April 29, 2021

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a sunny day. Our house is full of aroma as I roasted a chicken and now making soup. I went to Aldi’s this morning and loaded up as I left a mostly empty frig when we went on our trip. I am catching up on everything today and also got donuts downstairs!

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Do you ever feel inadequate and wonder if God can use you? God loves to take ordinary people like you and me to display His glory; for others will recognize that it is not our power or our intellect but the Holy Spirit in us. I have been reading in Acts and the change in the disciples once they were filled with the Spirit is amazing. Peter who had denied Jesus became a bold preacher and his first sermon brought in 3,000 souls. Next, he healed a man crippled from birth and when asked by what power and authority he did the healing, he boldly told them in Acts 4:12(NRSV), “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” He didn’t mince any words. The very learned priests and scribes etc. knew that the disciples were just common men with no education but recognized they had been companions of Jesus. Maybe we don’t feel we are adequate or know enough scripture but the Holy Spirit wants to teach us and use us and empower us. Jesus spent three years with ordinary men who were fishermen and a tax collector etc. and He walked with them and taught them. The enemy loves when we bow out and sit on the sidelines, but what if we say yes to the Lord and place our dependency in Him? We may be surprised at what He can do through us even though we not have titles or experience but are simply open to be used for His glory. We don’t have to be a pastor or a theologian for God can use even the words of a small child to break down the defenses of a sceptic. Or other times God may not use words at all but uses our actions to say it all.  I found this especially true when we are on mission trips to Mexico as our Spanish was minimal and yet we were able to communicate with smiles and motions and broken Spanish. God used the little bit that we knew and got the message across. The important thing is that we are willing and available; and even when we fail, God wants us to get up again and will even use our failures to testify to His grace. We are all unworthy in ourselves but if we humbly know that in our hearts, then we are ready to be used by Him. Let us remember that He uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways!

Challenge for today: Step out in faith when you feel God asking you to do something that seems beyond your capabilities.