Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! It’s a rainy day but we need the moisture. This morning I cleaned the apartment and made brownies and did food prep. This afternoon I hope to get to Kohls as I never got there yesterday; Al had other things planned, including Culver’s ice cream!Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   Sometimes we say trendy expressions without really thinking through what they mean and if they are entirely true. I was reading an article on Crosswalk.that Cindi McMenamen (Pastors wife, teacher and author of many books} wrote about trendy phrases that may mislead more than help others.
   Take the expression of “Make space for God,” In our busy lives, that sounds good at first that we carve out a place for him but does God want just a corner or small space in our lives?  Or is the Lord wanting the whole of our lives? He gave us life and breath and died for us, and He wants all of us, not just a small space in our lives.
   Take the expression, “Lean into the Lord”, and it gives us the impression of a half of an embrace. If we lean into someone, the other person does the hugging or puts his arm around us. Just leaning means we are not fully committed and the Lord wants us to jump in all the way. In Jeremiah 29:13(ESV), “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” The Lord wants all of us with full dependency on Him.
   Another expression we hear all the time is, “Love yourself!”. It is true we need to love ourselves but when Jesus gives the command to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, He said we are to love others as much as ourselves. We have no trouble thinking of ourselves first, as seen even in small children who want their own way, but He wants us to first let Him love us and then we will have love for ourselves and others.
   The other phrase that Cindi mentions is “Let’s dive deeper into scripture.” Often the preacher or speaker just means he is looking deeper into another translation or commentary, and that leaves us often still wading in shallow water. When we go deeper, we are willing to go beyond the basics and are challenged to wrestle with deeper truths. It may mean changing our thinking of what we learned as children but we are open to the meat that the Lord has waiting for us.
   Let us keep our hearts open to the Lord, giving Him full control of our lives, and hunger to go deeper with Him!
Challenge for today: Give the Lord your all and surrender any parts of your life that you have held back.
Blessings on  your weekend and prayers and love, Judy