Christian Living

Walking in Gods Garden

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
02/22/21
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“The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

There are many ways that people can explain the beginning of a personal relationship with the Lord God Almighty. Some may say that it is a long-ago need to have a close fellowship with their Creator, just like it was for Adam and Eve in the early days of their life. Their Creator would come down from Heaven and walk with them as they walked with Him. I can only imagine what they would talk about the beautiful creation that Adam and Eve were discovering each day. The marvel and beauty of the world around them. They would notice how the wind would rustle the leaves when their Lord came near. How the sun caused a burst of color across the horizon at the birth and end of each day. The stars at night were dancing across the leaves of the canopy and twinkling through the cover. A satisfied nod to the astonished couple brought the blessing of joy to their hearts. Oh, how they would be anxious for their God to come each day and talk with them, sharing the mysteries of His creation. If only Adam and Eve could have entirely been content with the wonderful paradise their Lord had created and given them dominion over. “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

Perhaps that is a longing that most spirits have in the present world, a reuniting with a long-lost companion they have never known. Even the ignorant carry the burden of weight from an unknown source. Even in the arms of a loved one, still, there is a loneliness that is never satisfied. In today’s civilization, they long to live in the peace of the wilderness where the beauty of the sounds of nature and animal life sing together in harmony. They find content here but lack peace in their innermost part. A disturbing want for a place not known that is their real home. They search, try to earn or buy, in desperation try to steal, and still never find it. Some travel the world and realize their homes cannot be found here. The world is filled with the storage of the wants that never satisfy.

I think it is the search for that one relationship that frees them from the attachments life here in this lost paradise. A search for that one relationship that will fill the void of the need for greater love, lift the burden of past life and evil deeds, and provide a purpose to live that exceeds the whisper of time spent in this world. Some I have spoken to of these thoughts have called me a dreamer who only longs for fantasy. I say that I am a dreamer who dreams a vision born from the beginning of time and destroyed in a misstep of loyalty. I found that perfect relationship for me, and the more I share it, the more I find it. The relationship is the one we all want and need, as it is with our Creator, who knows and loves us eternally.

The perfect relationship begins the very moment that we realize our need for a Savior. It starts when we know we are a fractured and broken person that needs healing from the great physician of mankind, the Creator. When we realize that the Creator provided all we need and set His law to govern what He has made. So we know that we have broken that law and brought death to our next minute. That our Savior is God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. When we will never find that peace deep in our spirits because our sins have placed a barrier between us and the One we have desperate need of. When we realize that the only bridge between our Creator and us is faith in Jesus Christ. He had spoken, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

So many people reject Jesus as their Savior. They fail to realize that their Creator sent Himself in the likeness of man to pay the sin debt we have against the bank of eternity. The Creator loved us so much that through Jesus, He gave mankind the most wonderful and amazing gift, salvation. So many missed opportunities in life, but the one that should never be missed is by the grace of God we have this free gift of salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) When we trust Jesus and live in faith in His Word, we have an eternity to spend with Him in His Kingdom.

Because of His love, Jesus went to the cross and gave His life as a ransom for ours. Jesus them raised from the grave on the third day, defeating our greatest enemy, death. No one or thing could have done that for mankind but Jesus. Through the work of Jesus on the cross, we can have victory over sin and death. When we accept Jesus on faith in His work, we are free from condemnation and receive life abundantly. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

When we realize our need, then we can find it in the Lord Jesus and establish a personal relationship with God the Father through Him. The mission of Jesus is to reconcile the world back to a right relationship with God the Creator. “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

If we lack the wisdom to take full advantage of this over the ways of the world, then all we need do is ask our Lord, and He will provide. “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5) We will have a hunger to pray and listen, to be enlightened by His Word, and meditate on His Word that we can know Him better. It is the desire to walk in the security of the path He leads us on that we can accomplish the good work He has prepared for us. “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Colossians 2:6)

Never to be alone again, and Jesus is not only with us, but He has indwelled us by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Devine Counselor who reveals all truth to us. We received the Spirit when we repented from our sins and were baptized by the Holy Spirit. “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) The Spirit is our counselor who offers the correct advice and reveals the will of God, and He seals us to our final home. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17) The Spirit will change us from the wretch we once were to a new creature known as a Child of God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

I believe that God is love, and in the context of His love, all the mighty works He has done are a result of His love for His creation. I believe God is the Creator and established His Word to govern His creation. God is still the creator and creates a unique day for each one here on the face of this earth. Mankind rebelled from that order and spiritually became orphans out of harmony with God with a spirit no longer in the image it was created in. Therefore, there is no peace for mankind until He is reborn in the spirit and reconciled to God, his Creator. I believe the Garden of Eden was in the order of Heaven’s love, peace, and joy that is now lost here in this fallen world. The solution is to answer the need for a personal relationship with God the Creator. Then there will be more love in the world, then there will be more peace, and then there will be a more substantial portion of paradise in the world we live in.

My longing is to go to my home in Heaven, but I find contentment here in the garden with my Lord. “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.” Charles A. Miles

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, November 7, 2019