Corona Devotionals

Oh, the absurdity of man-made idols. Foolish are those who  manufacture  them (Isaiah 44:9) .  But more foolish still are those of us who worship  these  manufactured idols. And we all do in some ways and at some times.   But if we need a real-time example of cultural idolatry (the worship of money/trends/fads/popularity/influence)...we can look no further than a middle or high school teen girl. I can pick on this age group because I have one.  (And, I was  one!)   I'm not sure if it is the hormones, the peer pressures, the self-esteem-issues or a combination of all of it, but teen girls worship many prized objects that are really worthless , including Ugg Tasman Slippers.   If you are are a teen or tween in the American Midwest, these shoes are hard to find and harder to take off (they're comfy!).   Ask any parent who has strived to try to find a pair in stock, and ask any kid who desires to have them merely because all her friends do: Ugg Tasmans are a trendy, comfortable,

We don't want to "test" God, but today, He does invite us to allow Him to prove   His power to us. It's His idea...not ours, and so we do not even have to feel guilty about asking.   But...what shall we have Him do ?  How should we ask the Lord to prove to us his power  to us? I think that is where we interpret His challenge incorrectly.  God reminds us that He  will  step forward and prove to you his power... And we need only to be still, faithful, and expectant of Him.  We do not need to give Him parameters...and much the opposite: as He will blow our boundaries away in His magnitude and magnificence. The moment we try to define our Holy God is the moment that He exceeds those very definitions.   We cannot encapsulate Him, and He's just waiting to do what He does best in the lives of those who love Him.    And He's been doing it a long, long time, and with generation after generation of His children.  ( L et him do as I have done since ancient times  when

M y mom loved l istening to Neil Diamond, and so, by default, all of us kids did too.   She knew every word to most of his songs, and so did we.   Long before I could understand the full meaning (and sadness) of the song, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore”, I enjoyed to listening to Neil and Barbara Streisand croon back and forth to each other:  You don’t bring me flowers… You don’t sing me love longs… We hardly talk anymore when you come through the door at the end of the day… I remember when… you couldn’t wait to love me, used to hate to leave me……   Where there was once the spark and flame and fire of love…they had allowed it to grow cold.   It’s very sad. ~~ I thought of Neil and Barbara’s duet today when I read the Bible.   We can’t allow that to happen to our love for God.   And  He will never allow that to happen to His love for us...but… He sees us when we get so busy that we schedule-over and edge-out our time with Him. He misses us when we choo

Is death on your mind?   In life, in this world, in our inner thoughts...we can fear many things, and death is one of the biggest.   But Jesus sends a love letter to our hearts today to dispel the fear of death that  troubles  our hearts: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ( 2)  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?   ( 3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.   ( 4)  You know the way to the place where I am going.”  ~John 14:1-4 ~~~ Do we believe  that? Do we  believe in God and  believe also in Jesus?  ... Then we can relax, relent, and even look forward to what Jesus promises us.  (Yes, promises  to those who  believe   in Him.) It may sound trite, but (f irst of all): stop worrying about it, or as Jesus puts it:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled" ( John 14:1). We do

Who has anguish?  Who has sorrow?   Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?   Who has unnecessary bruises?  Who has bloodshot eyes?   ( 30)  It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,  trying out new drinks.   ( 31)  Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,  how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.   ( 32)  For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;  it stings like a viper.   ( 33) Y ou will see hallucinations,  and you will say crazy things.   ( 34)  You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,  clinging to a swaying mast.   ( 35)  And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.   I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.   When will I wake up  so I can look for another drink?”  ~Proverbs 23:29-35 ~~~ Do not spend long hours in the taverns . Do not be dependent, addicted, seeking joy/stability/a perk...in any thing else...but Jesus. Jesus provides the opposite  effects of alcohol (or choose your weapon: drugs, coffee, sex, porn, p

I did not have much time yesterday morning, but I had a delicious idea that I wanted to make happen: Tapioca pudding.  I had the small white tapioca pearls, but I didn't have the time to stand and stir and let it stew. Crock pot?  Yes , a quick Google recipe search confirmed.  Milk, eggs, sugar, tapioca, and a dash of vanilla: check, check, check, check, and check.  I stirred it together, put the lid on the crock pot, but...how to set the timer on that thing?  Usually I "fix-it and forget-it" (whatever is in the crock pot) until supper time, but this recipe was only supposed to cook for a set number of hours--and I needed to set the timer on that pot.  But try as I might, I couldn't crack the code of figuring out how.   'On and Off', 'High and Low' were all that I could accomplish, which wasn't good enough because I wasn't going to be home. Would I possibly have the instruction manual to the crock pot we received as a wedding gift almost twenty