A Fruitful Garden is Waiting to Grow

From the beginning of the year, my pastors have been teaching from 2 Peter 1:1-8.

2 Peter 1: 1- 8 (NKJV)

1Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have been seeking the Lord concerning this section of scripture for several months as we have been studying it at church. The key phrases that I have been pondering are in verse 4, "you may be partakers of the divine nature," and in verse 5, "add to your faith."

When I first read this section of scripture I began asking myself and the Lord two things. One, "How can I add to my faith? I can't manufacture faith, so how can I add to it?" And two, "How can I add this list of things, since these things that we are instructed to diligently add to our faith are part of the divine nature of God?"

As I have looked upon these scriptures these last two days, I began to see the words of hard work fade away and I began to see these scriptures through the heart of God. I noticed that everything about this section of scripture was encouraging us to pursue a deeper relationship with the Lord. The very first sentence directed to us who have obtained like faith says,

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus."

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 6 it says that without faith (which we have obtained by the righteousness of God) it is impossible to please God because first we have to believe that God exists.

Then it says that we also have to believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. In order to believe that he is a "rewarder" we have to believe that He is good and as we diligently seek Him we gain knowledge of His character through the growth of our relationship with him.

These "character qualities" that are listed in verses 5, 6 & 7 are the rewards that are added to our lives as we diligently seek a deeper, experiential relationship with our God and Father and His Son Jesus Christ. These "character qualities" are a part of the divine nature that we have been invited to partake of through our knowledge of God.

As this revelation began to settle into my heart, I heard the Lord saying...

The winter is over my people,
It is time to tend the garden of your heart.
Inspect your garden my people,
How has it survived the winter?

Take Me with you into your garden,
Let Me see what is there.
If there are weeds I will remove them
If the soil has become hard,
I will water it from the river of My Life
And till it if you let Me.

If you allow the Fire of My Holy Spirit to come upon you
I will burn up the thorns and thistles.

I have planted in your garden before.
You have obtained the seeds of faith from my hand.
You have received My word in your heart.
Will you partake of My divine nature?
Will you let me cultivate your heart?

Open wide the gates to your gardens!
Open wide the doors of your heart!
Let me plant a garden of hope!
Let me plant a garden of spice!

How do you add to the faith you’ve been given?
Open wide the gates to your garden,
Let me till the soil of your heart,
Receive the seeds of My word,
Let Me water your heart from the river of Life.

Rejoice and do not fear.
Grow in knowledge as I come near.
Yes, I am gentle and faithful and true.
I am the gentle gardener, who sees the worth of you.
A fruitful garden is waiting to grow inside the heart of you.

Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus,

We open wide the gates of our gardens and invite you in. Holy Spirit inspect the state of our hearts. Lord, you are the master gardener, create a plan that will allow for the expansion of this garden. Prepare our hearts to receive the seeds of your word that through the power of your grace the seeds of your divine nature may not only find good soil, but it might also grow up into maturity producing fruit that will feed the nations. Let us be a fruitful garden planted by the shore of your river of Life.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of our God and of Jesus our Lord.

Sincerely
Renee