Do you know?

Mountain goat kid - Photo from Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 38-39; Psalm 145

TO CHEW ON: "Do you know…?" Job 39:1

In His reply to Job, God draws Job's attention to several animals that humans only observe from afar. They have little or no use to mankind and we often don't understand their mysterious ways.

The wild mountain goats go through their cycles of bearing young without any help or attention from people. They even seem heartless in the way they abandon them - Job 39:1-4.

The wild donkeys shun the city and are useless as beasts of burden that would obey and help people - Job 39:5-8.

The wild ox, though strong, is not an animal people would entrust with their precious harvest - Job 39:9-12.

The ostrich is without wisdom. She challenges the horse for speed but doesn't even have the good sense to incubate her eggs in a safe place - Job 39:13-18.

I'm sure we could all come up with similar lists of things about creation that we don't understand. Much of it may be of little use to us and even seem frivolous. For example, what's the point of high alpine meadows filled with summer flowers when there's no one there to see? Why did God create the vast expanse of stars and galaxies or the mysterious creatures of the ocean depths?

However, there is also much we do understand. Modern microscopes, telescopes, and nature cameras have revealed things to us that the people of Job's day had no idea about.  

The wonderful thing is that the more closely we look and drill down, the more (not less) awed we become at our creator God's wisdom, foresight, creativity, and design smarts. It brings us to the place of admitting that there's enough we do understand to be confident of the intelligence and intention of the One behind all the things about creation and life that we don't know.


PRAYER: Dear God, I am amazed at the intricacy and intelligence that's obvious in creation. Thank You for the beauty, variety, and attention to detail that You gave to created things. I worship you! Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 145

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Sowing and reaping

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 6:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6:7-8

If you have ever planted a garden, you will be familiar with the principles of sowing and reaping—principles which, throughout the Bible, also illustrate truisms about living life wisely and well. What are these principles? I can think of three (there may be more):

1. The crop we harvest will have the same nature as the seed we plant. If we plant peas, we will harvest peas, not artichokes or carrots.

Relating this principle to how we live our lives, the writer of Hosea talks of a righteous life reaping God's rain of righteousness (Hosea 10:12). When we live (sow) in a way that panders to our fleshly appetites, we reap corruption, says Paul in our focus verse today. But when we live (sow) life under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we will harvest everlasting life (Galatians 6:8).

2. There is an interlude of time between planting and harvesting. Each seed we plant has its own germination and growth-to-maturity timetable.

In life, though the eventual harvest may take a long time (Ecclesiastes 11:1) and be preceded by multiple plantings, and accompanied by anguish (Psalm 126:6), harvest day will eventually come. Paul encourages the Galatians: "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" - Galatians 6:9.

A sidebar article in my Bible explains it well:

"God has a timetable for every seed we plant. His timetable is not always our timetable. Sometimes the 'due season' means a quick return. Sometimes it means a slow return that may take years -- even a lifetime" ("God has a Due Season for All the Seeds You Plant" by Oral Roberts from New Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 1639).

3. We will harvest more than we plant. Think of the multiplication we get from one pea, bean or corn seed!

Similarly in life, our actions have the potential to yield many-fold. Jesus' parable about the sower talks about an increase of thirty, sixty and a hundred-fold (Mark 4:8). Tithes brought into the storehouse are the seed for such blessing "there will not be room enough to receive it" - Malachi 3:10.

What and where are we planting today? No doubt some of our efforts are given to planting seeds of kindness, truth, encouragement, faith, hope and love in the lives of children, grandchildren, parents, friends, colleagues. If nothing seems to be coming of our efforts, let's not give up. Remember, a harvest takes time to grow and mature. Just make sure our "granaries" are big enough to hold the multiplication our sowing will eventually yield!

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for these principles of sowing and reaping from nature. Help me to gain patience and encouragement from them, especially as I look at the places I've sown seed but still see no results. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Genius design

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 38:22-41

TO CHEW ON: "Have you entered the treasury of snow? ....
Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water
Or a path for the thunderbolt?...
Can you send out lightnings that they may go
And say to you 'Here we are'?" Job 38:22, 25, 35

A few years ago I received a fascinating book to review. Nature Never Stops Talking by Samuel J. Alibrando is a collection of short essays on the wonders of nature. Alibrando comments in the Introduction: "Personally, I see hard evidence of intelligence in every tree, every flower, every star, and every single natural thing in the universe" - S. J. Alibrando, Nature Never Stops Talking, p. 13.

Reading Job 38 this morning reminds me of Alibrando's book. Let me share two bits from his essays on snow and lightning.

Snow:

"My fascination with snowflakes was renewed when I recently read that they are not white. In fact, they are ice crystals formed from water vapour. The crystalline shape is a product of the below-freezing temperatures that converts the moisture. Once formed, each crystal attracts a microscopic dust or salt particle as its own core. As its descent continues toward earth, it continues attracting more particles enlarging its size and uniqueness ....

"Each one contains millions of tiny, clear, light-reactive prisms. Imagine millions of prisms. What a sight to consider. While these prisms break up the light that strikes them into all the colors of the rainbow our own eyes receive a sensory overload; it is too many colors, we are unable to perceive the dazzling display, so our eyes see "white" instead. With all the mystery of such splendour as snowflakes, I learned that we don't see the half of it. The Millions of prisms creating millions of colors in each snowflake are too beautiful to even perceive" - Alibrando, pp. 17,18.

Lightning:

"Clouds build up positive and negative charges like on a battery. Why they separate is unknown....

"Typically within the cloud, the charge (negative) moves downward about 165 feet in microseconds. This aimed collective movement is called a 'stepped leader.' When the stepped leader reaches 330 feet ANOTHER stepped leader from the ground (positive) moves UP. This especially happens on protruding objects such as trees or buildings. The swift climb of the positive stepped leader meets the descending stepped leader and BAM! The brilliant light we call 'lightning.'

"Several subsequent strokes can follow the same channel in less than a second, until the negative charge centre in the cloud is eliminated....

"Lightning is huge. It is powerful. It is constant. We don't know much about what would happen to our world if lightning stopped but it is here with all of its properties with millions impressed by its dramatic power" - Alibrando pp. 21,22.

We love it when people appreciate and enjoy the things we create (actually we don't create at all, but assemble and re-assemble). But do we ever pause to consider what God has made—truly created—out of nothing? Job 38 is an invitation to us to ponder the wonder and variety in God's creation. Let's spend some time today appreciating His creation all around us.


PRAYER: Dear God, Your creative ability, imagination and ingenuity boggles my mind. Thank You for Earth, the miracle of a liveable climate, and my body with its millions of cells that work together as a unit. You are amazing! Amen.

MORE: A few more Job-like questions

In an article about Earth and the solar system, Alibrando describes earth's size in relation to the planets and the sun:
Uranus's diameter = 32,500 miles (compared to Earth's 8,000-mile diameter).
Neptune = 72 times larger than Earth.
Jupiter = so big, 1400 Earths would fit inside it.
The sun (only a medium-sized star) = 1.3 million times larger than earth with a surface temperature of 9300 F but an inner temperature of 29,000,000 F.

Alibrando then asks:

"So, what percent of all this space does man think he has mastered? Does he understand what he sees? Does he understand what keeps the planets spinning? Does he know why the planets orbit counter-clockwise instead of clockwise? Does he know why some moons go in opposite directions on other planets? Does he know why the sun itself revolves every 27 days? Can we make our own miniature solar system that is more accurate than any clock? Can we then make that man-made miniature solar system float in the air, orbit around a centre ball with mini-orbits of moons and satellites around the orbiting planets?

.... What percentage of all knowledge does man really have, 50%, 10%, 1% or some tiny fraction of one percent? We don't even know.

Yet we still have the gall to shake our fist at the very notion of any greater intelligence than ourselves.

Amazing!" - Alibrando, pp. 24, 25.

Nature Never Stops Talking on Amazon.ca

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Nature—a catalyst of praise

Creativity in the heart of a  tulip

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 104:19-35

TO CHEW ON: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." - Psalm 104:33

Have you ever looked deep into a tulip's cup and seen the designs? During tulip season a month ago I was out with my camera and on one day photographed four tulips: two yellow, two red. When I enlarged the pictures on my computer I saw they were all different. They did have similarities of course, designs which reflected sixes and threes, but there were subtle differences even within their similarities.

They spoke to me of God their creator. What I saw told me that God loves color and beauty, is detailed and organized, has put order, structure, and design into things as common and simple as a spring tulip. And I observed only the outside. I know that if I took sections of these flowers and put them under a microscope, I would be even more amazed at the design, order, plan, and beauty of the makeup of their tiniest parts.

The writer of Psalm 104 reminds us of the variety and grandeur of God's masterpiece—creation. What he does at the end is what we can also do as we appreciate created things, from noticing the designs in a tulip, to pondering the complexity of the human body, to trying to wrap our minds around the vastness of space: we can praise.

And we can study Him to understand Him through His works, in a way similar to how we probe a human work of art for an understanding of its creator.

PRAYER: Dear God, I am amazed at Your creativity. Help me to recognize Your hand, signature, essence in the created world and to let that be a catalyst of wonder and praise. Amen.

MORE: More about tulips

This bit from tulip entry in Wikipedia explains the sixes and threes:

"The showy, generally cup or star-shaped tulip flower has three petals and three sepals, which are often termed tepals because they are nearly identical. These six tepals are often marked on the interior surface near the bases with darker colorings."

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All celebrate God—the judge

"Let the sea roar and all its fullness" - Psalm 98:7

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 98:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "The Lord has made known His salvation … Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth … Let the sea roar and all its fullness." Psalm 98:2,4,7

The psalmist here urges three types of praisers to give it up for God:

Israel - Psalm 98:1-3: "For He has done marvelous things … The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations."

All the earth - Psalm 98:4-6: "Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth…"

Nature - Psalm 98:7-9: "Let the sea roar … the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord."

What's the reason for this praisefest?

"For He is coming to judge the earth" - Psalm 98:9

Really! We're to be joyful about God's judgment?

Yet, if we think about it, isn't a fair, just, righteous settlement of all our disagreements and wars what we long for? Don't we crave a final authority who can and will see through actions to motivations? Imagine a time when even nature is restored from the changes brought about by the fall.

We can look forward to God's judgment because:

1. God knows us deeply. He understands our motivations and sees through them to the deepest wellsprings of our actions. Sarai appealed to God's judgment in this way when she argued with Abram about Hagar (Genesis 16:5).

2. God knows His own and is able to come to the aid of those who appeal to Him for justice - Psalm 76:9.

3. His insight and power allow Him to best judge who should rule earth's temporal kingdoms to serve His purposes - Psalm 75:7; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Revelation 18:8.

4. His judgments are based on truth and righteousness - Psalm 96:13.

5. He will someday pass fair judgement on all lives - Revelation 20:12.

In the light of God's present and final judgment that will be based on truth and fairness and that will enhance His glory, let's join the praise celebration with Israel, the earth, and nature.

PRAYER: Dear God, I long for a day when wrongs will be made right, when injustices will be addressed, when even nature will be in complete sync with You. I celebrate and praise You as judge. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unsearchable

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 11:25-36

TO CHEW ON: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" Romans 11:33

The verse above concludes what a footnote in my Bible calls "the longest extended theological argument in the New Testament (Romans 1:16-11:33)" - Wayne Grudem,  New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1568. It's as if Paul is throwing up his hands and saying—"With all I've just explained about God's ways, I've merely exposed the first layer of God's wisdom and knowledge...there's so much more to find!"

[The word unsearchable means just that — unsearchable. When we search for something we seek or look for it diligently, we investigate it and give it a critical and probing inquiry. God's unsearchable wisdom and knowledge cannot be plumbed even when we subject it to such extensive investigation.]

Other Bible writers bear out the unsearchableness of God's ways. There is mystery in every category.

• In the reasons for evil:

In Job, the Bible book that wrestles most openly with the why and wherefore of evil, the conversants draw the conclusion that God's ways are unsearchable: Job 5:9; 11:7; 33:13; 37:23.

• In nature and the whys and wherefores of life:

"...no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end," declares Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:11. See also Ecclesiastes 8:17

• In God's extending of grace and mercy to people:

God expresses this mystery of grace to Moses when He says, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" Exodus 33:19. He gives no reason for why He is merciful to some and not to others. And yet, when we look at our lives we see the fingerprints of His mercy and grace all over them. If you're having trouble recognizing them, read Psalm 107:1-43 for the myriad of ways God visits His grace on people.

Paul ends his musing about God's unsearchable ways with praise: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever."

I feel the same way. I'm glad that the more we search to understand God and His dealings the more we find. I'm glad that the Bible can stand close inspection, in fact, flourishes under it opening up new treasure as we drill down.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that You are bigger than our human minds can comprehend, and that Your plans and ways can withstand our closest scrutiny. Please help me to have faith where I don't understand You and Your ways. Amen.

MORE: Grace in story

The Watcher, a novel by Sara Davison has a character, David, who does some very bad things. He eventually gives his heart to Jesus but isn't completely honest regarding his past with his wife or the church he pastors. There comes a point in the story when that past comes back to bite him and he steels himself for the worst to happen. What does happen, as expressed through David's thoughts, is a great example of God's extravagant and undeservable grace:

"He had never forgotten how he'd felt that day in the cabin, like God was so real, and so present that he could reach out his hand and touch him. Kathryn had showed him God that day, in the midst of her own terror and pain. Then in prison, the darkest place he'd ever been, he'd come to him through Tiny and the boys. Now, in the face of his betrayal, the people of his church were revealing God to him once more. What have I ever done to deserve these gifts?


It's not what you've done; it's who you are. You are mine and I'll never let you go" - The Watcher, Kindle Location 5195 (emphasis mine).

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Lessons from nature

"' Look at the birds ... your heavenly Father feeds them.'" Matthew 6:26

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 8:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?" Psalm 8:3,4

Here David looks at the vast heavens at night, feels incredibly small, and uses that thought as a jump-off for pondering the place of man in God's creation.

Jesus often uses illustrations from nature in the lessons He teaches.

In the Sermon on the Mount, He draws attention to the birds. Though they live without forethought, they don't lack. He points to the lilies who,  He says, without any effort on their part, are more beautiful than a king in his glory. Surely God who feeds these creatures and clothes these flowers has the ability to care for His listeners then (and us today) without our fretting about it (Matthew 6:26,28).

Another time Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. Though its beginning is tiny, it grows to tree-like size (Matthew 13:31,32).

When talking about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus compares it to a field of grain. Man scatters the seed on the field but after that "the earth yields the crop by itself" without man's help. Just so the kingdom inexplicably grows, and matures on its own (Mark 4:28).

Walking along the road on day, Jesus points to a ripening fig tree. Just as the changes in the tree alert the passersby to the fact that the summer is coming, He says,  so watching current events should tell those who are alert that the coming of the Son of Man is near (Mark 13:28 and Luke 21:30).

Do you ever see spiritual lessons in nature? Let's look at the natural world with eyes open and alert to see what it might be saying to us about God and His ways.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known - Psalm 19:1-2 NLT.

PRAYER: Dear God I am in awe of the way nature reflects Your ways of working in the realm of the spirit. Please open my eyes to see You everywhere. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Day

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Joel 2:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "For the Lord gives voice before His army,

for His camp is very great;

For strong is the One who executes His word.

For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible;

Who can endure it?" Joel 2:11

Have you noticed how, in the Bible, writers see all aspects of life through the lens of God at work? Not only plentiful rain and good crops are seen to come from Him, but also natural disasters and plagues? In our reading today Joel predicts one of these: a plague of locusts. It is sent to discipline and punish the wayward Israelites with the purpose of turning them back to God.

In poetic language Joel paints a picture of this army and then, in verse 11, merges the prediction of the imminent plague with a future "day of the Lord." A footnote in my Bible explains it as "...that future day when the Lord Himself shall lead His armies against the nations and accomplish His judgments; a day when even the natural universe recoils" Jerry Cook, notes on Joel,  New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1164.

The "day of the Lord" or "the last day" or "the great day" appears often in the Bible. It is:

• A day when God will execute kings (Psalm 110:5).

• A day when the proud will be humbled (Isaiah 2:12).

• A day when heaven and earth will shake (Isaiah 13:13).

• Called a "day of Jacob's trouble" — meaning persecution of the Jews? — "But he (Jacob) will be saved out of it" (Jeremiah 30:7).

• A day when the normal means of escape (like paying money) won't work (Ezekiel 7:19).

• A day when even the cycles of day and night are overcome by disaster (Joel 2:31).

• A day that is near (Zephaniah 1:14).

• A day that is hot (Malachi 4:1).

• A day of judgment that is earned (Romans 2:5).

• A day that we live to avoid. Joel advises:

"'Now therefore,' says the Lord,

'Turn to me with all your heart

....rend your heart, and not your garments;

Return to the Lord your God

For He is gracious and merciful

Slow to anger and of great kindness;

And He relents from doing harm" - vs. 12-13.

We don't need to fear the "day of the Lord." We can believe in Jesus and trust Him and His blood to plead our case before God. We can commit ourselves to Him, knowing that He will keep what we have entrusted to Him (our very lives) until that Day. As Paul puts it: "...for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" - 2 Timothy 1:12.

PRAYER: Dear God, Your judgments are fearful. Thank You for sending Jesus who took the blow of Your wrath toward sin for me. Help me to never lose sight that You are a God of judgment as well as a God of love. Amen.

MORE: Locust plagues.

Footnotes in my Bible explain some of the natural phenomenon that accompany a plague of locusts (All info from the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, pages 1163 and 1164).

Joel 2:2: "like morning clouds spread over the mountains" refers to the bright reflection of the sun on the wings of the swarming locusts. Bright glimmers of light dancing off the wings of the myriad of locusts literally turn the sky to a yellow, fog-like texture...a day or more before the creatures actually arrive.

2:2: "a day of darkness" - swarms so thick the sky is turned black as night.

2:3: "a fire devours" - describes a literal fire which often accompanies locust swarms.

2:4: "like the appearance of horses" - The head of a locust looks a lot like a horse.

2:5: "Noise like chariots...noise of a flaming fire" - Locusts when running and flying have a clicking rattling sound. When they eat they can sound like a stubble field on fire.

More on locusts:
"Locust!"
"An Insect's Alter Ego"
"The Reach of the Desert Locust" - all from the Nasa Earth Observatory Site

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rejoicing fields and clapping trees

"Let the field be joyful and all that is in it" - Psalm 96:12

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 96:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "Let the field be joyful and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord" - Psalm 96:12

I have a photo-blog and in it I try to join two of my favorite things: my love of nature with my admiration of the Creator. I have been on the lookout for quotes and Bible verses that will direct the attention of my readers to God the creator of earth's beauty. When I saw the verse above, I immediately matched it to the photo of 'rejoicing' tulips that I happened to catch when the light seemed to illuminate them from within.

The Bible shows nature giving praise in many places and for various reasons.

• The vastness of sky and earth inspire the writer of 1 Chronicles to exclaim "The Lord reigns" - 1 Chronicles 16:31.

• The praise bounty of field and flock direct the psalmist's attention to God in Psalm 65:13 and 96:12 (our focus verse).

• The sound from rivers and trees—like applause perhaps—inspires the writers of Psalm 98:8; 96:12 and Isaiah 55:12.

• In another place the psalmist refers to "everything that moves" in the heavens, earth, and seas as praising God - Psalm 69:34.

• Praise also comes from the sun, moon and stars - Psalm 148:3.

• The creation of humankind and God's dealings with us are more reason for nature to erupt in song and shouts - Isaiah 55:12 and Luke 19:40.

• Nature also praises because of the people of the covenant and God's plan of redemption through their race - Isaiah 44:23; 49:13.

Do we see God in nature and view all of creation as offering praise to God in this biblical way? Or have we been indoctrinated with the theories of our day to the extent that we view the created world as more of a natural / scientific / evolutionary phenomenon than a work of our creator God?

Let's let these ancient poets and seers once again direct our attention Godward as they interpret the heavenly bodies and the earth with all its land and sea life as the handiwork and praise vessels of the God who also formed us and loves us.

PRAYER: Dear God, Your ingenuity and creativity is beyond my comprehension. Help me to view nature as Your work and join in its praise to You. Amen.

MORE: "Trees of the Field" sung by the Gaithers

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

A generous earth

Butchart Gardens - Victoria, BC, Canada

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 67:1-7

TO CHEW ON: “Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase
God, our own God, shall bless us.” Psalm 67:6,7

Is there a connection between our right relationship with God (“Let all the peoples praise You”) and the blessing of natural fruitfulness (“Then the earth shall yield her increase”)?

Here are some Bible examples of God giving increase in the natural world:

• Isaac reaps 100-fold after he repents of the lie he told to Abimelech about Rebekah being his sister (fearful that this Philistine king would kill him to get at his beautiful wife) -  Genesis 26:12.

• God promises the specific blessing of good growing conditions, abundant harvests and safety from man and beast if the Israelites will eschew idol worship, keep Sabbath, reverence the sanctuary and live according to His commands  - Leviticus 26:1-40.

• Isaiah issues an invitation to the abundant life in chapter 55. Though many of God’s promises there are for spiritual prosperity, His largesse spills into the natural realm: “The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands" - Isaiah 55:12.

• God speaks through Hosea in picturesque language about Israel’s harlot ways. They evoke a response in the natural realm: “Therefore I will return and take away my grain in its time and my new wine in its season ...” - Hosea 2:9. But when Israel repents, “The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine and with oil” - Hosea 2:22.

• And we can’t leave out the promise of Malachi 3, about how bringing the tithe into the storehouse will open the windows of heaven - Malachi 3:9-10.

Of course we don’t give give God our lives and obey Him as a bargaining ploy for success and stuff. It doesn’t work that way. But the Bible does link our loyalty and obedience with fruitfulness and increase in the natural world so often, I can’t help but believe there is a real connection.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to follow, obey, and love You out of sincere motives. Thank for the power of Your ways to ensure I have enough and more than enough. Amen.

MORE: God’s ways in the modern marketplace.

Things have changed from a few years ago in the writing and publishing world. The rise of self-publishing,  e-books and digital distribution makes for a new landscape where writers are commonly tasked with promoting and selling their own books—a job that used to be done by publishers. Can God make the earth “yield her increase” there too?

Mary DeMuth assures us He can and does in "The Tension of Marketing for the Christian".

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.