The Secret Garden Chronicles-Day 3 "His Banner Over Me Is Love"

Welcome to Day 3 of The Secret Garden Chronicles.  I'm not sure this will always happen every day...nor am I certain that I will share everything that God teaches me everyday, as some days may be too personal...but so far it seems that He wants me to be a vessel for His voice as He speaks to me in the garden...it would appear that these treasured moments are not for me alone...but for you as well. So bear with me...and glean what God has for you from these messages each day.  What He says to you may be different than what He speaks to me...because His Word is living and vibrant...and His Holy Spirit teaches to the heart of the believer whatever He wants us to hear.

As I opened my journal to begin writing, this little bookmark fell out and its message caught my attention:

As I sit here in the Secret Garden,

  I reflect on the beauty of this place, 

and it IS lovely...and this gives me great hope...

for what the Lord is going to do here in His "sanctuary"...

It IS delightful...

and this gives me great joy...

Oh, and it is DEFINITELY calming...

and this gives me peace....

And as I reflect on the LOVE of Christ Jesus, this old hymn came to my mind:

"Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free;

Rolling as a mighty ocean, 

in its fullness over me...

Underneath me, 

All around me,

Is the current of Thy love;

Leading onward, leading homeward,

To my glorious REST above.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Spread His praise from shore to shore;

How He loveth, ever loveth,

Changeth never, nevermore.

How He watcheth o'er His loved ones,

Died to call them all His own;

How for them He intercedeth,

Watcheth o'er them from the throne.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Love of every love the best;

'Tis an ocean vast of blessing,

'Tis a haven sweet of REST.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,

'Tis a heaven of heavens to me;

and it lifts me up to glory

For it lifts me up to Thee."

(Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus, by Samuel T. Francis)

"All around me is the current of Thy love..."

As I sit here writing there is a gently breeze blowing all around me...sometimes not so gently, but blustery, swirling around me, and causing the trees to whisper as they sway to and fro above me...

Reminds me of a song that was popular back in the 70's, 

"The whispering wind seems to softly say...

there's something different about today...

I wonder, what can it be...?"

Back to my friend Gayle Belanger's book, "Live Free, The Inner Journey to Healing", on page 23 Gayle is talking to us about how to prepare to enter your secret room, or in my case...my secret garden, the place that has been set apart for "communing with the Lord"... and I am comforted by the fact that what she describes is actually exactly how the Lord has been directing me in this experience of "Christian meditation".  This is what she wrote:

"Christian meditation is not specifically a time for 'prayer' as you may traditionally think of it. 

Although asking God for things and petitioning Him on behalf of others is important, 

this is not the place, nor is this a time of seeking His leading as to what path to take 

or choice to make. 

This is purely a time of worship. It is to be a loving, positive time full of giving thanks, praise and gratitude; a time where you learn how to develop a continuing loving relationship with Him."

This is a confirmation to me that this time of worship, and listening for God's voice through His Word, is the right way to proceed for this time.  Yes, I do pray for others, and often names are brought before me as I sit and meditate on God's Word...and then I do lift them up before the Lord in prayer. But primarily this time is for listening for the Lord to speak to my heart about the messages that He wants me to hear from His heart...and I try to remain focused on Him and His communication with me.  It's not always easy for me, but it is a discipline that God is trying to instill in me...to BE STILL, and to REST in HIM.

Last night I was reminded of a little chorus that we used to sing in church, "His Banner Over Me Is Love", and I knew that it came from scripture, but I wasn't sure exactly where...so I looked it up because that was the recurring theme that kept coming back to me as I sat before the Lord...and you'll never guess where that passage comes from in the Bible!  The Song of Solomon! One of God's most tender love stories in the Bible!  It not only depicts a love story between a man and a woman, but it is also a picture of God's love for His people Israel, and also the beautiful love story of Christ and His Bride, The Church, of which I am a part...and so are you if you belong to Christ.

Song of Solomon 2:4 says:

"He brought me to the banqueting house,

and His banner over me was love."

The wind was blowing the clouds over the tree tops, and it reminded me of a banner scrolling through the heavens...
"His Banner Over Me Is Love"

Listen to this delightful passage from chapter 2:8-14

"The voice of  my beloved!

Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains,

skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Behold, he stands behind our wall;

He is looking through the windows,

Gazing through the lattice."

(This really struck me because we have installed this lattice wall in our Secret Garden, and I couldn't help but smile and glance at this while I was reading...God is present even in these things we felt led to erect in the this place dedicated to Him)

"My beloved spoke, and said to me:

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtledove is heard in  our land.

The fig tree puts forth her green figs,

and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell.

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!

O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

In the secret places of the cliff,

Let me see your face,

Let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely."

Yes, today the Lord wants me to know how much He loves me...

He gave up the splendor of heaven 

for me...

He suffered much pain and anguish~even torment, 

for me...

He gave up His life willingly...

for me...

He died a cruel death on the cross...

for me...

He overcame death and lives eternally...

for me...

He's coming back to take me home to live with Him...

to claim me as His Beloved Bride...

in heaven...for eternity...

He's preparing a marvelous banquet in the banqueting house of heaven...

for me...

And His Banner Over Me Is LOVE!

"Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus!

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!!"

Amen