April 7, 2022

Dear Ones,

Hope your day is going well. Also hoping that Spring will spring forth soon! This morning Al went to men’s group and I made bars and went downstairs for donuts. This afternoon we have Bible Study. I got a prayer request a few minutes ago for a mother of 2 who had breast cancer 10 years ago and then went to lungs and now is in her abdomen. They want to start chemo but she is not strong enough yet. Please pray for Lori. 

Devotions from Judy’s heart

Would we say we are an authentic person who really knows ourselves or are we self-conscious and superficial?  Could it be that we are one person when we are at church and another person at home?

 Al likes to jest and often calls me his natural, integrated total woman but I have a longways to go in the journey of self-knowledge.  I am so blessed to have a husband who accepts my imperfect self and still loves me, even when I fail. I want to be transparent and real and the same person no matter where I am or who I am with. But I am also a peace lover and do not like to cause waves, so therein lies a dilemma for me at times.

We all need to ask ourselves “Who am I really?” That means accepting not only good and favorable things but the shadows and those unfavorable things that not everyone can see.

Who are we in the eyes of the Lord who sees all?

Thomas Merton wrote, “Unless we discover this deep self, which is hidden with Christ in God, we will never really know ourselves as a person. Nor will we know God. For it is by the doors of this deep self that we enter into the spiritual knowledge of God.” He goes on to say we must die to our false self in order to become our true self.

It is a lonely life when we live only for ourselves and leave God out along with thought for others. But when we come to know ourselves, in all of our wretchedness, we come to know God in a deeper way as we can celebrate His love for us, just as we are.

Lately I have been doing some deep cleaning of our apartment and have come across some very dusty places that I missed in my weekly cleaning. I wonder how could this escape my notice. But now that I see, I can get do something about it. I feel the Lord shows us deep things and knows exactly what we are ready to deal with and gives us grace. He wants us to make us whole and holy. Today I read from Eph. 1:4 (Message), “Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love.”

Let us get to know our real selves and humbly admit our darkness and failures and let Him make us whole.

Challenge for today: Seek to be authentic and agree with the Lord when He reveals your sin patterns; allow Him to make you holy and whole.