What is growing in Your Garden?
2 Cor. 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ
2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Strongholds – to hold on to with a strong grip, to be possessed with
Thought - a perception of the mind
Arguments - reasoning
Imagination - a determination of a course of action
Genesis 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ’You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Thought - a perception of the mind - Has God indeed said?
Arguments – reasoning - You will not surely die
Imagination - a determination of a course of action - In the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God
Matthew 13:24-26 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Liar - attempt to deceive by falsehood
A THOUGHT IS A SEED PLANTED
AN ARGUMENT IS A SEED GROWING
AN IMAGINATION IS A SEED HARVESTED
PLANT the right seeds - Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
"Nothing grows under a banyan tree" Says a South Indian proverb. The banyan is a great tree. It spreads its branches, drops air-roots, develops secondary trunks and covers the land. A full grown banyan may cover more than an acre of land. Birds, animals, and humans find shelter under its shade. But nothing grows under its dense foliage, and when it dies, the ground beneath lies barren and scorched.
CULTIVATE your garden regularly - Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
WEED your garden regularly - weeds can easily be overlooked, because they look so ordinary. Weeds can grow up in your garden without your even noticing, because they look so usual, so ordinary. I guess that’s why we have that phrase, garden-variety. Maybe it’s just a blade or two of grass, growing under the tomatoes. That’s what you see today. But tomorrow the two blades are a clump and next week a swatch. You hardly even notice it because it is just so common, so ordinary.
HARVEST a good crop - Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
What is growing in Your Garden?
Adam and Eve allowed seeds from the enemy to grow in their minds and as a result lost intimacy with God, the destiny of the garden life and the tribulation of wounded emotions.
