Corona Devotionals

What is our worst fear?       Spiders?       Cockroaches.       Storms?       Poverty? But...what if we have gotten life and its point all wrong? Wouldn't that be scary? What if we've spent our lives striving and spending for comfort, and all that God wanted was sacrifice ?  What if we have always wanted people to see our status and wealth and stuff?  And what if we thought no one saw how we cut corners, and cheated others along our way to worldly success?  What if we have been living all wrong, and God is exposing us through His Word?  That's one of my worst fears.  --- Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. (2) Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. (3) Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure...

Our middle child is close to getting his drivers license.  He's taken the classes, practiced his driving hours, and he has finished the in-car drive-time with an instructor.  All that's left is the test, and he is excited to take it. But with so many variables in learning the rules of the road, traffic and signage--I was wondering if our son was nervous as he processed all of it.  However, when I asked him how he was feeling, he gave me a matter-of-fact one sentence answer that (in his mind) summed up the entire process :  "Driving is just like Chemistry: you just have to do it perfectly...every time." And, while I do not know much about Chemistry, he is (fairly) correct about driving: an incorrect move or mistake can cause an accident or worse.  Driving does sort of  have to be perfect everytime...or else. And, somehow, his chemistry-to-driving equation popped in my head when reading the Bible today: And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holine...

I like to make banana bread--both for our family to eat and also to give away.  Either way, I find that a  loaf of banana bread is a fun way to love someone. However--my latest loaf did not cook for the full time and as a result, it was thick, wet-looking, and almost gelatinous.  I  will not  be giving that loaf away as a gift to anyone. But I purposely made the decision to pull that bread from the oven before it was fully baked because t hat ruined banana bread loaf was a sacrifice, and I am glad that I put it on the altar. What in the world do I mean?   Well, the other night,  after I had put a loaf of banana bread into the oven to bake, my husband invited me to go get ice cream with him at our local stand.   I love  splitting the hot fudge brownie sundae with him, and I love going on a date of any kind with my husband, and I love my husband.   However, too often I get buried in tasks, I power-through my chores, or...

God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his  entire  message to you.   ~Colossians 1:25 All  of it. Even the parts of  His message  that people have decided are outdated, old-fashioned, uncomfortable, sexist, homophobic, or "hate-speech". These are terms and reactions that man has coined to suit our preferences.  But God states His preferences for us clearly in the Bible.  For those of us who admit that we are sinful before God and choose to believe in Him...we call God's message Truth and when God gave us His Word (the Bible), He expected (and commanded) us to receive and believe all of it, the  entire thing.  God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his  entire  message to you.   ~Colossians 1:25 ~~~ Do we trust that God meant every word in His Word?   Is the entire message  of God's Message  really necessary?  Is it true ? We can ...

Did we know that Rahab was a bold and courageous woman in the Bible  who hid (and thus saved) some men of God, and then showed them a back-exit way to escape the city of Jericho when they were being pursued by bad guys?  Way to get-to-work for God, Rahab! Did we also know that Rahab was a prostitute?   Are we surprised that God used Rahab to do His will and to help others seeking to do His will? Don't be. God has always used imperfect and unqualified people to do His will, and God will also use us if we allow Him to today. Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies... “Go, look over   the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab   and stayed there.  ( 2)  The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”  ( 3)  So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered you...

A poor person who oppresses the poor  is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.  ( 4)  To reject the law is to praise the wicked;  to obey the law is to fight them.  ( 5)  Evil people don’t understand justice,  but those who follow the  Lord  understand completely.  ~Proverbs 28:3-5 First of all--we're all poor when it comes to being rich in mercy in comparison with God, and these verses convict and encourage us.  Are we oppressing someone?  Have we been repeatedly oppressing /critiquing/destroying someone or something that is trying to grow?  I think of my children.  My smart and fun and kind kids...that I too often see as not working/doing/being enough...or falling short of my (often unrealistic) expectations.  A poor person who oppresses the poor  is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.  ~Proverbs 28:3 ~~~ I apply this verse to my marriage.  Wives to their husbands...  H...

Were we seeking to serve the Lord yesterday and the day before?  Are we doing our best to serve God today?  Yes . Yes we are.  We are trying...and we are striving...and we are yearning to please our Heavenly Father, and to walk in His ways.  We are reading His Word, we are trusting His leading, and we are attempting to live out His statutes...the best that we can.  We are  abiding with Him. ...And we are accomplishing these feats of daily faith!  (Are we trying in our faith?  ...Then we are achieving  in our faith.)   The Lord is pleased with us today.  The  Lord  your God is with you,  the Mighty Warrior who saves.   He will take great delight in you;  in his love he will no longer rebuke you,  but will rejoice over you with singing.”  ~Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord God loves us today. The LORD has appeared of old to me,  saying:  “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting lo...