Dear Ones,
Hope you had a blessed wonderful Easter weekend. We enjoyed time with Ann’s family, worshipping at our church together, a feast for dinner at the lake, games, time in nature and seeing friends. You can read more about it in my devotion today!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Haven’t we all wondered why certain people have smooth sailing through life and seem to have it made? They win all the contests and have no burdens and struggles like we have, at least outwardly seen. We can end up feeling envious and we are warned against that as envy saps us of our peace; the Bible says it even rots our bones. (Prov. 14:30). Not pretty!  Yesterday on Easter when we were at the lake and gathered with family and friends, I had a game planned ahead of time. At the close of our dinner, I brought out plastic Easter eggs that had slips of paper inside with things we had to do; quite a few eggs also had money inside and if they didn’t, we could choose from a pile of wrapped prizes. One of our grandsons was especially eager to get the money and even texted me ahead of time about getting rich. It was unbelievable but people on both sides of him and around the table would open up eggs with money and never him; not once! One person sang Jesus Love Me for $5 and another got candy plus the money in his egg etc.  It didn’t seem fair that others got money but not him. I asked our grandson what he learned through all of it and he said, “You  have to earn your own way”, but of course the others hadn’t really earned it either. In our hearts we may question the Lord as to why He is so good to others who do not seem deserving but forgetting about us. In my devotions today I read of Asaph who felt sorry for himself as he was envious of the wicked and arrogant people who seemed to prosper and didn’t have troubles. That was, until he saw the whole picture. It says in Psalm 73:16-17 (ESV). “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” He also saw his own bitter heart of wanting all that they had, and then realized, that what is most important was being near God. It’s not money, it’s not comfort and it’s not prestige: he went on to say that it was that God was with him and guided him and he would spend eternity with Him. When he came to this awareness, he could finally say that there was nothing on earth that he desired besides God and that God was the strength of his heart and his portion forever. If we find ourselves being envious of others, let us remember that with the Lord we have all that we need and so much more.
Challenge for today: Read and meditate on Psalm 73 when you feel jealous and envious.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy