Dear Ones,
  Hope you are having a peacefilled day! The sun is shining and the flowers planted in view from my window are growing. Today I made G.F Choc chip cookies and went to Aldi and to my exercise class. This afternoon is Crafts and time for a walk, and each day we see more wildflowers blooming. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   Christian community is a wonderful gift from the Lord and it is an opportunity to grow and to say Yes to God and no to self-will over and over again. It is also a chance to learn from others and to let ourselves be known, Is it easy? No! It often entails submitting to others who we may wonder if they have our best in mind.
   In community we can’t all do whatever we please or it would be chaotic, so we need some kind of necessary authority. I think of our apartment complex as community, although we each have a separate space, as well as, communal space. That means we must think of others and their needs and not just our own. We are to be respectful and quiet when others are meeting.
   Community is built on self-denial. It’s not all about us, but what we can give. That means welcoming others, affirming them, listening to them and becoming forgetful of self. That is especially important at church when we gather as the Body of Christ. If we just join with certain people and ignore others, what does that say about the inclusiveness of His Body? We are all needed and no one individual has everything all together. We need one another.  We are incomplete without others.
   We must learn to be gracious givers but also receivers, willing to be loved as much as to love, learn to give apologies, as well as to receive apologies. Some in community are not willing to be known and that is sad for they don’t grow in self-awareness and may not see their deficiencies and opportunities around them to grow. None of us have it all together but together we have it all!!
   We need to be humble and recognize our need for others. We don’t all see accurately, nor do we really know how we come across to others. We need to be teachable and learn from interactions with others. That means we let them into our lives and to look around and listen to them. They see us as we are and we share our lives together.
   Let us use our gifts for others and seek to glorify the Lord as we live together in fellowship. As in the early church it says in Acts 4:43 (Amplified), “And all those who had believed [in Jesus as Savior] were together and had all things in common [considering their possessions to belong to the group as a whole].”
   Challenge for today: Open yourself up to others in community and be welcoming to all.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

 

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