment exist in those who are thankful and it is the thankful person that can carry out his/her mission of loving others and loving God well.  The thankful person does no wrong to another. The thankful person cannot covet. The thankful person won’t steal. The thankful person would dare not murder. The thankful person loves the sovereignty of God in all it’s outcomes and would wish no different. If there are trees in his garden, that God says don’t touch, the thankful person praises the Lord for making the danger known, and joyously avoids them.

Our enemy is after our joy. He wants to point out all the things God is ‘withholding’ from us as if God doesn’t love us enough to let us have them. He wants to keep us striving for more, wanting different, looking for those greener pastures. Satan never wants us to forget about those trees in our garden. And our gardens will go unnoticed by us if all we see are the forbidden trees. We all have different decks that we’ve been dealt in this life, all of which we should be thankful for because God allowed it to be so. I know that will rub some the wrong way because really hard things happen in life, but it is still true. In his book, Holiness day by day, Jerry Bridges makes the suggestion that our faith is measured best by our level of thankfulness towards God.  I think that’s a fair assessment. After all, how can we claim to believe in a holy, good, just, and loving God who would go to the lengths of dying for us on a cross and not be thankful for all He allows in our lives.

We can feel pain in thankfulness. We can suffer tears and maintain a thankful heart. Three years ago, the Lord took my father home after he suffered a traumatic stroke. That hurt to go through! Bad! But I am so thankful God did not allow him to suffer through the remainder of his life without the use of half of his body. And I am so thankful that my dad is enjoying the fruits of his salvation in Christ. Are you hurting? Are you battling fear and doubt? Are you discontent? I challenge you my brothers and sisters: find the good in all that you’re going through. The silver lining always exists because God really does work ALL things to the good for those who love Him and live for Him like the book of Romans assures us. Our God is sovereign over us and He is good. He has a love for us that we cannot fully understand. He made us, He died for us, He’s walked with us through our lives, and He has prepared a home unlike anything we can possibly imagine. For the sake of all those things, we can be thankful in everything. Bless you brothers and sisters!

…I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)