He Talks In The Garden. 2/21/14

Good Morning.

Oh Friday how I love you! My coffee this morning is Door County Pumpkin Spice. I went to bed thinking how good it was going to taste on a cold windy day.

We are finishing off the week with looking into one of my all time favorite Old Christian Hymns of Faith. In the Garden has always touched my heart. No laughing but I have actually sung this in church for the congregation. No one threw a Bible at me during the song, so it couldn't have been too bad.

In the Garden.

Here is the account of how this beautiful hymn was written from the hymn writer, C. Austin Miles, himself, “One day in April, 1912, I was seated in the dark room where I kept my photographic equipment, and also my organ. I drew my Bible toward me and it opened at my favorite book and chapter, John chapter twenty. I don’t know if this was by chance or by the work of the Holy Spirit. I will let you the reader decide. That story of Jesus and Mary in John 20 had lost none of its power and charm.
It was though I was in a trance, as I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life, when she knelt before her Lord and cried, “Rabboni”. I rested my hands on the open Bible, as I stared at the light blue wall. As the light faded, I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches. A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows. It was Mary. As she came unto the tomb, upon which she placed her hand, she bent over to look in, and ran away.
John, in a flowing robe, appeared looking at the tomb. Then came Peter, who entered the tomb, followed slowly by John. As they departed, Mary reappeared leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept. Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing there, so did I. I knew it was He. She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched, and looking into His face cried, “Rabboni”.
I awakened in sunlight, gripping my Bible with my muscles tense, and nerves vibrating, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the lyrics exactly as it is sung today. That same evening, I wrote the tune. It is sung today as it was written in 1912.”

Dear Friends.,
This song always reminds me of my closest times with Jesus. I believe Jesus speaks through His word and during times of prayer and fasting. Those times are precious to me.

John 10:27 New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

IN THE GARDEN
Verse 1
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses.
And the voice I hear Falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
Chorus
And He walks with me and He talks with
me
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.
Verse 2
He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody, that He gave to me,
Within my heart is ringing.
Chorus
Verse 3
I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling
But He bids me go, through the voice of
woe,
His voice to me is calling.
Chorus

Have a great weekend. Love to all.

Marty