Corona Devotionals

The attacks on us are real.  Somedays it can feel like there's a 200 pound gorilla sitting on our chest.  ...Like our hands are tied tightly behind our back and we can't accomplish anything for God and the stress on our mind, heart and spirit can sideline us.   That was me yesterday.  Maybe it's you today.  One thing after another.  There's no coming up for air, but there are gasps of desperation. So when I woke today, I couldn't wait to get to my Bible.   God speaks to us through his Word  and I needed Him .   Each day I am  determined to study and obey the Law of the  Lord ( the Bible), but after a day like yesterday... I crave it. As I cracked open the Bible, I was (somehow) expecting to sit in my yuck of yesterday.   But when I started reading about the prophet Ezra , the Bible took me down a different road, and I had to buckle my seat belt.  It was a wild ride (to me)...because it was a joy ri...

Lord, we know (by Your Word) that we must be still before you: Be still and know that I am God.  ~Psalm 46:10 .   Lord, we know that you often do not  present yourself in the excitement, the noise, or in the rumble:   “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the  Lord  told him. And as Elijah stood there, the  Lord  passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the  Lord  was not in the wind . After the wind there was an earthquake, but the  Lord  was not in the earthquake .  ( 12)  And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the  Lord  was not in the fire . And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.  ( 13)  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.   And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  ~I Kings 1...

Are we planting seeds for God's Kingdom today?  (Loving on someone that needs it/Praying with or for another/Sharing or teaching the Bible to someone/others). Are we watering the seeds of faith that someone else planted before us?  Maybe meeting with someone to disciple them or invest in them?   Perhaps walking alongside someone who is in a valley of life and needs support. The planting  of God's seed and the watering  of God's seed ...is important work, but who does it  is not important.   What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.  ~I Corinthians 3:7 Am I planting seeds  for Christ today?  (I should be.)   Are you watering seeds  for the Lord today?  (I hope so.)   Is  Apollos  watering?   Is Paul planting?  They were (in their Biblical day), but you and me and Apollos and Paul  don't matter: only God does!    After all, who is Apollos? Who i...

Just who do you think you are,  and who gave you permission?   What right do you have to preach the Bible and call it "truth"? Why are you "rocking the boat" and "ruffling feathers" and "making waves" about Jesus?   Everyone knows that keeping the status quo means "playing it safe" and not speaking up or out about God.  "Fitting in" means blending in  and not  sticking-out in belief or faith. Just who do you think you are , and  who gave you permission   to live-out-loud for the Lord and to rebuild His " Temple " today? “This was their answer: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago'... ~Ezra 5:11 If you are basing your life on the Truth of the Bible and preaching God's Word by example and maybe even with words.. .keep building His Temple  today ! There's going to be opposition.  There's going to be delays, red tape,...

Remember birthdays as a child?  The anticipation of presents, the royal pleasure of a cake in-your-honor, and people who love you surrounding you?   ...the off-beat chorus of gramma's and papa's, aunts and uncles, siblings and (of course) parents...belting out Happy Birthday to YOU.   Those were  good things in the good old days.   But even as the years pile up and our birthday traditions tame...the  good things  still come, and in our gratitude, we can  praise the  Lord  for them.     Praise the  Lord , my soul; a ll my inmost being, praise his holy name.  (2)  Praise the  Lord , my soul,  and forget not all his benefits—(3)  who forgives all your sins  and heals all your diseases, (4)  who redeems your life from the pit  and crowns you with love and compassion, (5)  who satisfies your desires with good things  so that you...

Have you seen the sayings on t-shirts, caps, kitchen towels, or coffee mugs that are pertaining to "my kind of people"? Dog people are my kind of people. Cat people are my kind of people. Baseball people are my kind of people. Kind people are my kind of people. We had some new friends over for dinner last night.  I say "new" friends, but...(except for the husband, who I had met once at a fundraiser last year), they were actually strangers.  Our family had not ever met the wife or their two sons, ages 3 and 1.  And while the (Merriam Webster) dictionary would define a stranger as   a person or thing that is unknown or with whom one is unacquainted , even before I met  this family...I felt that I  knew  them.   How? Why? Because they are Jesus people. There are many (many! ) kinds of people, but  Jesus people  are my kind of people.   Have you ever noticed or experienced the bond that Believers share because of our com...