Corona Devotionals

What I like about the Bible is that it often gives us an outline or a character description of what to shoot for.   We might not be there right now, but in time and with God's grace and strength... we can get there. David was a normal dude.  His life contained normalcies like yours and mine, but trials and triumphs too.  What makes him a positive spiritual-influence over us was not  his circumstances, giftings or accomplishments, but (instead) the unwavering ways that he stuck-close-to-God and God's Word as David encountered those day to day happenings.  David gives us "something-to-shoot-for", in terms of living (mostly) well for God.   ~~~ The Psalms are   David's daily-diary or jotter-journal of his thoughts, prayers and praises to the Lord as he maneuvered through the ups and downs of his days.  Sometimes the Psalms are comforting, sometimes uplifting, and sometimes...they give us something to shoot for. Psalm 26 A psalm of Da...

Raise your hand if your days are managed by a schedule: An alarm clock feeding into a regimen of revolving tasks and people and responsibilities that cycle all day until it is once again...night. We toil and we schedule and we rush and we hustle... for what? Is this full-calendar and over-filled life the "dream" that God dreamt-up for us when He formed us in the womb and when He ordained our days that were  written in His  book? (Psalm 139).   ~~~ I forsook the schedule this weekend and walked-away from working-ahead.  I  slept-in  and  let-in  people and moments that I usually "don't have time for", and... It was wonderful .  It was soul-filling and spirit-fueling, and it was not meaningless.   I had a wake-up call by sleeping in: It's okay to enjoy life. ~~~ I am NO genius (ask my kids!), but I know someone who was--King Solomon ( son of David ) ,  in the Bible.  He is credited with being the most wise person to ever have liv...

Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says.   ~Romans 16:25 Thank you,  Lord.  How do You know exactly  what we need to hear right now?   How do You know that we are weak ?  That our spirit, our mind, our hopes...are craving something/someone/some-truth  who is able to make us strong today?   How do You know?    Because You are  the only wise God...forever (Romans 16:27) , and You choose  to know us . Thank you,  Lord.  But not just us .  You choose to know every heart that seeks to  believe and obey  You ( Romans 16:26).   How I  got in this "group", I am still baffled by, but the Bible reiterates (for my own acceptance and for my proclaiming-of-it to others) that this message is not just for the few/the elect/the trained/the "good"/ the "Godly"/the do-gooders"/the non-swearers/the non-drinkers/the non-sinners/the on-their-best-behaviors...

Watch out for traffic.   Watch out for bees on summer clovered-lawns.   Watch out for first-base-runners stealing second.   Watch out for boys (and girls!) with bad-intentions.   Watch out for Ponzi-schemes.   Watch-out for deer during dusk on back roads.   Watch out for hidden fees. Watch out for mosquitos when the sun goes down.   Watch out for germs. Watch out for pick-pockets on the subway... But... watch out for other believers-in-the-Lord ?   I guess so.  The Bible warns us today to watch out  for anything or anyone  whose intentions are not fully rooted in Christ.   And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.  ( 18)  Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal inter...

I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.   Cross my heart and hope to die... I pinky-promise... It's the truth, I swear...   Till death do us part... From elementary school children on a playground to soon-to-be-newlyweds standing before a pastor and exchanging rings: we have all embarked in a covenant of some sort at one time or another. Today the Lord calls us to renew  our covenant  with Him.   In the Old Testament Book of II Chronicles, Chapter 34 , Josiah  the king felt compelled to reestablish a commitment and a promise between the Israelite people and the Lord, but first, he was compelled to renew  that covenant   for himself .   I feel the same renewal  burden/draw/pull//bidding/spiritual-obligation today.   Join me. Young or old, steeped in sin, or gracefully growing more like Jesus hourly...we can all make a renewed commitment t o  keepin...

I found something long-lost today.   Many don't even know that it's been missing.   But it's been buried.  Cast aside long ago and untouched for many years.  Forgotten.   Purposely neglected or accidentally pushed-aside---either way, we find  it afresh today:  God's Word/The Bible/ the Book of the Law. ~~~ While they were bringing out the money collected at the  Lord ’s Temple, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the  Lord  that was written by Moses.  ( 15)  Hilkiah said to Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the  Lord ’s Temple!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.   ~2 Chronicles 34:14-15 ~~~ The Book of the Law of the  Lord  that was written by Moses had been  long-lost by the Israelites (God's people).  It  had been buried in the bowels of the Temple , cast aside long ago and untouched for many years.  Forgotten. ...