Corona Devotionals

For God so loved  the world that he gave  his one and only Son,  that whoever believes  in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  ~John 3:16   Some people arrange their nativity sets prior to Christmas Day to include Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and sheep, wise men, and maybe a camel or two...but they don't put baby Jesus in until December 25th, on the day that we celebrate His birth.   Well, today is the day. Merry Christmas.   Add Jesus in to the manger today, and Beloved : let's add Him to our lives.  Realize afresh and all-over-again (or maybe for the first time) that God loves  you  so much ( For God so loved  the world ) that He gave His one Son, His only Son, His precious, sinless, holy Son ( that he gave  his one and only Son ) because He (God) loves us that much, that He would sacrifice His Son so that we would have a way to access our Heavenly Father today, to manage life: and tomorrow, to spend...

Christmas hasn't come yet, but I think I have already given and gotten my best gifts: a bag of potato chips (given) and purity-in-recieving-God's Word (been given).  My friend Tammy at our local nursing home had her a hand in both. At last month's visit, Tammy had mentioned that her favorite snack was a BBQ flavor chip made by Snyder of Berlin. "Them are sooooo  good!", she sang out to me, as her eyes lit up.  Tammy tracks with most of what I do and say and read when I am visiting the nursing home, but she has a few special needs, and this allows her to surprise me at times with her honesty (sometimes good,  sometimes not-so-good ), and her willingness to receive Bible teachings is particularly special and encouraging to me.   Every Bible account that I read or share falls on her ears as if it's the first time she has ever heard of it, and she's always amazed  at God's Word.   Are we? Or have we heard some parts of the Bible so often that the...

As we journey closer to Christmas, we celebrate the Advent (approaching Christ) season, and as we do, be cautioned not to leave the baby in the manger.   The infancy stage of Jesus was a moment-in-time, and the manger was His God-as-a-man point of entry, but even as we sing "Away in a Manger", let's challenge ourselves to approach Christmas as Christ approaches us: with open arms.  Receiving .  Disarmed of stereotypical standards, and unaccompanied by unattainable expectations. That is   not  how Jesus approaches us, and that is not  how we should approach Him. Jesus is living-proof and birthed-proof that He and the Father  love  us.  They  know  everything about us and love us completely and unconditionally anyway.   So much  surrounds Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...today, let the love of God surround us.  Remember why  Christ came, and how  He feels ( and knows ) about us.   Th...

Oooooo.... we are getting close!  What treasures will be under the Christms tree this year?   What  treasures  are we hoping... asking for.... pining for under the Christms tree? The hype and hope of opening gifts on Christmas morn might have faded with our youth, but if we are not vigilant, we can still pine for the shiny and hope in the extravagant.  But those flashy bulbs and baubles of life will never satisfy what our spirit salivates for the most: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.   ( 20)  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.   ( 21)  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  ~Matthew 6:19-21 Consider today that the treasures  of our lives cannot.. will not be found under the Christmas tree or in ou...

Sometimes God has plans that we would have never expected or imagined.  And sometimes, even when we feel that we are doing the right thing, or the Godly thing...God may reveal to us that (even so)...it is not His thing. And so, we must remain open and vulnerable to the Lord's leading and teaching over our lives and hearts each day.  And--it doesn't hurt to keep one eye open for the  Lord's angels , too.  You never know...   In major decisions and minor ones, we absolutely should allow the Bible to be our roadmap and guardrail as we navigate the daily life-choices that face us.   But, we must always remain malleable (able to be shaped and formed) by the hands of our Heavenly Father, too. Take Joseph for example: He tried to do the right thing.   He was engaged to be married to  Mary , and in Bible days, that betrothed-stage was just as serious and binding as marriage.  He had committed to Mary . And Mary had committed to h...

Who was your great-granddaddy?  How about your great- great- granddad?  Mine was a hardworking man who started a coal delivery company in Bedford, Ohio in 1892.  Horse and cart would deliver coal to people's homes and businesses, so that they could keep their lives running and advance them. Coal turned into concrete.  (Not literally!)  But over time and industrial evolution, our family (five generations later) now delivers concrete to people's homes and businesses, so that they can keep their lives running and advance them. My family started somewhere, and I have to climb back up our family tree to reveal my lineage and where I came from, because there is an order and purpose to it. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the family tree of Jesus, because before we get to the birth of the Messiah on Christmas, God wants us to climb back up the family tree of Jesus to witness His earthly lineage because there is a (holy) order and purpose to it.   Thus there ...