December 16, 2020

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a good day. Al had his Band of Brothers group this morning and soon we are leaving for Hackensack. Our first stop is to see a friend at Birchview which is so wonderful that  it is now open for visitors. I am going to Share and Care before having my hair cut and then on to meet Joe for his birthday and transfer gifts and birthday cake etc into his car. Ann isn’t feeling good so we have to cancel our plans to go to the lake to celebrate there.

Devotions from Judy’s heart

What is your image of God? We all have different images of Him but none of them are inadequate to describe our great God who is so beyond words and our understanding. We try by using visual words such as rock, shepherd, lover, potter, guide, deliverer but none of them can fully capture His greatness. Our image of Him is often formed when we are very young and how we related to our parents. For some it may seem like God is a policeman who is watching us, or a Santa who gives us what we want, or a distant person who we can’t get close to etc. Many images we have are unhealthy and hopefully we grow to see God more like what we find in the Word. Our image of God is important as it has a lot to do with the direction of our spiritual journey and seems to point us in a certain way. In my own life, I think I felt like God was going to require of me things that were too difficult and I remember being fearful. We gest that it was because my mom expected that I would walk by myself from the cabin to the outhouse at night; and at 3 years old, I could only imagine what animals were lurking by, and especially the possibility of a skunk or bear. But hopefully we outgrow the kind of images that illicit fear or limit God and our view of Him changes. He is mighty and great and powerful and yet love! We are influenced also by the teaching we get in our churches, songs we sing, and even the culture we grew up in. On our wall in the dining area we have Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son returning and notice that the father’s left hand is masculine and his right hand is feminine to help us realize God is beyond male and female in our understanding too. We need to ask ourselves if our image of God brings up feelings of fear and dread or if it floods us with love and grace. One thing we do know is that God is seeking us and wants to bring us into a close relationship. Jeremiah 29:13-14, (The Message) says, “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” May we let go of our false images of the Lord, and see Him as our loving Father pursuing us.

Challenge for today: Spend some time picturing yourself as the prodigal son returning home and being welcomed by your loving Father.