The Master’s Garden with Devotional

$9.99

This witty tale will teach you what it truly means to abide in Christ, the Vine–from a plant’s point of view!

Come into the fantasy world of Plantasia where plants come alive! See what happens when a spindly rose, who yearns to be more than she is, meets the Master Gardener. Listen in on the conversations she has with the Gardener, Mighty Oak, Ginni (the Obedient Plant), and Mr. Bugleweed. Learn with her as she discovers the secrets of how to abide in the Vine and experience true riches.

This edition contains the companion devotional, A 30-Day Walk through the Master’s Garden where the author expounds on the key principles of this incredibly rich garden metaphor.

An Allegory of Abiding in the Vine with 30-Day Walk through the Master's Garden


See Book Trailer
Read the first three chapters for FREE! Click Here
Categories: ,

Description

In the gospel of John, Jesus tells us that He is the Vine and His Father is the Gardener. He explains that His followers are the branches and need to remain in the Vine and bear much fruit. Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant by that or how remaining in the Vine might look in your daily life?

Then enter into the fantasy world of Plantasia™ where plants come alive! This is a witty tale told by a grandmother to help her struggling granddaughter find true significance under God’s care. The Master Gardener created this beautiful world where plants can think, see, hear, and speak. He longs for all to come under His loving care and be grafted onto His beloved Vine. Through this connection, plants are able to flourish and reach their full potential.
See what happens when a spindly rose, who yearns to be more than she is, meets the Master Gardener. Listen in on the conversations she has with the Gardener, Mighty Oak, Ginni (the Obedient Plant), and Mr. Bugleweed. Learn with her as she discovers the secrets of how to abide in the Vine and experience true riches.

This edition contains the companion devotional, A 30-Day Walk through the Master’s Garden where the author expounds on the key principles of this incredibly rich garden metaphor. By using her own life experiences with God, the Gardener, this once-spindly Rose will teach you how to thrive, not just survive. She will teach you how to live OUT the Christian life by living IN and THROUGH Christ, the Vine.

Chapter 1
A Strange World

Imagine. A world containing very unusual plants that can think, see, hear, and speak—a kind of plant-animal hybrid, so to speak. This world, called Plantasia, was beautiful—filled with all types of plants from the tiniest flower to the towering giant redwood.

The Master Gardener created this strange world for His pleasure. He was good, loving, powerful, all-wise, and very patient. Most of all, though, He was pure and perfect.

Now the Gardener loved all the diverse vegetation in this world which He had made, and wanted nothing more than for each plant to love Him in return. He gave these unique plants the ability to choose whether to come under His loving care or remain in the wild and live on their own.

When plants agreed to come under the Gardener’s care, they were grafted onto the roots of the Vine and became permanently His. Now this Vine was no ordinary plant. He came directly from the Master Gardener Himself and there was a special bond between Them. Their union enabled embedded plants to connect with the Gardener in a personal way.

Plants belonging to the Master Gardener thrived under His tender care. He knew their exact needs. He abundantly supplied them with light and Living Water and fed them with His Word. His Living Water carried nutrient truths up to all parts of the plant, helping them to absorb the vital minerals. This life-giving liquid not only sustained them but also promoted extraordinary growth.

In addition to these three essential ingredients of light, water, and food, the Gardener used other measures to help His plants flourish. He pruned, divided, transplanted, and sprayed as needed. He did this out of His lovingkindness; longing for each one to achieve its full potential.

The duty of each individual plant belonging to the Gardener was to grow and be beautiful in His eyes and to reflect His wonderful qualities. In order to accomplish this, they needed the strength of the Vine. If they tried to grow roots outside the Vine, ugly and distorted growth resulted. The more they lived their lives through the Vine, the more they flourished. How much and how quickly they developed into what they were meant to be largely depended upon their willingness to cooperate with their Keeper.

Each plant was designed to reveal the character of the Gardener differently. Some were grand, like the mighty oak. Others were very prolific, like the squash. And then there were those who were just small and dainty, like the lily of the valley. Each was uniquely fashioned, cultivated, and valued by the Master Gardener. All brought Him distinct pleasure as they displayed His handiwork and fulfilled His plan for them.

Together, all the Gardener’s plants showed His greatness and majesty. It was a sight to behold! Their beauty was so appealing that it drew wild plants to want to know the wonderful Gardener and be placed under His nurturing care.

However, there was an even more important reason why all plants needed to belong to the Gardener…

In the beginning everything was perfect. In this newly created world, the Master Gardener planted two individuals into a beautiful garden and told them to enjoy growing there. They were instructed that their roots could go anywhere, except for one small area.

So they flourished and frequently enjoyed the presence of the Gardener as He walked among them—until one dreadful day when everything changed.

You see, the Master had an evil enemy. He used to be one of the Gardener’s helpers but wanted to usurp the Gardener, so he was kicked out of the garden. This enemy wanted nothing more than to get revenge and sought to destroy this perfect garden. On that fateful day, he tricked the two plants and enticed them to penetrate their roots into forbidden territory. Little did they know it was contaminated. They became infected with a deadly disease which eventually spread throughout the entire garden and the rest of Plantasia. But the good Gardener couldn’t leave them in this dying state. He had to make a way to rescue His precious plants.

Therefore, He planted His special Vine into the world, One that had the very same qualities as the Master Gardener. The pure and perfect Vine grew and experienced all the same difficulties as any plant does—and even more. Yet He grew exactly as the Master Gardener wanted, and pleased Him in every way….

Click here to read the full first three chapters of The Master’s Garden

A 30-Day Walk Through the Master’s Garden
Excerpt

Day 3
Grafted In

Now the Gardener loved all the diverse vegetation in his world which He had made and wanted nothing more than for each plant to love Him in return. He gave these unique plants the ability to choose whether to come under His loving care or remain in the wild and live on their own.

When plants agreed to come under the Gardener’s care, they were grafted onto the roots of the Vine and became permanently His. Now this Vine was no ordinary plant. He came directly from the Master Gardener Himself and there was a special bond between Them. Their union enabled embedded plants to connect with the Gardener in a personal way. [Chapter 1]

I wanted to connect with the Savior of my soul—to be closer to this wonderful God who had saved me from my empty way of living. To do that, I needed to learn what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches” (Jn 15:5). I needed to learn more about grafting. Although I was a gardener, I had very little knowledge of it. What I found out when I researched it blew my mind!

Grafting is a technique used by gardeners to make a unique plant from two separate ones. Once joined, they are to function as a single plant.

One of the plants provides the lower trunk and root system, called the rootstock. The other plant provides the upper portion (stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit) and is called the scion. Both are chosen for a certain set of characteristics. For example, the rootstock might be selected because of its greater resistance to disease or better tolerance to drought. The scion may be selected for its ability to produce more fruit or flowers.

For successful grafting to take place, “the vascular cambium tissues [like the blood circulatory system of animals] of the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other.”2

As the tissues grow, a bridge is formed that allows the circulatory system of the rootstock and scion to be joined together. That means the roots of the stock can provide water and minerals to the scion, and the scion can produce food in its leaves and send it down to the roots of the stock. This creates a functioning plant composed of two genetically different parts.3 The better the connection between the two plants, the better the flow of water and nutrients.

You don’t have to be a horticulturist to understand the implications of this beautiful analogy with our union with Christ.

First, understand that the term Christ the Vine is not referring only to the top part of a climbing grapevine. Christ is the Rootstock into which believers are embedded.

This is a picture of what happens at salvation:

During grafting, a wound must be made on the rootstock into which the scion is inserted. Father God, the Gardener, is the One who makes the cut and does the grafting. Christ willingly allowed Himself to be crucified (cut) in order that any person who believes in His death and resurrection could be grafted onto Him—joined or united with His eternal life.

Those who want this eternal life are in essence saying they are willing to have their roots (their way of living) cut off. They are willing to live through Christ’s roots (God’s way of living).

The Master Gardener is the One who grafts us into Christ. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot access the life-giving roots without the Gardener grafting us in, the Vine being willing, and the Holy Spirit enabling the flow of His life into our system.

He died for all, so that all those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for their sake…. Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]. (2 Cor 5:15, 17 AMP)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Pet 2:24)

What a beautiful and rich metaphor Jesus has given us! By understanding how grafting works, we will be more equipped to live in and through Christ, the Vine.

Tending Your Own Garden

† Try to picture yourself as a plant. See your roots (your way of living) severed when you said yes to Jesus. See yourself being placed into Christ, the Rootstock. From now on, everything you need for life comes up from Him to you.

† Ask the Gardener to help you understand the implications of this rich metaphor and what it means to be grafted into the Vine.

† If you’ve never been grafted into Christ, would you ask the Master Gardener to do so now?

See the “Extra Nutrients” at the end of the book to learn more of what it means to accept Jesus as your Savior.

Plants belonging to the Master Gardener thrived under His tender care. He knew their exact needs. He abundantly supplied them with light and Living Water and fed them with His Word. His Living Water carried nutrient truths up to all parts of the plant, helping them to absorb the vital minerals. This life-giving liquid not only sustained them but also promoted extraordinary growth. [Chapter 1]

 

 

Reading good books is not one of my strengths, but what a blessing it was to read The Master’s Garden! This is a masterful piece of work and a delightful, fictional story, that is full of great biblical truths! The love of God is clearly shown through the character of the Gardener and what a great example of what the Christian life looks like through the different plant characters. This story is perfect for any age and a great tool to draw many to the Savior! Well done Rose!

~Vance Hunt, Elder MABC

~~~~~

After reading this delightful, spiritually rich allegory, I can honestly say I better understand what abiding in the Vine means.

~Andy Terryn, IPM National Missionaries in Uruguay

~~~~~

I love how the author brings the reader into the garden. I can visualize talking with the plants and the Master Gardener as I traveled through the garden. The story has led me back to God’s love and compassion with new eyes and a hunger to truly know God more.

~Sharon