Dear Ones,
Hope you had a blessed Easter weekend. He is risen!!! We enjoyed time with Ann’s family and also hearing Leif preach; and later a feast and a hot game of scrabble! Today it is snowing off and on and the ground is white again.Emoji I made Al’s favorite cookies, put Easter decorations away, and went to my exercise class this morning. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Sometimes we are in great need of deep cleansing. We may go along in life taking for granted God’s mercy and forgiveness; perhaps not even feeling we are as sinful as someone else. But I think if God showed us our hearts totally, we could not handle it. How about those thoughts of envy, anger that is simmering towards the boss, complaining about life’s woes, gossiping about another believer, failing to do what the Lord has directed us etc. etc. One day the Lord may say, that’s enough and we need to deal with some of those things that are keeping us at a distance from Him.
I got a vivid picture the other day of what that would be like. I was vacuuming our apartment and my vacuum literally fell apart on the rug. When we moved in 3 ½ years ago, I found a light weight vacuum in the free room by the elevator. I was simply delighted as I didn’t need a big vacuum for the apartment and this one was perfect and it was free! I used in often and regularly cleaned off the filter and thought it was cleaning the rug fine. But I was in for a surprise. After it broke, Al and I went to Menard’s and got a new one. We charged it and I was ready to vacuum the carpet, although I had vacuumed the day before. But I was in for a shock as I saw all that was going in the dirt cup; even the roller on the bottom of the vacuum was full of fine hair. I was excited about the good job my new vacuum was doing but I was also taken back by all that it was picking up that had been hidden from my sight before…just like sin.  We may see only the obvious sins but so much is hidden in attitudes and motives etc. We need daily confession for it is good for our soul since we sin daily.
It’s true that God forgives us our sins forever when we accept Him into our lives, but that does not mean it just gives us a license to sin. 
 I was reading what Dr. Charles Stanley said today, “Salvation makes a way for us to enter God’s presence while regular confession and repentance keep the pathway well maintained and free of obstruction.”
Let us confess our sins daily and as my dad often quoted from Isaiah 1:18 (ESV), “Come now, let us reason together says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Confession keeps our pathway to the Lord open and draws us closer.
Challenge for today: When you become aware of your sins throughout the day, confess them to the Lord and ask forgiveness.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy