Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend. We had a dinner last night at church for Pastors and wives and a wonderful time of sharing. Today the LEM Retreat, “Making New Disciples” begins at our church with speakers from 8:30 a.m. until about 8 p.m. Al will be giving a short testimony tonight before the evening speaker. Two full days of blessings! Emoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart

How do we look at life each day? Do we complain because we have to go into work early or have sick kids to care for or maybe it’s a rainy day? How we respond to our situations is something we choose, and we will either be positive and see the bright side or we will be negative and complain. But the choice is ours and Paul says in Phil. 4:8, “Summing it all up. friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” What a wonderful outlook we would have if we practiced this verse, and we would also have more energy and joy.

When we are negative, we find our energy sapped and our joy diminished. Sometimes it seems negative thoughts seem to come out of nowhere, but we don’t have to dwell on them but rather switch gears and choose to find the positive in our situations. Paul tells us that we have spiritual weapons, and they are strong enough “to destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (II Cor. 10:5) We have weapons of prayer, faith, hope, the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to break down the enemy’s walls.

We all have disappointments, bad things happen to us, but in the midst of it all, we can learn to trust the Lord, rehearse His promises, and ask the Lord what He is teaching us through it all. As I write this, I am going to church looking not-so-good with an infected swollen eyelid, neuropathy in my feet, and a skin cancer spot on my leg that I am waiting to get taken care of and I am choosing to praise Him that He has it all under control.

Can we trust that God will bring good out of even our present circumstances? Let us be patient with ourselves, even when we fail and know that God is interested in our heart’s desire, not that we do everything perfectly.

Challenge for today: When you are thinking negative things about yourself, be patient, and ask the Lord to show you how He sees you.