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Spiritual Gardening




"For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."
      - Isaiah 51:3
Dear Friends,

 The spring and summer months are times of gardening.  Beautiful plants and flowers abound in yards, on porches and lining streets.   Flower gardens and vegetable gardens flourish. Both beginners and veteran gardeners may spend many hours during a season tending to that which they have planted.

 I find comfort in gardens.  I revel in the color, the vibrancy and also the peace that can come from just viewing God's beautiful handiwork.  In our spiritual lives prayer, praise, worship and meditation are all types of gardens. 

  In the garden of prayer we can commune with the Lord and experience the fragrant refreshing of His presence, His peace.  

 In the garden of praise, we put on the scent of adoration and bask in the garment of praise that lifts the heaviest spirit.  

 In the garden of worship we meet with other gardeners and sow together our love and admiration for Our Lord and King.  

 In all of these "gardening" experiences we approach the Lord's throne alone personally; personal prayer, our personal praise, of the Lord, our singular worship of His majesty and personal time in meditation. These are opportunities to meet Jesus in the quiet place of our hearts.

 The hymn writer penned it this way:

In the Garden - C. Austin Miles 1913 (Public Domain)
1 I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
2 He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing. (Refrain)

3 I'd stay in the garden with Him
Tho' the night around me be falling;
But He bids me go; thro' the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling. 
Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

This is spiritual gardening.  Sweet fragrant fellowship.

in Christ,

Sis. Stephanie

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