Corona Devotionals

It's always a good day for getting some Vitamin C, and so I peeled some mandarin oranges.  Small and bright (orange), these little citrus fruits are sweet and fun.  I popped a segment of three connected wedges into my mouth and their sweet juice exploded, making me smile.   I finished the rest of that mandarin orange, and popped a section of a second one into my mouth.   But- oh , this one did not taste half as good.   Dry and slightly hard, there was almost no juice and the should-be fleshy fruit of this mandarin was pithy and firm.  Where was the burst of sweet orange-flavored bliss that I had enjoyed with my first peeling?  This second one was blah and less-than-mediocre.    I sucked what little juice was-to-be-had from the disappointing section of mini-orange,  and (sorry to be graphic!), I spit the rest of the juiceless mass into the garbage can. There was a third mandarin orange ready and peeled, but did I want to tr...

Where are we standing today?  On a breathtaking (literal or proverbial) mountaintop?  Life is good, and we feel blessed, and... YES! Or: O n a briar-filled unknown path with weeds and thorns growing over our opportunities and not a soul in sight to offer comfort, direction, or hope.       Standing-tall or crumpled-up: in either spot (or anywhere in between) today, there is one sure way to connect with God and to usher in His presence:  Worship the  Lord  with gladness today (Psalm 100:2). No, I am serious.   Feeling GOOD , or feeling bad , we should come before the Lord today and  worship the  Lord  with gladness , and then: watch what happens today.   God will meet us when we submit our feelings to Him.  God will be glorified when we praise His Name (no matter what we are facing) today.  God will  fill us when we empty  ourselves into Him. ~~~ Shout for joy   to the   Lord , a...

Have we ever had someone send us a text or an email IN ALL CAPS?  It can be a bit intimidating (ie. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? ), unless it's a positive exclamation (ie. WOW! ), and then it can be invigorating.  And utilizing 'all caps' is such a powerful (printed) stance, that I've even had people apologize after sending me a message in accidental caps.  ( I'm sorry, I didn't mean to send that in all caps. ) Do any of us work in Customer Service or Support departments?  Those poor guys and gals get some nasty   (and intended)   'all caps' messages when a customer is frustrated or just plain mad. A word or message in 'all caps' demonstrates  strong language, and i f we receive an admonishment or a command in 'all caps'...then we had better take notice and listen up, right?  Right... Well, get ready, Friends, because God has messaged us today in 'all caps': LISTEN!  The  Lord ’s arm is not too weak to save you,  nor is his ear too dea...

Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos with their trip. See that they are given everything they need.   ( 14)  Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.    (15)  Everybody here sends greetings. Please give my greetings to the believers—all who love us.    May God’s grace be with you all.  ~Titus 3:12-15 ~~~ Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.   ~Titus 3:14 Wow .  I am amazed lately at how productive our people have been.   Who are "our" people ?   Well, for Paul, they were the people he was teaching about following God.  They were the new Believers of "the Way".  They were people who had come to realize/know/and accept that God was much more than rote religious exercises carried out in compulsion.   The " our people " that Paul was add...

Is your life anything but perfect today? Mine too. Just a reminder that sometimes we think our lives should look/feel/ be /appear "perfect", but that's a myth. Nobody's life is perfect. Life wasn’t perfect for Daniel (in the Bible).  Did we know that he got recruited (taken) out of his hometown, away from his family and he had to go and work for (and serve) a king of another country called Babylonia.  That king didn’t follow God like Daniel did and the king even changed Daniel's name! (Can you imagine if someone made US change our name?).   …They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.  The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego . ~ Daniel 2:5, 7 These guys were living and working in a foreign land, and things were not perfect for them.  They missed their families, and no one around them believed in God lik...