Corona Devotionals

Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. (41) They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee.  Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.  ~Mark 15:40-41 Jesus had a band of women whose spirits He had touched, and they followed Him.   I am one of them.  Are you? Anyone (man or woman) who allows Jesus past their defenses is changed.  And even during a time when women had very little place or respect in society, the Bible is not shy about revealing the roles and support of women who had their lives changed by Jesus during His years of ministry.   They did what women do :  They listened to Him  ( And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. ~Luke 10:39) They cooked for H im ( But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got...

Jesus was our sacrificial lamb.  In the old (Bible) days, lambs were the preferred sacrifice.  Different sins, festivals and even socio-economic situations prescribed different sacrifices, but the lamb was preferred.   And although "sacrifice" makes it sound like it was optional to present something to the Lord, that would not be an accurate assumption.  Many verses fill the early Books of the Bible with specific and required outlines of God-ordained requirements that God's people were to expected to fulfill in order to have a recompense for their sins.   Give something that has worth or importance to you, and this emotional and physical sacrifice will be acceptable and pleasing to God.  That was the idea.   That is still  the idea of our sacrifices to God, but Jesus changed the requirement when He became our ultimate sacrifice that day on Golgotha.   Hopefully you know that Jesus became our ultimate sacrifice and required...

Join me today as we meet up with Moses and the Israelites in the Book of Numbers as they journey toward the Promised Land. See if you can relate to the characters, their attitudes and the firm foundation and truth that God brings to our lives, even when everyone around us seems to be in an alter-reality.   Do you ever feel that others see reality completely different than you?  Their interpretation of life revolves around themselves and how they are affected, rather than revolving around Truth and how God is seeking to shape us by it.   Or perhaps we are in the alter-reality today: We feel victimized and as if the world is against us.   Circumstances may challenge us, but God is for us .  Taking the "Woe is me" stance always causes bitterness and pain for us and others. But Moses models devotion to God, and also devotion in being a mediator between others and God.  He (amazingly) does not let their slander and criticism wound him or break his...

What was the crowd  thinking  when Jesus was being interrogated before His death?  Even though they had no facts to convict Him, the tide and crowd turned against Jesus, and it got ugly.   Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.  ~Mark 14:65 Who would  do  that?  Who would  say  those things to Jesus ( the Lamb of God, who  takes away the sin  of the world ~John 1:29 ) ? Who were those people in the crowd and how could  the guards physically treat our Savior that way? There is a faithful side to us that shakes our heads at these people  who mocked and disdained Jesus.  There is a judgemental side of us that wags a finger at these people . We would never .  The physical and verbal accosting of Jesus seems a far-fetched scenario to imagine ourselves a part of. ...

Have you ever looked at a "Seek & Find" book?  Usually for children, the pages are filled with random items, and the longer you look, the more you see.  They even give you a checklist of items to hunt for.   Or maybe you have enjoyed doing a "word search" now and then.  The answers are all there, but it can take me a lot of searching  to find all of them.  Like the "Seek & Find" books:  Some words/items "pop out at you", and others seem to be hidden.  The Biblical scriptures pertaining to the Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus' (unfair) "hearings" and "trials", and His eventual crucifixion are some of the most well-known stories in the Bible.  But like a Seek & Find or word search, new details are always there for the finding, and  the longer you look, the more you see. After all of Jesus' disciples had  (50) deserted him and ran away...  (53) They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leadin...

Once I dated a guy who was nice, but he was also extremely quiet, was not a Jesus follower, had no career plans, no ambition and no money.  At the time, I was offended that several of my family members thought it was their business to get into my business and caution me about a possible future with this person.  But looking back, I realize that they spoke in love, wisdom and a hope for my future.   The man that God chose for me to marry was not only nice but he is the polar opposite of all those other things.  If I would have pushed forward with my-plan-at-the-time I would have missed out on the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Have you ever known something was a bad idea, but you went ahead with it anyway?  Maybe it was rooted in selfishness--you just really wanted it , or maybe it was an unrealistic expectation that you were not willing to admit.  Whatever the reason, sometimes we push forward even though intuition, well-meaning people ...

Do not rebel against the  Lord , and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the  Lord  is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”  ~Numbers 14:9 Are we in rebellion against the Lord today? I didn't think so, but then as I was sipping coffee and reading the Bible I choked a little as I realized that I may define rebellion differently than God does. To me, rebellion means things like "defiant" or "purposely choosing to go against" or "to buck authority", and although I mess-up in my pursuit of being-like-Jesus daily, none of these rebellion definitions have anything to do with my intentions in pleasing God.  I truly desire for the Lord to be  pleased with me, and I imagine you feel the same. And while we may go through periods of rebellion (college/mid-life-crisis/temper tantrum), I would not claim (or have any desire) to be in rebellion  against the  Lord  today. But what if we as...