Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! We enjoyed time at the lake and saw family, went to church together, played games, celebrated Father’s Day and had big yummy steaks etc. This morning I made egg dishes and S.F. choc chip cookies, and went to my exercise class. I am baking a new dish now and is in the oven.
Devotions from Judyy’s heart
   How good are we at looking at others through the lens of love? Do we see them as they really are or do we view them through a selective lens, distorted by our own perceptions that are often judgmental? If we truly love others as Jesus wants us to, then we need to look at others with respect and openness of mind, and without judging.  We can only do that if we are first willing to listen to them and see where they are coming from. Each person is unique so we must not jump in and think we will know what is good for them without really listening.
   We are told to love God and then to love our neighbor as ourselves. Teresa of Avila once said that our relationships with others are often a more clear indication of our relationship with the Lord than our actual mystical prayers. John, the disciple close to Jesus, said in I John 4:11 (ESV), “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” No one has ever seen God: If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.”
   When we love others with His love, we help them also discover the good they may have overlooked in themselves. Everyone is a mystery however, and even though I know Al so well and can probably finish his sentences, I can never know everything about him.
   It is a disservice to paint an image of another and think that we know them through and through; but yet if we don’t deal with the true person, and only the image, we cannot see the uniqueness of their true selves. Sometimes we also project on others what we are not willing to deal with in our own hearts. When we have reactions that are out of proportion, it is often a sign that we are projecting our problem on them.
   Let us not judge others but look at them in love and openness and see them as they are.
   Challenge for today: Ask God to help you to see others as He sees them.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy