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Category: The church

  • Christ uses ordinary people and ordinary days

    Christ uses ordinary people and ordinary days

    mug of coffee

    My brain is foggy this morning, so I have opted to pull a back  issue out of the archives. This issue originally appeared in September 2005.

    The house is quiet. The only sounds are the buzz of my laptop’s power supply and the dripping/gurgling of the coffee pot. My eldest son, Kris, was off to his full-time job before I awoke. He works both a full-time and a part-time job at the moment. Kathy is awakening for work, and soon Kyle will be getting up for school.

    Tigger the cat came by my office for a quick visit, then went back to bed. Genni the wonder dog is sitting expectantly beside me. She shared my bagel and cream cheese and is hoping in vain that there might be more.

    Brief intermission in the narration as Kevin goes to get his morning cup of coffee.

    It’s a good cup. Sometimes in the morning, I’m not the best at counting the number of scoops so that the first taste can be an adventure. I must have measured right today.

    So what? 

    Well, the subtitle of this daily devotional is “Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life.” You just caught a snapshot from our very ordinary lives. We’re ordinary, everyday people having an ordinary day. We’re just “plain folk”. Some would even say we’re boring, but I prefer the term “content”.

    The good news is that God works through very ordinary people in everyday life.

    Moses was an aging shepherd with a warrant out for his arrest for murder. Abraham was an aging businessman. Gideon worked secretly in the family winepress out of fear. David tended sheep. The disciples were an odd combination of blue-collar workers, petty criminals, and zealots.

    It’s the power of our righteous and holy God who transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.

    The all powerful God of creation could have accomplished His goals in any way He wished. Yet He chose to give us the blessing of participating with Him. He’s given you and me, ordinary people, the task of sharing His love with the world. He’s made us to be salt and light to a dark world.

    “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16 NIV

    That means that while our lives may be ordinary and while the world may think we’re ordinary, we’re truly extraordinary people. Not because of who we are but because we’ve allowed a holy God to accomplish His work through us. 

    You are an instrument of peace, love, joy, and transformation. Absolutely nothing short of God Himself could be less ordinary.

    The flip side of the coin is that we never know what ordinary people are being used in extraordinary ways by God. That behooves us (I know behooves is a dated word, but I love the sound of it) to treat all people as if they were special in the eyes of God. We have no reason not to do so.

    Until next time, I pray you get a grasp of how truly extraordinary and how valuable you are for all eternity when Jesus works through you, and may you learn to see all people as He sees them.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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    All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word. 

    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.

  • A Feeder for All: One Body, One Spirit — A Devotional

    A Feeder for All: One Body, One Spirit — A Devotional

    three birds sitting 9n a plant pot

    Just outside our front door, a bird feeder hangs. I’ve identified  two dozen (or more) bird species that use it regularly. Underneath that feeder, on a disused water feature that looks like a log, sits a green plant pot.

    That pot once held a plant. Seeds from the hanging feeder regularly fall into the pot, and now it’s used as another feeder. The soil level is low enough that the birds can duck beneath the pot rim and hide while they eat.

    While any of the birds might stop there, it’s most popular with the smaller birds and more timid species. It’s fun to watch them periodically peek their heads up to check that things are still safe, then disappear again.

    It’s not uncommon to see three or four little birds in it, or sitting on the edge at any given moment. There are two species in today’s image. (My apologies, the picture is a little fuzzy. My camera phone isn’t great for that sort of work.)

    That feeder reminds me of the call of the gospel. It’s for everyone, but has special attractiveness to the timid and broken. It goes out to people of all cultures and ignores barriers such as education, wealth, skin tone, gender, and economic status.

    That call goes out, and when it is answered, the church becomes a place where believers of every sort are unified under the Spirit. 

    One true church, regardless of labels, practice, or language. One body, one Spirit.

    One true church despite doctrinal differences.

    The same Spirit who called “those” people, called you and me. The same Jesus who died for “them” died for us. The same Father oversees it all.

    For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 1  Corinthians 12:12-13

    That person you’ve never met, from some place you will never go, who speaks a different language and dresses differently, can be your brother or sister in Christ. What an incredible thought.

    What a marvelous moment it will be when all of us, one body one spirit ,regardless of tongue or tribe, celebrate in worship together. I can hardly wait.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 


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    All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word. 

    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.