Dear Ones,
  Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We woke up to rain again and everything looks very fresh out my window. I got chocolate raspberries made as I was all out of them to share. Am working in my closet and finding clothes for 3 weddings coming up! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart   
Do we make room in our hearts each day for the Lord or is He pushed to the side by our prideful attitudes and sinful behavior?
   I woke up early this morning thinking of an old song that I haven’t heard sung for a long time by Billy Gaines, reminding me there is never a lack of room at the foot of the cross The song goes: “The cross on which Jesus died/ Is a shelter in which we can hide/ And its grace so free is sufficient for me/ And deep is its fountain as wide as the sea/ There’s room at the cross for you/ There’s room at the cross for you/ Though millions have come, there’s still room for one/ Yes there’s room at the cross for you.”
  A repentant heart is spacious and open and really a gift from God. It brings incredible peace; but a heart that is full of pride and denies sin, making excuses and blaming others, is a closed heart that keeps the Lord at a distance. It is not a peaceful way to live and will weigh us down.
   How do we keep an open heart? We must hate sin and be willing to humbly come to the cross and confess our sins and be willing to change. As it says in Romans 8:6-7 (Message), “Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God.”
   What a difference when we are willing to deal with our sin, for God’s grace is poured out on us and there is more room for Him. But if we hold on to our sinful ways, we won’t experience that spacious free life of peace in the Lord.
    It is because the Lord loves us so much that he shows us our sin so that we can repent and have room in our hearts for Him to fill.
   Challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in your life that need to come to the cross, and ask forgiveness with a willingness to change.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy