Corona Devotionals

With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.  ( 24)  But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.     ~Acts 2:23-24 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!  ~Acts 3:15 ~~~~~~ Who nailed Jesus to the cross?   It wasn't just the Roman soldiers with hammers in their hands. It wasn't just the high-ranking crooked government officials...  It wasn't just the (misled) religious elite... It wasn't just the lawless gentiles (non-Jews)... It was us. Our sin nailed Him to that wood.  Our pride, dishonesty, anger, lust, and self-promotion pounded those nails into the hands and feet of Jesus. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.   ~Acts 2:23 You killed the author of life...  ~Acts 3:15 And day to day, our sin can pound on us as we (BAM!) screw up again.  As we   (BAM!) fall to temp

I lost my temper yesterday. Not physically, but certainly verbally and definitely emotionally. Anger is not a sin, but how we handle it can be. "D on’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:26).    Whoops , guilty on both of those accounts.  And I felt terrible about it.  "My people" knew I was in an ugly place, and they (lovingly, patiently, and possibly enabling-ly) left me there.  But this morning the Lord "had a chat with me".  I say down with Him and his Word, and He proceeded to discipline me (and any of us that have let our sin, pride, anger, etc. overtake us).  The verses He used told about David, but they were really about me and possibly you.   David decided to take a census and  go and count the people of Israel and Judah (2 Samuel 24:1). He had no real purpose in doing so (except pride), and his army commander (Joab) even questioned the benefit of taking the census, but David w

Where do we start?  And  what should we do?    We've realized Who Jesus is and we even want to follow Him and live for Him, but how?   Where do we start?  And  what should we do? The disciple Peter gives us some great advice and a few simple steps to kick off our walk in following Jesus (or to be refreshed in living for Him).   A few months after Jesus had risen from the grave (just as He said He would), Peter was sharing with people about Jesus and (like us) over 3,000 of them realized Who Jesus was, they wanted to follow Him and live for Him, but they wondered  how?  And Where to start ?  They literally asked Peter, " What should we do?" (Acts 2:37). Peter provides an initial "how-to" manual for moving ourselves  from crooked  to saved, and then he goes on with simple steps of growing God's family beyond ourselves and including others. First things first--" What should we do?" (Acts 2:37) (38) Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins

What are we seeing? I'm sure I don't know, but we should (at least)  be aware  of what we are looking for. All of the events/trends/changes in the world and in people are hard to define today.  But what if they have already been pre-defined  by the Bible? People turning away from church and the Lord after years of following Him. People passionately turning to the  church and the Lord, after being lukewarm in their faith or even unbelieving previously. Children taking an active role in sharing the Gospel. Young men and women worried about their future and hopeless. Young men and women emboldened and "seeing" their callings to be used for God tomorrow and  today.  Those wise in years and in faith interpreting the times and the Bible as intersecting. People (in all classes of society) sharing their faith like never before: in conversation, at work, in school, in bondage, in life.  Churches becoming bolder and more urgent about sharing the Gospel. Natural wonders. Natu

Ever had an encounter where you felt like someone was "speaking your language"?  They understood you, or "where-you-were-coming-from", or they just "got" you? Maybe even in an unexplainable way? Some Sunday's I feel as if the pastor is preaching only  to me because the message/encouragement/conviction is so  specific to me.  He's "speaking my language".  But that's not really the case--it is God that is "speaking" to me (through the message). I would be blessed if this devotional ever "speaks your language" and the verses/sentiments/application/timing feel specific to you.   But it's not really my writings that are "speaking your language"--it is the Lord "speaking" to you through them. Sometimes it's a person, a song, an event, or anything that "speaks our language" and strikes a chord in our heart/touches us personally/astonishes us in a way that we could have never orchestr

On the outside looking in... No, actually sometimes it feels like we are on the  inside  (of our mind, our burdens, our grief, our stress, our sorrow, our  prison),  and we are looking out to everyone and everything on the  outside.   But we are separated.  There is a barrier between  us  and  them. Sometimes the barrier is perspective.  Their smiles, their carefree attitude, their being-unaware-or-unaffected by the pressures of the world and today---it's a barrier that they have crossed but we cannot.  Not today, not  right now.   Pinned to the ground by the pressures of our mind and heart--we have a barrier that is unsurmountable, but we don't have the energy to attempt escape anyway. Sometimes the barrier is tangible, physical,  actual.   Life doesn't just "feel" heavy,  it is.   The weight is unbearable and isolating.   The sorrow suffocates.  The pain paralyzes.  The hopelessness halts us in our tracks. And (regardless of the real or imagined causes),

At our family reunion last year, kids flitted from here to there, a newborn was fawned-over, and three patriarchs were happily reunited for the first time in many years. There were lots of highlights, but the true-tales of days-gone-by and the adventures of yesterday spun by the old-timers were the most special part. We all pulled-up-a-chair and were blessed to listen. Reaching back into my childhood memories, I remember traveling to Peoria, Illinois (dad's side) and Cambridge, Ohio (mom's side) for family reunions. The character's and content varied but each side had age-old stories that were repeated year after year. Adventures of yesterday were shared and we all pulled-up-a-chair and were blessed to listen. Can you recall parents or grandparents passing-down-history as they shared a memory or adventure? My Papa used to delight in retelling of his father, "Tuffy", who was a rough-and-tumble "boxer" back in the day. How I wish I could pull-up-a-c

The Lord is with us today...that is a given, and it is certain.   It is not a question of whether we have been "good enough" to earn God's favor.  (He never said we had to.)  It is merely a question of whether we have invited Him into our hearts and lives and professed Him as our Savior.  ( If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  ( 10)  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  ~Romans 10:9-10). That's the catalyst of our relationship with God and His Son, Jesus.  But once we have declared  and believed , then it's go time, and it's time to speak .   God chose  us to be in His family .  ( Is it not my family God has chosen?  ~2 Samuel 23:5).   We are special to God, but before we get on our high horses, know that  all people  are special to God, not just us.  God "chooses"

Our house and hearts have been a little more full this past week.  Each bedroom had one or two extra bodies in it, and air mattresses and beds-made-of-blankets covered the floors at night.  Giggles and bickering and adventures filled the day and evening hours.   My sister and family were in town from out-of-state.   Have you hosted any family or friend company lately?  Or maybe someone is scheduled on your docket. Entertaining loved ones is busy and messy and non-stop and chaotic and quite exhausting. And wonderful.  ( "Umm, hmm, and having a marvelous time.") So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.  ~Ecclesiastes 8:15 Yes, life is busy, and connected-life-with-others pushes us out of our routines and even comfort zones... and it's worth it.  ( Let us think of ways to motivate one an