Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend! We enjoyed going to Barnsville on Saturday for a lovely graduation party and to see a friend who is a libraian, and then to Hawley for prayer and fellowship with missionaries. This morning I made cookies on a stick, went to Aldi’s and to my exercise class. It is turning out to be a beautiful sunny warm day!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Don’t we all love those mountain top experiences when we have an awesome awareness of the Lord’s presence. It could be in a high worship experience or a time of retreat in the mountains, or a place to meditate in the beauty of nature or simply in our own homes. But it is a time apart from our busy lives when our focus is the Lord and we drink in His loving presence. In the past Al and I not only ran a retreat house but we also went at times to other retreat places in the mountains, or a monastery or a hermitage. But even though it is wonderful we still had to come back to living in the valley and doing our regular everyday life and work. Things don’t always seem so inspiring and beautiful as on the mountain but what we experience on the mountain can remain in our hearts with us in the valley.  That’s because we don’t need to leave the Lord on the mountain range, for He is always with us. Eugene Peterson shares about the how John wrote the gospel of John, and Revelation; but he also wrote three brief letters (I John, II John and III John) to a small community of believers who were having trouble getting along. He even names the trouble maker in his letters. The church had difficulty and Peterson said the problem was love as John mentions love 51 times in those brief letters. The congregation knew lots about God and they loved spiritual things but they also had to deal with one another. Does that sound familiar? Maybe there are people we would rather not deal with and get under our skin. But Jesus is with us in our everyday life in the valley during the week as He is with on the mountaintop on Sunday when we go to church. Jesus wants to be involved in the messes in our lives and certainly understands as He was human as we are, and also God. John had walked with Jesus and ate with Him and at times was probably weary with all the crowds. And he knew he was loved for he calls himself the disciple who Jesus loved. We also learn to love others around us but not being told we have to love them, but by being loved. We are told many times in scripture how God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) As we come to know His love in our hearts, we will have His love to give to others in our family, in the church and in the world. Let us open ourselves to that daily, whether we are on the mountain or in the valley.
Challenge for today: Remember what you learned on the mountain but carry it with you into your daily life.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy