Corona Devotionals

Whose plan are we working out in our life?   Ours?   Or the Lord’s?   Every day we have the brand-new choice and opportunity.   Will we submit control and allow the Lord to work out his plans for my life today?   I have days where I attempt to work out my plans for my life .   You do too.   And (Have we noticed?), things never go well.   Even if we start out with good intentions and productive mindsets, when it’s only us, (and no God), our plans always fall apart.   Always frustrate.   Always fail to come to good and Godly fruition.   What if we submitted our day, our choices, our thoughts, our goals, and our plans  to God today?   What if we watched and experienced Him move in our submission, in our waiting-upon-Him, in our confirmation of what He is planning for our life ? ~~~ “There is no peace,”  says the  Lord , “for the wicked.”  ~Isaiah 48:22 I’ve been the wicked one, pursuing  my  will instead of God’s in my life. I’ve seen the delay and the disappointment

Wow, Lord, Your creation is astounding and ever-changing, and that includes us.  Mount Rainier, at 14,410 feet tall, has more glaciers than any other peak in the contiguous United States.  You created it, Lord, and You still change and reshape it, just like us.  He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.  (6) You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.  (7) But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; (8) they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.  (9) You set a boundary they cannot cross;  never again will they cover the earth.  ~Psalm 104:5-9 Snow melts, and ice flows down from the peaks, reshaping the mountainside and the paths it makes and takes.  The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.  ~Micah 1:4 In the ecological-shifts: the plants, anim

As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.  ( 7)  Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  ( 8)  Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.   (9)  Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.  ~Ephesians 6:6-9 ~~~ Work with enthusiasm   today, whether we are  folding laundry and changing diapers, or folding orphans and foster children into new families and changing life-legacies. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  ~Ephesians 6:7 ~~~ Work with enthusiasm  today, whether we are serving  coffee or escargot.  Whether we are serving diplomats or itty-bitty babies.  In everything , God reminds us that we are serving Him. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  ~Ephesians 6:7 ~~~ W

Don’t be duped or deceived today.    Rather…we must stop being duped about what we are wrestling against.   The Bible gives us direction in every Chapter of every Book, but one of Paul’s final pieces of advice for followers-of-Christ in the Book of Ephesians was for us to know what we’re up against , and not to be confused, duped, or deceived by the schemes of the devil . What does Paul mean? God’s Word is warning and strengthening us today to not be deceived about our battles, our enemies, and what we wrestle against.  We don’t wrestle against the government. We don’t wrestle  against  cancer or disease, or the pain we are experiencing today. We don’t   wrestle  against  our marriage or spouse. We don’t   wrestle  against  children that are disinterested in God. We don’t   wrestle  against  the environment, pandemics, or anxiety. We  don’t   wrestle  against  the environment, the atmosphere, or aliens. We don’t (even)  wrestle  against  death. Don’t be duped

We visited a beach today.  The tide was out, and so the floor of the sea was revealed for a time.  Smooth rocks made a mosaic on which to walk, and as we explored I caught sight of a crab resting on a rock. Thirty minutes earlier, and I would not have seen him, because ocean water would have covered his current perch.  But the outgoing tide had left a barren but somehow beautiful rocky beach, and here he (or she) was for me to see and enjoy.   Has the tide "gone out" in some area of our life or heart?  Do we feel like someone or something (or everything) has receded, and we've nothing but a rocky beach left to show for it? What we were used to/what we were comfortable with/what we knew and loved--- has changed...has dried-up...and has left us unprotected and vulnerable? If we are feeling like the tide has gone out: have faith, because God warned us that sometimes it would.  But He also said that He is with us in the dry spells, and He will overcome  them. “I have told you

Often, we are like a fizzy can of soda for Jesus: overflowing out of the top and running down the side.  "Jesus loves you!", our spirit wants to shout. But people and their apparent aversion to faith in God can take the fizz out of our flow, and the God-gumption out of our gut, leaving us feeling flat. It's no secret that people are choosing paths other than the one that leads to the Lord.  The world is becoming less covert and more overt in mocking  God and those that follow and seek Him.   The prophet Isaiah was calling-it-as-he-saw-it in reference to people's responses to the Lord in his day, and he was not off-target in describing many people in our day: Whom do you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues?...  ~Isaiah 57:4 ~~~ While Christ calls us to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19) , it’s understandable that we can become weary of the world, and its’ ways, and its’ people.  So many of our friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers se

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  ~Joshua 24:15 ~~~   What might serving the Lord look like for us today? We had supper the other night with friends who began a ministry over twenty years ago, in which they prevent children from entering the s-x trade.   After hearing about a twelve-year-old orphan named Nhu in Cambodia, who was sold into slavery (partially because of her decision to become a Christian), Carl and Laurie felt a compulsion from the Lord to remember  her, and to find her.   After six trips to Cambodia to search for her, they did find her (and rescue and adopt her), and today  " Remember Nhu" 'currently has  120  homes for children in  19  countries, which protect over  1,500  children from the sex trade th

I met Mike (seemingly) by happenstance at the airport.  He was almost past me when he stopped and turned to ask if “this was the security line?”.  He seemed a bit miffed, and he was definitely a bit older than me, and thus we began a conversation.  Yes, this was indeed the security line, I told him.   It weaved and wove long through the airport, and he was relieved to hear that he was where he needed to be.   Sort of. Mike  had met us in line, but we were by no means the end of it.  There were literally hundreds of people behind us, also waiting in line to go through security.  This eighty year old man—not feeble, but by no means strong, was flying for the first time “in a quite a while”, he said.  “Would it be okay if I just wait with you guys?”   He asked, just like a sweet old man could. I glanced at my family who each smiled but looked away.  People could get mad (or worse) behind us, and they knew that.  I felt the stare of the woman who was next in line, and who I h