Corona Devotionals

How does the wisest person ever  get to be the wisest person ever? Ask God.   ~~~ Have you heard of King Solomon?   The Bible (and God) say that he was the  wisest person that ever was or will be.  ( I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.   ~I Kings 3:1) But dial it back a minute...How did Solomon get there? Biblical upbringing.  His dad (King David) knew God, loved God, submitted to God, and taught his son Solomon to do the same. But dial it back a minute... before Solomon “got wisdom” from God, but after Solomon had a Biblical upbringing from his dad (David) and became king---what was in between?   Was King Solomon tilling his own faith-soil?  Was he living in obedience to God? You bet , and he was bringing everyone in his sphere of influence with him ( the generals and captains of the army, the judges, and all the political and clan leaders  ~I Chronicles 1:2) .  That's living powerfully f

Wouldn't it be nice if God gave us a check-list for living-for-Him?  A few simple but concrete tips that could be the outline for our days and the pattern for our years as we seek to glorify God Almighty. Something understandable and manageable, like: Sing "Hallelujah" twenty times a day. Read three Bible verses a day. Empty the dishwasher. Take out the trash. Wouldn't it be nice if God spelled it out that simply? He does.   His Holy Bible is one big book of simple but concrete tips to outline our days and pattern our years as we seek to live our lives for Him. But in Psalm 15 God does write us out a check-list.  For those of us that prefer specifics instead of parables...here we go. Psalm 15   A psalm of David.  (1)  Who may worship in your sanctuary,  Lord ?   Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  ~Psalm 15:1 David wondered, just as we all wonder... who  can be worthy of You, Lord?  How do we get from our (sinful) "here" to Your (holy) "th

Can one person ruin it for everyone else?   Sure.  Ever had to run laps because of someone else  on the team?  Can one person ruin it for everyone else?   Sure.   Ever missed recess because other people  were too loud/messy/wild in the lunchroom or class? Can one person ruin it for everyone else?   Sure.  Ever worked on a team project where not everyone contributed to the "team"? Can one person ruin it for everyone else?   Sure.  Ever tried to succeed when you have a back-biter/self-promoter/critical-spirit/tongue in your group/class/team/office/family? Can one person ruin it for everyone else?  Definitely. Adam ruined it for us.   In his defense, being the first human...it was probably only a matter of time before he sinned (ate from the fruit of the ONE tree that God asked him and Eve not to eat from) and "ruined it" for everyone else.   Somehow, from the very beginning of all peoples, we have always had a selfish and prideful-bent.   The woman said to the serpe

I was blessed to catch a sunrise the other day.  But it wasn't rising over the houses across the street (like most mornings), and it wasn't cresting up out of a field or the ocean.  I saw the sun birthing a new day  from above the clouds. While I enjoy every sunrise (or sunset) that I witness, this one was  more... not just a sunrise, but an ethereal glowing.  It was not just "pretty" but  striking , like a spark .   I was watching the atmosphere change from night-darkness to light-of-day, and our God does it with pizazz.   Have we stopped for a moment lately to remember and realize afresh  the God we serve ?  He created the universe, our world, and us.    And He did it with pizazz. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...  (3)  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  ( 4)  God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.  ( 5)  God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there wa

God is...holy. God is...love. God is...just. God is...Creator. God is...sovereign. God is... our friend?  Yes!   But... how?   It's not a logical/balanced/computable/or even fathomable idea: the God of the universe being friends  with us.  ... Saved-but-still-sinful us .   Don't blame me (or credit me) with the idea---it is God's alone.  Only He  could take the unbalanced equation of our sin and His holiness and come out with the solution that He did  (His Son).   So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.  ~Romans 5:11 God is... our friend?   Yes!  There was a time when we  didn't  know Christ, and (whether we knew it or not), we were  helpless  without Him.  We did what we wanted, we lived for ourselves.... and we were  helpless .   Utterly. The world said all was good...but when we got quiet/in the stillness/in contemplation...our hearts knew we were not good.   Remember that contrast? 

Our family is praying for a friend of ours.  He's not in the hospital, sick-in-bed, or stuck in sorrow.  But his need for prayer is dire.   He's not battling physical armies...it's worse.  He is on the spiritual battlefield, and a war is raging. For we  are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.   (13)  Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil  ~Ephesians 6:12-13 Maybe you are in prayer for someone in a similar battle-situation.  Maybe it's you. The back-and-forth saga of good versus evil is gut-wrenching at times, maddening at others, and often hits us where it really hurts.   But that is exactly the evil one's plan--where is our most vulnerable part?  Expect  a blow to that area.  If satan can derail us for a moment, for a relationship, for a mo

If we know anything about the account of  David (King David) in the Bible, it's that he had a lot of trials in his life...but he didn't let them define him.   He was selected by God to be a king over the Israelites, but when the prophet ( Samuel ) came to anoint him for this honor, even David's father didn't consider David an option out of the line-up of his sons.  David's dad, Jesse didn't even fetch him for the prophet until told to do so. ...Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.” (9) Next Jesse summoned Shimea, but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.” (10) In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”  (11) Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep a