TreesClap | Kristi's Morning Devotional

Beautiful morning – the sunrise is clear, the doves are cooing and the quail are talking. The little red headed finches are flitting back and forth from the ocotillo blossoms to the branches of the mesquite tree.

Perfect time for sipping my coffee and praising the God of all creation.

When I was little we sang a chorus in Sunday School…

“The birds upon the tree tops sing their song;

The angels chant their chorus all day long;

The flowers in the garden blend their hue,

So why shouldn’t I, why shouldn’t you praise Him too?”

So join with me in praising the King of King and Lord of Lords. My Father and my God is worthy of praise.

“The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done.2 Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. 3 They don’t speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. 4 Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world. In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun. 5 It rises like a bridegroom and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race. 6 It travels all the way across the sky. Nothing hides from its heat.” Psalm 19:1-6 CEV

He is worthy of all praise. His glory shines over the whole earth. Let the mountains stand majestic, let the rivers and oceans roar, let the trees of the fields clap their hands and let all creation praise Him.

“Rain and snow fall from the sky and don’t return until they have watered the ground.
Then the ground causes the plants to sprout and grow, and they produce seeds for the farmer and food for people to eat.
¹¹In the same way, my words leave my mouth, and they don’t come back without results.
My words make the things happen that I want to happen. They succeed in doing what I send them to do.

¹²“So you will go out from there with joy. You will be led out in peace. When you come to the mountains and hills, they will begin singing. All the trees in the fields will clap their hands. ¹³Large cypress trees will grow where there were thornbushes. Myrtle trees will grow where there were weeds. All this will happen to make the Lord known, to be a permanent reminder of his goodness and power.” Isaiah 55:10-13 ERV

Praise the Lord with me today and make known His goodness and power!

Today we will look at the final verses of Isaiah 55. What a great way to start the weekend!

“You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! ¹³Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” verses 12 & 13 NLT

I toyed with two titles for this blog – The Hills Are Alive or Blessings of Peace and Joy. Both are appropriate for these verses.

Step back to one of yesterday’s verses.

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

God’s word is the tie in to our joy and peace. The Israelites learned that often. As long as they were serving God and following His word they had peace in their land. However, when they followed after false gods and ignored God’s word they would be defeated in battle and at times were taken into exile.

We read yesterday where Jesus compared our hearts to soil and God’s word to good seed but not all seed is good. Some seeds produce thorns, nettles and stubborn weeds. Those are the seeds of bitterness, anger, self-righteousness, jealousy, maliciousness, envy, strife…

“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,” Colossians 3:8-10 NLT

When we let God’s word take root in our hearts – in our thinking and our actions – He will give us the wherewithal to pull up the weeds. New trees will grow, new life with prosper.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT

God knows there will be times we struggle with thoughts of doubt and anxiousness; He’s always there to see us through.

“When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.” Psalm 94:19

Have you ever asked yourself why, why would God do all of this for me? Why would He spend so much time and effort on my well-being? If you have, here’s the answer:

“These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” verse 13 NLT

There are lots of gods in this world but they enslave instead of bringing freedom. They curse instead of bless; they damn instead of enriching. God is not the damn-er, He is a blesser.

When we walk in His word the world will see the blessings of God in our lives and it will be a testament of his power and love. Even the mountains and the hills will sing and the trees will be clapping with joy!

Tag: TreesClap

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