Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a good day. It is a cool, rainy day and makes me want to bake. I did some food prep earlier and than a wonderful “angel” from Al’s men’s group came over; he put in a light under my upper cupboards so now I can see when I am doing food prep! Emoji I also got to my Exercize class and this afternoon we are going to Costco. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
What do we do with the pain in our lives? We all have experienced pain in various forms and have felt hurt by comments made about us, betrayal by someone who we thought was a close friend, or maybe being left out and lied about. We could all fill pages of unfair treatment and life is full of hurts and disappointments but what do we do with all of that? If we hang onto those things and ruminate about them, gradually it will spill over to our kids and their kids and result in bitterness and depression and even sickness. But a better way is to let go of it and let our pain be transformed rather than being a complaining victim that keeps gathering evidence. We can use whatever words we want, but letting go is really about forgiveness. If we want a life of joy and peace, we need to forgive whatever was done to us, remembering Jesus experienced all of what we have and so much more. In fact, He gave His life so that we might be forgiven and we are to let go and forgive others. About 2/3 of Jesus teaching was on forgiveness in one form or another. We can’t look to others to fill the hole in our hearts for that only God can fill. And when we realize that, then people around us won’t feel pressured to meet up to our expectations. The Lord fulfills us, not words of acceptance from others that are changeable or working to be super successful in the eyes of the world. As a follower of Christ we are to lose our life for His sake. In Matt. 10:39 (NRSV) Jesus said, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Our false self (flesh) doesn’t want to die but unless it does our true self can’t come forth. Like the Prodigal son, we have wandered off and need to go home to our Father. Whenever we leave home to find something outside of ourselves to fill the void in our hearts, we will be disappointed. Instead we need to open up to His presence for He desires to live within each of us. As we empty ourselves and let His loving presence fill our hearts our pain will be transformed and we will come to know who we really are. Then we will begin to experience heaven here on earth!
Challenge for today: Forgive anyone who has hurt you and let the Lord transform your pain.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy