Corona Devotionals

How can we appropriately explain Easter to someone... to ourselves ?  What do Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday  really  mean for us?  They mean  no more gloom for those who were in distress . And we've all been in distress.   The overarching "human dilemma"- distress  affects us all.  This world is not our home and nothing is quite (all the way) "right" here.  Even our best days have their cracks and flaws, and we are never  completely  at peace and  at rest  here on earth.  There is always some whisper of  distress  in our mind or heart, because even on the sunniest and smoothest times and people contain  distress . And what about personal- distress ?  Challenge/trial/sickness/injury/grief/doubt/loneliness/sin:  all of it  brings  distress  upon us. How about  sin- distress?   Heaven : we can't  get  there from here. Heaven is holy and ...

Would you believe that I have had three spills today?  Yep-- three different times I spilled  three different things, and really--can the pouring out of anything  be good? The first spill was while I was lifting a pickle jar out of the fridge, except that the lid was not tightened on the jar, and-- in a blink , pickle juice (and pickles!) covered the bottom shelf of my refrigerator and was running down the outside of the fridge door. The sticky green juice spilled out everywhere.   My second spill spawned from the first.   Part of my pickle-juice-cleanup-process involved spritzing my homemade simple (cleaning) solution of vinegar and water, but as I spritzed, the liquid ran low, and so I unscrewed the lid and poured in some more vinegar and filled the rest of the bottle with water, and then the phone rang, and life went in a different direction for a time.   But somehow my elbow found the uncapped spritz bottle, and now vinegar and water solu...

Who speaks to us today? Who speaks to our heart today?  The One who is holy and true . The One who has the key of David . ~~~ Are we burdened by our past?  He closes it. Are we anxious about our future?   He opens it!  “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.   This is the message from the one who is holy and true,  the one who has the key of David.   What he opens, no one can close;  and what he closes, no one can open...  ~Revelation 3:7 Sometimes, we don't feel strong enough in our faith to be called God's children.  Some days we don't feel strength at all. Is it today? Listen to what the Lord says  to us today.  Listen to what God sees in us today.  Listen to what God promises and prophesy's into us today and for tomorrow--because we are obeying His word and not denying Him. “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close.  You hav...

Have you ever ordered a "sampler plate" while out to dinner at a restaurant?  If it is a sampler plate of appetizers, it might include potato skins, mozzarella sticks, and wings...all of the most popular flavor offerings, but a small (sample!) portion of each, rather than a full order: a sampler plate . A sampler supper-plate at a German restaurant might include some weiner schnitzel, some bratwurst, some spaetzle, some red cabbage, and a potato pancake.  The top dishes on the menu, but in a smaller/sample/taster/preview portion size. Sampler plates are a great way to get a taste  of all the best things that a restaurant offers.   ~~~ I feel like this past week I have had a "sampler plate" of God's goodness and promised restoration.   The book of Amos in the Bible speaks of the waywardness of God's people, and it is Amos 's call to speak discipline and consequence into God's people because of their sin which has drawn them away from the Lord and H...

D ear Struggler, I am not sure where you are with your relationship with Jesus at this point.    You may have anger for the Lord/a mountain of “why’s”/ or bitterness.   I can relate to all of those.   And the Lord can take all of those feelings. I do not have the understanding (this side of Heaven) to understand the “why” of our struggles here on earth.   But I have wonderful news for you—God says that even during difficult times (and He doesn’t say “ if hard times come”, He says “ when ” difficult times come) He is with us (walks with us through them, and protects us!), and He has overcome our struggles (by dying on the cross and making a way for us to join Him in Heaven, if we submit to Him and give ourselves over to Him). I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.  ~ John 16:33 The Lord has put this Chapter on my heart for you: ...

It just depends on the (spiritual) situation... Sometimes we are struck humble, and meek, and we bow (in word, attitude and spirit) before the Lord Almighty.   He is holy!  And our words to Him or about Him must be subservient to His power and authority and holiness. Yes, sometimes we come meekly. But, it depends on the spiritual situation.   Sometimes  we cannot stop  the words and their vigor from our lips, when the Lord has stirred our spirit to speak on His behalf.   He is holy!  And our words to Him or about Him are sometimes charged with  His  power and authority.  At times, the Lord will give His Word to be spoken, and  look out  if we are the bearers!   Those speaking for the Lord Almighty will carry a severity and authority to their words that is not their own.   And  we will know it  when we hear it (or speak it).   ~~~ Amos was a regular guy, by his own admi...