Corona Devotionals

Way back in the old Testament days,  Naaman was  the commander of an army for the king of Aram .  These two guys ( Naaman and the king) came before the Lord "all wrong", but the Lord received them anyway.  God cleansed and healed Naaman anyway, and all at no cost.   The Lord provides the same (unbelievable) process to us! Watch for our faith story in Naaman's  story:  (1) The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the   Lord   had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.    ~2 Kings 5:1-19 Affliction : We all have sin that we cannot get rid of on our own.  We also have circumstances that we can do nothing about (Naaman had leprosy).  But God can do something about everything --if we will bring the situation and ourselves before Him in humility and not pride.  (And Naaman is proof that even when we are too caught up in ourselves, the Lord can still (mercifully)

I really miss the days when I used to read stories to our kids, and one of my all-time favorites was "Stone Soup".   In this tale, a convincing visitor comes to a town and although the townspeople are initially hesitant to share any ingredients to help in making his "stone soup", one by one they each add their unique offerings and it makes a delicious batch of soup with enough for all to enjoy.  The most delicious part of the story is that each person has something unique to add and the final "product" would not be the same if they hadn't.  ~~~ One day a man...brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”   ( 43)  “What?” his servant exclaimed. “Feed a hundred people with only this?”   But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the  Lord  says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some

Passed down from his Grampa, my husband has a green thumb and so we have a number of "unique" bushes and plants growing in and around our yard and most of them have an intended (or hoped-for) edible outcome, from elderberry bushes to mulberries and mint leaves, to a veggie garden lining the side of the house.     So, one day when I was making ranch dressing, I asked our daughter to go and collect some chives and she happily went out the door and came back shortly with some chive stems, which I diced and threw in the milky mix for supper later. As we dined, I noticed that the ranch dressing wasn't very "ranchy" and I asked our daughter to review her pre-supper order-of-events.  We soon realized that she had cut something else ( "I thought they looked like chives, Mommy" ).  We all had a laugh (no one got sick), and I pulled out a bottle of ranch from the pantry to pour over fresh scoops of salad.  We will both be more careful the next time she "ha

Does anyone need a word of protection spoken over them today? Perhaps we do, and we know it: We know what is on the docket today or this week (for us or a loved one), and we need (emotional, spiritual, mental) protection.  Depending on the situation and the rigors required, we may even need physical protection.   Yes , we  need a word of protection spoken over us today. Or perhaps we do  need a word of protection spoken over us (or a loved one) today , and we don't know   it.  We're sitting/kneeling/pausing before God right now, but we have no idea  what ( evil, violent, trouble, wicked ness) is coming around the bend toward us today.     Whether we know it or not-- Yes,  we could use a word of protection spoken over us, and our good/all-knowing/all-powerful/merciful Father in Heaven speaks a word of protection over us today through Psalm 140 . ( 1)  O  Lord , rescue me from evil people.   Protect me from those who are violent,  ( 2)  those who plot evil in their hearts  and st

Have you been "high" lately?   No, of course I don't mean by substance or sex.  I mean when was our last spiritual high?   Have we been filled-up by Christ, moved by His presence, touched by His people, or impacted by His power lately?  These are "highs" that no (momentary) physical pleasure can compete with. Have we been to a retreat , Christian conference, church service or in connection with another believer--and we were filled  up spiritually? Have we shared the hope-of-God, the peace-of-Christ, or the forgiveness-of-our-Father with someone...and they got it?   Now that's  a high. Have we come to Christ in deep prayer or complete humility about a question/situation in our life...Earnestly seeking God's will and yielding to His way...and then we experienced  His response/His peace/His direction in an undeniable way and we  knew  what to do (or what not  to do) next?  There is a rush of spiritual-adrenaline in that! When the crowd saw what (healing)

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  ~Philippians 2:9-11 I was educated this week in the language of love.   God's love.   Most of us (around here) speak it in English, but God's language of love traverses language barriers, cultural differences, age and explanation.   He has provided an unexplainable unity in being His sons and daughters, regardless of where we are born or what language is native to our tongue.   We  can  communicate with others that are different from us, even those who speak a completely different tongue...if we share a belief in our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope you have your own stories of experiencing this type of trans-cultural connection, and my kids got their first experience of  every tongue decla

While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was sitting (9) and listening as Paul preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed. (10) So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking.  ~Acts 14:8-10   What do others see when they look straight  at us and our lives?  Do they realize we have faith?  ( Do we  have faith?) What does God see when He looks straight at us?  Does He ( Can He)  realize we have faith? Have we ever  look ed  straight at someone and been able to  realize that  he /she had faith ? Good (and Godly) friends of ours recently shared with us some strong testimonies of life change that they had been blessed to experience because they had answered God's call into the ministry of women in recovery from addiction.  They said that they were able to tell the very day  that one of their "resi

Y ou have most likely never heard of a wealthy woman from the town of Shunem, but allow me to introduce her to you.  H er story (from the Bible) plugged into my life about five years ago when  o ne of our cousins was having a baby.  All of the excitement, hope and expectation that comes with delivery flew out the window when there were extreme complications and the child was whisked away (literally) by helicopter to a NICU unit,  before his mom could even cradle him in her arms.   The diagnosis was more than bleak, and doctors advised the parents to prepare (and begin planning) for the death of the child. Can you imagine?    What would you do? You would pray.   So did I.   God (through reading the Bible) introduced me to  a wealthy woman  from  the town of Shunem (2 Kings 4:8).  It was the first time I had "met" her, but I will never  forget her, and I love to reread her story because I lived her story, and I prayed  her story for a cousin's child that was born and that I