What’s in your garden?

It’s exciting as a pastor when you see someone truly growing who is attending your church. Yesterday I spoke with a man who comes to our church and he was sharing things with me that were truly exciting and shows he’s been heeding what he’s been hearing from the Word !  I find a similar parallel in gardening when you go out to check your plants and you see those first sprouts coming up, then as the plant matures you notice a blossom and finally the fruit you have long waited for !  It’s gratifying.     In phone conversations with my Dad, he’ll often ask what I have coming in my garden, but what’s coming to fruition in yours?

Imagine how the Lord must feel, yes feel, to see something good happening in you !!  And the cool thing is His fruit actually comes simply as we are yielded to Him.  The analogy of fruit, in fact, is used to the churches in Galatia, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (5:22-23).  Nine different manifestations of God’s truly ruling our heart in a way that we cannot manufacture in ourselves.  These are also a good guage to determine your spiritual state.

For example,  how do I view people generally? With compassion and love or as irritants in the way of what I’d like to do?   And no matter what befalls my day is there truly a joy inside ?  Are you basically content or only when things are going well?  As you read Paul’s letters, he had peace even though he sat in prison for doing right !  I suppose to some degree we can “fool some of the people some of the time” that we are in sync with the Lord and growing but God knows and so do we.  Make this a day that the Lord is truly thrilled with you and let Him grow you ! Let Him have you, all of you,  and watch His fruit keep on coming, it’s exciting !!