FLOURISH IN YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

An Online Bible Study

I am to flourish.

“But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” Psalm 52:8

No, I am not really an olive tree, pay attention to the word “like.”  Scripture uses a lot of imagery or metaphors and God uses these to talk to us about things in our lives specifically, so that our relationship with the Lord becomes personal to us.  In this bible study I share a journey through a physical garden that parallels a journey through my spiritual garden.  The lessons learnt step-changed my spiritual growth and provided me with tools and understanding to deepen my relationship with God.

Would you like to deepen your relationship with God?

I love gardening, but it’s no use, looking at your neighbors’ garden and wishing you had a garden like theirs. Similarly, you cannot look at your neighbor’s spiritual life and wish you had a spiritual life like that! We make the mistake of appreciating the beauty of their garden, but not the work that has gone into preparing that garden for growth and fruitfulness. The bottom line: if you want a beautiful garden you have to put the work into it.  And so…

Every garden will teach you, that you will only harvest what you have put into it.

I don’t know about you, but I want to have a spiritual garden that is flourishing.  I want the garden where Jesus and I meet, and our communing together to be described as follows:

My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he browses among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 6:2)

A flourishing garden, bears much fruit and God is glorified when we bear much fruit.

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

This study will require reading from scriptures yourself in order familiarise yourself with them.  It will also require some personal reflection, some personal hard work and I trust that as you come to the end of the process, the Lord would have worked into the soil of your spiritual life so that you can expect a rich harvest of righteousness in your life.  This study examines:

  1. The imagery and metaphors of gardening in the scriptures
  2. How this garden imagery speaks to our spiritual growth
  3. How to apply the principles of scripture to your personal life and spiritual growth
  4. Challenge you to work your spiritual garden for greater productivity.

Each installment comes with reflective questions and personal study that will enhance your experience of the material. Dear friend, happy gardening…

P.S. It is always better to walk a distance with another, so why not share this online bible study with a friend and work through the material together

12 Part Online Bible Study

PART 1

Where is the garden imagery in scripture and how does this imagery communicate God’s desire for our lives?  What is our responsibility in tending the spiritual garden of our lives?

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PART 4

There is a continual supply of water in every spiritual garden, but we do not always access it in our lives.  Where is it and how do I lay my roots deep into it?

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PART 7

Little foxes are the small decisions we take in life that can have a huge impact.  Where are the foxes operating in your spiritual garden?

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PART 10

Termites eat away at the strength of our lives! It is important to recognise how these work in our lives and be mindful to eradicate them as soon as possible.

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PART 2

If our responsibility is to prepare the soil of our hearts, how do we go about it?  What can I consistently do to prepare my heart for what the Holy Spirit wants plant in my heart?

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PART 5

What are the weeds that grow up and choke the truth that the Holy Spirit is sowing into our lives?  Very often we nurture weeds and choke the truth by our own actions.

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PART 8

In this world we will have trouble, we will be attacked and hurt.  How do we continue to flourish when bad things happen to us?

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PART 11

There are appointed seasons in our lives in which there is certain work that needs to be done.  We need to know which season we are in, and ensure that we are doing the work that is associated with that season.

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PART 3

The principle is: what you sow, you will reap.  But what you reap depends on what you sow!  Here, we examine some thoughts on how to sow seeds in your life.

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PART 6

All of us have a weakness in our spiritual garden, where an enemy can get in.  We need help in guarding and building a hedge around it that prevents the enemy from getting access.

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PART 9

Borer beetles undermine your spiritual life: Hidden, they eat away at the fiber of your life, leaving destruction that is hard to recover from.

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PART 12

Being fruitful is the end product of work in our spiritual garden.  It is the way in which each of us shows that we are the Lord’s disciples and live a generous life.

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