Corona Devotionals

Tucked into the annals of the Old Testament Book of I Chronicles, amidst the hard-to-pronounce names and generations of genealogies, there is a small anecdotal mention of a guy named Jabez . There was nothing special about Jabez,  except that he asked. There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful.  ( 10)  He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and increase my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.  ~I Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez  was a regular guy, with brothers and a family.  He   was no better than anyone else, but the difference was... he asked.    There's nothing special about us, in comparison to anyone else, but that doesn't mean that we can't  ask.    Jabez was not born "chosen" or special, in fact, his birt...

I had a snowball day today...even though it's August. It started off not-great...and then life just snowballed all day.   Bad news came yesterday and then...do you know that feeling when you wake up the next day and life is normal until you remember the thing .  This was a sad thing.  A hopeless thing.  An unrelated-directly-to-me, but heartbreaking-for-humanity thing.  And it sat heavy on my heart as the day began. Did I not weep for those in trouble? Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?  ( 26)  So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell.  ~Job 30:25-26 Normal life ensued from there, but when you're heavy, then even life's normalcies seem heavy-er, or like work.   I was (perhaps falsely-trusting and) hoping for something good to happen, something God to happen.  Something to lift this  and lift me.  I even had my own ideas about what... but nothing came .  And so......

Today I made a batch of stuffed peppers.  It's been a while, but it's funny how the process of a recipe from childhood sort-of "comes back to you" as you move through it.   I cleaned my green peppers, browned the ground meat and cooked up some rice.  After churning the beef and rice together with some spices and spaghetti sauce, I had a tasty stuffing for the peppers.  I blanched them in a pot of boiling water, fished them (and their tops) out and proceeded to fill the peppers up with their "stuffing". But (Geez!), I had misjudged my amount of rice/beef stuffing, and my peppers were full, but I had a bunch of leftover stuffing.  Now what will I do with that?   And where did I go wrong in my measurements? Just as my mind began to brainstorm other uses for my "extra rice mixture"...my eyes swept over the counter and there--tucked in next to the bananas was one more group of green peppers.  Were those there before?   Of course they were...but my...

Does life feel lately like you are in a holding pattern?  Like, we want  to move forward and upward and onward and toward whatever is next...and yet the delays of life, the red-tape of systems, the hindrances of this world are keeping us right here,  where we no longer want to be... but still are. Hang in.  Hang on.  Be patient in Christ. God might be doing something in the wait...often He does.  But I also think that sometimes--there is just a wait.  God created our world, but people run amuck in it (and people think they run it) and so our processes, beliefs, ideals, sin, and systems are all affected by people, which can cause delays, waits, holding-patterns and interims.  That can mean good times, or it can mean bad times, but always , it will mean time. The apostle Paul was no stranger to time delays, and his waits and time-lapses are an encouragement as we read about them.  Paul was on-fire for sharing the story and hope of Jesus with an...

How far can you go back?   In your family line, I mean...  I was disappointed (and a bit ashamed) when I realized that I can only go back a couple generations when trying to recall "my people" and the generations that came before me.  Sandy (Floyd III) and Cyndi are/were my parents. Floyd II and Eileen were my paternal grandparents. Jeanne and Harold were my maternal grandparents. Floyd and Emma were my paternal great-grandparents. And beyond that, I know/remember very few names that go back much further.   But do you know who has a perfectly detailed and precisely-recorded family tree?   Us.    Well, "us" as in God's children.   Listing the people who have come generation after generation in a family line can also be called a "chronicle", and the Bible actually devotes two whole Books in the Old Testament ( I and II Chronicles ) to doing just that.   In a clean and clear form, I Chronicles (29 chapters) and II Chro...

Ever get buried?   Actually, it's more like being  trapped.  If I were to draw a picture of me when I am in this "place", it would be of a person trapped behind glass.  You can see everything happening around you, and you know just how the routines and rhythms should go, but you can't connect.   You feel distanced, detached, and quite separate from the wholeness of what's happening, even though it is happening all around you.   And it's defeating. Like everything is your enemy and like everything is bearing down on you. And all you want is a shield.  You dream of holding your head high  once again.  You want to wake up in safety  and to stop being separate.   When we're in that "place", we need rescued... and  victory comes from you, O  Lord. ~~~ (1)  O  Lord , I have so many enemies;  so many are against me. ( 2)  So many are saying,  “God will never rescue him!”   ( 3)...

Restore to me the joy of your salvation   and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.   ~Psalm 51:12 Remember "puppy love"?   There was joy in it!  And an almost supernatural electricity and buoyancy that surrounded our thoughts and energy related to that person or mere thoughts of them. As we read about the apostle Paul, something about his story and how hard he fell for Jesus is inspiring.  And Paul didn't grow cold after his puppy-love beginning with the Lord: he remained true and unswerving in his devotion and vigor for God for the rest of his life.   The best part about Paul's story... is his story.  And he told it over and over to demonstrate to others how we can be one way when we are without Jesus in our lives, and then (boom!) once we encounter Him (and fall in love), we are different , and we are changed for him.  And there is  joy  in that! So, today let's listen as Paul retells his story to a crowd in J...