And the days of the week pass quickly by…Monday…Tuesday…Then all of a sudden it’s Sunday again! The Lord’s Day, the day to head for His sanctuary to fellowship with other believers, to worship, praise, glorify, exalt, hear His Word and receive strength and confidence to go out and bravely face the upcoming week in this evil and ungodly world!
And with the beautiful summer weather we’ve recently been having, there’s no excuse to not go to church. ‘Oh, we’re going to the cottage for the weekend,’ and other self-serving excuses just don’t cut it. There must be a church up in cottage country that you can go to especially on this long weekend when we’re celebrating Canada Day, the joyful birthday of our country!
That’s something precious and important to give thanks for in concert with other believers. So please hie thee hither to some gathering of believers somewhere today and give thanks for our wonderful country and all the blessings that the Lord has poured down on us; most of which we don’t truly deserve, but in His awesome and amazing grace and mercy He’s chosen to bless us anyway.
So let’s get the ball rolling by singing this wonderful song of praise and joy titled’ In the Garden (He walks with me).’The website, God Tube claims that: ‘Inspired by the gospel of John, chapter 20, this hymn celebrates the joyous companionship its author, C. Austin Miles, experiences with Jesus as he walks through the garden.’
So let’s sing this beautiful song that we all know and LOVE, in strong voice and sweet harmony. ‘I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses… And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other, has ever, known!
He speaks and the sound of His voice, Is so sweet the birds hush their singing, And the melody that he gave to me, Within my heart is ringing . . . And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other, has ever, known!
I’d stay in the garden with Him though the night around me be falling. And He bids me go through the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling… And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other, has ever, known!’ (Repeat)
Oh my people, that was just wonderful! And Jesus was certainly touched by our rendition. You can see Him choked up with true emotion, and wiping away the tears of joy that are seeping out of His eyes. But the words and sentiments conveyed in the song are so awesomely true that they can’t help but produce choked up emotions and tears of joy. Walking with Jesus at any time is amazing, but in the quiet of the morning in a beautiful garden, just the two of you alone…
Wow! That companionship would undoubtedly be terrific! Just think about it nuh… As Jesus walks and talks with you, in the peace and quiet of the garden and tells you that you are His own. That must stir up something unbelievable deep inside! A joy so amazing, that you believe nobody else has ever experienced it to that level!
And I just LOVE the next verse: ‘He speaks and the sound of His voice, Is so sweet the birds hush their singing, and the melody that he gave me, Within my heart is ringing…’ How touching! And if it’s true that John 20 inspired the hymn, then it must be the section that describes a weeping and sorrowful Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus on the Resurrection Morn but doesn’t recognize Him.
He enquires of her: ‘Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?’ And she, thinking He’s the gardener, asks if He knows where they had taken her Lord’s body. And it’s only when Jesus calls her by name ‘Mary,’ she realizes that it was Him, and responds with a shocked ‘Rabboni! (Master)’ (John 20:11-18)
And yuh know what friends? If we walk sincerely with God, we will also experience that simple, but energizing mind-blowing experience in our own lives. How do I know that? Because the psalmist said so! ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.’
And we all know that our God is a faithful keeper of His promises. That means if we walk closely with Him we will experience all of His goodness and mercy and faithfulness throughout our lives. And Bruh David endorsed that sentiment in spades in Psalm 34 – The Lord hears the righteous.
‘O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear (reverence) the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want (lack) to them that fear (reverence) him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want (lack) any good thing.’ I couldn’t have said it better myself! (smile)
And consequently Bruh Paul admonished the Ephesians: ‘For ye were sometimes (once) darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.)’ (Eph.5:8-9) And yes my fellow believers, Bruh Paul is also talking to us today!
As the scholars say: ‘5:8. Darkness indicates that the readers used to be spiritually unenlightened, and accompanying this ignorance was immorality with its resultant guilt and misery. Light denotes that the recipients are now to be religiously informed. Their knowledge of the truth is attended by moral purity and happiness.’
Oh my people, do we really want to walk in darkness like so much of the world is doing? I sincerely doubt it, otherwise we would not have come to Jesus. But once you’re walking with Him, you need to be steadfast, to be committed to His way of life and thinking, to be obedient, which means living by the tenets of goodness, righteousness and truth. So let’s be wise and get with programme nuh! Remember, it’s all for our benefit eh! Much LOVE!
…you can’t bear fruit of the Spirit…unless you’re walking in the light…
SCRIP-BITS 