Trees are more alive and amazing than we could ever imagine! Mother Beech trees protect their younglings. Families of trees share nutrients through their roots and keep each other alive. Messages are sent via roots or scents from one tree to other trees to warn them of bug attacks. Maybe Isaiah’s idea of the trees clapping their hands in worship isn’t as far-fetched as we may think (Isaiah 55:12)!

In the Scriptures, the story of trees tells the story of the Bible. The first big mistake happened when two folks named Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6). But then the first rescue happened, when God protected them from eating also of the tree of life (3:22). Later, the Bible describes those who stay planted in God’s ways, as those who are like trees planted by streams of water (Psalm 1). Christians see the Cross as a metaphorical tree of life— where Jesus laid down his life to save us from sin and death. And then the story of the Bible ends in Revelation with God’s invitation to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 2:7).

So basically, any time you see a tree, it’s a beautiful reminder of God’s love and rescue!

That’s why we decided to make a prayer for the trees. It’s not only about caring for Creation, although we’re big fans of that too, it’s also about protecting these monuments to the goodness and love of God.

𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).

𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬
Arborist-God, Tree-planter, Forester, you created trees to provide shelter and food, and as monuments of your love and beauty. Thank you for the trees. Help us to be good stewards of these ancient giants. Help us pause to enjoy the way they look, feel, and smell. And, when they sway in the wind, may we join them in clapping our hands to worship you. Amen.

#prayer #dailyprayer #dailydevotional #verseoftheday #christianliving #reclaimtoday

Contributed by @stiggycreative
 
He is with you every step of the way.⁣
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🤍⁣⁣
 
#artistfeature #christiancreative #christianliving #encouragement #reclaimtoday #verse #bibleverse #verseoftheday #bible

So, your boss pulls you aside to talk about your performance and gently points out some areas for improvement. Or your friend tells you about something you said that hurt them, even though it’s not what you intended.

How do you react when you receive constructive criticisms like this?

Some people feel embarrassed, or blame others for their mistakes. Some respond in anger, either at the person, or at themselves.

Proverbs 9:7-9 describes the kind of person who receives correction well, and the kind of person who doesn’t.

Oftentimes, we want to reject any criticism because our pride is hurt. But we serve a God who only corrects us out of love (Proverbs 3:11-12), and he sometimes uses people in our lives to do it. We can humbly ask for wisdom as we examine our hearts, and because of his love,  we know we’re forgiven when we repent of whatever he reveals.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝟗:𝟕-𝟗
“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.”

𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭
The “mocker” attacks the person correcting them and takes correction too personally (v. 7-8)
A wise person learns from correction and loves the one who corrects them (v. 8-9)

𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞
Wise and loving Father, I praise you for putting people in my life like _______ to gently correct me.

God who instructs, I know your correction is good for me, even if it doesn’t always feel good to receive.

𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬
Humble Shepherd, lead me into humility and clarity as I consider the correction I received about _______.

Gracious God, fill me with kindness and compassion when I have to give feedback to others.

𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬
Guiding Savior, I lay down my pride as I listen for your voice.

Loving Father, my heart is open to learning from your instruction as I’m trying to figure out _________.

#scripture #dailydevotional #bibleverse #verseoftheday #christianliving #reclaimtoday

Artwork by @annie.adsit

Trees are more complex than we can imagine, declaring the everyday, glory of God. And in the Bible, they also tell the story of God.

First, fruit trees (Genesis 2:4-9). In the beginning, God planted a garden full of the tastiest, most abundant trees ever. And then people were made, placed in this garden to tend to and enjoy these amazing trees. God created us to enjoy the literal fruits of our labor.

But then a second tree enters the story—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). “Don’t eat of that tree!” God warned. But the enemy convinced the first humans that God wasn’t protecting them, but withholding. They saw the fruit and it looked good, perhaps tastier than the others around them. They disobeyed and brought down a curse upon themselves. But God rescued Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life, which would’ve cursed them forever!

God didn’t abandon humans. He kept showing up in special places like the Oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1). Clusters of trees in the ancient world were often used as natural temples to idols. Abraham spent some time at one of these clusters, and met the true God! God promised him that one of his descendants would bless the whole world and make all things right, even for those who made mistakes.

The promised son of Abraham, the Son of God, shows up. He finds Zacchaeus, a sleazy and rejected tax collector who took advantage of his own people to make himself rich, watching him from a tree (Luke 19:4). But after meeting Jesus, he becomes a completely different kind of person, returning what he’s stolen with interest.

Jesus didn’t stop at rescuing Zacchaeus. He allowed himself to be hung on a tree to rescue the whole world from sin and death (Acts 5:30). He took on the tree-curse (Galatians 3:13) to undo the bad decisions of our ancestors in the original garden.

And, it gets better. In the final book of the Bible, humans are invited to eat of the Tree of life—the one from the beginning of the story that God had to protect them from (Revelation 22:1-2)! But now, instead of eating from it and being cursed forever, we can eat of it and find true, abundant life with God (Revelation 2:7).

Many of us want to change the world. We want to make an impact in global issues like modern-day slavery, poverty, and environmental pressures. But then we run into the size of the issues— entire states ravaged by a hurricane, the realization that most of the things we buy are made by sweat-shop labor—and we feel small and insignificant. Sometimes, their magnitude can lead us to give up altogether.

But we can impact big issues by small and consistent actions. For example: buying is voting. Every scan of an item is a vote for the types of items we’re looking for. If we consistently make ethical purchases, even big chains will begin offering more of those products and less of the others.

Or, what about the loneliness epidemic? We can’t fix it for everyone, everywhere, but we could be a friend to someone, somewhere, today. Perhaps the goal shouldn’t be “to change the world, but to make it our daily goal to change someone’s world” (Daniel Ryan Day, Ten Days Without).

If you want to make a difference, but don’t know where to start, here’s a scripture and a prayer to consider. 

𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36).

𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬
Ruler of the Universe, you’re big enough to handle global issues, and you invite me to join you in making all things right. Jesus, you initiated your kingdom, and then called your followers to continue the work on earth as it is in heaven. But as I think about how big these issues are, I’m overwhelmed and feel like I can’t make a difference. Help me trust you to draw my attention to the needs and people you’d have me care for today. And may my small, seemingly insignificant, acts of justice be multiplied by you in bringing your kingdom to earth. Amen.

#prayer #reclaimtoday

Contributed by @ymi_today
 
[ᴇᴅɪᴛᴏʀ’ꜱ ɴᴏᴛᴇ: 𝘖𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦 6. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 Luke 12:32 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥.]
 
🙅‍♂️ When you’ve received countless rejections from the jobs you’ve applied and your confidence is completely shattered—what would trusting and obeying God look like?
 
Article written by Michele Ong.
 
#artistfeature #christiancreative #christianliving #encouragement #reclaimtoday #verse #bibleverse #verseoftheday #bible

“I looked a lot like a model ‘good’ Christian while fearing deep down that I wasn’t “there” yet. I was terrified that my faith wasn’t good enough.”
 
Move from fear-based faith into the freedom and relief God offers. Link for full article in bio!

Contributed by @anthonygurrola
 
Beloved, your worship to God is not limited to where you can “feel” it.
 
In fact, some of the greatest worship we will ever produce will come from a place of choice rather than emotion.
 
It will require obedience over ambiance.
 
Because God is on the mountain top.
 
He is at the height of Youth Camp.
 
He is in the spontaneous worship service.
 
He is in the mega church.
 
He is in the good business and bank account.
 
He is also to be found in the valley you deem a setback.
 
He is also back home in what we call the real world.
 
He is in the day to day. Because in every day to day, there is glory to glory.
 
He is in the hidden chapel the world calls irrelevant, but Yahweh calls faithful.
 
Beloved, if you want to find God,
 
Search for His dwelling place.
 
And if you can’t find His dwelling place,
 
Look no further than the mirror you’re afraid to face.
 
You are the temple of the most high.
 
You are seated in heavenly places.
 
You are His dwelling place.
 
Therefore, where you are is where you can worship.
 
Because it’s not about mountains and valleys and church buildings and homesteads,
 
It’s about spirit and truth.
 
And the spirit is not limited to one location.
 
For He has always hovered over the earth,
 
And the truth is not limited to one style.
 
For it has always set us free.
 
And who the son sets free is free indeed.
 
Free to shout on the mountain,
 
And pour out in the valley.
 
Free to dance in good health, and take joy during the pain.
 
Free to sing a song of hope with your church,
 
And free to do the chores of your house unto His glory.
 
Yahweh knows no bounds.
 
Neither should our worship.
 
If He is the fixation, we don’t have to worry about our location.
 
For where you stand is Holy ground.
 
And where you worship, is where He is found.
 
#artistfeature #christiancreative #christianliving #encouragement #reclaimtoday #verse #bibleverse #verseoftheday #bible