Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Today I am going to skip my exercise class as I’m going to the dermatologist for my routine check-up. It is rare that she doesn’t find something that needs taking care of.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
On Sunday morning when I was having my quiet time before going to church, I read from Psalm 95 which just happened to be a call to us by king David to worship. He is inviting us to come before the Lord with joy and music and praise. The Message translation begins the Psalm with. “Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into His presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with hymns.! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods.” He goes on to say we should bow before him on our knees and listen as He speaks. Wow! What if we went to church with hearts so full of thanksgiving that our praises almost raised the roof. And then if we quieted our hearts and listened attentively as we heard God speak through the word of our pastor. Our lives would be changed and all those around us.

What prevents this from happening? Too often we are complacent and do not have open hearts but rather want our own way which causes us to gradually drift away. We must guard against having hardened hearts that complain and are not open to the Lord. When we resist His will and go our own way, we will find ourselves distanced from Him and our hearts cold. David uses the example of the Israelites who were tested in the wilderness and complained to Moses, asking him why he took them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, since they lacked water at the time. God provided water when Moses struck the rock, but over and over again they tried God’s patience with hardened hearts.

What about our hearts? Do we submit to the Lord and bow before Him and desire His will for us. We are just like sheep that need a shepherd to lead us and guide us and we are to listen for His voice. Let us have thankful and grateful hearts that are open to the Lord as we sing from our hearts, shout, worship, bow down, kneel, and listen.

Challenge for today: Spend some time with the Lord before going to church and ask for an open heart to worship Him.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy