Corona Devotionals

“Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions."   ~Ezekiel 2:6 ~~~ A friend of mine who teaches in a public school district recently told me (heavily) that she 'walks into enemy territory every day'.  "They don't believe what I believe, and they don't hide it", she said with a deflated spirit. I could see in her eyes that their words pierce her heart like nettles and briers and (even) stinging scorpions. But perhaps we know those pinches and pricks as well: Ever post a Bible verse online that contradicts doing "whatever your flesh feels like"?  Or have we ever taken a stand for the Truth of the Bible in a world and a culture that has created its own truth? There is backlash when we speak Bible.  Oh yes.  There will be  threats,  nettles, briers and stinging scorpions  from people who are stubborn and hard-hearted  toward God (and us)....

We can't even  wrap our tiny mortal minds around all that God is .  The reality of His glory and power are  waaaayyy  too much for us to take-in or even imagine.   But we can try. And the writer of Psalm 104 does his very best to describe  God's digs and how He is dressed.  The Psalmist waxes eloquent and paints a gorgeous word-portrait of our Almighty God. No one can capture all that God is. But we can try.   And in realizing  the awesome glory of God, it causes a reaction in us:  praise.   We must  acknowledge God's authority and beauty in some way, and our reaction to is to  praise  Him . Let all that I am praise the   Lord .   O  Lord  my God, how great you are!   You are robed with honor and majesty.  ( 2)  You are dressed in a robe of light.   You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; (3)  you lay out the rafters of your home in the ...

Are we on-hold about something today?  Maybe our physical health?            ...the sickness or infection won't leave.                       ...the diagnosis (or diagno ses ) keep snowballing.   Or are we trapped today in a mental cage?  The door is unlocked, but still, we sit in fear...mostly of the unknown.   Or maybe it feels as if God has pressed the pause-button in a certain area of our lives.  It happens to be the one area that we are desperate for direction in.  But.. nothing .  We've been waiting.  And still today... we wait .   But in the wait , God speaks a Word: For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.  ~Hebrews 3:14 Yes , this verse does mean eternity-in-Heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Tha...

Did your mom or dad ever say this phrase to you in a stern voice: " Don't make me repeat myself ..."?  It was a sentence that was more of a command and a threat: all in one.  This phrase is constructed of words but seems to carry an almost-physical presence (punch!) with it.  (As if-- we  don't  want the person speaking to have to repeat themselves... or else it will be bad  for us . ) " Don't  make me repeat myself" is a phrase that makes  us listen, and we know  that what is being said is muy importante.  (That's Spanish for "very important".)   Even if we have not been threatened with this phrase-of-warning...we can get the gist of the intended (strong) message: listen well the first time...or else. Well, God doesn't threaten us with His Words in the Bible (As in: " Don't make me repeat myself. .."), but God also doesn't mince His Words.  He doesn't sugar-coat His Truth, and He definitely doesn't pussy-foot ...

PLOP! What a complete  mess.  In fact--if one of my kids had done this, I might have grounded them.   As I was working at my computer and eating breakfast: mid-stream between scooping a spoonful of yogurt and making-it into my mouth...it dropped.  The yogurt plopped ...RIGHT onto my computer keyboard and all over the keys. In between the keys.  Under the keys.  All over.  Yuck.  And, now what ?   I had made a complete mess, and it was the messiest of messes.   I worked to clean it up but I just couldn't wipe the entirety of yogurt-goop-remnants off, away, out, and out-from-under the keys and from the keyboard.   I had really made a mess, and (in truth) I wasn't sure that full recovery and clean-up was actually possible. ~~~ Well--maybe my current computer keyboard may never be completely unblemished (un-yogurted) again...but (VERY good news!):  we can be. The complete mess that I accidentally inflicted on my...

Isn't " vessel " a great word?  It just has a unique sound.  Vessel . What's a " vessel "?  Well, it's a  word that (mostly) means "container", such as blood vessel . Antique vessel . Sailing vessel . Cargo vessel . And back in the Bible days, v essels were used to contain many daily things, like water, wine, and storage. And back in the Bible days, s ome vessels in Bible times were made of gold or silver and used as beautiful decorative vases. They were displayed in locations of honor.  However, most (Biblical) vessels were made of clay, and they came in different sizes and shapes and they were created and made to be containers for practical, everyday purposes, and to hold things like water and wine. But all vessels are designed to be containers for something . And what a particular vessel contained (held within) determined if that vessel was a vessel of honor or dishonor . Did you know(?) that throughout the Bible, our lives are oft...

Sometimes rest and refueling is needed.  ( Do we need it today? ) There are times when God's call and requirement on our lives is almost too much, too exhausting, too tiring, too draining, or...as Ezekiel said: too overwhelm ing to handle. Sometimes we just have to take a step back and rest, and that is okay .  A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure.  ( 44)  Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.   (45)  “Who touched me?”  Jesus asked.  Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”   ( 46)  But Jesus said,  “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”    ~Luke 8:43-46 I would never equate our experiences to those of Jesus, but if we have served Him by serving others...if we have served in ministry outreaches (large or sma...