The Secret Garden Chronicles-No Turning Back

1. The other day as I sat in the Secret Garden, it seemed as though several different messages were running around in my head at once.  It was becoming difficult for me to zero in on exactly what the Lord was trying to show me so that it could be shared with you.  
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3. I was troubled about a friend who appeared to be turning back to a life he had left behind...a life that was leading him further and further away from God and a godly life, and my heart was burdened for this very fragile and vulnerable soul.  And as I sat there tossing these thoughts and scripture verses back and forth in my mind, I asked the Lord to help me put it all into perspective and into a cohesive message that would make sense.  I prayed, "Lord, help me to be faithful to report all that YOU instruct me to do, not just for this one person, but for anyone who may be struggling."

And then I looked across the garden toward the woods, and I noticed a tree there in the corner of our lot all bound up with vines, 

and it reminded me of a person bound in sin, unable to breathe or stretch out his/her limbs to embrace the beauty of the new life the Lord wanted to give him/her.

 And I wanted to go set this tree free from it's bondage, but my fear is that it will just be a matter of time before the vines grow back around it again and hold it captive.  Unless the vines are completely torn out and dug up by the roots and destroyed, they will soon take over once again.

Unless a person totally escapes from the sins that bind them, it won't be long until they turn back to folly,  There is only one way that I know of to be set totally free from the bondage of sin.  And that is to let Jesus totally dig it up and out of our hearts and destroy it completely at the roots, and to be washed clean by His precious blood that was shed for each of us on Calvary.  To allow Christ to set us free requires us to repent...turn away from...renounce...the sin that so easily besets us.  To surrender ourselves freely to God and let Him set us free.

1. And then there can be no turning back!  One of the verses that kept repeating in my mind was when Jesus told His disciples, "Remember Lot's wife!"  (Luke 17:32)  If you recall the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, you will remember that the Angel of the Lord told Lot and his family  in Genesis 19:17:
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3. "Escape for your life! 
4. Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain.  
5. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."

But as they were escaping, "the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens." (Genesis 19:24),  and in verse 26 it tells us:

"But his (Lot's) wife looked back behind him, 

and she became a pillar of salt."

The  other verses that kept leaping out at me from God's Word are found in Ephesians 5:6-17...these are words of exhortation to believers...those who have already been loosed from their bondage to sin and have accepted Christ's gift of forgiveness and salvation.  Listen to these words:

6. "Let no one deceive you with empty words..."

7. "....Do not be partakers with them..."

8.  "Walk as children of Light..."

11.  "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."

12.  "For it is shameful to even speak of those things which are done by them in secret."

14.  "Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light."

15.  "See then that you walk circumspectly, 

not as fools but as wise,

16.  "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

17.  "Therefore do not be unwise, 

but understand what the will of the Lord is."

1. So, my prayer today is not only for my friend who is struggling with unwise choices in his life, but for anyone who may be teetering on the brink of turning back to the life left behind...the lure of the world can be very enchanting...drawing you away from the straight and narrow path that leads to life and heaven.  "Remember Lot's wife!"  Don't look back!  Keep your eyes focused straight ahead on Jesus and the new life He offers you...the freedom from sin and bondage.  Let Him dig up and destroy the roots of sin that seek to entrap you.  

Here's a little song I remember singing way back in my youth, back when I first decided to follow Jesus...and it is a good idea to remember this song and be resolved to continue on this path that leads to heaven..."No turning back, no turning back."

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2. I have decided to follow Jesus;
   I have decided to follow Jesus;
   I have decided to follow Jesus;
   No turning back, no turning back.
3. Though I may wander, I still will follow;
   Though I may wander, I still will follow;
   Though I may wander, I still will follow;
   No turning back, no turning back.
4. The world behind me, the cross before me;
   The world behind me, the cross before me;
   The world behind me, the cross before me;
   No turning back, no turning back.
5. Though none go with me, still I will follow;
   Though none go with me, still I will follow;
   Though none go with me, still I will follow;
   No turning back, no turning back.
6. Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
   Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
   Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
   No turning back, no turning back.

Amen.