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What Do You Desire?

5/29/2015

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When I was single, before I even knew who my husband would be, God began to prepare me.  One of the first things that He had me to do was to start praying for him.  This came as a shock to me.  How was I supposed to know how to pray for a man that I had never met? I didn’t know who he was, but God surely did.  Of course, I had my list of things I thought were important and also things that I desired, but God had another list all together.  I remember a friend asking about certain men in the church and I would say “Not Him. He isn’t my type”. I will never forget what she told me next. She said “Maybe you need to reevaluate your type because your type hasn’t worked for you yet”! Wow. What a powerful statement that was for me. It changed the way I prayed.  In life, we have certain desires or preferences based on past experiences, but that doesn’t mean they are always good for us.  God wants to give us His best and if we limit Him with our own agenda, we could miss out on the blessing that He has for us.

Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

God wants to give us the desires of our hearts, but first we must delight ourselves in Him. When we do that we begin to want the things that He wants for us, take Him out of a box and realize that He can bless us in many different ways, not just the ways we are used to. I began to ponder my past relationships. Especially my previously failed marriage.  Do I really want a repeat of that? Absolutely not!  So with much prayer (and fasting), God began to show the kind of man that He wanted to lead me and my girls.  I started off using prayer books, then the Holy Spirit would come and have me pray specific things.  He took me to Bible scriptures showing me what my husband would be like.  Not just the obvious husband/marriage scriptures, but ones that described the character of the man that he would be.  I thought I was prepared, lol. When my mystery man came on the scene, I still was being stubborn.  At the time in my church there was only about five single men and I had already decided none of them were it.  I had a feeling I would meet Him at our leadership conference where many people from other churches attend. Well, at this conference is when God first confirmed that this man was my husband.  It was one of the five on my list that I had already decided was not my husband.  He couldn’t be my husband. He was almost five years younger than me and an inch shorter.  I never saw him prophesy or minister, God told me that he would have resurrection power.  He was always in church and served everybody on many levels. I knew he loved God, but really knew nothing else about him.  So I began to remind God of all the things that he told me my husband would be.  He began to take me to His word and match it with this man’s character.  I was amazed how God was orchestrating all of this! (my husband carries much power in the spirit, I had just never seen it). I can go on and on about this story (maybe I will in another blog), but I’ll end with this.  I wanted to be passionately in love with my husband. I needed God to do something.  I ask Him to calibrate my heart to match His heart. I wanted to feel for this man how God felt for Him.  The very next day, he came to say hi to me at work. He gave me an appropriate hug, but his beard slightly rubbed against my cheek. At that moment I melted. God did it in an instant. I was in love and the rest is history! So often we only let God into certain parts of our life, and we want to handle the rest.  Let God into everything, trust Him and He will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5, 6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Father, we thank You that You know what’s best for us.  We thank You that Your ways are perfect and that You want to be a part of every area in our lives.  We thank You for the Holy Spirit that leads us and guides us into all truth. Lord, we abandon our ways for Yours. Take us to a higher place of understanding in our hearts to know what’s best for our lives. Calibrate our hearts to match Yours that we may be passionate about the things that You are passionate about.  Take away any desires that are not pleasing to You and fill us with Your desires. Show us how to delight ourselves in You that we may have the desires of our hearts. Forgive us for not trusting You with everything. We give it all to You today. In Jesus name we pray.  Amen!

 

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Agreement

5/22/2015

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Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Matthew 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

 Agreement is a powerful weapon.  This is why the enemy will come into our marriages and try to get us disagree about everything.  I’m in no way saying that you are to do everything the same way, but you should come to an understanding with one another and agree on the terms of each situation. All of us come from different upbringings and each of us have been taught differently how to cook, wash the dishes, clean the bathroom, etc. These things should not cause turmoil in your household. Communication is key. Talking (and listening) to each other to come up with a plan of action to run your house efficiently will create an atmosphere of peace in your home.  Your way is not the only way that gets the same result and you shouldn’t allow the enemy to frustrate you over the small stuff (I have to continuously tell myself this).  Handling the bills, raising the kids, making major purchases are things that need to be handled with care.  Discover each other’s gifts and run your household accordingly.  Imagine a butterfly trying to fly if one wing was flying really fast but the other is going really slow.  It would be going nowhere fast.  That is how we look sometimes in our marriages. There will be times when we may need to slow down to wait for our spouse to catch up and other times when we must pick up the pace to catch up.  Once we catch a rhythm, we can smoothly flutter and rise above every situation.  Find time to pray TOGETHER!

Deuteronomy 32:30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?

Praying together increases your supernatural power from 1thousand to 10 thousand! We all need this kind of power in our homes.  Praying together fortifies the wall around our homes and creates unity in the spirit by the bond of peace!

 Father, we thank you for the weapon of agreement that you have given us. Show us how to humble ourselves.  Show us your plans for our marriages and help us come into agreement with it. Give us strategy on how to see the enemy’s plans for division and frustration before they creep into our households.  Help us be ones that communicate well, talking and listening with love and respect. Make our marriages reflect your Glory in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Serve, Submit, Receive

5/15/2015

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Servanthood is one of the qualities that Jesus came in the flesh to show us.  Although He is King, He humbled Himself to serve. Jesus didn’t dangle His authority over His people.  They obeyed Him because He was humble and He led by example. In our marriages it is important that we remember to serve one another in loving kindness. Our husbands can be the great kings of our homes (if we let them), when they know how to serve the King of kings.  In this day and age of independent woman and more rights and freedom in the world and in the church, we have somehow become hesitant to serve in our homes with the fear of losing some type of control and authority. This is a lie from the enemy. Jesus never lost control or authority by serving.  He won the hearts of the lost with His humility. So even if you are the only one who is serving Jesus, the very act of serving your spouse will soften their heart and draw them to the Lord with your gentle spirit. When I first started dating my Husband, I had been a single mom for a long period of time. I was accustomed to doing things by myself, a certain way, and in my timing.  I was the epitome of an independent woman. This bothered my husband a lot.  He was very chivalrous. He opened doors, helped me put on my coat, carried my bags, and all of these customs that I wasn’t used to.  When I would get out the car without him coming to open the door, he would get mad.  He is also like this in the church. He serves in many capacities, often in areas that don’t get seen or recognized.  Although, these are all qualities that are very appealing in a husband, it was very hard to not do things for myself. I had no problem giving, but had a hard time receiving.  This made me also wonder was I doing this when it came to the things of God as well.  We can find ourselves so busy asking and not slowing down to receive.  Receiving gifts, compliments, help and so forth were very hard for me. This is rooted in pride. The enemy would love for us to forfeit our blessings by us being too proud to receive them. God had to show me that I prayed for a husband who does these things and that if I didn’t let him do them, then he wouldn’t continue to do them. How many times have I missed a blessing because it made me feel less independent? I’ve learned the more independent you think that you are, the less dependent on God you are. When you try to take control of a situation, then it doesn’t leave room for God to guide you. We are to be dependent on God not man, but we must not let our past disappointments keep us from receiving from those God has placed around us.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Ephesians 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people

Ephesians 5:21 submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Submitting is just serving each other’s needs.  It is letting someone else take charge and lead.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will know who will take the lead when.   You must surrender your independence to be free in the will of God for your life. When we serve each other as if we are serving Jesus, we are creating a window of blessing and honor. We must be able to pour out and receive.  God has many good gifts He wants to bless us with and I want everything that He has to give! Father we thank you for our marriages.  We give thanks for the gifts and the purpose that you have put inside our spouses.  Help us recognize those gifts and place honor on them.  Help us not be afraid of losing control because we know that you have our best interests in mind continuously.  Show us how to submit and serve one another with the love of God as we are submitting and serving You.  Forgive us for times we have been controlling and prideful, rejecting the very gifts you have sent to bless us.  Help us be gentle and kind.  Let us show the same grace and mercy towards our spouse as you have shown us in Jesus’ name We pray. Amen!

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Dance!

5/4/2015

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Intimacy is such a precious commodity in this fast pace, technology filled world that we live in.  We are so busy trying to keep up with what’s going on around us that sometimes we miss what is happening right in front of us.  It is so easy these days because everything we want to know is at the tip of our fingers.  I’m not saying that this is always a bad thing, but it has made our society socially awkward in many circumstances.  Before I came to know the Lord as my personal Savior, I was a club party girl.  I loved music and I would dance all night.  I would close my eyes and get lost in the rhythm.  It didn’t matter who I danced with.  I just wanted to escape.  When I got saved, I realized that this was a gift that was perverted by the enemy.  I am a worshipper, but the devil had me right where he wanted me.  I was saturated in the rhythm of his beat.  In my babe in Christ years, the Holy Spirit had me throw out all of my secular music.  He showed me how music is used as worship unto Him and how it brings me into a secret place where He speaks to me.  He cleansed me of my club years and gave me a desire to only praise and worship Him.  What I didn’t realize was that God also gave us music to celebrate and enjoy the people that He gave us as our family and friends. I was stuck in a box.  Afraid to fall back into perversion.  I’m not saying that you should listen to and let just anything into your spirit.  There is a lot of garbage out there!  What I am saying is that music has a way of bringing people together and causing joy to grow and stress to be relieved.  I just got free!  My husband just threw me a surprise 40th birthday party.  I had such a wonderful time.   There was a DJ and something in me just erupted.  I danced with my husband.  We laughed. We sang to each other. We looked each other in the eyes. We held each other.  I had such a good time.  My friends joined in and danced.  Pure celebration.  I felt like Jesus Himself was there celebrating also.  God took music and dancing away from me for a time because I caused it to be an idle.  Now that I have matured in that area, he has restored me. He can trust that my spirit will tell me what is acceptable.  Those moments I spent with my husband are a treasure in our busy lives while raising our five children. I encourage you to find something that you enjoy doing and do it with your spouse.  No phones, computers, television, etc. Just you and Him (and God) reconnecting and growing in intimacy. Dance. Laugh. Sing. Whisper. Hold hands. Tell jokes. Be free!

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 To everything there is a season, and purpose under the heaven:

                                 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

 

Father, we thank you for freedom to celebrate. That you have given us many things to celebrate and many ways to celebrate.  Help us to reconnect with our husbands and those around us. Give us freedom to enjoy one another in a way that is pleasing to you.  Help us be creative.  Help us find time in our business to set apart for each other.  Give us your joy that will make our relationships stronger.  Show us areas in our lives where we are being religious and set us free.  Let everything we do give you glory.  In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen!

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    Bonnie Kay Rimpson

    God has truly restored me after having a torn soul from broken relationships and even a divorce. After receiving Jesus as my Savior, God took me through a process of knowing my identity and loving myself so that I may love others. Now I am happily married to a man after God's own heart, who loves me with the love of God.

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