Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Today is another sunny beautiful day and makes it enjoyable to walk the trail. This morning I made egg dishes and cleaned the apartment and finished decorating. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I woke early Thanksgiving morning and began remembering the many blessings that have poured down upon me throughout my life and gave thanks. I rehearsed in my mind of the evening before at our Thanksgiving service when Pastor gave time for people to go to upfront and share what they were most thankful for. It was not so much for the physical gifts given us that people spoke of, but mostly for what Jesus has done. One man said he disagreed with apostle Paul who said he was chief of sinners, for he felt like he was; he was so grateful for the gift of forgiveness. It is a most precious gift for we are all in need of forgiveness daily and Jesus paid a tremendous price for all those who are willing to confess their sins and seek His forgiveness. Since that is so, why do we hang on to our sins and refuse to give them up? Today, some pastors don’t even use the word sin, but instead shortcomings and mistakes; but the truth is we all sin throughout our day and need to let go of them in confession and experience forgiveness and cleansing. I remember when I was growing up that we had a clothes chute that went from a little door in the bathroom down to the basement into a closet where they could be taken out and washed. Whatever we put in the chute, we had to let go of; but every now and then, we went downstairs and retrieved something that we wanted to wear again before it got washed. Sometimes sins are much like that for we confess something we have done or said but then hang on to it with feelings of justification that maybe others were more at fault. It doesn’t matter who is most or least at fault for we have to let it go down the chute. When we humble ourselves and ask forgiveness of the Lord and others, we sense a lightness, cleanness, and freedom. In Prov. 28:13 (The Message), it says, “You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.” Let us abandon our sins and let go of them that we may receive mercy and forgiveness.
Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sins you are hanging onto and let them go down the chute of forgiveness.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy