Blessing you to God’s best and brightest in the Happy New Year! But first, take a garden walk with me to remember the plants of the Bible and garden moments we enjoyed together in the Happy Old Year 2023. Through the turbulence of our world today, the Lord has been faithful to give us fresh insight and steady reassurance of His plans and purpose in simple garden glimpses. Hallelujah! Most of all, we have persistently pursued His Word and remained in the reality of His beauty.
Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. Colossians 3:17 TPT
He has made everything beautiful in its time Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
Gardening with God’s Word in mind makes a way for every activity of our lives to be saturated with Scripture, drawing us to worship in wonder. Let us remain on constant watch for His Word to be fulfilled, as the Lord revealed to Jeremiah in an almond branch:
“What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” Jeremiah 1:11-12 NIV
Happy Old Year 2023
We covered a lot of ground in 2023! Click the links below to catch up with any Devotions Blogs that you missed or circle back around to one of your favorites.
New Bible Plants: We discovered calamus from the holy anointing oil in Cultivating Calamus; sorghum and millet, lesser know ancient grains in Say “So Long, Summer” with Sorghum; ranunculus’ role as Holy Land wildflowers in Fall Planning for Flowers of the Field; and a special Song of Songs-like crabapple tree, the Lollipop® Crabapple, in A Father’s Tree.
Old Favorites: We dug deeper for fresh views of favorite plants over the years, such as wheat in Preparing for Pentecost; looked at fig trees as seen by the prophet in Good Figs in Jeremiah 24; tried myrtle topiary in A Myrtle Moment; and baked with pistachio nuts in Pistachio Cookies.
Gardens to Visit: Lots of travel this year! Find plants of the Bible and Scripture vignettes from California to Denver to Minnesota in A Visit to Sherman Gardens, Scripture Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens, and Where Can I Find Bible Plants in Minneapolis? Additionally, glimpse the Barbara Bush Rose Garden in the Spring Newsletter and the New York Botanical Garden in the Autumn Newsletter.
Book Review: As always, a summer gardening book review – enjoy this GardenComm Laurel Media Award Winner – American Roots Book Review and learn about the most creative Genesis 3 garden I have ever seen! Co-author Teresa Woodard is a dear friend to Garden in Delight.
Garden Prayer: We celebrated the National Day of Prayer in a special way, with a garden point-of-view, of course!
Garden Ponder: Find deeper reflections of God’s garden life for us in Where Can Wisdom be Found?, Garden Glimpses of God, and A Garden Named for Jesus.
Lent Series: A Gardener’s Promise Lent Series journeyed through my recent book, My Father is the Gardener, for the weeks leading up to Resurrection Day with Journal Questions for each chapter, along with a photo guide for growing the plants in your garden.
Newsletters: Seasonal newsletters offer more from-the-garden plant insight and if they get lost in your inbox, you can always find their links on the Garden in Delight News page. Winter 2023 previewed the Myrtle Moment topiaries; Spring 2023 showcased pretty poppies as Flowers in the Field; Summer 2023 discussed butterflies and Biblical host plants; and Autumn 2023 featured chrysanthemums and their “wait for it” (Habakkuk 2:3) quality.
Grateful for You
Thank you, dear gardeners, for spending the year with me. I cannot think of a better place to be hands-on with God than a garden-to-table life, and it is even sweeter to be gathered together in fellowship by our shared garden glimpses. The Devotions Blog celebrates 10 years, wow! What a journey it has been, yet it feels like we are just getting started. Do you know someone who loves gardening and is inspired by its deeper meanings? Please invite them to join the Devotions Blog email list – let’s grow this audience in the New Year!
“Pursuing Him is more important than ever in these troubled days, and the garden is a great place to begin.”
Shelley S. Cramm, “Garden Glimpses of God,” Devotions Blog at www.gardenindelight.com
Devotions Blog in 2024
Enjoy your winter weeks resting and putting things to order indoors. Remember that the Devotions Blog pauses in January and will return with a new Lent Series on Thursday, February 15th. Until we meet again, here are a handful of Scriptures captured in the meditations of the Devotions Blog in 2023. May they ground you are you look forward to the Happy New Year!
Energize the limp hands, strengthen the rubbery knees. Tell fearful souls, “Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here, on his way to put things right and redress all wrongs. He’s on his way! He’ll save you!” Isaiah 35:3-4 The Message
God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, Father of Glory: I call out to You on behalf of Your people. Give them minds ready to receive wisdom and revelation so they will truly know You. Ephesians 1:17 VOICE
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers Malachi 4:6 CSB
Be here—the king is wild for you. Since he’s your lord, adore him. Psalm 45:11 The Message
Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! Luke 12:26-28 NIV
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever. Isaiah 55:12-13 NIV
This is my cherished Son, marked by my love. All my delight is found in him. 2 Peter 1:17 TPT
Closing Prayer
O Lord, thank you for the blessings you put in our lives—like seeking and finding You in my garden! Thank you for keeping me grounded, by the glimpses and fresh encounters with your Word in the garden. I desire a growing faith, Lord, a continual unfolding of the riches of Your Word….so I may as well grow things! Yours is a practical life, infusing the everyday with your endless love. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty (Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8), and holy is my garden that leads me to You.
God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets. Hebrews 13:16 The Message
The Devotions Blog returns February 15th, 2024 with a new series for Lent. Need a 7 week study until then? Try any of these series’ studies from the Devotions Blog: Grounded in God; Find Garden Hope; Prophets & Leaders Bible Garden Design; Dig into Prayer; Let Faith Flourish; A Lenten Look at Trees; Plant a Pot of Bible
Photo Credits: Fall fruits on the Lollipop® crabapple, photo courtesy Proven Winners® ColorChoice Ornamental Trees; all other photos ©Shelley S. Cramm
CSB notes Scripture quotations taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
The Message denotes Scripture quotations taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.
NIV denotes Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®
TPT denotes Scripture quotations taken from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com
VOICE denotes Scripture quotations taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
