We all know that life can be hard, and working in the garden and trying to grow a garden is hard work. In our lives, if we want to grow spiritually closer to God, it takes work and effort in each of our hearts. The truth that God gives us is from his Word. It is the seeds that we need to plant in our lives and be willing to accept. The seed has to have water so it can grow. We need the active working of God in our lives so the truth can come alive in our lives. As we grow, we need be close to Gods will in our lives, in the light of His will for our lives, so we can continue to grow for him. As God prepares us to do his work, we must be rooted in the foundational truths that God has for us in his Word. Like a garden, we have to be aware of the dangers that come in and can contaminate our effectiveness for God. All the steps that we need to take so that we might be fruitful for God, to have a final product that is worthy before God when one day we meet him. I hope that you will take the journey and see that you too can have a beautiful garden for God.

The NIV God s Word for Gardeners Bible is a hardcover devotional Bible designed to highlight the many ways God speaks to his people using the language of seeds, cultivation, growth and gardens. Put down your roots and let the Ultimate Gardener tend to your soul."

Is your heart hurting? Are you struggling to 'keep it all together' under a heavy load? Is your journey leaving your heart battered and bruised? Are your life circumstances pinning you down and drowning your dreams? Ah, friend. I have been there, too. When your heart is hungry, when your spirit withers under fierce opposition, when your soul is desperate to find what it so desperately craves, nothing but more of Jesus, more of God's peaceful presence will satisfy. Come with me to the garden - its leafy boughs sing soothing songs, therapeutic to the soul. Its restful peace restores, its blossoms bless and encourage. The lessons a garden teaches are accessible to all - and God's green-leafed grace can bring health and vitality to your desolate spirit as you stroll its paths. So come with me to the garden. If you are anything like me, you will find what your soul thirsts for so frantically among its fruits and foliage. You may just find God there...

There’s a strong biblical connection between people and trees. They both come from dirt. They’re both told to bear fruit. In fact, arboreal language is so often applied to humans that it’s easy to miss, whether we're talking about family trees, passing along our seed, cutting someone off like a branch, being rooted to a place, or bearing the fruit of the Spirit. It’s hard to deny that trees mean something, theologically speaking. This book is in many ways a memoir, but it’s also an attempt to wake up the reader to the glory of God shining through his creation. One of the first commands to Adam and Eve was to “work and keep” the garden. Award-winning author and songwriter Andrew Peterson, being as honest as possible, shares a story of childhood, grief, redemption, and peace, by walking through a forest of memories: “I trust that by telling my story, you’ll encounter yours. Hopefully, like me, you’ll see that the God of the Garden is and has always been present, working and keeping what he loves.” Sometimes he plants, sometimes he prunes, but in his goodness he intends to reap a harvest of righteousness.

Are you looking for a way to keep your family engaged in the true spiritual nourishment Lent has to offer? Tending the Garden of Our Hearts offers family devotions based on the scriptures for each day of Great Lent, including questions to discuss and ponder and an appendix full of hands-on activities to bring the lessons of the season to life. Whether you use it every day or dip into it occasionally as time permits, this book will help the whole family get more out of this crucial season of the Orthodox year.