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Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
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Bible in a Year :
The desert will bloom with flowers.
A century ago, lush forest covered roughly 40 percent of Ethiopia, but today it’s around 4 percent. Clearing acreage for crops while failing to protect the trees has led to an ecological crisis. The vast majority of the remaining small patches of green are protected by churches. For centuries, local Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido churches have nurtured these oases in the midst of the barren desert. If you look at aerial images, you see verdant islands surrounded by brown sand. Church leaders insist that watching over the trees is part of their obedience to God as stewards of His creation.
The prophet Isaiah wrote to Israel, a people who lived in an arid land where bare desert and brutal droughts threatened. And Isaiah described the future God intended, where “the desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom” (Isaiah 35:1). God intends to heal His people, but He intends to heal the earth too. He’ll “create new heavens and a new earth” (65:17). In God’s renewed world, “the desert will bloom with flowers” (35:2 nirv).
God’s care for creation—including people—motivates us to care for it too. We can live in sync with His ultimate plan for a healed and whole world—being caretakers of what He’s made. We can join God in making all kinds of deserts bloom with life and beauty.
Reflect & Pray
Where do you see some part of creation barren or suffering? How will you be part of seeing deserts bloom?
Creator God, please show me how to help heal and restore what’s broken in the world.
Click to discover God’s creative purpose for nature and a nation
Bible in a Year :
It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Many years ago, New York City launched a “Stay Safe. Stay Put” ad campaign to educate people on how to stay calm and be safe when trapped in an elevator. Experts reported that some trapped passengers had died when they tried to pry open the elevator doors or attempted exiting by some other means. The best plan of action is to simply use the alarm button to call for help and wait for emergency responders to arrive.
The apostle Paul spelled out a very different type of rescue plan—one to help those trapped in the downward pull of sin. He reminded the Ephesians of their utter spiritual helplessness—being truly “dead in [their] . . . sins” (Ephesians 2:1). They were trapped, obeying the devil (v. 2), and refusing to submit to God. This resulted in them being the subject of God’s wrath. But He didn’t leave them trapped in spiritual darkness. And those who believe in Jesus, the apostle wrote, “by grace . . . have been saved” (vv. 5, 8). A response to God’s rescue initiative results in faith. And faith means we’ll give up on trying to save ourselves and call on Jesus to rescue us.
By God’s grace, being rescued from sin’s trap doesn’t originate with us. It’s “the gift of God” through Jesus alone (v. 8)..
Reflect & Pray
Why can’t you save yourself from sin’s trap? How has God provided what you need to be saved?
Dear God, I’m so grateful that when I was trapped in sin and tried to save myself, You initiated my rescue and sent a Savior to free me.
Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.
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Have a happy Friday!
Great weather here, gardening today.
😅🐶🐶🌺🌻🌼
Bible in a Year :
All you need to say is simply “Yes” or “No”; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
King Saul also had trouble staying the course. In one account, he rightly “expelled the mediums and spiritists from [Israel]” (1 Samuel 28:3). Good move, for God had declared that dabbling in the occult was “detestable” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). But when God didn’t answer the king’s plea—due to his prior failures—for how to deal with a massive Philistine army, Saul caved: “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her” (1 Samuel 28:7). Talk about a complete reversal! Saul failed once more as he went against his own decree—what he knew was right.
A millennium later, Jesus said to His disciples, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37). In other words, if we’ve committed ourselves to obeying Christ, it’s vital that we keep our oaths and be truthful. Let’s stay the course in doing those things as God helps us.
Reflect & Pray
What helps you keep your oaths? Why is it vital that you stay the course in being truthful?
Dear Jesus, please help me stay the course in following Your ways.
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Happy Caturday!
Was nice here. As usual, was out gardening!
Dug up a space for a veggie garden today using a tiller on the tractor.
Will put sweet corn, squash, watermelon and pumpkins in it.
😀
Can I come for dinner?
Bible in a Year :
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.
As teens, my sister and I didn’t understand my mom’s decision to receive Jesus as her Savior, but we couldn’t deny the changes we saw in her. She had more peace and joy and began faithfully serving at church. She had such a hunger for studying the Bible that she attended and graduated from seminary. A few years after my mom’s decision, my sister accepted Christ and started serving Him. And a few years after that, I also placed my trust in Jesus and started serving Him. Many years later, my father joined us in believing in Him as well. My mom’s decision for Christ created a life-changing ripple effect among our immediate and extended family.
When the apostle Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy and encouraged him to persevere in his faith in Jesus, he noted Timothy’s spiritual heritage. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).
Moms and grandmoms, your decisions can affect generations.
How beautiful that Timothy’s mom and grandmom helped nurture his faith so he could become the man God was calling him to be.
On this Mother’s Day and beyond, let’s honor mothers who’ve made a decision to follow Jesus.
Let’s also leave a spiritual legacy for our loved ones.
Reflect & Pray
Which godly women can you honor today? What kind of spiritual legacy would you like to leave for others?
Father God, thank You for godly mothers. Please help me to also leave a spiritual legacy for others.
Can’t wait to try the heirloom French pumpkin, Musquee de Provence. It is not orange on the outside, kind of greenish at first with a tan hue when ripe, extra tasty orange insides. Supposed to be great for roasting like a regular squash and for pies.
Seeded all those vine crops today into peat pots, put in greenhouse to speed germination and growth.
Happy Mother’s Day!
I love various squashes. Awesome!
Bible in a Year :
As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.
After the Paris Peace Conference that concluded World War I, French Marshall Ferdinand Foch bitterly observed, “This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.” Foch’s view contradicted the popular opinion that the horrifying conflict would be the “war to end all wars.” Twenty years and two months later, World War II erupted. Foch was right.
Long ago, Micaiah, the lone true prophet of God present at the time, consistently prophesied dire military results for Israel (2 Chronicles 18:7). In contrast, four hundred of King Ahab’s false prophets foretold victory: “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king,” a court official told Micaiah. “Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably” (v. 12).
Micaiah responded, “I can tell him only what my God says” (v. 13). He prophesied how Israel would be “scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd” (v. 16). Micaiah was right. The Arameans killed Ahab and his army fled (vv. 33-34; 1 Kings 22:35-36).
Like Micaiah, we who follow Jesus share a message that contradicts popular opinion. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Many don’t like that message because it seems harshly narrow. Too exclusive, people say. Yet Christ brings a comforting message that’s inclusive. He welcomes everyone who turns to Him.
Reflect & Pray
When the Spirit leads you to say or do something, how will you do so in love? When have your own assumptions needed to be challenged by God?
Father, please give me the wisdom to discern Your truth.
Happy Manic Monday!
Got more late seeding done today, things that like a bit of warmer weather to germinate better...cleome, cosmos, etc. Germinating in the greenhouse.
Was 83 here yesterday. Today 75 and cloudy, pretty nice. Sunday was too warm for us northern folks. Ha ha.
Expecting rain soon.
Waiting until Wednesday to plant various flowers into big pots outside.
42 degrees coming on Tuesday night. Won’t kill anything but still a bit chilly.
Greenhouse is loaded with plants waiting to be used outside.
😅
Now that it’s warming up, your gardening will become almost a full-time job! 🌸🌼🌺
Awww......so sweet!
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That is how much my dogs love tennis balls.
😃
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