Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Seems like the weeks fly past so quickly. Today I studied and made bars and went downstairs for coffee and treats. This afternoon we are invited to friends who live in the woods. We met them on the Paul Bunyan trail some time ago. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Since I sent out yesterday part of a letter to Al when we were young, with his permission I will give you a few of his written words when he was about 21 and writing to me. He was on a team called the “Ambassadors” and over the summer the team went to many Free Lutheran churches from MN all the way out to Washington. Al preached, sang in a quartet, played his accordion and grew a lot spiritually during that time. We only got to see each other one time all summer and that was near Alexandrea so we both wrote letters nearly every day. It was a good way to share our hearts and faith and love for God and each other. He wrote, “’And without faith it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. (Heb 11:6)’ I thought this was a very good verse on faith. For everything we receive from God and even the nearness that we have to Him depends upon our relationship to Him. Many times, I feel that I can’t get to God because I sin too greatly. But this is not the way that it should be. No, we should be able to come near to God at all times and it must always be by faith. Also, it is only how much I expect from God that I will actually receive from Him. Oh, how I limit God so often in my Christian life and my close walk with the Lord Jesus.” A couple nights later he wrote “For the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (I Cor 4:20) Oh how true this is. How we need to have the power of God in our life before we can really be effective for Him. Jesus cannot speak through us until we are in a right relationship to Him. We can do all the talking that we want to, but if we don’t have the power of the Holy Spirit we may as well be talking to the wall.” He closes and asks for prayers for his own life and that he could preach with more freedom and power. I think his summer on the team also prepared him to become a fulltime pastor.
Challenge for today: Refer back to how God has guided your life and give Him thanks.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy