Dear Ones,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Happy weekend. Hope you wake to a sunny day. Each morning as I look out my window the trees are budding and everything is starting to green up. Today Ann’s family is taking us out for lunch!                                                                                                                                                                                    Devotions from Judy’s heart                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The Lord is after our hearts and wants us to know Him in a deep way. We can pray and ask Him for decisions about who to marry, what field of work we should go into, or whether we should move etc. But those things, though they are important, they are not the most important for first it is to really know the Lord. The more intimate we know Him, the more we will be able to discern what He wants in our lives. Because I know Al so well, I can almost predict in situations what He will do. There are many times I could finish his sentences and he mine. It’s because we spend time together and share together and know each other well.                                                                                                                                                 As we spend time in the Word and prayer with an openness to the Lord, the Holy Spirit will reveal more of the Lord to us. Some of the questions we are asking may be answered specifically in the Word and we don’t have to wonder if it is His will, for it is only a matter of obedience. Through our times with Him, we may find our hearts are being enlarged and softened and we come away with a desire to express His love to others around us. It is not something we feel we have to do, but it becomes something on our hearts we want to do.

One thing we discover as we draw closer to the Lord, there is no room for unforgiveness towards anyone. Jesus forgave those that put Him to death, and we must also forgive everyone who has hurt us. We are going to need His power to do that, as it is one of the most difficult things He asks of us. But if we do not forgive and become revengeful, it is much like poison in our bodies. It may show itself in depression, anger, bitterness and anxiousness. But as Paul told the Colossian believers, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Col. 3:13) If we do not forgive our Heavenly Father will not forgive us. (Matt. 6:15)                                                                                                                                                                                                 Let us give our hearts fully to the Lord and let us be known by Him and become like Him.                                                                                                                     Challenge for today: Open your heart in new ways to the Lord and to others.                                                                                                                                                  May you have a wonderful weekend full of blessings and prayers and love, Judy