Corona Devotionals

Ugh.  Sometimes I over-do it with food and I eat way  too much, and then my stomach revolts and feels bloated and so full .   But...after a little while, it goes away.  I regret having had that many chips or cookies, or whatever...and I "pay" for it.  But then, the (bad) feeling goes away and I feel better.   Ugh.   Not so with my words.   How I wish  it were that way (only temporarily uncomfortable) when I over-do it with my words.  But (unlike overeating), when my (stupid/sinful/prideful/cutting) tongue gets out of control, the pit in my stomach afterwards won't go away , because our words don't dissolve . When we use our words and tongue for harm, the effects of regret and discomfort linger.  And (as a follower-of-Christ) they hurt , because this is not His will for us . We hurt because we have hurt another, and we hurt because we can't take it back.  Ugh , we " pay " for it.  And others hurt because t...

Give thanks to the  Lord , for he is good! Let everyone repeat this:    “His faithful love endures forever.”   And let's not just say  this, but let's say it  over and over and over today:    “His faithful love endures forever.”  Because, well... it's true!   And we should also say (and repeat ) this today because God repeatedly tells us to In Psalm 118 , God says (to anyone reading His Word):  Give thanks to the  Lord , for he is good!   His faithful love endures forever (Psalm 118:1).  He is addressing all  of us. But then God gets specific about who should repeat  “His faithful love endures forever” , and He says:  Let all Israel repeat:  “His faithful love endures forever”  (Psalm 118:2). And then God gets  more-specific  about who should also repeat  “His faithful love endures forever” , and He says:  Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests , repeat:  ...

We have a family of five people: two parents and three kids. The Bible says that  children are a heritage , and my husband and I agree.  We are family through and through, and when we travel, we do it  together , if possible. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.  (4) Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.  (5) Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  ~Psalm 127:3-5 While traveling together, not too long ago, the nights looked very different, from one to the next.   Together  can mean one thing for one night in a roomy woodsy-but-air-conditioned cabin with enough (comfortable, clean) beds for each person. And together can mean something totally different for one night with five adult bodies in a small, antiquated hotel room with two teeny double beds and minimal air-conditioning.  The same family, but two different sets o...

Sitting by a window today,  I saw a butterfly outside of it.  Actually, two butterflies landed right outside, right next to me.  Right. Separated by glass, they rested beneath and beside me. Gorgeous and beautiful in both design and function, they held my attention for a long while, and a number of other people came over to gawk and enjoy them too. Who doesn't like butterflies?  They are beautiful,  aren't they? But they weren't always delicate, light, feather-winged beauties.  Every butterfly begins as a chubby caterpillar.  An ugly (in my opinion) larva and then multi-legged worm-bodied creature that eats itself into oblivion, and then has a metamorphosis into....well, into something all together different than it was.  The unbecoming caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly.   It's us. The butterfly's physical metamorphosis mirrors our spiritual  metamorphosis  opportunity in Christ Jesus.   I  have been cruc...

Packing up from a hotel stay the other morning, I was grateful to find a luggage cart to load up all of our stuff to take to the car. On the way back to our room, as I was pushing it from behind, I immediately realized that I had no control whatsoever over that cart.  The harder I pushed it "straight", the more that cart seemed to cut right and veer left.  It was frustrating, and tiring, and so much work...even after a short distance.  The luggage cart would not go the direction I wanted, no matter how hard I pushed.  Is this our experience lately with the Lord and our faith?  ...That no matter how hard we try, and push...things won't go right.  We know what direction we want to be headed-in, and yet life keeps veering left and shanking right.  It's frustrating and tiring and so much work. If this is what following God means-- it's exhausting .  But back to the luggage cart...I had the idea that perhaps it might roll more fluidly if I went in fron...

When you drive a distance, do you ever take note of the mile-markers along the way?   They count down the miles to a state line and they can be an excellent guide to where we are going.  If we know where we are headed, then the mile-markers are critical in charting and confirming our trip along the way.   ~~~ Interestingly enough, in the Bible ( Ezekiel Chapter 39) , God provides some mile-markers in  Israel’s timeline. Are some of those mile-markers happening today?   I’m not sure: but, we should know what they are  so that we can recognize them if and when they occur.  And to understand God's (Israel) mile-markers, we need to read the Bible.   The timing is (of course) up to God, but at least we can be aware of what to watch for. Many Believers-in-God who have come before us may have wondered if Ezekiel 39 would occur in their lifetime, and w e can also question if some of the mile-markers on God’s (Israel) timeline could be occur...