Life in God’s Garden
June 2017 Issue
About the author — Don Byker
Don Byker has been a pastor since 1984 in various churches and institutional settings. Don and his wife, Donna, are the parents of four adult children, two of whom are married. Donna and Don are also the glad grandparents of three granddaughters. Currently Don is serving in a rural church in Michigan full of gardeners.
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Consider How We Grow
Don Byker
Luke 12:22-31
Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his...Read →
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Planted in God’s Garden
Don Byker
Genesis 2:4-15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.Read →
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Walking in the Garden
Don Byker
Genesis 3:8-13
The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool...Read →
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God’s Cursed Garden
Don Byker
Genesis 3:16-19
Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life...Read →
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Desolation and Rest
Don Byker
Isaiah 55:9-13
As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth . . ...Read →
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Plowing and Rest
Don Byker
Exodus 34:10-21
Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must...Read →
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The Mystery of Seeds
Don Byker
Mark 4:26-29
Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.Read →
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Sun, Rain, and Love for Everyone
Don Byker
Matthew 5:43-48
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.Read →
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Coworkers in God’s Garden
Don Byker
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
We are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field. . . .Read →
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Milk and Honey (and Bees)
Don Byker
Exodus 3:1-10
I have come down to rescue them . . . and to bring them . . . into a good and spacious...Read →
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Volunteers in God’s Garden
Don Byker
Luke 9:43-50
“We tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not...Read →
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Weeds in the Garden
Don Byker
Matthew 13:24-30
While you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.Read →
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Gardening in the City
Don Byker
Jeremiah 29:1-9
Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. . . . Increase in number there; do not decrease.Read →
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Seeking the Peace of the City
Don Byker
Jeremiah 29:4-14
Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it...Read →
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Enjoying the Harvest
Don Byker
2 Timothy 2:1-6
The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.Read →
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Gardening and Vacationing
Don Byker
Psalm 121
The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going...Read →
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The Purpose of Disasters?
Don Byker
1 Kings 8:22-24, 37-40
Forgive and act . . . so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.Read →
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Seeing the Harvest
Don Byker
John 4:27-38
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.Read →
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An Overwhelming Harvest
Don Byker
Matthew 9:35-38
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his...Read →
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An Abundant Harvest
Don Byker
Luke 12:13-21
The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do?'Read →
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Transplanted
Don Byker
Psalm 80:1-11
You transplanted a vine from Egypt. . . . You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.Read →
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Transplants in Trouble
Don Byker
Psalm 80:12-19
Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.Read →
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Fading Light
Don Byker
John 12:27-36
Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before...Read →
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Produce or Perish?
Don Byker
Luke 13:1-9
‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.’Read →
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A Time to Uproot
Don Byker
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: . . . a time to plant...Read →
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Continuing Fruit
Don Byker
Revelation 14:6-13
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. . . . They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.Read →
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Multiplication in God’s Garden
Don Byker
John 12:20-26
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed...Read →
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Annuals and Perennials
Don Byker
1 Corinthians 15:35-49
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.Read →
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The Lows and Highs of Gardening
Don Byker
Isaiah 65:17-25
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. . . . My chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.Read →
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God’s Consummate Garden
Don Byker
Revelation 21:1-7; 22:1-5
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”Read →
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