Corona Devotionals

It's not a very becoming thing to discuss, but I have varicose veins.  Part of it might be hereditary--I remember both of my Grandma's having purple threads down their legs and into their ankles and feet. But (for me), I am convinced that beyond genetic inheritance, there is a spiritual DNA  that these knotty veins lining my leg represent.  Let's face it--they are unsightly and ugly...and (for me) necessary. I've had doctors recommend treatment for cosmetic reasons.  I've had friends gush to me about the glory of having gotten their bulbous veins "taken care of".   But (unless they become a threat to my health), I am not interested.   We all have something that needles us.  Something that makes us stick out.  Something that jabs us and reminds us that we are not God's gift to the world.  And in truth, we desperately need  the gift that God gave  to the world: His Son.  Jesus is our pure and sinless ...

Here's the thing...sometimes we can't help but lose sight of  who's in charge.      We read the news, glance the headlines, mourn the obituaries...      We get blindsided by the diagnosis or depressed by the days...       The motion, monotony and minutiae of the day-to-day can suck the life and hope out of us...     Reality (what is real) can become skewed in our lives...and in our hearts and minds.      A cloud of   gloom  settles in...and we are   distressed. If we have lost  sight of  who's in charge ...allow the Bible to refresh us.  Encourage us.  Revive us, and re-engage us today!   ~~~ A long, long time ago (over 2,000 years for you and me, and 700 years before Jesus was born), the prophet Isaiah spoke of a baby that was to be born .   Because  of this baby, who would grow up into a man, who would be (to all who seek Him) our  Wonderful...

B ut now, this is what the   Lord   says— he who created you, Jacob,  he who formed you, Israel:  “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  (2)  When you pass through the waters,  I will be with you;  and when you pass through the rivers,  they will not sweep over you.   When you walk through the fire,  you will not be burned;  the flames will not set you ablaze.  ~Isaiah 43:1-2 When I flipped to a new calendar page this morning, this  was the verse that greeted me.  Or...steadied me.  Or readied  me?  What should we think when God greets us with words such as these as the day dawns? For me, I knew He was calling a spade a spade.  (Is He doing the same for you?)  I am   passing through the waters .  I am passing through the rivers .  I am   walking through the fire .   You too?  Your...

Will we wait for the Lord? The world and its people seem to be wandering further away from God and His ways, and the Bible says that it will only get worse. In the meantime...in the hard time...and even if there is silence from the Lord, will we  wait for the Lord ? Isaiah said, "Yes", for himself and his children. I will wait for the   Lord ,  who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob.   I will put my hope in him.  ( 18)  I and the children the  Lord  has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the  Lord  of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion...   (20)  Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.  ~Isaiah 8:17-18, 20 The people around Isaiah, God's people , (the Israelites) had turned away from God and turned into  themselves.  (Sound familiar?) This is what the  Lord  says:  “The children I...

Preserve the teaching of God;  entrust his instructions to those who follow me.  ~Isaiah 8:16 ~~~ Have you ever preserved (or "canned") tomatoes? By " preserve ", I mean keep/store-up-for-later/follow-the-(time-tested)-steps and tips...for storing/canning/" preserving " them, so that they won't spoil, and so that they will last. It's a process.  You can't just "say" you're going to can tomatoes.  There are steps, and an order to them, and I know them because my mother-in-law entrusted those instructions to me, just as her mother entrusted them to her and her mother before her. First (of course), you need red tomatoes, and we usually acquire them from any local farm that sells them by the bushel (over 9.5 gallons).    Then you have to let the tomatoes rest and ripen , preferably single-layer on a table for a day or two.  And then you're off and running for preserving them.   Boil a big pot of water and (1) place your whole to...

I'm not one to take much stock in the fortunes written on the tiny papers found within fortune cookies, but I have kept one fortune from a Chinese take-out meal over twenty years ago.  The short phrase pierced my (spiritual) heart then and has encouraged me many times since. You never know where you'll find a word of encouragement from the Lord, and it just might be tucked into a fortune cookie.  What I love about this fortune then, and now, and every time I've read it in between--is the beautiful paradox it holds.   None of us are good enough  to get to God (so He sent His Son)..but the crux of life is will we try again today to serve Him ?   We're all sinners  in contrast to His sin less ness.   ...for all have  sinned and fall short of the glory of God,   24  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  ~Romans 3:23-24 ~~~ We are all un holy in com...

It's interesting (and varied) what we allow to frighten  us, or even to cause us to live in dread.  For some, money and wealth (or the lack of it) frightens  us.  Our finances become hallowed  ground and our money-thoughts and planning can consume us.  We see wealth as a security and we convince ourselves that if we have/accumulate/invest enough , then we will be kept safe. The   Lord   has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ( 12)  “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,  and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.   ( 13)  Make the   Lord   of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.   He is the one you should fear.  H e is the one who should make you tremble.  ( 14)   He will keep you safe...  ~Isaiah 8:11-14  ~~~ It's not money for some of us--it's health.  The fear and dread  of getting sick/Cancer/Covid (or the l...