Corona Devotionals

I've seen a bald eagle a few times in my life: Alaska, Missouri, Medina(!) and the other day coasting in an arc around a lake until it alighted on the top-most branch of a leafless tree.  Each and every time it is a majestic, breath-taking experience for me, right up there with viewing a rainbow.  Bald eagles are at the top of the chain in terms of fowl-forms, if you ask me.  Their size and the power in their wingspan and glide fills me with awe.  What must it feel like to soar on wings like theirs? And many days I would like to.  Today, for example.  The hamster-wheel of life keeps turning and there seem to be so many hamsters running without any direction at all.  People have invented their own truth these days and created their own moral base, neither of which have any ties to God and the Book He wrote on truth and morality. Yes, I'd like to fly away some days. The view down here is getting very cloudy.  And one must have eagle-eyes to see stra...

Do you have an E-ZPass?   They are little boxes that you can stick to the inside of your windshield and when you get to a toll-booth on the turnpike (in about 15 states), you needn't fish around for that Turnpike Ticket that always goes missing.  You don't have to rush to find a couple bucks or exact change for the fee.  The E-ZPass takes care of the worry and stress, and the toll-gate magically "goes up" when you pull up to the turnpike booth. It's really quite amazing, relieving and easy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For God so loved  the world that he gave  his one and only Son,  that whoever believes  in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16 Did you know that God offers us an E-ZPass to Heaven and eternity with Him?  Except we don't stick it to the windshield of our car, we accept His son, Jesus into our hearts.  We stick Jesus to the inside of our hearts and minds, and ...

Have you looked in the rearview mirror lately? Yesterday as I was driving west, the sky was still dark and morning had not yet broken.  But changing lanes, I glanced in my rearview mirror, and caught my breath at the peach-purple-pink-watercolor sunrise that filled my mirror and the eastern horizon.   The sky in front of me was not yet lit, but I could see such beauty behind me. I realized that God was painting me a picture, if I wanted to "see" it.   The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. ~Psalm 126:3 I took an emotional pit stop (I kept driving physically!) and began to review the hand of God in my life over the past few years and months.  Too often, we are so busy moving forward that we neglect to stop and look back on where we have been, and it can be a gorgeous view.   There are certainly trials in our lives which run the gamut from sickness and death, to disagreements and lack of purpose.  But I believe God i...

It's easy to see our own side of an argument, but as I prayed for some guidance, God gently reminded me that although I was pointing a finger at someone else, that left 4 other fingers pointing back at me.   We can't change anyone else or their stances but we can re-examine our position.  Not our position in the disagreement, but our position before Christ.  Psalm 15 (A psalm of David.)  1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.  3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.  4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.  5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forev...

"Weary" sounds like such a sad word.  I picture an old lady creeping along, bent over with a cane and heavy satchel on her back.   Wait, I am that lady.   The other night as I jumped out of the car for the final time that day, I gathered the bags, travel coffee  mug, water bottle, briefcase, laptop, the couple-bags-of-groceries, my glasses and the keys: and I could barely shut the door behind me!   I was too burdened with all of my "stuff". Then I had a gestalt!  (Great word which means recognizing how the little things come together to make a big thing or idea.) Me gathering and making myself almost immobile with my "necessary" belongings for the multiple daily car-rides AND the car-trips themselves (running to practices, gas station, the store, even work), it can all multiply and render us too burdened to move....exhausted...and weary. Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.  ~Matthew 11:28 ~~~~~~...

What do we really want as Christians?   Oftentimes, I think we contradict ourselves in our answers.   We want to follow Jesus, in our life actions and in our hearts, but we want Him to "look" like many things, and sadly, we often just want Jesus to look like us:   To validate what we  think and feel. We say  want Biblical messages preached that dive deep into applying God's word to our lives.  But our eyes get heavy and we mentally doze through sermons. We attempt to dig into the Bible, but when God's truth convicts us in sin or pride, we take a step back because we would rather not feel uncomfortable or have God get too deep into our business. God desperately wants to be a part of our daily experience of life.  He comes to us in many forms to "meet us where we are at", but we must be strong and wise  (Biblically)  to discern God from the imposters in our lives. There was an odd man named John the Baptist that began telling peo...

In Genesis Chapter 32, Jacob had an interesting experience where he literally wrestled with God.   Have we ever done the same?  Or are we currently struggling with God for control of a relationship, situation or sickness?  Or perhaps it is not God we are wrestling with, but something else.  Either way, we can be sure that the Lord is working on us and in us through our struggle. Jacob's wrestling match occurred during the night (some of my mental ones do too!), and I am not sure what his visibility of his opponent was like, but I know that we also often wrestle with faceless enemies in our lives: such as status, fear, memories, or expectations.  And sometimes we know exactly who or what we are struggling against: the circumstance won't change or the person won't budge.  Either way, the Lord is working in us even as we struggle with Him or with our current situation.   Jacob wrestled with "the man" all night--he didn't give up or give in....

I think that most of us have heard this story before, but when was the last time we wrote ourselves into it?   36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. ~Luke 7:36-38 Lord, we are sinful.  We are immoral.  Even on our best behavior, we fall short each day, and You see inside of our souls and know the depths of our sins, whether we admit them to ourselves and others or not.  But like this woman, let us acknowledge who we are , and approach You unashamedly in seeking Your freedom from our sin.  This woman  heard he (Jesus)  was eating there , and she went!  ...

She (Wisdom)  offers you long life in her right hand,  and riches and honor in her left.   17  She will guide you down delightful paths;  all her ways are satisfying.   18  Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her;  happy are those who hold her tightly.  ~Proverbs 3:16-18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yesterday I did a seasonal switch of clothing in my drawers.  Under-the-bed boxes slid out, were emptied, then refilled with out-of-season clothes, and finally they slithered back under the bed.  But some of the 6-months-under-the-bed shirts and pants needed refreshing, and so into the laundry they went.  As loads were washed and hung and folded, I was overcome by the great smell of the clean clothes. Honestly, the scent-explosion of fresh-laundry that wafted from the newly-washed items blew me away and made my day.  It smelled SO good.  It was the scent-b...

The heaviness sits on me like a school bully in a back alley.  I can't shake the weight of the...what?  What is it, exactly  that settles over us some days (some weeks!)?   Is it the weight of the responsibilities of life?  We can't get it all done, or we don't even know how to get it all done? Is it the weight of fear and anxiety?  All of the what-if's that bombard our brains and then seep into our spirit, and the weight is crushing, crippling.  Some days I feel like I am frozen in all of it. Or maybe the weight of money keeps bearing down with more mass every day.  There's no way out of the debt and the accruing bills, or so it seems. Perhaps it's the people.  Our "loved ones" are sometimes so hard to love and I hate myself sometimes because I am the one that is hard to love .  Relationships and our own emotions are heavy burdens at times. We need saving, because the pressure of all of our "weights" can become way too much to bear...

What can we do when fear or doubt crowds out our better judgement?  We have a good head on our shoulders, and we know where we are supposed  to be headed, but something gets in the way: our head.    Our thoughts, our questions, and assumed situations take over dictating the story of our lives, and we become so wrapped up in the detours in our minds, that we get off of God's track.   Maybe we know who we are, and it isn't thoughts or anxieties making us question our path, but it is exhaustion, frustration or repetitiveness from our current roles.  Titles we know  we are meant to be and do, like spouse, parent, adult-child, employee.  But we can find ourselves second-guessing these roles and our commitments to them.   We need to re-group!  Even if we wonder how we will make-it-through somedays, God has blessed our path leading up to today, and He has big plans for our tomorrows.  He has called us to who we are right now , a...

Sometimes we have to agree to disagree.   Sometimes in life, we can perform above average, go the extra mile and give 'till it hurts, but there can still be someone standing in our way  (physically or emotionally)  of crossing the finish line.  Not only do they try and block our way, but they may even attempt to claim the credit for us getting to that point. How in the world do we handle those kind of people in our lives?  I think we get a solid example from Jacob in the Book of Genesis:  Sometimes we have to agree to disagree.   Jacob had worked for Laban for twenty years.  Jacob was married to 2 of Laban's daughter's (approved behavior in their day), and Jacob had lots of kids and his flocks had increased mightily because God's favor was on him.   Whether jealousy or spite, Laban's mood and favor toward Jacob had taken a turn, and Jacob knew it was time to move on.  He chatted with his wives, who had noticed the treatmen...