Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. Genesis 2:15.
A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a spring sealed up. Song of Songs 4:12.
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23.
Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
You are precious in My sight; I honor you and love you. Isaiah 43:4. And I tell you this many times throughout all of the Old and New Testament. It is My song of love to you. And in My Son, I have proved it to you. Nothing can separate you from My love for you.
But now, may I ask you a question, am I precious in your sight, honored and beloved by you? I do care for you and I like to know you care about Me. The first person to ever tell Me they loved Me was David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. And you will notice, his name means “Beloved.”
I have given you My Son and His Name is called Wonderful, Counselor, God Hero, Father forever, Prince of Peace. My zeal has done this for you. I made Him all those for you as well as raising Him from the dead by the blood of the eternal covenant to be your great good Shepherd and your great High Priest, equipping you, anointing you, and appointing you for amazing and awesome works of skill and excellence for now and for eternity. My plans for you outnumber the sands of the sea. I created you with love beyond all telling, redeemed you, sanctified you, glorified you, made you righteous with My own righteousness, clothed you in Christ and sealed you in Him, clothed you in the garments of Salvation and the robe of righteousness, and prepared a life of good deeds for you in advance in Christ Jesus that you might walk in them and enjoy your beautiful life. I protect you, provide for you, deliver you, prosper you, make you holy and blameless, lead you, pour My love into your heart, guide you to all truth, teach you all things, give you the victory over sin and death, lead you in triumph in My Son, forgive you, never leave you, bless you, heal you, renew your youth, surround you with love and compassion, fill your days with good things, give you My Son that you might live your life through Him, help you, reward you, and continually cleanse you in the blood of Jesus as you walk with Me in the light. I am your rock, your refuge, your fortress, your shield, your healer, your beloved, your friend, your Father, and your God. I remember your sins and lawless deeds no more. I show you favor and make all things work together for your good. My plans for you are shalom and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. I guard you and hold you in My hand so the evil one cannot touch you. I made Jesus wisdom unto you, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. All My magnificent promises are “yes” to you in Him. I call you into fellowship and partnership with My Son. It has pleased Me to give you the Kingdom and call you to My own glory. It has pleased Me to give you My beloved Son and My Holy Spirit as gifts.
I dwell now by My Spirit in your heart. In your spirit, making you a holy temple of My presence and giving you access by My Spirit to My Kingdom at any time of the day and night. Have you sanctified your heart for Me? I dwell in the garden of your heart.
How do you grow a beautiful, delightful, sacred garden in your heart that you and I can delight in during our time of prayer and throughout the day and night? Our secret place.
I told Adam to cultivate and guard the garden I gave him and entrusted to his stewardship. I gave him dominion of it. Stewardship.
First, let’s talk about guarding it. Guard your heart with all diligence, I tell you. So it sounds like you need to be on the alert for this. I am a garden dweller. Make a beautiful place where I abide among the lilies so that, Song of Songs 6:1-4, like Zacchaeus, you can welcome Me at any moment with delight. Make a place where I can rest in you and you in Me.
How do you guard it? I told you. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will GUARD YOUR HEARTS and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9.
I am not of confusion but of peace. I am the God of peace. Gideon called Me YHWH shalom. The LORD is peace.
You guard your heart by the wall of praise that silences the enemy. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give constant thanks—this is My Will for you in Christ Jesus. The voice of thanksgiving and the shout of praise will always win over the forces of darkness. Prayer and petition should always be with thanksgiving and the joyful shout of victory, even before you see it manifest. Believe when you ask and you will receive. And speak to the mountains and move them. Mark 11:22-24.
And how do you cultivate the garden of your heart? How do you work the soil to be fruitful for your Lord? The Hebrew word used in Genesis for “cultivate” actually means to serve, steward, to work for a master. I used this word to describe the ministry of the Levites in My service of holy things in the tabernacle in the wilderness, My dwelling place. I entrusted them with the work of holy and sacred things. A sacred charge to take care of those precious things.
Let My Son tell you how, for He is My Word and speaks My Word. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser (in Greek, georgos, which means husbandman, farmer, vinedresser worker of the soil, it is from “ge” which means earth, and “ergon” which means work). Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away (in Greek, “airo,” which means to raise, lift, to raise up from the ground, elevate, lift up, take up); and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes (“katharoi,” which means to cleanse, purify, purge, prune, remove undesirable elements) it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean (katharoi) because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from (separate from, without) Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5.
How do you cultivate the inner garden of your heart so that it is fruitful and rich with goodness? First of all you have to be careful what seed you plant. You cannot plant the profane and expect to get the sacred. A farmer plants the seed that will give him the crop he has decided to produce. If you want My promises to come to fruition in your life, you must plant them in your heart and cultivate them for your Master. You cannot serve two masters.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So how do you cultivate the garden of your heart to produce the fruit of the Spirit? By abiding in My Word. I watch over My Word to perform it, “for as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up.” Isaiah 55:10-13.
And do you remember the parable My Son told about the sower and the seed? The seed represented My Word and the different kinds of soil that produced fruitful harvests or no harvests represented your hearts. Do you remember which soil was fruitful, producing harvests of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold? “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:20. And, “the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” Luke 8:15.
Guard your hearts. “ Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:21-25.
You cultivate the seed of My Word by opening your heart to receive it, and that means first cleansing it of the thorns and thistles and softening up the rocks and stony ground with the water of the Word, and then speaking, reading, meditating on and doing My Word will cause the growth. And sunbathe (Son bathe) every day to give light to the seed to grow by spending time with Me in My Word. Seeds need light, water, and plenty of nourishing food. And My Word is all of that and more.
I love you. Partner with Me and we will work together the soil of your heart. You can do nothing separated from Me but you can do everything with Me. It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; from Me comes your fruit. Hosea 14:8.