Dear Ones,
  Hope you had a great weekend! Beautiful weather we are having! This morning I did food prep and made a choc/zucchini cake and went to my exercise class. This afternoon I am off to shop before our walk on the trail.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   All that we have belongs to God for He gave us life and all our blessings. No reason for us to be filled with pride when we give to others, for it is really what God gave us in the first place. It says in Deut. 8:18, “You shall remember the Lord your God for it is He who is giving you the power to make wealth.”
   Our neighbor, the candy lady, is gone for the week and I am taking care of her plants and the candy dish outside her door. The day she left the dish was full of a variety of candy that anyone walking down the hall may take and sample. By evening there were only 2 packages of M&M’s left. She e-mailed me that there was candy in her frig and gave me permission to fill the bowl when it got empty. Now when I put candy out there, people might thank me, but I am not really the giver of the candy, I only pass on to others what was made available to me. The candy really comes from my friend who paid for it all.
    It was a picture to me of how the Lord is the giver of all gifts and even though we may distribute some of them, everything comes from His hand. We are to be good stewards and pass on to others as directed by the Holy Spirit. We can’t give what we don’t have, so we are not asked to give beyond what we have received. If we have been given a lot then more is required.
   When Al was in seminary, we were poor but the Lord seemed to always show us ways we could still give and help others, and it didn’t always involve money. A friend of mine recently died but I will always remember the gift she made for us. They didn’t have a lot of money at the time as they had 8 children and her hubby went to seminary. But she made us a large Advent calendar out of material that had pockets to open each day with some special advent symbol and a scripture verse. Our children loved taking turns to open the pockets and it added to our Christmas and it was her way of expressing love to us.
   David said in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” Since He owns everything and has given so much to us, let us be creative and find ways to share with others
  Challenge for today: Ask the Lord how you can bless someone else in some way today.
Blessings on  your week and prayers and love, Judy