Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the weekend inspite of the rain. Everything looks so fresh and green out my window though. It is a special day for us as we are celebrating our wedding anniversary and going out for a steak dinner. We feel truly blessed for all the years the Lord has given us together. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   We are celebrating our 57th wedding anniversary today and both Al and I often remark that we don’t want to take each other for granted. We want to live each day in love and in thankfulness to the Lord for another day together. We have our love letters stored away and other memories of the actual day but it is in living it out that matters. Al is good with words and shares with me what I mean to him; he always seems to come up with new words to express that and the list gets longer and longer. We partly kid about it but sometimes when we are out with others, he will say to a young person that he is married to a total, complete, natural, integrated woman! I roll my eyes and wonder what is going through their minds!
  But when we compare it with our relationship to the Lord, are we passionate for Him or are we passive? Maybe we are getting ho-hum about our love for Him? We might ask ourselves if we are glad when the church doors are open so we can meet with others in the family of God; or are we relieved when things are canceled and we can stay home? When we take communion, do we just do it in an absent minded way, or are we filled with thankfulness to the Lord that He has taken our sins away?
   In my daily devotions, I happen to be reading  the book of Revelation, of John’s letters to the seven churches. The judgment is most harsh on the church of Laodicea that is lukewarm. It started out good but they abandoned their first love. John warns them to return to their first love and change the way they think and act or their lamp stand will be taken away.  We may judge that church as well, but we need to look instead at ourselves and ask if we have done the same. Do we seek time to be alone with the Lord and to express our love in new ways or are we indifferent?
   Paul says in Romans 12:11, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” We don’t need to fear that the Lord will take advantage of us but rather give our whole selves to Him and commune with Him. We will find that we are unconditionally loved, set free, forgiven, and complete. Let us put Him in first place of our lives and let Him hold us closely together in intimate fellowship.
   Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to remove anything that is robbing you of your love for Him.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy

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