I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
My husband works hard on our garden. He has planted all kinds of beautiful flowers just outside the window next to my chair. Roses are my favorites so there are plenty of those. But he also has sunflowers, irises (for our granddaughter Iris), purple asters (for my best friend Heidi whose birth month was September and these were her favorites) and a variety of wildflowers. In the vegetable garden Harry has planted tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers and potatoes. Just this week, he planted several kinds of peas. Yes, Harry works hard in his garden. That’s why he gets a little frustrated when he goes to pick the fruits of his labor and bites are missing out of the produce. Groundhogs, deer, rabbits…they all live in our yard because like Farmer MacGregor’s nemeses in the story of Peter Rabbit, they know that our year has a bountiful supply of good things for them to eat. So, whose garden is it?
This is a delightful read-aloud story for children, but we adults can have the fun of pondering the wonders of nature right along with the children. Whose garden is it?
I submit this verse to you to definitively answer the question.
The garden and all that grow there belong to God. We are the recipients of His gifts of beauty, fruits and vegetables. And so are the little creatures that share with us!
Note: The idea for this blog came from a devotional entitled Jesus, Day by Day by Sharon Kaselonis (8-15-25)
All of my youth I tried to fit in. I wanted to play with the other neighborhood kids outside, ride bikes, learn how to ride a horse and run chasing each other through our yards. Unfortunately, since I was born with asthma, I was not allowed to go outside except for short spans of time in which I was to sit quietly and play jacks on the porch with friends willing to sit with me. So, I just never fit in and felt like one of the toys from a Christmas movie who live on the “island of misfit toys.”
I think the time during my youth when I always felt different is what led me to seek and search for something more in life. After college, I came to the saving knowledge of Jesus and found that finally I fit in. I was part of the body of Christ, His church, one of His people.
But then, someone told me I was supposed to be separate from the world. What?!? I had spent all of my teen years feeling separated from friends and fun, and now I have to step back from the world that I was just discovering. It has taken a lot of Bible study and patience on God’s part to show me that I am “divinely different” and that’s exactly what makes me acceptable to God and a part of a big family who also love the Lord. So, I am different in a good way, a way that keeps me safe from the temptations of the world (provided I choose to walk away) and with a whole future in eternity to look forward to. Through my relationship with Christ, I have found that being different isn’t always a bad thing. Rather, it is life-affirming and one of the best things that ever happened to me!
Look at those adjectives! Chosen, special and wonderful. These descriptive words help me to continue to walk in the light because I want to be all of these things for my Father.
Now, look at the nouns in this passage: righteousness, holiness and redemption. Jesus is all of these inside of us because of His sacrifice. It is Christ who makes the difference in my life.
On the outside, I am the same person. I still have the same physical body, but inside, I am brand, spanking new. I am a new creation because I am in Christ. I am indeed divinely different! I pray that you are, too!
This verse is from Mary’s song of praise when she finds out that God has chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. She had to be a little wary of what was going to happen since she was a young girl, unmarried and with a baby on the way. God showed Himself strong on her behalf and fulfilled prophecies through her.
Fast forward several thousand years to my life. I have health problems so numerous that I get tired of going to specialists all the time. Nevertheless, God shows Himself strong and holy for me, too. Yesterday, I went to my nephrologist for my kidney labs and check up that I have to have every four to six months. (For those of you who don’t know, I was born with a single kidney and I have been diagnosed with Stage 3 kidney failure for the last few years.) The doctor checked me, talked to me and ordered the labs. I got the report this morning and the results have to be a God thing! Everything is normal…everything! My levels are better than they have been in the last five years. I have no explanation for this great report, but I do offer God praise and know that He is and always will be holy. I had expected a bad report since I had infections repeatedly in the last six months. My faith was low, but my hope was high and God showed me just what He has been doing and continues to do within this mortal body.
I hope that you will join me in rejoicing over this good news and also share with me a testimony of how God has come through unexpectedly for you. Let’s spend today lifting up the Name of the Only One who is truly worthy!
Forgiving others is hard, mainly because it is not a once and done thing for us. We have to continually forgive every time the thought comes to our mind about an offense. Forgiveness is a choice that we make each time, not a “I will just think about it later” kind of thing. You know who I have a hard time forgiving? Anyone and everyone who has ever hurt me or one of my children in any way. That means that there are a lot of reminders in my spiritual life to forgive and keep on forgiving. Jesus made sure we were assured forgiveness from the Father, but it is up to each of us to forgive others daily, all day long.
The enemy of our soul wants us to hang on to the burden of hurts and the desire for revenge. That old self really wants payback. But God says He is the one who will avenge us if we will just step back and be still. Part of being still and trusting God is to let go of the heartache we feel from whatever pain the offense caused and to choose to forgive. We cannot forget because that isn’t part of our human nature. But we can choose to forgive each time the offense comes to our mind. I say things like, “This is hard, Lord, but I am choosing to forgive. Help me to let it go and to truly love this person the way you love them.” There is no magical formula for what to say when you forgive someone; you just have to say what is on your heart and really leave it at the foot of the cross.
Forgiveness doesn’t hurt the other person because they generally either don’t care or they are unaware of how you feel. Unforgiveness is a bitter root that starts growing in your heart, and if you water and nurture it with your anger and refusal to forgive, then it will destroy you from the inside out. It can destroy your mental health, your physical health and your spiritual well-being. God knows that we need to forgive for our own good.
There are lots of scriptures about forgiveness. If you are having difficulty with the very idea of letting go of the bitterness and anger resulting from how a person hurt you, I recommend that you memorize verses about forgiveness, meditate on them and ask God to help you to forgive. It is His will, so that’s a prayer that He will answer if you just ask.
Do you remember during your childhood when you would get a scrape or a bump? That is a normal part of growing up, isn’t it? What did you do when you got hurt? The most likely answer is that you ran as fast as you could to the one you trusted to take care of the problem. Mom, Dad, Grandmother, whoever was the trustworthy adult around at that time. I recall my Nanny (my mom’s mom) always got out the mercurochrome (ouch!), applied it liberally and blew on it to stop the burning the medication caused. Then, she applied a bandaid and told me to go back and play but be careful. I hated the medicine, but I liked the loving care that went along with it.
When my own children got hurt, usually then their dad was deployed, my first response was to pray, check to see if it was something I could handle with neosporin and a bandaid or if we needed to go to the ER and then do whatever was needed to comfort my child. For one child, it was always a cuddle, for another it was to divert attention with a funny story or a song. I was their trustworthy adult and that was a heavy responsibility for growing and adventurous kids. They knew, though, that prayer was first and then action and if I forgot to pray because I was panicking over the extent of the injury, one of them would remind me.
God is our trustworthy refuge to whom we can go when we are hurting or just need to know someone is there. He is always there for those who trust in Him. He cares for each of us, more even than my Nanny cared for me or I care for my children and grandchildren. He is invested in our lives because He created us and He wants us to be okay in this life that He has placed us in. So, running to Him is a no brainer if you have a relationship with Him, recognizing not only His power but also His mercy and great love for you. The world is full of evil and there are a lot of things that can hurt you, but we need to remember to run as fast as we can to God when we get hurt. He is the one with the words to heal and the heart that always cares. He is a good, good Father.
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Here is a photo that I found online of people and a popular hobby, especially on beaches and areas where there were Civil War battles.
They are using metal detectors to look for “treasure.” What do they do with what they find? Many are collectors and go to shows to display all that they have found. We had a speaker come to our church group last spring who is a collector of bullets, parts of weapons and even parts of swords from the Civil War. Fascinating, but not anything I am interested in doing.
I read a devotional this morning about buried treasure off the coast of Florida that was salvaged in the twentieth century after being in the ocean since the 1600’s. It is amazing to me the persistence people have in finding things that are so deeply buried in the ocean and under all that sand.
Their persistence is especially amazing since they have a treasure right next to them all the time, but they are not even looking for it.
God’s words to us are like a treasure that we can hide in our hearts and keep forever and it will never rust or corrode. We don’t take it out to display to others, but it is there for us to call on whenever we need it. Sometimes, we can use His words to comfort or guide others. Sometimes, it is just for us to ponder and wonder at the awesomeness of God.
If you are looking for God’s wisdom as hard as you would look for buried treasure, then you would be able to understand the Lord better and His resolve to love us in spite of us. The fact that He treasures us and keeps us close to His heart should give us a clue about how much we should treasure Him.
Look at the last part of this scripture…God made mankind so that they would seek Him and find Him. But He isn’t hiding. He is always as close as the next prayer or words you say to Him.
If we are always keeping our heads down looking for the treasure on the earth, then we won’t recognize all of the gifts that God has already given us. Whatever treasures the earth has will not last, but God’s love, mercy and grace are forever gifts.
Back to the whole looking for treasure concept. Buried treasure is elusive and illusory. It may or may not exist, but the treasure that God gives is ever present and never hides from us. We have to spend time with God to avail ourselves of His wonderful treasure house of gifts that He bestows on His children. Rather than spending time walking around in a field with a heavy metal detector, just pick up your Bible and you will find treasure on every page.
I do want to be a treasure finder, but the treasure I want to find is eternal and life-giving. Hobbies aren’t a bad thing, but whatever you do, keep your focus on God and His Word because that is the true gold in your life.
Our bodies are made to house the Holy Spirit and we need to treat them as His tool box to be used when He needs us. Our choices not only affect ourselves but others, as well.
We use our eyes to read and study God’s Word. But our eyes have to be opened by God in order to truly see the spiritual truth there. Sometimes, I am afraid that we just blindly and without really thinking about it read the Bible just to say that we did it. That isn’t what we are supposed to use our eyes for. We need to take the time to let the Holy Spirit allow us to see what treasures God has for us in His Word each day.
God is watching us and so are other people. But most people see and judge us by the eyes of the world. We want our eyes to reflect the love and grace of the Holy Spirit living inside us so that others will want to know what makes us different.
Our ears are meant to be the way we take in the words of knowledge, not just from the Holy Spirit, but also from other people. Remember that we need to be aware of what we are listening to because it is filtered through our minds and gets into our hearts.
God has a lot to say to us if we just listen. A lot of people say that they don’t study God’s Word because it doesn’t make sense to them. One has to listen with spiritual hears attuned to truth and with an open heart; then we can truly hear what God is sharing with us each day.
Our hands are very important tools because we use them to accomplish the work that God has given us to do. Whether it is ministering to a small child or an elderly person or just holding someone’s hand and letting them know we are there for them, our hands are tools that God can use if we let Him.
When God tells us what to do (I call that giving us marching orders), we are to do it with all of our strength, using the hands that God gave us. At work, at play, during family time and devotional, we need to apply ourselves to be pleasing to the Lord.
We cannot know the path our feet are to take unless we study and meditate on God’s Word regularly. This road we walk as Christians can be rocky and filled with pits that are ready to trip us. We have to keep on the correct path for our feet not to stumble because God will lead the way.
One of the most wonderful things that any Christian can do is to use their feet to go to places to spread the Gospel. You may not be called to go to foreign lands or distant places, but you are called to use your feet to go where God directs in order to let people know that God is on His throne in spite of the chaos surrounding us.
Our toolbox is God’s Word and our tools are the parts of our body that we use daily to bring glory to Him. Children are taught a song very early in their church attendance. We would do well to remind ourselves that this song applies to us as adults, too.
There are many more parts of the body that I did not cover in my post today. Please share any other parts about which God speaks to you and the relevant scripture verse(s). Thank you for reading my post today and for participating in adding to our tool boxes.
Sometimes, I just need to get away from my own thoughts and the doubts that attack my mind, so I delve into the Psalms and choose one to pray or to use as my worship for the day. Today, my Psalm was Psalm 93.
God always reigns, through my doubts and fears and whatever the circumstances are. Saying these verses out loud helps me to remember that God is on the throne and His rule over the world is firm and secure. I can rest in His strength and not have to be concerned about my own weaknesses.
God has been part of all of eternity, so no matter how stressed I am for the time crunch I am facing, I can trust that He is in control of not just the circumstances but my time and how I resolve those circumstances. God knows and understands that I am finite while He is eternal.
I am not a big ocean loving person as far as getting into the salt water is concerned. But I do love to hear the ocean waves as they hit the shore, sometimes with a murmur and sometimes with a roar. The waves remind me of God’s power and how He speaks to me. He speaks to me quietly, but I am always aware of how mighty and powerful He is. He just restrains His powerful voice around me, but He lets me know that He can be mighty on my behalf when I need Him to show those characteristics. He is always mighty and always worthy of praise, much like the ocean and its unfathomable depths cannot be understood but they can be admired as a wonder of God’s creation.
This Psalm ends with a reminder that God’s statutes (His laws and ordinances) always stand firm. He is always holy and His holiness is part of His dwelling place. That makes for some deep thinking because we are God’s temple, we are the dwelling place for His Holy Spirit, so within us remains the holiness of God. That makes me think and be in awe of how much God loves me, oftentimes in spite of me.
As a Spanish teacher for over almost four decades, verb tenses have always interested me. I notice verb tenses as most people note adjectives and adverbs. I want to know when something happened or if it’s a progressive, ongoing thing. Look at the tenses in this scripture verse today.
The verse starts with God shows His love for us. Some translations say demonstrates, but no matter which version you read, this verb is in the present tense. This is an ongoing action…it happens constantly. We are sinners saved by grace, but we are still sinners. And God’s love keeps showing up for us, helping us to clean up our act and to be more like His Son.
The next verb says that Christ died for us. That is a completed action. Christ died once for all and he said “It is finished.” The sacrifice that God the Father sent Him to earth to complete is done, one time, on the cross. We are still sinners, but He died so that we can leave that sinful life behind and be washed clean in His blood. He died once but He loves forever. Tenses are interesting, but they are also important.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being around people who need to take a shower or bath. The smell often makes me try to hold my breath or I gag. I have come across homeless people who smell like this and it is not a pleasant odor. Now, consider that we were all unclean, wallowing in our sins, but God loved us right then, no more or no less than after we accepted His Son as our Savior. God loves the sinner even in the midst of our pig sty of sin and guilt and shame. Then, when we accept the sacrifice He made for us, He is the One who cleans us up with the precious blood of His Son and makes us righteous before Him. We didn’t have to get clean first and then come to the Lord. In fact, we cannot do anything to clean ourselves of our sin. That takes the blood of the Lamb, and that is the free gift of a loving Father.
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