Corona Devotionals

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is , and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  ~Hebrews 11:6   ~~~ Out of town for a weekend of soccer, we went to church on Sunday morning in a new city and state.  I could tell you about the worship, which was so filled with human un decoration and lack-of-pride...and so filled/full/ bursting  with giving-God-glory (on the stage and in the hearts of those in the pews), that I am sure that we had a foretaste of Heaven as everyone  praised and honored the Lord through song and in authenticity.  We experienced the Holy Spirit filling that house of God! I could tell you about the preacher, who taught such a relatable and engaging sermon, filled with Scripture and relevant applications, that I felt like the Lord was speaking directly to me  through the message, and a friend of mine visiting the church with us said the same thing.  We e...

Raise your right hand (to heaven ). Swear. Swear by him who lives for ever and ever. Swear by him who created the heavens and all that is in them. Swear by him who created the sea and all that is in it. Swear to God. ~~~ Can we raise our right hand to heaven and swear by God that we have received the Word of God? Have we? Have we read it? (The Bible?) Yes, we have...and we are doing so right now. We are ingesting God's Word. Some parts are sweet , like the part about our (Holy) God calling (sinful) us to be His cleansed children by sacrificing His (sinless) Son to pay our sin-debt on the cross, so that we might share in eternity with Him (if we choose Him). That part is sweet , as sweet as honey in our mouth , if we side with our Savior. But receiving salvation is a choice that not everyone makes. The offer and payment from God stands available to all, but receiving Him ...that's a personalized invitation and choice, and many refuse to accept it. God's offeri...

T he other night my husband and I were across town for soccer practice with our daughter, but we were able to squeeze in a supper with my dad while she was playing.  The dinner was delicious and time with family— priceless . Thanks, Dad. And as we readied-to-go, I asked the server if she might pack up some (more) of the bread that they had given our table during our meal, because it was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, and our daughter loves bread!   I told the server that our daughter was at practice, and that I thought she would love a little bread when she finished and we picked her up.  She smiled and said no problem as she disappeared into the kitchen. When she reappeared she had a small bag that she told us contained a loaf of their (amazing) bread and also some tomato bisque soup because “she’ll probably be starving when she’s done with practice”, the server told me kindly.   Have you ever heard of something so thoughtful?  So kin...

This morning as I was praying, I included a couple friends of mine who were going to see a judge.  My prayers began with an intent for ease-of-process for them, but they developed into prayers for fairness and justice in how things would roll-out for my friends.  Not that I have any specific reason to doubt the fairness and justice of our court systems, but none-the-less, that is where the Holy Spirit directed my prayer, and so I prayed for these things.  The authority that comes with governing people and making judgments and rulings for people and nations can become over-powering, intoxicating, and even tainting at times.  This has always been the case because “the human heart is the most deceitful of all things,  and desperately wicked.  Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Without God (and even with Him), our hearts can and will wander! Our justice system is no more vulnerable to the temptations of corrupt power than any other area of leade...

Do we feel like life is dragging ? Or maybe more specifically...it's as if we are lagging ? We want to be further along than we are today, and yet. Here we are. Not as far along as we wanted to be. Not as developed/accomplished/ finished as we wanted to be. Slow. Slow. Slow. Slow. The time, the healing, the progress, the maturity, the fruition is not here yet. We are still in the journey. The slow....sometimes arduous...sometimes mundane journey. Every day brings...another day, and we are moving in the right direction but so slowly, Lord! We never thought it would take this long. ~~~ This morning our son noticed a trail in our backyard grass. Can you see it too? A second glance outside showed us who had trudged that path... s-l-o-w-l-y. A painted turtle had made-his-way to our back patio and as we enjoyed watching him for a few minutes, I realized that he was not sad, frustrated, or disappointed with how long it had taken him to move through our big back yard....