Corona Devotionals

How do we  share the story of God's salvation with others?   A friend of mine gave me a beaded bracelet that she made with varying colors on it, and she told me that the beads represent a summation of the Gospel.  The red bead is for Christ's blood.  The black bead represents our sin.  The white bead represents Christ's purity, and the cleansing salvation that He provides to us.  The green bead represents our growth as we come to know and love and serve God more and more.  Each bead (these colors and more) provide a wonderful  summation of our purpose and blessing in being followers of Christ. We have a children's Bible, from which we read the accounts of the Bible to our children at their very earliest of ages.  It made the facts and people simple to introduce and easy to understand.  The words were not challenging and the pictures were entertaining and (somehow) comforting.   That children's Bible shares the story of God...

When was the last time we got stung by a bee or wasp?   Ouch!  Even if it has been years...we can still feel that " sting " in our mind: it's hard to forget that kind of pain.   But, odds are, we have some sort of other (emotional/physical/mental/spiritual) pain in our lives and heart today...and we don't have to "remember" what that pain is like... it's right here.  The sting is present and the pain is currently inflicting.   We are persevering and enduring, but it doesn't really feel as if we are  o vercoming.  No, the sting of this trial/suffering/injustice/unsettlement stays.  The hurt of it not-going-away persists.   We smile.   We go through the daily routines.   We keep on keeping-on, but the pain of death  (we miss our loved one), the weight of sorrow  (Should life be this hard?), the exhaustion of crying  tears and crying out to God... it hurts.   This world and this ea...

The Apostle Peter wrote words  ( over 2,000 years ago )  to encourage us today. It's wild how God's Word (the Bible) is ancient... but relevant .  Perfect and timely: for speaking truth (God's truth)--right into our today.   And I don't know about you, but I need it. ~~~ The first thing that Peter does is introduce himself and tell us a little bit about himself and what he is up to:  This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.   I am writing...    ~I Peter 1 :1 The second thing that Peter does is introduce us and tell a little bit about what we are up to.  (Okay, so Peter is actually writing to believers-in-God back in his day, but all that he says applies to us (believers-in-God) living in this day.   It's wild how God's Word (the Bible) is  ancient... but  relevant . ~~~ I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bi...

My husband has unique interests, and one of his hobbies is making flowers for our yard....out of glass plates. He saw a glass (plate) flower adorning someone's yard years ago and it caught his eye.  And then he thought, " I could do that " .    And he has.  He's made us a number of flowers and they are really beautiful... and delicate,  because they are made of glass.   If one of these flowers falls...they easily shatter. ~~~ I pulled into our driveway the other day to see one glass flower barely hanging on .  For some reason it had fallen and  almost  toppled to the (hard) concrete.  Almost.   That flower was this close  to shattering.  It was hanging on by a thread. Are we barely hanging on  today?   Are we this close  to shattering? Beloved... God knows us.   Child of the Living God... He  sees. us   And God opens His arms and His Word  to us today. “Come to me...

If I were to ask you what your most special possession is, what would you say?  That's a toss up for me: It might be a three-way tie between my Kitchen Aid mixer (I love to bake!), my coffee maker, (I love coffee!) and my Bible (I love Jesus!).  Okay, so the Bible would (of course)!) win out, but I would also count the other two mentioned items as special possessions to me.  I have a best friend that still has a treasured teddy bear from when she was young.  Raggedy and well-loved, it is still a comfort to her once in a while during sad times or after an injury or trauma.  For her, that teddy bear is a special possession. What's your special possession ? ...HA!   Don't answer that!  It turns out, in the Bible, God points out that this is a trick question!   We should only have one  special possession , and I was close to the correct answer with one of my three answers.  ( Here's a hint: it wasn't my mixer or coffee maker.)...

Have you met my family?  I come from a good one, and I love my family very much.  But...after reading Ezekiel Chapter 44,  I decided that I would (also) love to be in  the family of Zadok .  Zadok  was a good and Godly man.  He was a loyal priest to King David, and  Zadok  was a levitical priest , which means that he followed in the spiritual-service footsteps dating back to Aaron (Moses' brother), who was God's first priest (and from the tribe of Levi,), hence:  Levitical   priest .  So--what's so good about  the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok ?   Well--in a time, and actually, in a vision  that the Lord gave to the prophet Ezekiel about a coming time , when God's Temple will be rebuilt... when that occurs: God told Ezekiel about some good guys that will be faithful in honoring God all-the-way as they serve Him.   That's the family that we want to be in! The reason that I say that...