Dear Ones,
Happy weekend! Burr, it is much cooler out now and we need our jackets. We are going to head to Hackensack for their Art Sale and taking a friend from Assisted Living around to shop too. We try to do it each year and she does her Christmas shopping there. But this time most of that shopping is already done. Afterwards we are going on to the lake and celebrate Al’s birthday with Ann’s and then Al wants to sit on the dock and enjoy some time to read. I’m hoping for some Scrabble. We will be returning home for the night as I serve at church tomorrow.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We are not saved by doing good works for we can never earn salvation, but we are saved by faith in the Lord. Early in life I memorized Eph. 2:8-9 “For by faith have you been saved through faith, and not of your own doing, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

That being said, works are like the natural outflow of our faith and helps give life to our faith. James said, “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2:17)

Faith is more than agreeing and knowing Jesus as Savior, for it is opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit and Him living within us. He does good works through us, and the glory goes to the Lord. We are instruments through which God can do great things as we allow His power and love to flow through us. He created us for good works, and we do them not because we have to or feel obligated or because we are supposed to, but as an opportunity to live out our faith. As we listen to the Spirit, He will direct us into specific works.

I love football and hate to miss watching the Vikings play. We can learn a lot about the game of life from watching football. As I read Back to Square One, Christianson compared God’s kingdom to a group of people who come together under a coach who molds them into a team. Of course, there are rules for the game, and we never get beyond the fundamental rules; we likewise don’t have to debate what the Bible says for we go by what Jesus said. We don’t wing it but just like the team needs to learn the fundamentals for blocking, tackling and running etc. we need to learn discipline and obedience. We do whatever it is our Coach says!

We also have to be mindful of teamwork, ready to give up our personal preferences for the whole. That means doing things for others and recognize that our life depends on others doing their part as well, for we are interdependent on them. We cannot exist without the rest of the team doing their jobs and we need to let the coach mold us together. We all need radical obedience to do what our Coach says and most of all we need a close relationship with Him.

Challenge for today: Remember you are a member of the team so listen closely to the Coach and follow by works of obedience.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy