Corona Devotionals

The Prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in an empty cistern . Cistern:  an artificial reservoir, such as an underground tank, for storing liquids and especially water, such as rainwater. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) But it wasn't quite an empty cistern ... there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it (Jeremiah 38:6). Jeremiah  was literally at the bottom of a well sitting in sludge.  Are we feeling the same today? Jeremiah did no wrong.  He was living for God.  And yet, he still found himself imprisoned in a disgusting and depressing situation: somewhere he didn't want to be.    Where are we (physically/emotionally/ spiritually/mentally) today?  Are we disgusted?  Are we depressed?  Are we sitting in sludge?  Have we sank down into it ? So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family....

The other day, we had a maintenance check-up on our furnace.  The young man who knocked at our door, put protective coverings over his work boots as he entered our home, and then went out of his way to apply a coupon to our final bill...was excellent.  He was kind, courteous, and it was clear that he was knowledgeable and enjoyed his work in heating and cooling.   I was pulling some chocolate chip muffins out of the oven as he was wrapping things up.   I like to bake, and I like to share.  These muffins were for the Christian fellowship group the following morning that our boys would be leading, but I am happily and often found filling muffin tins full of cupcake or muffin batter.  My family is almost immune to bakery coming out of the oven.   But when I offered this young man a muffin, his eyes darted to the batch and he quickly accepted.   I wrapped up a couple muffins in a paper towel for his travels, and he gratefully ...

The kick-off of a new year brings happy-hopes to many of us.  I t allows for a fresh start, setting new goals, and we can look forward to things like family gatherings, holidays, vacations and milestones. But (also) for many of us, a new year can bring fear and anxiety too. We worry about things like family and friends (or lack of them), health, finances, death...and overall uncertainty in our lives and the world. And--if we’re honest, most of our excitement and fears for a new year (and today) center around US and OUR personal development or wellbeing.  M any of our goals, aspirations, and even worries can be driven by (superficial) pressures that revolve around us. But...as we begin a new year, it’s the perfect time to set Godly goals ! What if we made some authentic changes in 2025 to become the person that God wants us to be ? The sin (and shame) that we fell to last year can be in the rearview mirror of our life, if we will let it be. God tells us that when we come to ...

We are about a week into the New Year.  Many of our exciting, well-meaning, and high-hoped New Year's resolutions are starting to dissolve.  We don't mean to let them slip...but it's just so hard to maintain new ways of life.  The gyms are (much) less populated than on the first and second days of the year.  We snuck a second piece of cake...or those chips: even though we said we wouldn't.  And we've already snapped/retorted/mouthed-off to one of our loved ones, even though we swore (prayed and promised!) that we wouldn't.  Yes, the bloom is off the New Year's rose, and we are no stranger to that familiar feeling of defeat that our self-failures bring. For every deep breath that we were enjoying a week or so ago, we now catch ourselves holding our breath,   as the responsibilities and pressures and dates of the coming days and weeks and year hover over us and settle into our schedule and our skin.  We feel the tightness in our neck and even in ou...

Manners have always been important to me, and I know that this is because they were important to my parents and grandparents before me.  I learned manners from my elders, but where do "manners" come from?   If "manners" means "treating people right", then where do we "get" or learn manners?   Turns out, treating people well is God's idea, and ( in the Bible),  He even provides specifics about how to treat others.   Of course-- it all begins with loving one another, and the only way that we know how to do that is once we realize (how sinful we are) and how much God loves us (anyway).   This awareness and knowledge of God's love for us breaks us a little.  It's too good to be true .   And then, once we learn to accept this truth (as best we can)...then this love-of-God allows us to love others in similar ways and with similar freedom.  Humans are not fully capable of unconditional love (like God), but understanding and ...

The Scriptures before us today remind me of a choose-your-own-adventure book.  The characters are all different, and in some ways, I can see a little of me in all of them.  But some of the characters have good endings, and some of them have bad endings.  That choice is up to us too.   Will we listen-to and obey what God says? Choose your own adventure today: with God, or without  Him? ~~~ The first person we meet is Jeremiah .  He was a prophet of God.  He believed in the Lord and lived for Him, and the Lord spoke  to Jeremiah.  God told him things to tell the people.  The main theme of God's messages to Jeremiah was for the people to stop sinning and to come back to following God and His ways.   Applying " Jeremiah"  to ourselves today: are we teaching/mentoring/discipling/leading anyone closer to Christ?  Can we be?  Should  we be?  If we believe in the Lord and live for Him, then there is some...