Wheat field Banner

Tag: Gleanings

  • 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. 

    __________________________________________ 

    Subscribe today 

    Find us on Facebook

    Find us on Instagram

    Visit our Homepage

    Find us on Pinterest

    ___________________________________________ 

    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.

  • The Fallout – the Bethlehem massacre

    The Fallout – the Bethlehem massacre

    In the last of our three-part series about the wise men who visited  Christ, we look at the fallout from their visit.’ the massacre of Bethlehem.

    Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:16-18

    Herod the Great, ruler of the Kingdom of Judea, has been praised for his building projects (including rebuilding the temple), but also known for his rule by tyranny and violence.

    It would not have been out of character for him to slaughter a few Jewish children if he thought one of them might be a threat to his rule. The event isn’t recorded outside the Bible, but the slaughter of perhaps a few dozen children in those days wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It wouldn’t likely have been significant enough to record.

    It wasn’t a surprise to God. God knew that during the Bethlehem massacre, innocent lives would be taken in response to the birth of Jesus. He warned of it centuries before it happened. I have no doubt those innocents are safely with Jesus now.

    The slaughter shows us the great lengths the enemy will go to in keeping Jesus from His rightful place. He may have influenced Herod, or Herod’s own insecurities and nature may have led to this tragedy with no outside influence.

    The evil in our hearts knows no bounds. We are repulsed by the thought of the slaughter of the innocents, but perhaps in Herod’s place, we might have done the same thing.

    This tragic event reminds us that evil cannot win. Christ triumphed even over death and the grave. Through Him, we can have reconciliation to the Father.

    That’s worth rejoicing for.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

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

    You might like

    __________________________________________ 

    Please like and share this with your friends and those in your circle of influence.

    Subscribe today 

    Find us on Facebook

    Find us on Instagram

    Visit our Homepage

    Find us on Pinterest

    ___________________________________________ 

    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.

    You might like