Weekly Devotion

Dreams were Joseph’s big thing. To be more specific, interpreting dreams. He developed quite a reputation for his ability to make sense out of people’s convoluted dreams. Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph unsuccessfully so she schemed against him landing him in jail. His dream interpretations continued in prison. Two years later, Egypt’s Pharaoh started having troublesome dreams. Joseph was summoned.

Karma is a concept from Hinduism and Buddhism that loosely means “action.” It means different things to different religions, but it generally refers to cause and effect where every action a person takes will affect him or her sometime in the future. As a Christian believer, I’m not sure I buy that premise. God does correct us, sometimes for things we’ve done and sometimes to refine us. But if you believe in Jesus Christ, you know that He already paid the price for the sins we’ve done or will do in our life.

Money. It’s a topic that pulls a different response from each one of us. I have many shortcomings, but my biggest weakness relating to money is insecurity. It’s not wealth or prestige that seduces me, it’s the comfort of a security blanket or the shivering cold of not having enough. I realize this thinking requires constant correction. It shows a lack of trust in God’s provisions. Essentially, it puts Him second.

I’ve had many conversations about religion and spirituality with people in my life. I don’t always think fast enough to articulate my views effectively. Needless to say, I’m not the best Apologist for the Christian faith. A close friend of mine said it’s usually better to find a point of understanding and ask questions rather than blasting someone with biblical quotes or mandates. That would turn me off, and I’m a believer.

A few Aprils ago, my Mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer in April and she succumbed to the disease only three months later. She was a wonderful, loving Mom and an even better Grandmother known as “Goggy.” I gained my appreciation for the arts and a good bit of artistic talent from her side of the gene pool.

This week witnessed a sizable snowfall in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region. The storm especially hit Virginia at a bad time when traffic peaks around busy holiday weekends. Six tractor-trailer crashes and inadequate road crews couldn’t prevent what would happen next. I-95 was closed. Cars and trucks were stranded, some for over 24 hours, with no food, water, or fuel.

Merry Christmas! Did you know that for a large part of the Christian world, Christmas will be observed on January 7. This includes the Greek, Russian, Eastern Orthodox Churches, as well as the Coptic Orthodox church. A wonderful friend of mine, and coincidentally my next door neighbor, was kind enough to share his faith story for this beautiful holiday.

This sounds ironic, maybe hypocritical for me to write, but Christmas is about gifts. Actually, one gift. In society, Christmas is a time of celebration, good will, festivities, and gatherings. For believers, it’s when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Most scholars don’t believe He was born on December 25th

I met my friend (A) and her husband about 3 years ago. After some time and through many conversations, my wife and I became friends with them. She is one of those intriguing people you are eager to get to know immediately because you can see such godliness about her.

I knew that she and her husband are followers of Christ. In our limited conversations over the past few years, we learned they were big time church goers. During the first lull between Covid waves, they were telling me how excited they were to go back to church — in person. In the past twelve months, we have become much closer and are good friends. I recently discovered that (S) wanted to share her story with me about Jesus Christ in her life.