Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend to you! We are enjoying time with Al’s sister, Ann Marie, and going to the lake today to see our daughter Ann Marie and all the renovation they have done to our former home. We spent last evening sharing and catching up and looking forward to another day of it.  It’s going to be a hot day in the 90’s!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! Today it is so difficult to know who is telling the truth and who to believe. We hear opposite points of view and wonder what is the truth? But one thing we do know that God Himself is truth and does not lie and what He says we can believe. All that is found written in the Bible we can believe and trust. I was reading what Ines Velasquez-McBryde had to say about Samuel of the Old Testament on Crosswalk.com. One night when Samuel was a young boy, he was lying down in the temple near the Ark of God and heard his name called. He thought it was Eli the priest calling him and he went to him to find out what he wanted. This happened again and Eli told him, it was not him but to go back to bed. But the third time Eli realized God must be speaking and told Samuel if He calls again to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” When God did call the next time, He revealed what he was going to do not only to Israel but also to Eli’s family. His sons had had been blaspheming God and Eli did nothing to correct them. Samuel must have been afraid to tell the truth when Eli asked him the next morning what God said. But he told Eli what God had spoken and the punishment his family was to suffer. Not an encouraging word but Eli told Samuel not to hold back and to tell it all. So Samuel learned at an early age to speak what God gave him, even when afraid. Now just speaking the truth is only part of what we are called to do, for the second part is to tell it in the right way. Ines himself first struggled with speaking the truth and often did it with harshness and devastated others. His boss helped him learn to speak the truth in a way that would build others up and not tear them down. It is something we all need to learn and practice for sometimes the truth gets lost and ignored by the delivery of the messenger. Paul told the Ephesian church in Eph. 4:15 (ESV), Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.” When we speak truth we are to be humble and speak with grace, remembering we have many things that need correcting in our own lives. After speaking truth, it is good to ask ourselves if others are left knowing they are loved, no matter what the message was that was given.
Challenge for today: Before speaking the truth, humble yourself and ask God to help you say it in love.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy