Corona Devotionals

Thank you to the  Mordecai's. ~~~ Who helped us become  who we are today?  Who sacrificed their time, their love, their selves  in order for us to have a chance, have a life, have a purpose, and know that we are not  here by mistake, but for very specific purposes, assigned by God?   Who cared for us when we were babies?  Who raised us physically?  Who raised us spiritually?   Who mentored us in the right ways to live righteously, so that when we got out on our own, we had the foundation to live well? It was (hopefully) our parents, but chances are, there were many people along-the-way-of-our-lives that built-into-us and built-us-up into the people that we are today.   Thank you to the Mordecai's  in our life. Who was Mordecai , you ask?   In the Book of Esther , he was a cousin of Esther.   A good man.  An older, God-fearing, wise, Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of ...

We can't possibly know the details of most of our life circumstances before we enter into them.  All we can do is be willing to enter in to the situations where we feel the Lord leading us.  ~~~ So...want to go to a party?  It's a royal one!  A banquet!  A celebration !  And it will last over 180 days !   Pull up a fancy chair and let's join the party!: ~~~ These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. ..  ( 3) In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. He invited all the military officers of Persia and Media as well as the princes and nobles of the provinces. ( 4) The celebration lasted 180 days—a tremendous display of the opulent wealth of his empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty.   (5) When it was all over, the king gave a banquet for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were in the fortress ...

Sometimes we get treated to something great that we do not even deserve.  It happened for me and my family the other day. Not because we earned it, not because we had the extra money for it, and not because there was a special occasion....but in the name of family--my husband treated us to a gourmet buffet for supper. Dee-lish-US!  It was delicious.  There was something for everyone and everyone had different favorites.  And you could eat as much as you wanted of whatever you wanted.  For me, that looked like a lot of al dente steamed fresh asparagus, cauliflower au gratin, vegetable low mein and prime rib that melted in my mouth.  For one of our sons, it looked like crawfish, three kinds of pizza, General Tso's chicken and hot wings.  Our daughter ate her weight in baked beans, and made her own pasta dish with a pesto Alfredo sauce. If you wanted it--it was there.  What a great night! Such bounty! Such blessing. I couldn't help but praise the L...

Punched in the emotional gut.  Put in the corner.  Slumped in defeat and keenly aware of our limits and deficiencies as a sole individual in this wide world.  Some days we are benched by things and beyond our reach.   Sidelined by somebodies.   A pity party is needful and not unwarranted sometimes and after some instances. It can feel like it is us against the world.   ( Is it?) David was there.   He called out to God: humbled in his humility and almost crushed in his crux-of-life at that moment.   His prayer can be ours too if we need to pray it today: Psalm 35 A psalm of David. (1)  O  Lord , oppose those who oppose me.   Fight those who fight against me. (2)  Put on your armor, and take up your shield.   Prepare for battle, and come to my aid. (3)  Lift up your spear and javelin against those who pursue me.   Let me hear you say, “I will give you victory!” (4)  Bring shame and disgrace on...

Just because we do  it, doesn't mean that we should.   Just because we have relaxed God's standard does not mean that He has. Just because we are ignoring what God says and we are living/moving on, does not mean that He has compromised His command: “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  ( 9)  You have six days each week for your ordinary work,  ( 10)  but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the  Lord  your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters...  ( 11)  For in six days the  Lord  made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the  Lord  blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.  ~Exodus 20:8-11 It's God's ask, not the church's, our grandparents, or a priest or pastor's recommendation: God said so. God put it this way: "I am the  Lord ...

(1)    Praise the   Lord !   Praise God in his sanctuary;  praise him in his mighty heavens.  (2)  Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.  (3)  Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, ( 4)  praise him  with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, ( 5)  praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.  ~Psalm 150:1-5   ~~~ ...singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  ~Ephesians 5:19 ~~~ The idea and practice of it is age-old.  T imeless.  It survives the test of time.  It crosses language barriers.  It unites people.  It calms people.  It connects people.  It is heard but also felt.  It is a gift and a talent to make , and it is restorative/special/a blessing to receive . ...