Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We were blessed and enjoyed time with our friend who was here on retreat over the weekend and also went with us to church. Early this morning I have a dental appointment and if all goes well, I will get to my exercise class too.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Saturday as I quietly went upstairs to the 3rd floor guest room at 6:15 a.m, a thought occurred to me as I put out a tray of bacon and eggs, pancakes, coffee etc. in front of the door of a retreatant. He had come for the weekend and to spend some time with the Lord and also share together with us. He wanted to spend the first hours of the day alone with the Lord and all he had to do was open his door and he would find some nourishment waiting for him. But he had to open up or the food would be left just sitting there and growing cold. God loves to feed us and bless us but we have to take initiative and open our hearts to welcome what he sends.
  Now if the retreatant were here all week, he would get a tray of varied food and not the same menu every day. He may have a preference, but likely some different foods would be welcomed with a taste for something new. I can only imagine how the Lord delights to fill us daily with rich spiritual food that will help us sail through our day and give us energy and strength. If we don’t take time to open the Word but instead give our time to seeing what is new on Facebook or begin texting, we may go into our day without satisfying our spiritual hunger. That is a big mistake for about midmorning our energy may lag and our focus is off, and we don’t accomplish all that we could if we took time to be fed and nourished.
 The Psalmist prays in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle wonders.” A little farther on he says, “My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous! –insatiable for your nourishing commands.”  Each day we have the opportunity to satisfy our spiritual hunger by opening up our hearts to receive whatever the Lord has for us for that day. We are to receive with grateful hearts and not complain we’d rather have something quite different. He knows what we need that will carry us through that day and we can trust Him. Let us come with openness of heart and in faith, gladly receiving whatever He has to give us.
  Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to feed you from His Word today what He knows you need and then give thanks.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy