His Paradise Garden

“I have gathered from your heart, My equal, My bride, I have gathered fro My garden all My sacred spices—even My myrrh.  I have tasted and enjoyed My wine within you.  I have tasted with pleasure My pure milk, My honeycomb, which you yield to Me.  I delight in gathering My sacred spice, all the fruits of My life I have gathered from within you, My paradise garden.” (Song of Solomon 5:1:1 TPT)

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Our heart is the new Eden.  Instead of the earthly garden that God planted for Adam and Eve; we have a new and better way.  We are part of a spiritual kingdom where we worship God in spirit and in Truth.  The new place He walks in the cool of the day is the paradise garden of our HEART.  And like the earthly Eden, God Himself planted it.  He is the Master Gardener.  Every person who becomes born again through repentance at the Cross is a new garden plot for Him to cultivate.

What does a new plot of land look like before it is cultivated?  It’s hard, it’s full of grass, weeds, and rocks.  The soil needs manure and compost to become rich enough to bear the fruits and spices the Lord is seeking from our lives.  This involves a process that God patiently executes in our lives to bring us to the place where it’s all about Him and there is nothing of us left.  We are that surrendered—that yielded to His will.

Notice at the start of this scripture, the garden of her heart is already bearing fruit and is ready for harvesting.  Ready to fulfill His purpose!  It did not start out at this point though.  The fallow ground had to be broken up.  This involves letting God deal with your past.  Your anger, rage, and bitterness; your pain and shame; your willfulness and rebellion; your stubborn ways.  All of these things are weeds, grass, and rocks that must be removed to begin to enrich the soil.  The bare ground has to be revealed and the rest of the old life thrown away forever.

This process begins the day we are born again and begins our pursuit of Him and following His ways.  There must be a hunger and passion to know Him more and more.  If that is lacking, your ground will not be broken up.  However, at any time we can begin that heartfelt pursuit by just spending time talking with Him, reading His Word, worshipping Him every day.  As time goes on, it becomes an addiction—a true burning hunger to know Him more and to become more like Him!

Let’s look closer at the produce He plants and cultivates in our heart.  Notice that He says “My” before each one.  That is because HE is the Master Gardener.  It is nothing in us that can produce these beautiful things.  It is ONLY His work in our hearts that produces a beautiful life.

His Sacred Spices

In the Tabernacle of Moses there were two things used in the worship of YHWH (God the Father): Sacred Anointing Oil and Sacred Incense.  Each of these spices and resins represents our relationship with God in the Secret Place (our intimate relationship).

The Holy Anointing Oil

This precious and sacred oil is so Holy to God that it was forbidden to be used in a personal way.  It was reserved ONLY for the worship of God.  Why was this important?  God is Holy.  Holy means to be set apart and different.  We are commanded to fear the Lord (to reverently worship Him).  Using the sacred anointing oil lightly brings a curse into our lives, much like taking the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ brings sickness and even early death if we lightly esteem it.  It is a serious thing to lightly esteem the Lord God Almighty! He highly values us–we should do that same in return.

The Ingredients of the Anointing Oil

• Myrrh ~ Myrrh represents the suffering (the passion) of Jesus Christ for all mankind on that fateful day. He calls it “My myrrh” because He knows the depths of suffering for us He endured and it was indeed His great passion to do so.  Why?  To create His paradise garden within our heart.  Myrrh has many interesting characteristics that parallel our spiritual life with God.  Myrrh is cut to extract the resin, but before that happens there is a time when the sap flows naturally out of the tree without man doing a thing.  It is also called a “tear” because it is just a little bit that flows like this.  It is this myrrh that Jesus is referring to.  That first flowing of the resin is the most precious.  The first fruits of the myrrh harvest.  Just like Jesus Christ is the first-fruits among the dead.  He was the first to bodily resurrect.  The first one to receive the immortal flesh and bone body that is supernatural.  He imparts this precious myrrh into our hearts that we too, will become just as passionate as He is!

 

• Sacred Cinnamon ~ Cinnamon represents holiness to the Lord. It is set apart for His eyes only.  His peculiar treasure.  It is in the Secret Place of intimacy where He sets us apart as holy unto Himself.  Cinnamon smells delicious.  It emits a wonderful aroma that makes your mouth water in anticipation of a treat.  Our lives lived in holiness (set apart) for Him is just as mouth-watering to Him.  Cinnamon represents our sanctification to the Lord—our commitment to the relationship we are in.  Cinnamon has a very strong and distinct aroma.  It can be distinguished easily in a mixture of other oils.  It is one of a kind!

• Calamus ~ Calamus means we are purchased or redeemed. The purpose of the Cross was to redeem us back to the heart of the Father.  The spice of calamus is the mark of the Lamb.  We are the redeemed of the Lord and are marked with His seal.  Because of this, we emit a peculiar odor in the world.  We are a peculiar people; a royal priesthood and a holy nation!

 

• Cassia ~ Cassia is in the same family as Cinnamon with a similar aroma. Cassia is used to repel insects and snakes, among many other uses.  Cassia represents our authority as believers in Jesus Christ.  We have the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions!  While cinnamon represents our life lived in intimacy with Him, Cassia represents our position in God’s heavenly Kingdom!

 

• Olive Oil ~ Olive Oil represents prosperity, joy, stability, and health. Olive oil is a foundational staple in any household, including God’s house.  This oil is what “carried” the spices in the Sacred Holy Anointing Oil of the temple, which was God’s house.

The Sacred Incense

The Sacred Incense, like the Holy Anointing Oil, was set apart for use ONLY in God’s House.  Violation brought a curse.  The incense was carefully blended and processed to function in the Temple on the Altar of Incense.  This could only be performed by a priest of God.  Everything that is brought close to God, must be set apart and consecrated as holy unto Him.  This means it should be used only for His purposes…much like our consecrated lives.  The Bible tells us to present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice to Him.  This means the crucifixion of our flesh as an offering to Him.  We must die to our self-life.  It is important for us to dwell in the Holy of Holies, which is the presence of God.  What are the ingredients of the Sacred Incense?

Stacte (Myrrh resin) ~ Myrrh is the foremost of both the Holy Anointing Oil and the Sacred Incense!  This shows that the suffering love of Jesus Christ is central to our lives and our ability to become that paradise garden he is cultivating in our hearts.

Onycha ~ Onycha means to “roar,” to peel off by concussion of sound; to retrieve.  Like Myrrh, Onycha must go through a purification process before it can be blended.  It must surrender its original form to be molded into a vessel of honor ready to be used in the House of the Lord.  We too, must surrender our old life and eagerly embrace the new life He has in store for us with no looking back!

Galbanum ~ Galbanum is also a resinous gum substance and is related to parsley and carrots.  It has an unpleasant odor by itself but becomes fragrant once it is blended with the other spices.  Each of us comes to Jesus in the raw, smelly form.  He is the Master Perfumer and blends us with His characteristics to make us a sweet-smelling incense that pleases the Father.

His Wine

Wine is a fermented drink that takes time to mature into a good tasting drink.  Patience is required when fermenting any foods.  Time and patience is the key to enjoying the best wine!  A vineyard doesn’t produce fermented wine in the first week of planting.  It takes a lot of time and effort for the vineyard master to harvest the finished product.  He walks in the garden of our heart planting His ways there, looking for the sweet wine that will warm His heart.  Wine symbolizes transformation.  Think about it.  Grape juice sits in the cool dark place and ferments into the blessing of wine.  Likewise, we sit in the Secret Place of His presence and transform into His very image.  The New Wine Jesus will only drink on that day, is His fully transformed Bride!

His Pure Milk

Milk is a sign of abundance; of prosperity and plenty.  Milk represents fertility and is the very first food every human being drinks when they enter the earth.  It represents the eternal cycle of life.  Milk represents motherly love or Agape Love as seen in I Corinthians 13.  It is kind, selfless, patient, humble, compassionate and full of self-control.  When Jesus comes to the garden of our heart, will He find love there?  Love for Him and love for others.  These are the only commandments in the New Covenant—Love God and Love people.  Make no mistake, a heart with no milk of love is not pleasing to Him.  We must always check our hearts to make sure that we have no ill will against anyone.

His Honeycomb

Honey, like milk, represents abundance and prosperity.  It represents not just eeking out an existence, rather we are thriving in the things that bring us pleasure.  Who doesn’t love the taste of pure honey?  The sweet things include the deep desires of our hearts that He wants to bring into existence for us simply because of His great love for us!  Honey can be described in one word: DELIGHTFUL.  It has a delightful flavor.  It brings deep satisfaction to our taste buds and our souls.  It satisfies completely our desire for something sweet.  His honey-comb is His delight.  We are the answer to His sweet tooth!  In the garden of our hearts, He comes to partake of our ever-increasing devotion to Him.  He is our delight and we become that wonderful honeycomb He wants to enjoy.

His Delight

He says “I delight in gathering My sacred spice, all the fruits of My life I have gathered from within you, My paradise garden.”  We will transform into His image where the fullness of His character is found in this garden.  He says “My life.”  It is His life lived through us every day of our lives that brings Him the greatest delight.  We become a garden filled with His ways.  We become a mirror image of Him who is our all in all…

Blessings everyone…

 

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