Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying the weekend. It is supposed to be very hot today so we may take our walk early this morning. I plan to also clean and make Swedish meatballs!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I want to know what is real and not fake but sometimes it is hard to tell. The other day I went to Aldi’s and the aisle was very crowded by the produce section. One woman stood right in front of the veggies and was choosing several and having trouble making up her mind. It was difficult to get past her but I was able to reach from one side to grab what I thought was a zucchini and a big one. I like to make zucchini cakes or also spiralize and saute them for the veggie at our meal. Later I got out my frypan and put some oil in a began to use my spiralizer but it didn’t seem to work as I just got lots of juice and no long strips. I quickly realized this was not a zucchini for I had grabbed a cucumber that was pretty smooth and had mistaken it. Needless to say, I could not continue for it was not a real zucchini. If I would have looked closer and been able to read the sign that was blocked by the woman, I never would have bought it.

I like the real thing and not a fake! In our world there are many fakes and sometimes it takes very close examination to discover if something is real, like a diamond or an expensive name brand of shoes or a purse etc. The fake can look real so we must take time and thought to see if it truly is. Sometimes we hear preaching of things that sound good but do they line up with scripture. We need to closely examine what we are taught so we don’t go down wrong roads and find ourselves captive to the enemy. I especially like real people of integrity who say what they mean and mean what they say. I am very thankful for friends who are willing to speak truth and be real with me. I also want to be honest and open and one they can trust. The apostle Paul tells us to be careful how we live and speak truth to our neighbor. He wrote in Ephesians 4:25, (message translation), “Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.”

Today we often don’t know who to believe and we need to ask for discernment. Let us be careful what we embrace as truth and be people of integrity ourselves!

Challenge for today: Take off any masks you have and be authentic and real and one who others can trust.