Week 10... BACK TO THE GARDEN - GARDEN WALK

WEEK TEN

“THE BEAUTY & FALL of Ms. EVIE”

PART TWO… ‘WHAT’S IN PARADISE?’ 

Continuing CHAPTER SEVEN:

“TWO TREES EDEN”

With Insert… ‘Back To The Garden?’

POINT FIVE…. “FROM THE TREE OF LIFE  - TO THE TREE OF LIFE!”

    Let’s look back for one moment to the “TREE of LIFE” from last week’s lesson… Genesis 2:8-9 (NIV)… Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and…”

   We learned last week that God created the ‘Tree of Life’ in the middle of the Garden of Eden and He told Adam and Eve they could eat from its fruits. This tree is symbolic to…. ‘giving and having life!’ Therefore,….

What was Jesus Christ nailed to?  A c______ made from a t____

Why did He die upon that tree?   T__  G________  U___  E___________________  L_________! (five powerful words)

A CJisum….   The tree in the Garden of Eden that God named… “THE TREE of LIFE” symbolically became the cross that His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, died upon in order for us to have Eternal Life in heaven!!! From the TREE OF LIFE – To the TREE OF LIFE!

   Last week’s lesson brought before us that the Tree of Life is now our greatest ‘GIFT’… our Salvation in Christ Jesus. That we were created for the ‘purpose’ of spending eternally with God in heaven once we leave this earth if we have accepted Jesus to live in our hearts. At the end of last week’s lesson you read the ‘Plan of Salvation’ - presented purposely for the unsaved on how they too could become a child of the King. Today’s lesson is speaking mostly to the born again Believer in Christ!

Well, God has done it again!!!  I had planned for the following text to come at the very end of “The Beauty and Fall of Ms Evie” but God directed my thoughts to place it here for this week’s lesson. So there must be a good reason for the change and I will leave that in His hands!  So, here goes….

   For the past two weeks we have envisioned what the Garden of Eden must have looked like. Eden was a place of all good and beautiful things, including intimate fellowship with God. We talked about what the Garden could have been to…

·       a Chef… endless flavors of TASTE

·       a Florist…sweet heavenly aromas of SMELL

·       the Music Lover… capturing the music of birds singing and rushing streams of SOUNDS

·       an Artist… a canvas of endless color to rest the eye upon in SIGHT

·       and a Decorator… many textures for the hands to TOUCH

Have ‘we seen’ such beauty here on this earth?

 

POINT SIX….  Insert… ‘Back To The Garden?’

A Bit From My Personal Life…

   I have had the greatest pleasure to visit and live in several places across the globe, and enjoyed some of God’s creations that words like ‘phenomenal’ couldn’t come close to describing the beauty I witnessed! I lived in Great Britain for a period of time in the 70’s. We made our home in Aberdeen, Scotland. On hillsides we saw palaces that you only see in the movies or in magazines. And oh my goodness, the castles, they were everywhere! My goal was to see as many castles I could see in the time we lived there. So, I traveled all over England and Scotland exploring as many of them as I could. I would gaze in awe at the craftsmanship these long ago dwellings announced about themselves. But today we’re going to place our focus on…

‘GOD’s’ PHENOMENAL CREATIONS!!

   Even more unbelievable than the palaces and castles were the gardens that surrounded them! As I walked around the grounds of these castles, I was amazed at such magnificent beauty! Some of the plants, trees and scrubs were announced to be hundreds of years old. Well, you can imagine the remarkable time I had too walking through acres and acres of these gardens that would brighten anyone’s life!!

   We took trips up to the highest peak in The Highlands of Scotland, and even went exploring for Nessie at Loch Ness… the Loch Ness Monster. No, never got a glimpse of her. HaHaHa.  But the type of unique beauty high up in The Highlands was like non other that I’d ever seen before or since! Totally Awesome!! The shores of the North Sea were also a memorial splendor, with its jagged rock cliffs that were the breaking walls of the mighty force of the North Sea waves!  

   I traveled the back roads of our New England states here in America one year in October and experienced more of God’s beautiful creations as we saw the exploding colors of the Fall leaves! This beauty is something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime!!! To see how God brings about the change of color in the leaf on every tree is unbelievable! How He displays each tree’s own array of vivid color that artist have painted down through the ages but they can never quite capture the intense beauty as what you experience when you’re actually standing in amongst our Creator’s colorful art!

   Going over the top of the majestic snow covered Rockie Mountains would give anyone reason to believe there is a God!!! Winding through the gorgeous Smokie Mountains was absolutely a great memory of beauty. Here again, neither artist nor the greatest photographer could ever capture the total beauty these mountain ranges behold. I have walked through some of their rich valleys and even lived in one in Colorado for three years, and to look out our window and in the distance see the magnificence of God’s creation bordering with the skyline filled me with motivation to go explore their beauty first hand.  

   I will always cherish the times I walked and played on different beaches all along the east coast, from Bridgeport, CT to the Florida Keys!  Also can’t forget the walks I’ve had on a couple of beaches on the west coast in California, and one in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  On one beach, listening to the roaring sound of exploding power digging small cavities into the high rock cliffs filled me with energy beyond explanation, jogging my memory of how powerful our God truly is!!

   Another beach I walked on the wet sand that squeezed between my toes as the waves calmly covered my feet making me wish I never had to leave the tranquility and serenity it brought over me. And yet at another beach I played in the warm waves wiping the flavor of salt from my face where God reminded me that we are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13 – *

   I remember at all the beaches looking past the ocean waves and wondering about what beauty in the depths of that ocean would present to me if I were to go deep under its top surface to explore; and I would have if I wasn’t afraid of its immeasurable vast darkness – because I don’t swim well at all!! LOL. But knowing there’s another whole world below the waves on the floor of the ocean of astonishing beauty that God created always gives me pleasant goose bumps!!

   When I visited Nigeria Falls from the Canada side, I marveled at the waters astonishing power! It took my breath away! I will never forget that unbelievable sight!!

   I’ve traveled in the deep southern states and saw gigantic plantations nestled within lavishing manicured gardens that left my eyes wanting to see more. I loved the unbelievable heavy moss hanging several feet off the branches of huge beautiful trees, and blooming magnolia trees filled the air with sweet aroma that lingered in our nostrils for hours.  Looking at the beauty of God’s paintbrush across vast flower gardens would bring to my spirit such a calm and peaceful feeling.

   OK, I can’t tell of all this beauty without bringing to the forefront the breathtaking beauty of the Texas Hill Country in the spring!!! All the wildflowers that God planted for all to enjoy makes this Texas girl’s heart beat faster when I’m standing in all that beauty. The bluebonnets, the sunflowers, the cornflowers, the poppies, and the list goes on and on and on. If you’ve ever been to Tyler in east Texas and seen the famous Tyler roses and azaleas you know it’s a beauty beyond words!

   I used to stay at a friend’s condo in the mountains of Ruidoso, NM while I worked my territory as a home interior sales rep. I would take my pen and notebook and sometimes my camera as I walked back into the woods behind the complex of condos and find a place to sit and relax. I felt so close to God while I was in that peaceful place. The only sound I could hear were the birds and the breezes making their rustling sounds through the pines that looked like from below they reached the heavens above. Occasionally a deer would come into view as it rummaged through the covered vegetation ground looking for a snack.

   Then there were the times when I would just sit leaning up against a big pine tree and have a one-on-one talk with my Father, the Creator of it all. When I think back to those times, I still remember how I felt as I sat in God’s presence in that forest on the mountain side. I felt God was sitting right there beside me. What a stillness and peaceful feeling that was. There, in a forest, up in the mountains, I was having my time “in the Garden!”  I would always come down from that special place refreshed and eager to face anything and everything life had for me to deal with.

   From the jungles of Old Mexico to the plains of Canada, from the shores of California to the manicured gardens of Great Britain has seen me behind my camera trying to capture a capsule of the beauty that God has created right here on this earth.

   Throughout all the beauty of God’s creation that we may have the unforgettable pleasure to experience on this earth, I have no doubt that the beauty of the Garden of Eden exhibited ten times that over. So yes to my question at the beginning… we do have on this earth bits and pieces of the kind of beauty Adam and Eve lived among! They also had the sweet peace and tranquility in fellowship with God.

   I wrote this segment… “Back To the Garden” several years ago, and it was not written to come across as a boast of all the places on this earth I’ve had the honor of seeing bits of God’s extraordinary creation.  For some who read this, you could add so much more than what I've seen and experienced. I hope the Lord lets me live long enough to explore much, much, much more of His wonderful creations!
Instead I wrote it for the reader to…

·       get a feel of how amazing our God, the Almighty Creator truly is.

·       have a miniscule glimpse in comparison of what heaven is going to look like.

·       see how He gives us His love, peace and beauty within our relationship with Him as we walk anywhere on this earth.

·       show you how you can take a Garden Walk with Him…

POINT SEVEN…. “A GARDEN WALK”

   As you read down through the lines of the above text, what two words did you see reoccurring over and over??  The word ‘BEAUTY’ and ‘PEACE.’  The BEAUTY of GOD’s CREATION is breathtaking, and the PEACE He gives us is unbelievable!!!

   My friend, you don’t have to physically go upon a mountain, into the woods, sit on a calming beach or walk through manicured gardens to experience a walk in the Garden with God! The Garden that I’ve implied here is that of your own personal relationship with your Creator, your daily hand-in-hand walk with Him.

   You may have asked the Lord Jesus into your heart and you know without doubt where you’ll spend eternity when you die, but do you walk in the Garden with Him daily??

    When you come into a close fellowship with your Creator, He will then take you for a walk in the Garden. Knowing that whatever trials or adversities come about, you have a Protector who will walk with you and never forsake you. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother! Proverbs 18:24

   It’s when you exit from the world’s pleasures, temptations, troubles and worries and enter into a walk in the Garden with the God of beauty, peace and tranquility will you know life is truthfully worth it all! Knowing you have a Kingdom palace at life’s end makes time on this earth worth walking through. We Must Return To the Garden!!

   What do you expect to find when you enter into your Garden… your time in God’s presence? I find peace, understanding, patience, love beyond comparison, bountiful blessings, and relaxation, all in the intimacy with God. How about you??

   How long has it been since you’ve experienced God’s presence in your life?   Do you need a roadmap to the Garden?

   He’s never left you, you know. He is standing at the entrance of that peaceful Garden with outstretched arms, waiting to have fellowship with you again. He wants to walk and talk with you, and give you everything you need for that place of peace in your heart that only He can give you.

Have you been to the Garden lately???

What’s hindering you? What or who is standing in your way from going on that Garden Walk with your Creator?  You can begin your walk right now!

{If you have not been born again through the blood of Jesus Christ, don’t you want to have that experience of walking in the garden with a Savior that loves you more than any words could describe?}

cj

2-6-13

I COME TO THE GARDEN ALONE

(Written by… Charles A. Miles, 1913)

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.

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.

I'd stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through 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.

<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> 

[* RE: Matthew 5:13 – “Salt”… Salt is used as a preserving and purifying agent. Jesus was telling His disciples to live as an example of righteous (to preserve themselves to righteousness) in their personal lives and as they spoke the gospel to show purity to a corrupt world.  Therefore, as we are today's Disciples of Christ to this continuous corrupt world, we are to be purified as salt and live an example of piety (preserve ourselves to righteousness) before others.]