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he following is a no-nonsense, non-thumb sucking, solid Bible based teaching aimed at getting the body of Jesus Christ into their personal Garden, to get to know their Lord and have a personal relationship with Jesus the Gardener. We learn how to enter in to the Garden and also how to get the things we need. Here in the Garden we learn how to get answers to the questions in our lives. We learn how to pray and how to visualise and to get divine instruction, intervention, and inspiration. The paintings are a result of a 50 year long search of the artist Ron van Zyl and his quest to find the garden since he had seen it as a child. These paintings are not for sale and can be viewed at their home at the Shoe where the cave is situated. There is also a DVD seminar available on this subject.
After this book you will also echo his plight that we as Christians are not religious but have a relationship with our Lord God!
Introducing the Garden
Recap on the previous two books; ‘The Line’ and ‘The Short Sword.’
The Kingdom of Light is above and is morning sun, happiness and lightning. Below are wicked, sorrow, and ignorance.
We have discerned that Jesus saved us to a high life in Christ. Meaning the cross is the door to a heavenly lifestyle where we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. As shown in the first painting in ‘The Line’. The only way a person who wishes to live this heavenly lifestyle can reach the top above the line, life in Christ, is by climbing the mountain.
The mountain makes the connection between heaven and earth. And is the mountain of the Lord, the Hebrews 12:22 mountain is where we are citizens of heaven.
Let thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. (Figure 2)
We can now draw a scull on the line painting and this will place the Kingdom of God within. (Figure 1 and 3) The cross is now our center and is where Goliath was killed and our center brain is the hypothalamus (Figure 4). If we draw a square here, (Figure 4) these measurements coincide with the heavenly city and Ephesians 3:20
Eph 3:17: “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,”
Eph 3:18: “May have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”
Eph 3:20: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (NIV)
We need a Christ mind and our minds are transformed during the mountain climbing experience.
To climb the mountain successfully we need to follow the following instructions carefully:
1 Pet 5:6: “Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you”
1 Pet 5:7: “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. [Ps. 55:22.]” (Amp)
You see God dwells with him who is of a humble and contrite spirit and lives with them in high and lofty places (Is 57:15).
Christ has to become the captain of our minds; we are not to think five minutes ahead without him.
Because I had seen this high place as a child, I kept searching, thinking mistakenly that I will find a short-cut for my children and loved ones. Yes, my wife and children are where I am spiritually but they still have to climb the mountain. To die to self is extremely difficult and it takes the mountain process to trust in the Lord completely with all thy heart [mind], and not to make an Ishmael. Abraham and Sara tried to help God make his promise come true, and found it difficult to wait on God’s timing, just like us. The mountain climbing process is a reality and we need to love each other while doing it.
The seven Genesis sketches (from the Short Sword) prove that we are on this planet to grow spiritually.
Why is it so difficult to give our lives over into God’s complete control?
Because we are dark and deep.
We have a mind of our own, a will, intellect, and emotions. (Figure 5)
No longer my will but God’s will. This is not so easy. We have found out that we have lots of emotions and senses; and our intellect wants to rule our minds. Perhaps the biggest problem is the past. Where do these emotions and reminders of our past come from? They come from within!
Do you remember Genesis? We are a deep, very deep, surging mass. Our emotions are constantly restless.
Gen 1:2: “The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep.”
And we were dark. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ‘FACE’ means part that turns.
The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. For we are filled with a sea of emotions that wants to rule our minds.
Let’s briefly remind ourselves of the Genesis sketches:
WE have a sea of dark emotions within us, that wants to rule in the mind; where the little sun is in figure 7.
The Genesis sketches show our spiritual growth out of darkness (Figure 6 A), through first finding the light (B), then understanding the Word (C) ,we go through spiritual dry places (D) to grow in the knowledge of what is within us (E) and then we become the garden dwellers (F) who still have a choice whether we will finally trust the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding, to experience a constant seventh day of rest (G).
This sea within us will eventually become the dead sea. Further explanations on this subject in the book: ‘A Room with a View’.
In the Short Sword we have found out that Adam had exactly the same problem. As long as Adam was willing to eat from the tree of Life, (carpenter, Jesus) (Figure 8) he would have a safe mind. Having communion with God causes a safe garden. The word ‘garden’ means ‘fenced’. Adam had to keep the garden mind by trusting and communing only with his Lord God.
Adam could not do this and lost the garden to the serpent, who later became so large (Figure 9) through the imaginations of man that it became the dragon on the sea. What sea? The sea of emotions, who ruled the minds of the people of Israel. (Figure 10) On the left in figure 10 the dragon is on the sea, and on the right is an Egyptian.
Spiritually we are Israel, we are slaves to our emotions just as Israel was to Pharaoh. We need to understand the blood and the pass over lamb, so the sea can turn red and then be parted so we can live in the Promised Land.
We are the seed of Abraham who conceived a star generation by believing God and counting the stars (Figure 11) to generate faith in his imagination where God’s power resides and gives you the desire of your heart (mind).
Later the law came through Moses and the mind of man was now filled with the law instead of the serpent (Figure 12).
But the enemy ruled in the minds of man constantly as it still rules ours, and it would take the life of the Son of God to clear the mind forever.
Just as Samson died (Figure 13) with the enemy so Jesus gave his life. The only difference between Samson and Jesus is that Jesus sprinkled His blood and declared that it is finished.
Now the mind was cleared, and then Jesus sprinkled His blood this high. As high as the cross bar of the cross,(Figure 14) and tore open the veil so we could not only enter in to the Holy of Holies but also live a totally safe life from the inner enemy within us.
The idea is that we will live up here in His presence constantly and receive revelation, inspiration, and safety. Just as Noah was saved from the sea, so we are saved from an inner sea to live high. (Figure 15) Noah had to stay in the ark until all the water drained off the earth. Then God gave the rainbow promise (Figure 16) which means mercy and grace. We can live in His presence constantly above the issues of life in a safe garden mind, where Jesus is the gardener.
In the past we Christians would declare victory, cast out the enemy, but somehow it came back and it would be worse than before.
This is exactly what Jesus said: we would cast out the demon and it would go to dry places, (we are the sea, outside of us it is dry) then it would come back with seven more and the last state of the man is worse than the first.
What demons are they? They are anger, pride, greed and judgement etc. Where did they come from? They come from within. When I say fear, you know exactly what I’m talking about for we all have the same sea within us.
Be honest now, is there anybody who can keep their minds? People are considered great if they can do this. Monks might have achieved this living in a monastery surrounded by brothers in total unison. Some of these monks could levitate during worship but it took incredible discipline and dedication. Is it necessary to abstain from the natural life God meant us to enjoy to reach these spiritual heights? Most agree there must be an easier way!
I have asked many groups this question; can we keep our mind? The answer is always the same: we cannot; therefore something drastic will have to happen.
We realise the Power of God is within our minds (Figure 17).
But we have lower emotions to contend with, for instance pride, jealousy etc; these emotions seek to occupy the mind with self. We can waste a lot of precious dream time by allowing these emotions access to our minds.
We are to become the generation who will understand the cross and the blood and live above our inner emotions in a garden.
This garden is not far, and it is not for the super spiritual, or intellectual, it is the place you used to play as a child.
Dreams
We were created in the image of God to imagine and dream our original dreams in our ‘womb of conception’ (mind). Just as Abraham was taught by God to visualise his descendants. Jacob and his goats, and Joseph would never have become the second most powerful man in Egypt if he did not dream the God-dream to save his people from famine.
The all powerful mind is created to imagine our original dreams, more on this later in this book.
If we can look at our dreams constantly, God gives us the desires of our minds (hearts).
God is not Santa Clause. He does not give us things because it seems the right thing to do. God gives us whatever we think long enough. If we think we are sick even if we are not we will eventually be sick. This is how this power in the mind works. You already knew this through personal experience. Now we need to find out how we can keep our minds during the incubation of good things that will glorify God.
The tabernacle in the wilderness was designed by God as a place where His presence could dwell constantly. If we can be in his presence constantly, we will know what He wants us to do and all the time we will be provided for as His people. As you have seen in previous studies God always does things physically before establishing it in the spiritual. For instance; Jesus calms the physical storm and later the spiritual storm in legion.
At this point I would have loved to bring in all the hundreds of scriptures where it proves that God wants to be with us. If you are a Bible reader you will know this is true.
This craving of God to be with His beloved is written throughout the Bible starting with Adam and ending with Revelation. God wants to rest in us, dwell in us so He can provide for us
(Ps 113:13).
Whatever it is you have to do for God will flow out of you like a river, if God is present. He is the Creator and wants to create through you.
I believe that we are all in agreement; we will first have to get a God mind.