Dear Ones,
Hope you have a relaxing weekend! The apartment is filled with aroma as there is a pot of stew in the slow cooker. I also made cinnamon bread that Al has already sampled. This morning I am going to clean and maybe later go to Kohl’s as the sales are unbeliveable! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
   How often during the day do we fix our thoughts on the Lord? If others could be privy to our thought life, would they be surprised at how much of the time our thoughts are on worries and problems of all kinds or even on pleasures and dreams, but not on the Lord? Anything we think of more than we think of God can be in idol in our lives and rob us of a deep relationship with Him.
  We are told in II Cor 10:5 that “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Perhaps all of us can say that our thoughts often run rampant and we can dwell on things other than the Lord. But the Lord is the One that we are to delight in and we can rejoice in His presence and experience incredible peace.
   The moment we find ourselves fixated on our problems, worrying about the “what ifs”, our focus is off the Lord and we soon find we are in a dark hole. But when we take every thought captive, we remember that the Lord is mighty, He is able to take our concerns and help us in every need and situation we will ever encounter. We must choose to listen to the Holy Spirit as He whispers promises of God’s help to our hearts.
  As the song goes, “When we’re weak and heavy laden/ cumbered with a load of care/ We should never be discouraged/ when we take it to the Lord in prayer.” Instead of ruminating on the negative, we can ask for help and grasp hold of the promises of God. It’s good that we know that we can’t but He can!
Challenge for today: Focus on the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to nudge you each time your thoughts go astray.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy