Corona Devotionals

When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.  ( 5)  It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.  ( 6)  Don’t let your mouth make you sin.   ~Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 You can't get more point blank than these verses: we don't wonder what they mean... we get it.   And yet...we break our promises to God , don't we? We know His feelings about things like marriage, lying, gossip, and loving others.  And when we accepted Jesus into our hearts, we made a spiritual promise to God to follow His ways , and to seek to be more like Him. And yet...we fall short too often.  We have promised  God our hearts, but in large and small ways each day, we delay in following through . There may be a major area of our lives (marriage/finances/integrity/a calling on our life) that we have made a promise to God  about, and yet, we  dela...

My husband and I are opposites in many ways.  He is quieter, and I am louder.  He is pensive, and I am impulsive.  I like to plan things out waaayyy in advance, and he generally puts things together much closer to the time of execution.  We are different and God purposed it that way. Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.  ( 10)  If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.  ( 11)  Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?  ( 12)  A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.  ~Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 My husband and I both love Jesus deeply (we met at church!).  But we live and love for the Lord in opposite ways...and because of this, we  help each other succ...

Enjoying a supper together with my brother and sister-in-law the other night, they shared the news that the pond in their back yard has inexplicably had a lot of fish die in it recently.  A lot of fish.   Their description of hundreds of dead fish floating and their (large and small) fish bodies gathering on shore made everyone at the dinner table sad.   They have no idea why it occurred, and of course I don't either.    We moved on in conversation, and (we concluded) what can you do?   But when they left for the evening and the topic came up once more, we decided that the (dead) fish are a good reminder to us that tomorrow isn't promised.   We should live today.   We should live for Christ  today.   We should choose/decide/join-God's-plan-for us to be happy  in the work  that God has given us today, because fish aren't the only ones that go belly-up.  We have this (one) life, and it moves quickly...

What's happening in our lives today?   Birth...has a baby come?  Death...has a loved one gone? One had to happen for the other to occur, and both will always occur in every life.  But that does not make the birth less jubilant or the death less devastating, it's just that we  cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end  when we are living in a season of it .   ~~~ What time is it in our lives today?  Are we planting something today...or  harvesting ?   We had to be in the first season to benefit from the second, and God is in both seasons with us.  He  has made everything beautiful for its own time. ~~~ Is there healing  in our hearts today?  Killing ?   Are we crying ?  Have we been laughing?  Is it time to dance ?   Are we in a season of searching... or are we still and content for a time ?   Is there war  for us today, or do we en...

Are we looking for "a sign" from God-- to give us the direction we need or the choice-to-choose? I sometimes do. Even though I know it's a bit faith less (asking God to prove Himself), or a bit pride full , demanding something from God (because He owes us nothing). But (right or wrong), we still  sometimes ask Him for a sign.  And once in a while...He gives us one. God gave Gideon a few signs.  Gideon  had the guts (gall?) to ask for a number of signs from God, and (graciously enough), God obliged.   Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised,  ( 37)  prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.”  ( 38)  And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece ...

Sometimes...and some days...the earth around us quakes.  Our foundation is rocked , and we can't shake the aftermath of the trauma/sorrow/fear/wickedness that has shaken us to the core.   Have the earthquakes come  to you today? ~~~ Sometimes...and some days...everything that we knew to be true, good, and stable crumbles.   The  mountain  that was our marriage... crumbles into the sea.   The mountain that was our career/our child/our love/our family/our dream/our friend... crumbles into the sea. Have your mountains crumbled into the sea today? ~~~ Sometimes...and some days... the oceans roar and foam.  Our mind and imagination is  roaring and foaming  with untruths that are not from the Lord.  Sometimes we have a relationship or person in our life that is  roaring and foaming .  A situation out-of-control, a detour we didn't see coming, or waters that are more turbulent than we care to handle...   ...

The wisest man that the Bible ever mentions was named Solomon .  He was King David's Son , and while he was born into wealth and many treasures, when God asked Solomon what his heart's desire was... Solomon requested  an   understanding heart... that I may   discern between good and evil (I Kings 3:9 ) This request pleased the Lord, and He gave an understanding heart and discernment  to Solomon .   And so, Solomon was wise.  And when you have the gifts of an understanding heart and discernment ...you think... a lot. Solomon  mused about some of the very same things that we do.  Solomon wondered.  He pondered.  He questioned.  He lamented.  And God gave him the wisdom to decipher life even as he lived it .   I picture Solomon laying on a couch at a psychologist's office.  He is sharing his troubles and questions,,,and then (in God's wisdom), he goes on to provide his own answers.   If we bel...