May 25, 2021

Dear Ones,

Hope you are enjoying a nice sunny day. This morning I did lots of food prep and took a friend with me to the Dollar Store. I tried a new chicken recipe for lunch and my chief-taster liked it.  

Devotions from Judy’s heart

God delights when we gather together with His children to praise Him and recognize His presence, power and love. We most likely come away feeling encouraged and lifted in our faith, knowing that God is at work in our midst. Al and I have been blessed in deep ways lately as we see how He has brought people into our lives to share and fellowship together. We are especially grateful for the couple we met on the Paul Bunyan trail and daily walk with them as we talk about the Lord together. We pray for one another’s needs and it is exciting as we see how God answers. Some can be very practical needs and when the answers come, we all rejoice. Others are long term more hidden needs that we continue in prayer daily. Sometimes the Lord surprises us as things we have prayed for a very long time are now answered. We were with a pastor and wife over the weekend who have been seeking God’s will about going to Africa as missionaries. We have prayed daily they would know His will and now rejoice with them as they are preparing to leave and go. The Lord has added another blessing as his dad, who was in his 90’s, recently came to know complete forgiveness and restoration with family before he died. That concern was all taken care of before they even depart. We are told in Romans 12: 15-16 (ESV), “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.” When we know the Lord, we are part of the Body of Christ and care for one another. When one hurts, we all hurt and when one is full of joy, we rejoice with him. But we have a choice if we will join with our spiritual family, and if we don’t, we miss out on a huge blessing and the support God has in His plan for us. Two are better than one and as it says in Ecclesiastes 4.10, “For if one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.” When we join with the Body of Christ, God can provide for us what we lack. Some of us may need parenting because of what was missing in our own family, and others may need to be healed to trust again.  The Lord uses others in the Body to fill the needs that we have. Together we can be strong!

Challenge for today: Join together with others who know the Lord and grow strong together.