Corona Devotionals

Sometimes the storms of life bear down so heavily on us, that the best way to describe our emotional state is "beaten down" and close to being "washed out". We feel unprotected from the lightning and thunder striking our lives. We need shelter from the storm. Sometimes it feels as if a relentless army is persisting, advancing, pushing, jabbing and even wounding us. We seek shelter from the shrapnell and explosions of anger/relationships/pride/ and sin, but the bombardment never ceases. We need shelter from the attacks. The on-going battles wear us down and weaken our spirits, our resolve, and our faith. We've grown poor in the resources that matter most and because of the constant conflict, we are in spiritual poverty. We need shelter. (12) Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem.  Walk around and count the many towers. (13) Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations. (14) For that is what God i...

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  ~Galatians 6:2 Before we can help to " c arry each other’s burdens ", we have to know/understand/receive  the law of Christ.    And before we can  fulfill the law of Christ, we have to know what it is.    And guess what?  We are not the first ones to want clarification on this.  28  One of the teachers of religious law... asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29  Jesus replied,  “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The  Lord  our God is the one and only  Lord .   30  And you must love the  Lord  your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’   31  The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” 32  The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, ...

What will Heaven be like?   It's a very real question.  But it seems like we don't have many concrete answers.  Just by the very nature of Heaven and when we "go" there (after death), there have not been enough (any?) personal narratives to give us the true "scoop".   Today's scripture pointed me toward a different question to ask about Heaven.  Instead of "What will Heaven be like?", perhaps a more revealing question would be "What will be Heaven not be like?"   We want to picture Heaven as a "perfect" earth, a best-case-scenario emotional/physical/spiritual place.  And perhaps that may be in part true (time will tell!), however, I believe that Mark 12:18-27 gives us a "type" of behind-the-scenes glimpse as Jesus chastises the Sadducees for their misinterpretation and their pride-in-assumptions of the after-life.   One of the main foundational beliefs of the Sadducees was that they did not adhere to any type of ...

Are you facing a storm today?  I don't mean heavy snowfall, hurricane winds off the coast, or a dust storm stirring up.  I mean a life storm.    It's not a question of if the storms of life  will come, it is a question of when.  ( When the storms of life come...  ~Proverbs 10:25) Sometimes they are brewing for a while.  We sense the unrest, or the prognosis, or we simply put-off-dealing-with the storm for as long as we can...and it brews. Other times the storm seems instantaneous.  One moment we were fine.  Our loved one was fine.  The day-to-day cycle of life seemed fine, and then BOOM!  T h e storm erupts or the  whirlwind passes by (Proverbs 10:25)  without any prior notice.   And then where are we?   Are we  whirled away? Are we   gone? Are we simply  " no more" ? Well...we're still here  aren't we?  Still breathing.  Still ticking.  Still praying....

Have you ever daydreamed about finding/vacationing/moving-to/living-in a utopia? It seems like a fantasy topic that children might chatter about while secluded in a treehouse, but I wish I had a quarter for each time this type-of-topic has surfaced lately in conversation. Whether it's musings of moving to a tropical location, the prospect of states seceding, or analyzing the probability and possibility of procuring a private jet...it seems to me that leaving is on people's minds lately. But the funny thin g about a "utopian" place is that it doesn't exist. And even in our most fired-up and heated conversations, the truth is: a utopia cannot exist. Utopia is defined as  " a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions" (Merriam-Webster dictionary).  Those of us that are desiring a more-perfect-union or more-ideal-place may have to unpack the suitcase.  The place we are daydreaming of does not exist, that is until t...

Parable of the Tenants The n Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower.   ~Mark 12:1 Let's cut right to the chase about this story: God is the vineyard owner.  And the forethought, effort and vision that "the vineyard owner" gave in preparing the vineyard is the forethought, effort and vision that God builds into us as well.   A man planted a vineyard.  ~Mark 12:1 Here is the forethought of our Lord and Our Heavenly Father.  None of us, not one of us  is a mistake.  God planted us.  He created us.  He has a good and healthy plan for us and our lives.  He planted us exactly where we are at today.  How are we doing with where we've been planted?  He built a wall around it...   ~Mark 12:1 The Lord protects us.  He is our wall.   God, His Word, and following His Ways creates a...

Have you ever been jealous of someone else's stature/station/position/calling in life? It's human nature to think, "Why them, and not me?"  But I felt God's Word reminding me today that He calls the shots, He gives people their shot, and there are no "big shots" or " little shots" in God's line-up. God has specific jobs for each of us, and He  has assigned each of us unique ways to serve Him, duties to perform, and in each of these areas-- He has chosen us .  God's call is a blessing, and it will bless our emotional and spiritual well-being to  not  to brood about the call He has placed on others. My Biblical-blueprint-realization for this idea came to me from the Book of Numbers where God blatantly " called forward" certain people to fulfill certain roles:   (5) Then the Lord said to Moses, (6) “Call forward the tribe of Levi, and present them to Aaron the priest to serve as his assistants. (7) They will serve Aaron and t...