Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! We enjoyed our relaxing time at the lake and wonderful weather. This morning I am going to the dermatologist and if I get back in time, I plan to go to my exercise class. The apt is filled with aroma as I just took egg dishes out of the oven. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   When we know the Lord, we become part of the family of God, and bring with us our differing gifts, personalities, weaknesses and strengths. We are all unique for there is not another one in the Body of Christ that is exactly like us, and care needs to be given that we don’t expect others to view life through our lenses. Paul said in I Cor. 12: 12 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”

 For example, there are many personality type classifications that we have studied to show we all have strengths but also weaknesses. When we see others from their different vantage point, it gives us more compassion and openness to receive them and the gifts God has put into them. A very old personality theory Hippocrates made popular was on the 4 temperaments, of which all of them are present in our family. Briefly the Sanguine is described as cheerful and manic, the choleric rather angry and irritable, the melancholic as depressive, and the phlegmatic as rather calm. You may also know the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as it is often used in the work world and has 16 categories. But each personality type gives us a peek into the inner lives of others that may be quite different from ours. Each type also has sin patterns that we struggle with, but might not be quite the same as another type personalities. We were never intended to be just like someone else but rather to become just who the Lord had in mind when we were created.

   Our commonality between all of us is the Lord for He is our Creator, our Father, and the One who unites us with Him and one another. I like what Michael Mangis wrote about A.W. Tozer who said, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?” That is a great visual picture of the Body of Christ for it doesn’t matter if we are an beatup upright piano or a beautiful grand piano, for our common Tuning Fork forms us into His body, the church. We have been given the right temperament and gifts for what the Lord has called us to do.
Challenge for today: Be open to the different gifts in the Body of Christ and welcome and encourage them.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy