Corona Devo 1203

I'm not so in-tune with the latest news headlines...and that's on purpose.  When my husband does catch me up on the latest "news"--my stomach turns.  The deception, the brokenness, the division--I don't welcome it.

When we hear today's report of the latest "strand"/virus/threat/or emergency and the "life-saving" recommendations that the "experts" strongly recommend in order to "stay safe"---it all sounds like a lot of division and fear-mongering to me, instead of the hope and truth (and strength) that God's Word tells us to stand firm in.

All of the bad news makes my stomach turn, and frankly--it depresses me.  It sucks the song out of my heart and the spring out of my step.  

That's what listening-to and trusting-in the world does for us, and we know that all too well.  Some of us hardly leave the house anymore as a result of it, and others of us do, but anxiety often trails.  

When we receive the world's news as what is most important, then our stomachs turn, our perspectives change, and our fear mounts. 

~~~

But lately I've noticed that outside my kitchen sink window there is a bird that won't shut up.  All day long (beginning around 5 AM), she (or he) chirps and garbles and twitters and calls, and consistently makes a cheerful noise.  A smile-inducing twitter of tweets and notes that can't help but lighten your step and mood.  It's beautiful and light-hearted and it is raw-nature-doing-what-it-was-created-to-do...and it makes me smile.

So, this morning as I sat melancholy (again) with the latest round of newspaper "news" ringing in my ears...I then noticed (heard) that bird.  You can't not hear him, actually.  You would have to be deaf not to notice his trills and calls from his perch in the bushes.  And you could be blind and still know exactly where he sits as he sings.  You could try to ignore him, but he will not go away.

And I thank God for that.

I love the song that bird carries.  I like the sounds of him, but that's not what I mean.  I love the hope/joy/Creation-message/and Godly-truth that bird brings to anyone and anything in earshot.  

God created him to do just that, and he sings, chirps and does birdy-arias all day long.  

It reminds us of the simplicity and undeniability of what God creates and how He intends for His creation to function---just as He created it.  Not living in fear of tomorrow or in anxiety of a potential storm.  Just living (singing) as God created it to--from sun-up to sun-down.

We get caught up in the wrong news, and it makes our stomachs turn.  We get derailed and misled by bad news, but that's only when we forget the Good News.  

You remember it, don't you?  We knew it once, and welcomed it and stood firm in it.  It's simple...but the trick is that we have to keep welcoming it and standing firm in it.

Do we remember this Good News?  It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message (I Corinthians 15:2).

Save us today, Lord.  Remind us.

~~~ 

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. (2) It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

(3) I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. (4) He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.  ~I Corinthians 15:1-4

Have we become more in-tune with the latest news headlines than with the Bible and the Good News that God says?  Remind us today, Lord.  

When today's "news" breeds division and fear, welcome God's Good news and stand firm in it.  

Why?  What difference can the Bible make in our lives?  

It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe...   ~I Corinthians 15:1

Like the bird out my back window that seems ever-present and unrelenting-in-song each day, God's Good News does save us, and it is unrelenting everyday.  It's right there in 66 Books inspired by Him and written by men, and God's Good News has been saving people who read it and believe it for over 2,000 years.  

When the world makes our stomach turn, His pages pour life and hope back into our unsteadiness.  We can try to ignore Him, but He will not go away.

And I thank God for that.

I love the song the Bible carries.

God's Good news saves us.  Saves us from Hell tomorrow if we will put our faith in Him, but saves us from fear/worry/untruth today.  God is truth (The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous rules endures forever.  ~Psalm 119:160).

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News... (I Corinthians 15:1)

Notice it.  You can't not hear God through His Words in the Bible, actually.  You would have to be deaf not to notice Him reminding us to welcome His Good News and to stand firm in it.  

It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.  ~ ~I Corinthians 15:1-2

Stop believing news that was never true in the first place.

We must stop being so in-tune with the world, and we must choose to welcome and stand firm in God's Good News today.  It (alone) will save us.

Blessings, 

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com