Corona Devotionals

Today I ran into an old friend. I run into her at least once a year it seems. We have a lot in common, good things and bad. When I connect with her it is always deep because she resonates with me. Her story, complete with (guilty) diversions and distractions is something we can all relate to in one way or another. She was on the wrong path. An empty path. A sad path. Until Jesus crossed her path. Then, after some reactive defense-moves, such as "covering" herself by telling half-truths, and causing a few (verbal/semantic/Biblical) diversions, (all of which I related to)...she was "caught" by Jesus. Caught in her lies. Caught in her self-deceit, and caught in her empty pursuit of fulfillment outside of God's plan for her. Yep, I share a lot in common with this old friend. Perhaps you do too. And over the years my "similarities" with her change, but the pattern of all it repeats--I fall to my own plan and sin, try to debate the full-truth of ...

Sometimes life hands us lemons, but sometimes all we get are the cotton-pickin' lemon rinds.  All of the sweetness of life seems vacant.  The color has drained and only black and white remains.  We can get bitter because life has taken away the "better". Are you going through a (spiritually/financially/emotionally/sorrowfully/physically) lean time today? Sometimes we do, and there's no fast-forward button to skip through the hardness of it...it's just hard.  Even if there is a sunrise on the horizon of tomorrow, we can't see it yet.  Naomi was a strong, faithful, loyal woman and she had entered into a difficult season of her life.  Her husband and both sons had died and (understandably) most of her purpose and joy had been wrapped up in them.  She had two daughters-in-law living with her, but she was practical enough to encourage them to leave, begin-again, and look for new husbands.  These younger women could have a second-chance at life, but Nao...

I am sorry. And it's good to get there sometimes. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. ~John 3:30 It's like every now and then we get so full of ourselves and the (sometimes) facade that we can convince even ourselves of...that it is necessary for God to "clean us out", and He does that by convicting us. I felt that today, and it was at first shameful and then good. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. ~John 3:30 Sometimes we do wrong on purpose . We are angry, we are hurt, or we are at the end of our rope...and we make the wrong choice. But sometimes we get so caught up in trying to do the "right/kind/Godly/outreach" opportunities, that we sacrifice the peace, joy, contentment and gratitude of things and people that are right in front of us. These things and people are also " right/kind/Godly /outreach" opportunities, but we miss them as we look through the cross-hairs at ...

Maybe it's the change of Seasons, maybe it's the workload of mid-semester, maybe it's schedules and responsibilities, maybe it's lack-of-sleep, or the news or the future...but do things seem chaotic  to you?  When I read the headlines, the world seems chaotic . When I talk to family and friends about upcoming holidays their inclinations and expectations are chaotic . But it's not just "outside" things that seem that way.  It's "inside" stuff too.  Churches seem chaotic , friendships seem chaotic, and half the time the conversations I have with myself are chaotic .   And yet, just as steady as the waves-of-chaos that are battering our world and minds, there is an equal force with repetitive waves that is persisting from my study of the Bible/sermons/and within my spirit: our God is a God of order.    The chaos is not from  Him and the chaos is not of Him.  Nothing about God is chaotic, and it never has been.  Nor will our God ever...

For God so loved  the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life .  ( 17)  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him .  (18)  “ There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him . But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son .   ( 19)  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  ( 20)  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  ( 21)  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. ”  ~John 3:16-21 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ These verses cause a couple of clear images to flash through my mind.  The first is a Dis...

Have you ever heard of Nicodemus? He's not so famous. He was a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee (John 3:1). But Nicodemus was involved in possibly the most famous conversation ever when Jesus said to him, " For God so loved  the world that he gave  his one and only Son,  that whoever believes  in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). But chances are, you don't know about the conversation with Nicodemus that led up to those life-giving words from Jesus. Does the term " born again " make you nervous? It made Nicodemus nervous. It made him ask questions, and seek-to-understand, but it was hard for him to grasp being " born again " because the term is not "tangible". And all of the same questions might rush through our minds as well. A nd depending on our faith-ba ckground, it might make us uncomfortable/seem too "evangelical"/or even too "spiritually progressive"-- to hear about som...