Calvary

In the Garden With Jesus

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And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.   Genesis 2:8 KJV

Without a doubt one of the most loved hymns that we sing at our local nursing home is; In the Garden. This week voices that have sung those words for nearly a century joined in on the chorus; And He walks with me and He talks with me.” Then we talked about gardens. A garden was the first place that God made for man. The garden was the place where Adam and Eve could walk with God. In chapter three it says that, God came and walked through the garden in the cool of the day. He called their name and yet because they had sinned they hid.

bloom blooming blossom blur

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Then for thousands of years man could no longer walk innocently with God until something happened in another garden: the garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus went to pray and He asked His Father to spare Him from the agony of the cross and yet if there was no other way; Jesus would still drink the cup so that we could be restored.

Just three days later in a third garden Mary came to His tomb. The Bible tells us that it was so early that it was still dark. Like the words from the hymn, “The dew was still on the roses.” Jesus came as the gardener and called Mary by name. There God again came in the cool of the day. There He began to call your name and mine to come and walk with Him and talk with Him because at Calvary He made us His own!

In the Garden  

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

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling

Charles Miles  1913

Is He Calling Your Name?

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The waiting room is noisy and crowded. People are trying different ways to not look stressed. Some are reading, some texting a friend while others simply sit quietly. But if we were honest all of us are straining to hear only one thing and that is for our own name to be called.

But we will never be called unless the doctor is expecting us. We will never be expected unless we have scheduled an appointment. And they will never schedule that appointment until the terms of payment are accepted.

Have I made that appointment with God? Does He have my name written down in his book? My great assurance is that He has found me – His lost sheep and brought me and all the other wanderers home to Himself. When the bill for our rescue came due He stamped across the invoice – paid in full! Because the Good Shepherd has laid down His life for His sheep any moment now He will be calling your name!