October 15, 2022

Dear Ones,

Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend and keeping warm. Yesterday we had rain, snow and sunshine that kept switching back and forth.  We are packed and will be leaving later this morning for my nephew’s wedding. I will send out devotions as I am able along the way. We look forward to going to our former church in D.M. tomorrow and some time with missionaries afterwards before going to Kansas. We appreciate prayers for our trip. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart

  We are all called out to live out the way of love no matter what situations we are in. Our part is to open ourselves up to God’s love and let it burn brightly in our hearts. As I awakened one morning an old familiar chorus came to mind that some of you may know, “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before/ every day with Jesus, I love Him more and more/ Jesus saves and keeps me and He’s the One I’m waiting for/ Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”

  We can ask ourselves if that is true for us, that every day we love the Lord more. That would mean spending time listening to Him, sharing our day with Him, delighting in Him and letting His love seep into all those deep places within us. Many couples today live in emotional divorce, where they are like two ships in the night passing but not really communicating or living together in a loving relationship. Can that be true of our relationship with the Lord at times, when we just go about our day without acknowledging Him and living on our own?

  I am reading a book by Ruth Burrows, a Carmelite Nun in England and her love for the Lord spills over on all the pages of her book. She describes Jesus as He moved about on the earth and how wherever he passed by flowers of joy and hope sprung up. Jesus was interested in all that was around Him and talked to His Father as He worked, ate, shared life with His disciples, preached, healed etc.

  The Lord delights when we share our lives with Him and live in Him and He is us. Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Ephesus was, “That Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives; full in the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19, Message)

   Let us share our lives with Him, and not hold anything back.  As we do this our lives will also overflow with love and every day will be sweeter than the day before.

Challenge for today: Delight in the Lord’s love as you go about your day.