Dear Ones,
  Hope your day is full of sunshine and grace! Al is off to men’s group and later today we will have Bible study here. I plan to bake and get to the Dollar store and enjoy Donut Day! 
The question for today: Do you find that there are times that you get distracted and slip into routine mode, missing some of the new things the Lord has for you? I know I have to guard against that. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  There is one relationship that is more important than any other and when that is first in our lives, everything else falls into place. That of course, is our relationship with the Lord. But when we put ourselves first or anyone else in His place, our life will be out of kilter.                                                             
 I was reading what Mark Robert’s had to say recently about keeping our hearts close to God. He quoted from Isaiah 29:13 and it struck me because I need to check my own heart to see how often it is true of me. “The Lord says, ’These people worship me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is based on rules made by humans.”   
                                                         
Perhaps we all need to guard our hearts from slipping into a routine mode, with minds wandering, and not truly present to the Lord. We can go through the motions, even at church in worship, and yet our hearts can be far away, thinking of other things and not focused on Him. Sometimes it happens gradually, even though we may be busy attending Bible Study, teaching, and serving; then all of a sudden, we wake up and realize we have strayed away, and our lukewarm hearts need to turn back to Him. It may happen often in the workplace when we are distracted and have deadlines and accountable to others. We also have to guard against living in the past but actively seek the Lord now and look forward to what He has for us in the future.    
 Thankfully the Lord is always pursuing us and when the Holy Spirit nudges us, we need to respond. We confess that we have wandered off, pursued our own interests, and taken our eyes off of Him, and sincerely ask for forgiveness. Then our hearts can actively seek Him in faith and change to grow and be stretched and become more like Him. Let us not be complacent and go through the motions without our heart being engaged, but rather come close to Him.
Challenge for today: Check your heart and if you are wandering off, repent and draw close to Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy