Help garden in Delight celebrate a milestone! Devotions for John 15, “Away from the Last Supper” theme from NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible, have been adopted on the Blue Letter Bible website, available for online viewing this week.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
John 15:1 NIV
Blue Letter Bible, the “Search the Bible” website devoted to providing powerful tools for in-depth study of Scripture, was useful in the research for Gardeners Bible from the beginning. Offering the ability to survey verses by garden words such as “prunes” or “bear fruit,” 
I planted my garden Bible assignment beside the insightful helps offered on the BLB website. The Greek and Hebrew Lexicon helped immensely, as I often had to look to the roots of plant references or nuances of garden words. My work grew up in the shelter of the BLB—a ”companion planting” as we gardeners would call it. I used the website emphatically!
Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story
Psalm 107:2 NIV
Recently I was invited to visit Blue Letter Bible offices and share devotions with the beautifully faithful people who design and administer this free resource. We happily assembled in awe of our God who would inspire these founders to develop such magnificent access to the Bible…so that at just such a time, a suburban mom could come along, dig into their vast treasures from her own home computer, and compile notes for NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible. From our meeting, the BLB March (spring!) newsletter sprouted, and content from God’s Word for Gardeners Bible was added to the Blue Letter Bible site.
A Mustard Seed Story
Like most great God stories, Blue Letter Bible began as innocently as a man planting a mustard seed in his garden that grew and became a tree.
It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.
Luke 13:19 NIV
The founders had a vision to put the Bible on the internet, and began the effort in their garage in the mid-1990s. Little did they know the expansive growth ahead for online resources, internet availability, not to mention mobile devices and “apps.” They remember rejoicing over their 100th user, and now they have over 500 million annual page views.
Join Us
This week features the spring arrival of NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible material to Blue Letter Bible. Help us celebrate by browsing the March newsletter, and the John 15 devotions in the Bible commentaries, and by praising God for what he has done!
For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
Psalm 86:10 NIV
Photo Credits:
© 2015 Shelley S. Cramm NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible and Blue Letter Bible are like companion plantings in the garden. May all who enjoy them both be refreshed and dig deeper into God’s Word.
