Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! Hope you have a refreshing one. We are suppose to get more snow and flakes are beginning to fall. I am hoping Ann will be able to get to Brainerd as planned today and come over this afternoon. I have Women’s Bible Study this morning and the lesson is on Mary and Martha.  
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  How often do we hear when leaving church, and maybe have said from our own lips, the worship wasn’t great today or the sermon didn’t seem to connect with where I am at, or I almost fell asleep as church was so boring! Then, blame is put on the pastor, the worship team etc. as our expectations weren’t met. But we have it all wrong as Pastor Joe McKeever writes on Crosswalk.com.  Worship is not about us and getting our needs met, it’s about giving the Lord the glory that He deserves. King David had it right in Psalm 29:2 (ESV), when he said, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” 
  Worship is not at all about getting, but rather it is all about our giving. We are giving to the Lord praise and the worship of our hearts, expressing that He is worthy of all honor and glory. Think of Paul and Silas who worshipped the Lord when they were imprisoned and their feet were in stocks. That is less than ideal circumstances and yet they worshipped.
   Worship is a verb; it is something we do, not something done to us. Even if the preacher doesn’t show up and the sermon is read to us or if the worship team is not the best, or the little children are noisy, we can still worship. We can decide if we are going to worship and not give concern if everything is to our liking. Our focus must be on the Lord and the distractions will fade into the background.
 I get convicted some Sundays when I observe one of the men on worship team that sings with all his heart. I check myself and know I need to let go more and just focus on the Lord in worship and praise, and as the song goes:
  “And here I am to worship
   Here I am to bow down
   Here I am to say that You’re my God
   You’re altogether lovely
   Altogether worthy
   Altogether wonderful to me.”
 Let us all go to church with the desire to simply worship Him from the depth of our souls.
Challenge for today: Sing a worship song to the Lord with your eyes closed and heart open.
Blessings on  your weekend and prayers and love, Judy