Dear Ones,
May you have a day filled with peace! This morning I plan to make pumpkin cupcakes and then go to my exercise class, Crafts, and Bible Study and try to keep warm!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  What is our inner life like, the part of us that no one sees? Outwardly, we may admire people who have a strong public image of helping others, give to causes for the poor, and have an air of importance; but do we also wonder what they are really like when no one else is around or how they treat their family, or what they write in their secret journals etc.? All of us may ask ourselves if our outward behavior matches what is true in our heart when no one is watching?

  I am studying the prophet Jeremiah’s life and he was up front in speaking to the people and particularly the religious leaders and pointing out to them their hypocrisy and the need to repent. But what was Jeremiah like when he wasn’t addressing them but apart and alone? Eugene Peterson writes Jeremiah’s inner life was revealed as he prayed and made confession to the Lord. I must confess I might have gotten discouraged when speaking out like Jeremiah, and finding it wasn’t being received and then persecuted for what God told me to say. But what did Jeremiah do? He prayed and was passionate and had intimate exchanges with the Lord. He addresses the Lord and is real with Him and shares what he is experiencing as he faces loneliness and hurt and anger. In Jer. 15:15 he prays, “You know where I am, God! Remember what I’m doing here! Take my side against my detractors.” He doesn’t hesitate to tell how he feels but lived the truth of his message and took God at His word. He was honest with the Lord and expressed when he was angry and felt like God was just a mirage. He experienced self-pity but God tells him he understands his situation but won’t indulge him in his self-pity. He told him to repent instead and stand tall.

  Jeremiah speaks to the Lord what he feels, and we can honestly do that too. We don’t have to sugarcoat our feelings of frustration and anger, but we can pray and then listen to the Lord’s response as He restores us. Just like Jeremiah who prayed in secret, what we do in secret determines the soundness of who we are in public. Let us give ourselves to seek the Lord and to pray in every situation.

  Challenge for today: Share your true feelings with the Lord and be quiet to listen as He speaks to your circumstance.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy