Dear Ones,
Hope you have a good day and see others through His lens! Al has already gone to the Men’s group, and I plan to clean and do some food prep for going to the lake tomorrow. Today is Donut Day here Emojiand we have Bible study this afternoon. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  As I was reading the love chapter in the Bible from the Message translation, I noted how Paul says in I Cor. 13:7, that love, “puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best.” Author Ajith Fernando quotes the NIV version that says, “Love…always trusts, always hopes.” He goes on to say that we are to think the best about others and give them the benefit of a doubt, even though we realize they are not perfect. Don’t we all like friends that view us that way? 
   When we know the Lord, we are to be grace-filled and look to the Lord in hope of what He can do in the lives of us all. No one is hopeless because of God’s grace to change us! Sometimes it is astounding when we see a radical change in someone who is now free of drugs and a responsible loving person. God has the power to change anyone as His grace is greater than our sin and weaknesses. Fernando gives the example of Barnabas who was a leader in the early church; he took a risk and brought Paul into the inner circle of Jesus followers when others did not trust Paul because he had been persecuting Christians. He also gave John Mark a second chance, after he had left Paul and him on a prior missionary journey to go home. The risk paid off as John Mark went with Barnabas and later wrote the gospel of Mark and became a bishop. 
  Today we may be in position to offer others second chances. Perhaps the hardest one is to give an unfaithful repentant spouse a second chance. But people can and do change because of God’s grace, and our belief in God’s power to do that may influence them as well. We must never underestimate what God can do in anyone who has been viewed as hopeless.               
  Recently a friend wrote about a guidance counselor who told her she would never finish college, let alone grad school and thus forget about being a librarian, which was her heart’s desire! But thankfully she didn’t let that detour her and she went on to get her degree and became a librarian on several mission fields and now is in a pre-retirement job as a librarian in a small town that she loves. Good thing she did not let the negative words detour her but gives God the glory.                   
Let us not let our negative culture today, keep us from believing that God does change people and we can all be transformed by His grace.                                                                    
  Challenge for today: View yourself and others through the eyes of the One who has power to bring change.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy