The Garden of My Soul

I’ve never been the kind of person that shouts my beliefs from the rooftops.  I don’t like to feel I’m pushing people to believe as I do.  As a matter of fact, when we try to force our beliefs on someone, it usually has the opposite effect.  I guess this is why it seems so difficult for me to share what Jesus means in my life. So, here I go writing it down for others to see. 

I accepted Christ when I was very young & didn’t truly know what it meant.  I just knew that my preacher said I was going to hell if I didn’t…so I did.  Going to heaven sounded so much better and a lot cooler.  I can honestly say I didn’t change very much at that time.  As a matter of fact, I definitely got worse as the years went by.  I just wanted to have fun and enjoy life with my friends.  I couldn’t do that being a Christian and all….or could I?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a terrible person, but I am most assuredly a regular, multiple times a day sinner.  And, when I say sinner, I mean there are too many to count.  I didn’t appreciate God’s grace (undeserved favor) for a time in my life.  But, I do now.  I felt I couldn’t go to Him because I wasn’t living for Him.  Why should He care?  Maybe, when I’m a better person…. Nope, He wants us “just as we are”.

Jesus tells a parable in the gospels about a farmer sowing seeds and where he dropped the seeds.  I was definitely the one sowing seeds in rocky places where the roots couldn’t take hold.  My roots were VERY shallow. I didn’t make much effort to grow in the wisdom that His word gives us until I was older.  

When I finally began to study the Bible, my roots got a little deeper but I let the weeds and thorns grow with the seeds so they were choked out.  The weeds & thorns represent the daily worries and problems in the world that we all face daily.  I gave more attention to the difficulties that life threw at me than I did to what His peace could do for me.  I thought I could handle all of them on my own.  

My earnest goal is to be the one He talks about who plants the seed in good soil where they can grow and feed others with the knowledge that His wisdom brings.  So, let this testimony be the start of my garden without shallow roots, weeds or thorns.  

If only I knew then that all I had to do is give the problems over to Him.  He was always with me, just waiting on me to ask for His help!  It didn’t stop the problems, because that is just the way life is, but it definitely made a difference in my peace levels.  Faith started growing in the garden of my soul.

I know full well that Jesus is truly God’s son, born on earth for a very specific purpose.  He knew we couldn’t be perfect, this side of heaven.  So, in His most awesome wisdom He had His own Son come to earth and suffer and die for us, then rise again.  He even left His Holy Spirit here in the hearts of all who believe.  Our only job is to believe and accept this fact as truth.  In other words, step out in faith.  

Yes, I still sin most every day, but I have the assurance that when I ask for forgiveness, He forgives me.  Did you understand that?  Let it sink in.  Thankfully, He doesn’t require perfection from me.  It took me so much longer to believe this than I actually care to admit.  He doesn’t condemn me, He forgives me…time and time again and over again.  Romans 8:1

I know many people that became Christians and now believe it’s only a fairytale. This fact saddens me because it was “so called” Christian’s judgement that made them change their minds.  

How can we claim to be a Christian and be so closed minded and judgemental and talk about others the way some do? Jesus didn’t live that way, He hung out with sinners like me while He was here.  He condemned and confronted the “religious leaders” many times.  What did they do?  They judged, condemned and killed the Son of God.  He knew this was the way it would go when He came to earth.  His purpose was fulfilled and now we have the assurance that He loves us and forgives us.  All we have to do is just  accept His truth and ask.  Sounds easy doesn’t it?  John 3:16

So, if you ever find yourself wondering if there is truly a God, how could He let so many terrible things happen to people?  Could it be that it’s us that has taken God out of everything?  We turned our backs on Him, not the other way around.

A minority of people get offended by people praying and confessing God’s sovereignty.  Well, heaven’s to Betsy…let’s not offend these people, let’s just remove God from everything.  Well, how is that working so far? 

Be assured of this one thing.  When you acknowledge His truth and ask Him to come into your heart and life, you will spend the rest of your time on earth fighting one spiritual battle after another.  Actually, you’ll be fighting those battles whether you believe in Him, or not.  

Being a believer is not an easy, always fun-filled journey.  Evil abides in this place for a time and it will fight you every step of the way.  The fact that you’re not fighting by yourself is where His amazing peace comes from.  He made it easy…we made it difficult.  Spoiler alert….He wins in the end.  

Think of your soul as a garden.  Do you want a fruitful harvest or a messed up, weed filled garden?  When you pull the weeds out of a flower bed, it gives room for the pretty flowers to grow.  Weeds will come back, you just have to keep pulling them out.  

If nothing else comes from the blog post I hope that maybe I planted a few seeds today. God is good and I am not…but I know He loves me! 

Feel free to send me your comments whether you agree or not. Thanks for taking the time to visit.