Corona Devotionals

It's the right time : today.   Just   the right time .  And it was a long time coming.   Thirty three years...since His birth.   Three sets of fourteen generations came before Him. All to get to the right time ... just the right time: celebrated today. And there was much for Him to come through. Miracles and healings.  Conspiracies and shady dealings. Old Testament Law reimagined and coming to fruition.  Some saw the Light, while others cried blasphem-ition! A Savior laying down all of His power...bearing the weight of our sin for hours. Until, there was no more jeering, no more pain, no more breath.  Jesus was slain, and it was  our sin , (not the Pharisees plotting) that brought His death.   But death didn't reign, and darkness prevailed not.  Nothing triumphs over the power of our God.   ~~~ It's  the right time :  today.   That Resurrection morning was  the right time....

We have all sinned.  All of us. ... for all have sinned  and fall short of the glory of God...  ~Romans 3:23 But--do we believe  this?  That we have sinned.  That we fall short of His holiness.  That He is perfect and righteous and worthy, and that He is God , and we--- are not.  Do we believe this? Most of us will agree to this--no sweat.  Yes, we've sinned...and God is holy, and He has not sinned.   But what about when we do sweat?  When the heat (or hurt) of life is on, and the stress and pressure and pain/fear/unknown rise within us and around us.   When the poop hits the fan--how do we treat God?  When life spirals out of control and we realize that we are not at the helm of our own ship--where does our heart go?  What does our mind think? What do our words say?   Where is our faith in God ? ~~~ Have we had any "bumps" in life's road lately?  Any sickness/death/diagnosis/injustice/pain?...

Don't give up today.   Jesus didn't...and He never will.   Our sin, our pride, our anger, our self righteousness, our selves : they separate us from God. But Jesus will never give up on us.   Jesus gave himself up on Good Friday because He will never give up on us and the hope of us coming to Him. We all have sin.  Don't give up today because of it.   Be reminded of what God's Word (the Bible) says about our sin: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (9) He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; (10) he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. (11) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; (12) as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (13) As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him...  Psalm ...

Jesus has saved us a seat at the table with Him today.   He has prepared everything  for us, even Himself... and He invites us to join Him.   And this-- this  is a special supper--not because of the menu items or the guests that will attend, but because of the host, and because of His heart and desire for each of us at the table with Him.  Jesus wants us here at the table with Him. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.   ~Luke 22:15 The table is technically set for thirteen: Jesus and His twelve disciples, but there is room for you and me at the table. The supper isn't even being held at one of their  homes, it is instead hosted by an unknown but obedient follower of Jesus who is providing his home (upper room) for the dinner.   ( Has Jesus asked anything of us lately?  Have we obeyed? ) On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacr...

So much  happened during the days of the week from Palm Sunday, (when Jesus entered Jerusalem peacefully-but-triumphantly upon the back of a humble donkey), until Thursday night when Jesus met in the upper room of a (borrowed) home to sup with His disciples one-last-time. So much occurred that week, including Jesus cursing a fig tree . In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.  ( 19)  And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it,  “May no fruit ever come from you again!”  And the fig tree withered at once.  ~Matthew 21:18-19 In discussing these verses as a family last night, I couldn't help but be surprised as Jesus (essentially) "lost his temper" with the fig tree because it was barren.  I reasoned that because (at this point) Jesus was (still) both Lord and Son of Man...then His physical needs could and did still affect him, and His hunger affected His ac...

I was visting with a cousin the other day who loves to fish.  He lives in a different part of the country than me, and so we catch and we eat  different fish.  Around me (in Lake Erie), walleye is my  favorite fish to enjoy.  Light, mild, clean and crisp...it is a delicious fish to eat, and we have told our cousin about it, and he has wanted to try it for years.  Chatting with him the other day, he said he finally had!   I was so happy for him, and he was jubilant to report to me about finally tasting and enjoying walleye. I wasn't sure how he  got  walleye in his (faraway from walleye) state, but then he said that he had ordered it at a fastfood restaurant in town as a fish sandwich recently.  My shared joy-in-his-tasting-walleye disappeared. A square fish filet at a chain restaurant is not  real  and authentic, all-the-way walleye (if you ask me).  (No offense to fast food restaurants providing fish sandwich...

We're here .   Where? The week of Easter.  The momentous events that changed the world and our eternity, and our hearts  if we will let them...they occurred this week.   The prayers by Jesus to have " this cup be taken from Him"--that happened this week.   Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ( 37) He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  ( 38)  Then he said to them,  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  (39)  Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed,   “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  ~Matthew 26:36-39 The betrayal of Jesus by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane--that happened this week. ...