December 2, 2020

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having a wonderful day. Al had his Band of Brothers group this morning and it is a blessing for him. I made stroganoff and chocolate covered raspberries and did some wrapping of gifts…more this afternoon. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart

Do we treat Jesus as good as we treat some of our friends? Do we welcome Him into our lives, into our day, and into our homes? Sometimes I become aware that I have failed as a hostess and have been busy serving but not there listening to the Lord and just enjoying His presence. Every time I read the story of Mary and Martha I get convicted. I can imagine Martha scurrying around, busying herself and trying to serve Jesus, but instead neglecting time she could spend with Him. How many times have I interrupted my prayer time when I remember something that needs to be done and yet a few more minutes would not have mattered really? When we have company, I try to do as much as I can ahead so our time can be spent actually sharing together and not so busy serving. If there is only one person then I tell Al to stay seated with our company so our guest doesn’t feel neglected by both of us busy serving. But how much better when we can give our full attention and just enjoy the time together rather than do, do, do. There are some good things that come out of COVID as it helps us examine our activities and discover what things take us away from our family times and alone times with the Lord. We can have an unhealthy responsibility button that weighs us down with what we should do. Our service can actually become self-serving. But when we take time to be with the Lord, we are changed from the inside by our time with Him. When He calls us to do something, there are occasions we may have to drop everything. It’s much like when the doorbell rings and surprisingly there is our best friend at the door. We don’t say, well I’m busy doing office work and maybe you can come another day. No, we drop everything and enjoy those times together. Like Mary, let us hang on to Jesus every word rather than saying as he did to Martha in Luke 10:42(The Message), “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential and Mary has chosen it.”

Challenge for today: Go through your list of responsibilities and ask the Lord if you need to drop something, so as to spend more time with Him.