Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying this beautiful day! This morning I studied, started some packing, and went downstairs for donuts. This afternoon we have Bible study and tonight I have our women’s Bible study at church. 
Lily is doing well but of course dealing with pain. Tomorrow they are scheduled to fly back to home to Kansas so getting on the plane etc may be challenging. So grateful for all your prayers. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
A real test of our love for God is seen in our obedience. When He speaks, do we listen and then obey or do we go about our life simply doing our own thing? Lately as I have been reading the Word, I see how many times it says God spoke and then the person did what He said. Before Jesus departed from this earth, He said to his followers in John 14:21 (The Message), “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.” Not loving means not keeping His word. We see this in children who refuse to obey and it only gets them into big messes. 
This morning I was reading in I Samuel 15 when Samuel tells Saul that when he goes to war against Amalek, they were to totally destroy the people and all of their cattle and sheep, donkeys and camels. Nothing was to remain as they were under a holy ban. But Saul does not completely obey and saves King Agag along with some of the choice sheep and cattle. God reveals to Samuel what Saul has done and how sorry He is that he is king. When Samuel heads to see Saul, he hears the bleating of the sheep and mooing of the cattle. Saul makes excuses and says he is going to use the animals in sacrifice to God. God does not want partial obedience but total. Because of Saul’s disobedience the kingdom was torn away from him and was later given to David. Samuel tells Saul that God says what He means and means what He says. 
Our disobedience can be very costly! When it says in the Word that something we want to do is wrong, we don’t have to question it, it is not right! But sometimes we are not sure what God is saying and we need to listen carefully and then do whatever He says. Even something good but delayed and out of God’s timing, can become something negative. We need to obey now as His ways are so much higher than our ways. What if Noah had waited until it started to rain before he began to build the ark? Let us do all that the Lord calls us to do and do it in His timing with hearts of love.
Challenge for today: Please the Lord with your obedience even in the smallest things today.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy