Changed By Love

Originally written in 2016 – Updated in 2025

I planted a garden today.

I helped Garrett plant his garden a couple of weeks ago.

Garden is the theme of the hour.

God is telling us to go back to the garden.

As I said before, so many things can be compared to a garden that I became overwhelmed with the enormity of the task of writing about a garden. I felt that the Lord was leading me to write about a garden, but I didn’t know which aspect of a garden He wanted me to address.

I think I have gotten some clarity on that now.

God delights in gardens and views each of his children as a garden.

My heart of hearts is a garden. It is God’s garden.

I meet Him there sometimes when I worship wholeheartedly.

When I enter into His presence.

Do you know what I mean when I say that I feel God’s presence when I worship?

Have you experienced a peace that passes understanding, a love that encompasses everyone around you and all that you know, as you focus on the Lord and His majesty, as you picture Him seated on the throne and the angels bowing before Him in worship and feel His holiness and power emanating from the throne?

There is a song by Misty Edwards that beautifully describes the secret garden inside of each of us where God will meet with us alone, if we will meet Him there. This takes some time, effort and Holy Spirit-inspired and empowered prayer to really enter into. If you are not aware that it’s even a possibility, you may never attempt to meet with the Lord in the secret garden of your heart.

Here is that song with some pictures of gardens to help inspire your imagination of what a garden inside of your heart might look like.

Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the coolness of the day in the Garden of Eden.

They lost access to the garden when they sinned. Hence, all of mankind lost access to it. But after Jesus died and carried our sins away, He gave us access to the Father again. We can have relationship and fellowship with God, His Father – our Father – because the veil that separated us from Him is no longer there. The veil was ripped from top to bottom when Jesus was crucified.

Now we can walk with God in the cool of the day again.

We can meet with Him in the garden by worshiping Him and praying. We stay there until we sense His presence. We listen for His voice. We get revelation from Him. Then we carry that revelation with us as we go into our daily activities.

But we never really have to leave His presence. He lives inside of us, so we take His presence with us wherever we go.

We must do our part. If you have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you must really exercise your spiritual gifts that come with that and pray in your prayer language. Often. Every day. Not just every once in a while.

In this way, we can war from the garden, from the inside out.

And we can take the land or territory that God has told us to as we spent that time with Him in the garden of our heart of hearts.

A garden is a place where seeds grow. They grow into healthy plants if they are properly watered and weeded and have the right amount of sunlight.

A husband is a gardener and his wife is a garden. If he fails to take care of his garden, weeds of sarcasm, anger, bitterness, boredom, and resentment will start to grow. It is at that point that every man has one of three choices:

1. The husband can choose to change gardens by way of leaving his spouse.

    2. The husband can keep his garden, yet grow bitter about the weeds.

        Colossians 3:19 says:

      “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.”

     3. The husband can start doing what it takes to prevent the weeds from growing in his garden.

         Eph. 5:28  “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his                 wife loves himself.”

Here are some thoughts about Gardens:

• The blessing goes out from the house. God visits you in your house and in your garden.

• Master the garden. Put a perimeter around your garden.

• Light in a dark place. Plants need light. Sometimes we have to move them into the light.

• Nothing is coming this year to take away from your prosperity or peace. Because God is coming to walk in your garden.

• Back to the Garden – man given dominion over the Earth in the Garden of Eden

• Jesus reacquired dominion in the Garden of Gethsemane – crucified and buried in a garden tomb

• Heaven on Earth is like a garden – oasis, fountains of water

• The sun never goes down when God is in your garden

• Our mind is a garden. Plant good seeds (thoughts) in your garden.

• Life started in a garden.

• A wife is a garden.

• Family is a garden.

• Our minds are a garden.

• God delights in gardens and views each of His children as a garden.

• I am God’s garden.

• God is coming to walk in His garden.

• Jesus regained dominion over the Earth in a garden.

• Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb in a garden.

• He resurrected in a garden.

Marriage is a Garden

(This was written by my daughter.)

Gardens are meant to be tended every day. If you leave it for others or allow nature to take its course, when next you walk those familiar pathways, you will find that things are not as you remember them. Flowers that you once knew as well as your own children change and either wither or grow so that you no longer recognize them, becoming lost in a tangle of weeds and other plants.

In a world where the common belief seems to be that all things are relative and vows that were once taken with the utmost gravity, intended as a lifelong commitment, are now taken with only today in mind with no thought towards tomorrow, it is at this time that we should draw from the ancient wisdom of the garden. Experienced gardeners will tell you, “Miss one day of watering and you will spend the rest of the week making it up.” While this may only be true for more delicate flowers, the principle is one to bear in mind and attempt to apply to one’s everyday life. A relationship is many things, but one thing to which it is often related is a flowering plant. While not all flowers require the same amount of sunshine, water, or trimming, at some point, especially during the fragile beginning of their life, a plant must be carefully guarded and observed. While still a tender sprout, it is easy to see why one must be vigilant so that nothing treads upon it. But when the plant nears its maturity, one usually begins to lower their guard, believing that the flower has grown strong enough to be left on its own, unaided. Other hobbies begin to feel important again, tasks that were once at the back of our minds slide to the forefront, we allow ourselves to become busy. Our garden no longer takes precedence in our hearts and is left to fend for itself. Know that wherever there is life, there will be those who seek to either protect it, or prey upon it.

When a woman is joined to her husband, the two must take their relationship and replant it in a new flowerbed. This is the start of their garden. When a flower is uprooted and replanted in a new garden, it must be watched closely for any signs of trauma or discomfort as it struggles to adjust to its new surroundings. Patience and love are required during this crucial stage. One cannot allow themselves to be distracted by other things, for it is at this time that adjustments must be made to accommodate the fragile plant. If the soil is too dry, or the wind is too strong, or the soil does not offer the proper nutrition, one must be willing to make whatever sacrifices are needed to keep their flower healthy and growing. When a man and wife come together, they are both equally responsible for tending this garden and keeping the many trees and flowers therein healthy and strong. Over time, many lose the initial excitement of owning a garden and let their interests drift toward other things, forgetting the responsibility they accepted when they planted that first flower. If you return to a garden that is in ruins, sometimes the best thing to do is simply uproot the dead plants and replant new ones. Do not abandon your garden simply because it is no longer as beautiful as you remember it. Take care of it, nurse it back to health, even if only one flower of hope remains. You planted the garden together and it is your shared responsibility. No matter the trials or distractions that caused you to drift from it in the first place, when you return, do so with the intent to heal whatever has withered in your absence. You cannot expect fruit from a plant that has not been tended throughout its season.

I hope you’re taking care of the garden of your heart.

And remember to spend time with God in the garden of your heart.

Love,

Penney