A Fruitful Harvest : The Master Gardener

A while back I did a retreat about  ‘A Fruitful Harvest’.  Since this is the gardening season, I thought it would be a good time to share some of it with you.  Over the next several posts, I will be taking some excerpts from the retreat messages and sharing them with you.  I pray you will be able to relate and be blessed. 

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First, we are going to look at how God works in our lives as the Master Gardener.

God used examples of gardens, plants, trees, grass, vines, etc. in His Word to show how he relates to people as the Master Gardener.

 

Psalm 1:3  He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither.

Psalm 92:12  The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Psalm 103:15  As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

Isaiah 58:11   you will be like a watered garden,

 Isaiah 61:11  as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant.

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 The Bible begins in Genesis with God creating the world, filling it with life and planting a garden for man to cultivate.

For those of you who love to garden or know someone who does, you know that a true gardener LOVES to be among his plants –

~ close to them,

     ~touching them,

      ~working with them,

                      ~tending them,  
                             ~enjoying their fragrance, their beauty and the fruits of his labors.

*A gardener nurtures his plants and cares for them lovingly.

* He is intimately involved with every part of seeing his plants

                 grow, mature and produce fruit.

*He becomes very familiar with his plants and cares for them individually. 

And sometimes He loves to sit back and just look at the garden and enjoy what he has accomplished.

In Jn 15:1 – Jesus said His Father is the vinedresser, or in some translations, gardener.  God is the Master Gardener and His heart is for US...His plants…His garden.

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Just think---

The eternal Creator of the Universe, subjected Himself to a body of a man...

limited to time and space.....and lived among us. 

The feet of God Almighty...walking barefoot on dirt roads, getting tired and sore and dirty, stepping on rocks, and thorns...sleeping on the ground where it was cold and hard.

Why did He do all this?  

 For the fruit.

 We are His harvest—the fruit of His labor… the fruit of His love.

 

Rev 4:11  "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."