Corona Devotionals

Has the Lord given you the green light to move forward with something in your life, but your foot is still firmly planted on the brake? I have a situation (maybe you do too), and I want to be excited about it, and I have sensed the Lord's go-ahead on it, but inside my head there is a mini battle waging.  I am not even sure why, but I want to talk myself out of moving forward.  I want to worry about tangent issues regarding it that probably won't ever occur.  I see the blessings surrounding the situation, but parts of me keep fighting it. Why? I can't figure that part out, either.  Why am I preventing myself from running toward something good? Maybe sometimes that is our human nature--to "reason" ourselves out of blessing, or to worry ourselves out of it. The same thing happened to the Israelites and they hemmed and hawed themselves into a 40-year detour around the Promised Land because of worry, insecurity and if we boil it all down--because of a lack of t...

Freedom. It means many different things to people, and the definition can change, depending on your situation.  Our definition of personal freedom has changed in light of Corona. Freedom defined: Our great Nation was founded on the blood, sweat, tears and prayers of brave men and women that left the safety of England for the freedom of a new land.  They took time and purposeful effort to write a Declaration of Independence and a Constitution to proclaim our freedoms and establish our Nation. Freedom defined: Our American freedoms grant us more liberty than any other nation in the world, and we have many heroes (alive and at rest) that we salute and thank for those freedoms. Freedom denied: I am reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" to our kids.  People of Jewish background in Europe strained to maintain any definition of freedom in the 1940's.  And in the absence of their freedom, so many lost their lives. Freedom denied: Some of us know the captivity of being ...

May and June are big wedding months.  Maybe your anniversary is soon.  Stop for a minute and try to remember the rush you used to feel when you thought of your sweetie or caught a glimpse of them.   Corona has brought so much "together" time, that I am ashamed to admit that some days I have fallen into a (dangerous) pattern of taking my husband and our marriage for granted.  There is nothing "hands-free" about a marriage.   It's like a pot on the stove, if you don't tend to it, it can boil over--or worse, if left alone too long the contents can burn away and things can go up in flames. My mom (such a wise woman!) used to say that "Marriage is work everyday."  She never said it in spite.  She said it in wisdom, and she was right. It is work to be patient, to be kind, to compromise and to be humble.  It's very hard to accept that our way might not be the only  way to do something well.   The truth is, men and wom...

Thank you for "doing good".   Even though this Corona season has changed our lives in many ways, I am so encouraged to see that it has also grown our hearts.   I know that we were nice people before becoming house-bound, but kind outreaches that I have witnessed since the quarantine began have warmed my heart, and they highlight who we are in Christ, and how we can use our unique gifts to love others during an unknown time. Do not grow weary in doing good, for at just the right time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up.  ~Galatians 6:9 Don't grow weary: I saw you helping that friend from high school move because his wife took the kids and left him until he gets cleaned up.  He needed a friend and not judgement and you showed up to carry boxes and to live out Christ instead of preaching it to him. Don't grow weary: I saw you run to the store again for that elderly neighbor/church member/parent that "needs" a new item almost daily.  The tr...

Daniel was a dutiful follower of God, even when it put his life in danger, and he was also an integral interpreter of dreams to a number of kings.  But I learned today that he also had a few visions/dreams of his own that encouraged and restored him.  I feel these verses can provide enlightenment and refreshment into our lives too. Full disclosure here: I do not know very much or almost anything about angels.  But I do know that the Bible mentions them, and so they exist.  Daniel shares with us: 5  I  looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist.   6  His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.  ~Daniel 10:5-6 Oooo!  Does anyone else have the chills?  Can you imagine being visited by an angel?  Let's place ourselve...