The Path to the Secret Garden - Part 6: Prepare the soil of your heart.
Prepare the Soil of your Heart
Your best encounters with Jesus are ahead of you!
Do you believe that? Are you ready for it? We must prepare the soil of our heart to receive what God has for us.
In Scripture, your heart is compared to a garden. In one parable, Jesus says your heart is like soil, that if you plant the right seeds, you will produce good fruit. The seed is always the same, it is the Word, but the condition of your heart determines how much fruit you produce.
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep (or guard) your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." This means to watch your heart, tend to it diligently and uproot the things that God never planted. All so that you can produce good fruit.
Sometimes because of life, disappointments, hurt and trauma, the soil of our heart changes and can become hard. So it's vitally important we continue to work at it to keep it soft and fertile. Just like a farmer prepares the ground to receive the seed he is about to plant, we too need to prepare the soil of our heart.
Every moment we have to worship Him and enter into His presence is another moment where the condition of our heart is nurtured. Every time we read our bible or hear the word of God preached is another way we grab a hold of seeds and plant them in the soil of our hearts.
Hosea 10:12 tells us “Plant the good seeds of righteousness and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.”
My Response…
How is the soil of your heart?
What things need to be uprooted that God never planted there?
How can you prepare the soil of your heart for an encounter with Jesus? (Your posture and positioning matters)
What do you need to leave behind to keep moving forward?
Closing thoughts…
Last week I (Ps Sjhana) took my 8 year old son Jordy on a walk down to our local creek - a walk we do often together. But this time we discovered all these beautiful hidden paths off the main footpath - these little paths led to gorgeous little creeks, beautiful trees, and untouched nature that was raw and beautiful. The temperature felt different, it sounded and felt so different from the main path. These were hidden beautiful paths we had never seen or discovered even though we had walked that path at least a hundred times before……yet they had always been there!
Every one of our senses was heightened with curiosity and wonder. Jordy's little imagination began to run wild as he began to explore it all, making up story after story of where we were and describing every detail of it to me. The unknown didn't scare him - it excited him and he wanted to explore it ALL. I looked on in wonder and felt utterly challenged too. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me “Sjhana, will you come? Do you want to explore it all too?” I believe this is the invitation to each and every one of us. To set aside the time to discover God in a way we have never seen before.
There are paths that have been there the whole time - we just haven't seen, explored or discovered them yet - but what awaits you there will be breathtakingly beautiful.
Will you join me on this journey? Come ready and open and willing to discover and walk along paths you may never have walked before? Beauty and wonder waits for us there.
This path is for you to discover - but also for you to invite others to join you on this journey. Who are you bringing with you? Take a moment to pray about who the Lord wants you to invite - what friend or family member needs to be in the room with you?
Beauty and wonder awaits them also!
Come into His Garden, experience His Heart, His Love, His Healing, His Miracles and His Breakthrough.
