Corona Devotionals

I can't help it (and nor do I want to).  Every year at this time the Scriptures beckon me to retrace the last steps of Jesus alongside of Him, connecting-the-dots and relating them to my walk with Him.  His time with the disciples, the Last Supper, prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His questioning by the authorities, the taunting and physical abuse, the crucifixion....AND THE RESURRECTION. This story never gets old to me.  And the cycle of personal guilt, undeserved salvation and joy never gets old either.  There is a pain and pleasure in trekking through it at Eastertide, and I love both sides.  We cannot have one without the other.   And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” (22) They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” (23) Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. (24) The Son of Man will go just as it is ...

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” (37) He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  (38) Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”  ~Matthew 26:36-38 Jesus said that his  soul (was) overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Why?   What made Him so sad? Me. My  sin.  My lies.  My  lust.  My pride.  My self-righteousness.  My  materialism.  My  slander.  My idols. Lord, You had to take on MY sin at the cross, and You had to take on all of it.  It made you sad.  More than that, it caused Your soul to be  overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Please f orgive me for not being more daily-aware of what   You did for me on Good Friday.  ...

Our family has recently adopted. And a growing number of families in our community are adopting with us. I encourage you to consider "adoption" too. I use the word "adopt" in a simple sense, but in the "best-we-can-do-right-now" sense. We didn't adopt a child (quite the contrary). We didn't adopt a puppy and we didn't adopt a new doctrine, but rather, we are acting on an ancient doctrine spoken by God. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  ~James 1:27 Our family has a great-uncle (91 years and spunky!) in a local nursing home, and I pray for him and the residents often. Over the past year of isolation and quarantining, you and I have felt lonely and depressed at times, but what if you (still) couldn't leave your room or see any relatives? Life would be hard, I think. So, we write Great Uncle Neal ...

Who doesn't like a happy ending? We all do. And the truth is, as long as I can remember, I envision and joyfully hope (and sometimes pray) for the "happy ending" to my scenarios. Things will "work out". And much of the time they do...except for when they don't. You study hard, and you receive good grades. You are kind to others and others are kind to you. Happy endings are sometimes logical (as with studying), and sometimes cyclical, as with "do unto others as you would like them to do unto you" (Matthew 7:12). But not always. I can recall my first big swallow of an illogical and unhappy ending. I was a young professional, and happily busting my tail at a job I truly enjoyed. I worked hard. I put in long, extra and weekend hours. I improved their bottom line. And yet when it was time for my yearly review, although I received a positive verbal report, there was no financial compensation (raise). Yes, they were grateful for my hard work a...

Keep it up!  Keep doing the next right thing for God. The logic of "doing what's right" is not hard or complicated, especially for the Christ follower.  Logically, we "know" what the best choice is in a situation, and  (hopefully) much of the time we are  making choices that way.  Be encouraged today to stay steady and focused in doing the next right thing for God. Because sometimes we fail in doing the next right thing for God.  We allow passion/exhaustion/impatience/or temper to decide for us, and we act/speak/decide in the flesh  instead of being led by the Holy Spirit to do the next right thing for God.   No one is perfect, and God doesn't expect us to be, but the reality of consequence is on us when we succumb to pride or flesh instead of doing the next right thing. Moses was a man chosen but God to lead the Israelites out of the slavery of Egypt and into a Promised Land "flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8) provided by God....

I am grateful to have a bouquet of fresh flowers on our table.  They have been brightening my day and mood for days.  Just looking at them or catching a whiff of their light-sweet-scent alters my attitude for the better. But when I wasn't looking, time passed and so did their water supply, and as I walked past the vase yesterday, rubbery stems hung hunched-over with worn-blooms that threatened to close all-together.  They were wilting and looked sad and worn out.  They needed revived.   Boy, can I relate.   Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for Christ and life one moment, and then when I am not looking, I get caught up in the rat-race, the rush, the troubles and the concerns-of-the-world, and when I am focused on all of that, I am distracted from focusing on Christ.  And I wilt.  My mood, my thoughts, my words and my body become like a  rubbery stem hunched-over with worn-blooms that threaten to close all-together.  I get wilty, sad...

The other night after soccer practice, our daughter slinked into the car, worn out.  Not from the rigors of drills and sprints but from the depleting nature of mean girls.  I wanted to cry. I know women of all ages can be rough, but  I wasn't prepared for the heavy-hearted son that plopped himself in the front seat after track practice the following day.  A big kid was (literally) pushing him around and to the back of the line repeatedly, so that he didn't get to take a turn all practice, all the while a posse of boys belittled him and shoved him around.  He was unhurt but he sat there next to me now, subdued and quiet.  I wanted to cry. In discussing this with him later, he brushed it off and finally blurted out that I should talk to our other  son about what he  has been going through at school.  What?  I wanted to cry. After some prying, I got a third story (from the third child) of hard-times in young-adulthood. It turns out the bo...

Are we giving the Lord our best portion ?   It's a bit convicting to get serious about answering that one.  Am I giving the Lord the best portion  of myself, my gifts, my finances, and my heart? He deserves our best portion, and He actually asks us for it too.   The Lord also told Moses, (26) “Give these instructions to the Levites: When you receive from the people of Israel the tithes I have assigned as your allotment, give a tenth of the tithes you receive—a tithe of the tithe—to the Lord as a sacred offering. (27) The Lord will consider this offering to be your harvest offering, as though it were the first grain from your own threshing floor or wine from your own winepress. (28) You must present one-tenth of the tithe received from the Israelites as a sacred offering to the Lord. This is the Lord’s sacred portion, and you must present it to Aaron the priest. (29)  Be sure to give to the Lord the best portions of the gifts given to you. (30) “Also, g...

Most people want privileges but not the responsibility that comes with them. We want what others have, but we (most likely) don't know the full story of how they have come to earn said position or materials.    The Israelites were God's "chosen people" but (like us) they often missed the mark on connecting the dots between privilege and responsibility.  They wanted the fame and popularity but they had no idea what responsibilities (and pressure) God had placed on those that were in the leadership positions.   In the Book of Numbers,  God caused Aaron's staff to "bud" with blossoms and ripe almonds, choosing  Aaron (Moses' brother) to "represent the priesthood".  As the head priest, Aaron "appeared" to be the big man on campus (next to Moses), and there were privileges:   (5)  “You yourselves must perform the sacred duties inside the sanctuary and at the altar. If you follow these instructions, the Lord’s anger will never again bla...

Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you. ( 5) Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.” (6) So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. ( 7) Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant. ( 8) When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds! ~Numbers 17:4-8 When was the last time we counted our blessings? I know and I experience the drain that day-to-day life can take on our spirit and our energy, but shame on us if we allow the "stresses" of our often privileged lives to weigh us down. Because the reality for most of us--if we know ...

In high school I used to enjoy being a part of our musical each Spring. Please don't get any ideas that I was an actress or had a voice because neither are true, but I went to a tiny high school and so everyone always got a part. I learned the importance of an understudy. This is an actor who learns another's lines and role in order to be able to replace them in case they are unable to perform. Like an insurance policy, an understudy is often not needed, but if necessary: the show could not go on without them. As I am reading in the Book of Numbers about Moses and his leadership of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness and complained/ were blessed and complained/ witnessed the LORD's presence and complained, I began to wonder how Moses could put up with all of it? I get fed up with my kids and myself sometimes after say 40 minutes, let-alone 40 years like Moses! But way beyond the patience that Moses had with the Israelites' lack-of-gratitude for God ...