Corona Devotionals

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.   ~I John 3:16 This love ...this   real love that the Bible calls us to is so... revolutionary  compared to the (self) love that the world glorifies.  Not only is the real love  of Jesus revolutionary, it is revolting  to most people, who have been trained to love and promote only themselves, rather than to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. This real love  that the Bible speaks of is contradictory and even contraband.  As Believers in Christ, it's almost like we have to smuggle  God's love ( real love ) to others, because this kind of love is so unknown in the me-first era in which we live. But, as the Bible has done for over two thousand years: God's Word defines life and real love  in stark contradiction to the accepted cultural versions of love, which are diluted and tainted because man ha...

I made a  big  pot of turkey noodle soup the other day.   Turkey noodle soup is just like chicken noodle soup, but I boil the cooked and carved turkey (carcass) to make a beautiful-tasting broth, and then I strain everything out of the broth, add some veggies and turkey, and (of course), serve it over noodles.  Lot's of carrots sliced and celery diced and broth that tastes too good to be true: it makes a great soup.  But before I serve it, I always chill it overnight and then the next day I skim off a layer of yellow solidified oils and grease (fat) that settles on the top of the soup broth.   I'm no food-chemist, but something about the boiling-of-the-turkey puts oils into the broth.  However, refrigeration causes most of that fat/grease/oil to rise and solidify, making it very easy to skim-the-scum off the top, and then my soup is cleared for culinary consumption. Without the removal of that junk , the soup would be greasy, gross, and much ...

Did we know what we were signing up for when we decided to follow Jesus?  Do we ever wonder what we will be when we grow up (in Christ)?   Many of us are mostly  grown , but the Bible gives us a glimpse (prophecy) of what tomorrow holds for God's faithful few...and before we get to the streets-of-gold that Revelation says we will walk and leap(!)... The twelve gates  were twelve pearls,  each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.  ~Revelation 21:21    Looking at his disciples, he said... (23)  “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,   because great is your reward in heaven.  ~Luke 6:20, 23 Yes, the future for Believers-in-Christ is bright ...b ut, yes,  the earthly coming-days will get darker before we experience Heaven's eternal Light, and we must be strong in the difficult times, knowing that we are being  refined, cleansed, and  made pure. Daniel go...

Make every effort to keep the unity  of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  ~ Ephesians 4:3  ~~~ Gravy is something I always took for granted on the Thanksgiving table, and at any meal that we enjoyed it.  There was just magically always a bowl or boat or small pitcher of it available to pour over mashed potatoes and turkey.  I also don't mind gravy over my stuffing, how about you?  Also, I even like gravy on my corn, green beans and I don;t mind it drizzled on a roll as well.  Gravy seems to pair well with just about everything on a Thanksgiving plate. Gravy ties the flavors of everything else together, while at the same time enhancing their differences.  Covering things, but not muffling their unique contribution to the savory feast: gravy goes all-in and performs a beautiful connecting medley on the plate.  Thanksgiving without gravy wouldn't be half as smooth and tasty, or well-melded. Be the gravy today. Make every effort to live in p...

Somewhere along the (early) line of our (then developing) family, my husband and I would use a tracing of one of our tiny-children's hands to make a little turkey to put on each person's plate at the Thanksgiving meal.  In the tail "feathers" (fingers) of each turkey were words or phrases describing things that we were thankful for in that person specifically.   For example, if you are Gramma, then one of your feathers usually says "mashed potatoes", because she makes the best.  If you are cousin Scotty, then the word "fun" finds its way onto a turkey feather every year because, engaging and intentional... he is fun.   The words are not (usually) deep or complicated, but they are personalized thoughts-of-thankfulness that our family feels towards that person.   I really don't know what the thankful-turkeys mean to the recipients.  Some people tuck them in a pocket or purse to bring home with them, and others leave them on the table seemingly ...

Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing,  but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.  ~Proverbs 28:27 Look for the poor one today...and give to them...   Give of our time, our talents, our extras...and of ourselves.  Give the love of Christ to the poor  today.   Give to the ( spiritually/physically/financially/emotionally)  poor   today.  Let's  see their need... and meet it.   Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing... (Proverbs 28:27).   Give a hug to someone that is lonely and  poor in community today. Give  a visit to someone who is relationally poor and without friends or family today.       Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing... (Proverbs 28:27). Be (give) family to someone who is family- poor today.  Speak with them, invite them over.  Invite yourself over. ~~~ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; ...

A couple years back, we were blessed to visit Mount Rainier in Washington state.  Huge and massive even from far distances, the mountain seemed to grow even larger and more powerful as we came upon it.  Have you ever gazed upon the majesty of a mountain?  Or a range of mountains? Tall.  Solid.  Majestic.   We, by nature, are drawn to look to something solid for help : A person.  A bank account.  Logic.  Science.  Leaders.  Nature.  Mountains. Lift your eyes to the mountains.    Powerful.   Strong.  Immovable.  (Seemingly) timeless. Mountains appear to have been here forever and as if they will be here forever.  Something (permanent and huge) like this seems like where our help could come from. ... Should we find our help in the mountains of nature, or the "mountains" of this world?  The strong "peaks" that man/science/culture/emotion have erected often seem like the logical...