Dear Ones,
Hope your Christmas was full of joy. We are just home now from the cities where we stayed at a hotel 2 nights with almost 40 relatives. It was a wonderful time, and we all ate lots, shared much, played games, shopped, swam etc. The best thing was that my brother’s son, shared how he found the Lord after all these years of trying to distance himself from God. What a wonderful first Christmas as His child.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Is the Lord real to us? I mean we say we believe but then do we go on to really know Him and want to live for Him? Do we actually experience God and have we “tasted and seen that the Lord is good…and that if we seek Him, we won’t lack any good thing.” (Psalm 34: 8 &10) It’s so easy to mouth the words that we believe in God, but do we go on to really know Him in a personal way? He wants to be known by us, just as we want to be known by a friend or a spouse.

  He wants our receptivity to listen to Him as He speaks, to let Him love us and also love others through us. If we are His sheep, we should be listening for His voice but often we have unbelief that blocks His voice to us. Perhaps we find ourselves cold or aloof to the sound of His voice because we are listening to the music of the world in our ears. We miss out on so much of what the Lord desires to give to us.

  I’m sure we have all had times we are sharing our hearts with a close friend or spouse and find that they are not really listening. Their mind is off somewhere else, and they are missing what we are trying to communicate. Think of how often the Lord is wanting to pour out His love on us and we disregard what He is saying because we are not really listening. There is a whole spiritual world about us and we often choose to ignore it. I read today a quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Christian faith is a grand cathedral, with divinely pictured windows. Standing without, you see no glory, nor can imagine any. But standing within, every ray of light reveals a harmony of unspeakable splendors. “

  Let us not stay aloof but draw close to the Lord and experience the reality and splendor of His presence. As it says in James 4:8, “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you; Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Challenge for today:  Take the first step towards God and He will come close to you!
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy