Corona Devotionals

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.    (24)  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  ( 25)  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  ~Hebrews 10:23-25 ~~~ When was the last time that we considered how we might spur someone on toward love and good deeds ? It's a great question isn't it?   Do we have an answer?   What does " spurring  someone  on toward love and good deeds"  even mean? I believe it means..."filling someone's tank".   ...Not their gas tank (although that could be an example of this idea!), but (instead): filling someone's emotional  tank.  Spiritual  tank.  Their heart tank. ...and how we do it is up to us and up to how the Holy Spirit leads us  Because...our (emotional/spi...

I stood at the edge of a chasm yesterday.  A leap of faith was necessary.  Required .   I knew what it looked like.  It looked like...if I jumped, I would plummet to my doom.  And to Your doom also, Lord.  The whole situation seemed doomed.  I'm sorry that I found myself on this dangerous spiritual ledge, Lord.   Yes, I knew what it looked like. I also know what it felt like: death.  The whole thing seemed so far-from-God and out-of-His-alignment that there was a feeling of spiritual-deadness and personal shame.  I was despairing as if negative (and non-God-honoring) outcomes were expected.  Yes,  I knew what it looked and felt and seemed  like. But...do we know , do we believe , will we trust God  to know what faith looks like today?  Faith defies what things "look" like and faith certainly defies our feelings.   Do we know what faith looks like? Now faith is confidence in what we hope for...

Oh goodness.  This world can overwhelm us sometimes with headlines and stock market dips.  With young people without discipline and older people without discipline.  With generations that seem to be falling away from the Lord.  With a beautiful Earth that's becoming more polluted.  With questions, worries, and stresses...  Some days we wonder if it's all worth it.  And what's the use of even trying today if it's all going down the tubes anyway?  Well, guess what?  Today I saw a blackbird eggshell, empty after hatching.  Well, guess what?  Today a friend sent me a picture of her beautiful newborn twin grandkids.  Even though we sometimes feel as if the world is ending, guess what ?  Life is continuing , and so is the opportunity to live it.   God's not finished yet...at least not with that just-hatched blackbird or those little miracle-twin babies.  And He's not finished with us either. See, I am doing ...

There is a heaviness, a darkness, an isolation and a desperation in our guilt before God. But there is  a freedom, a release, a lifting and a lightening (of mind, body, and spirit) in the gift of God's forgiveness. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, ( 16)  “This is the new covenant I will make  with my people on that day, says the  Lord :  I will put my laws in their hearts,  and I will write them on their minds.”     (17)  Then he says,  “I will never again remember  their sins and lawless deeds.”   (18)  And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.  ~Hebrews 10:15-18 Ahhhhh.  Forgiveness from God.   Receive it (although unexplainable). When we feel His forgiveness: the blinders-of-badness come off.  We exit the tunnel of heaviness and condemnation.  We relax in the Lord.  We breathe... and we liv e.  ...

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  ( 16)  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.   ( 17)  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. .. (19)  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.  ( 20)  Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.  ~Revelation 3:15-17, 19-20 ~~~ Has apathy bound our wrists and gagged our mouths lately?  Maybe we are so tired, or busy, or popular, or timid, or (name our excuse), that we haven't stood up for Jesus.  ...It's just easier to take a seat or to stay-seated or to  not care , and so... we don't. We are so sorry for our apathy, Lo...

In the Bible, God talked  to people and He gave them messages to share with others.  God's Word is for those who know Him and also for those who don't.  Whether or not we listen  to what God says is up to us. God told Ezekiel the prophet (one who speaks on behalf of God) to speak against Israel and her " sanctuaries ".  God was not happy with the Israelites' allegiance to everything- but -Him.  They had sanctuaries  honoring the wrong things, and their hearts were not honoring God.   The Lord had a  stern  message and consequence to convey to them.  He was speaking in judgement to Israel, but we (also)  know our sins before God and the other sanctuaries in which we offer worship (not to the Lord).    I can't look God in the eye right now.  He knows our sins.  Is He calling us to repent of anything today?   When was the last time we acknowledged and asked forgiveness for our sins?  Or do ...