Dear Ones,
Hope you have a peace-filled day on this first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday.  We got snow in the night and is continuing now so not sure if I will be going to my Exercise class. Later I meet for Crafts and tonight help at the Soup Supper before the Ash Wednesday service.
Devotions from Judys heart
How often do we tell ourselves lies that block our road to freedom and peace? Are we willing to address the lies and embrace truth, that we may get healed and set free? We’ve all been told things that later turnout to be false, and we have to acknowledge the lie and then be willing to change in our thinking and acting. I find that especially true in things I learned about health that science has been proven false. I am reading Pastor/Dr Gary Thomas’ book, The Life You Were Reborn to Live, and he shares twelve lies that rob us of our intimacy of God. The lies we believe about God make a difference in the way we see Him and respond to Him.

The spirit of the world is shallow, and there is a thirst for power, comfort, and wealth that distracts us from the truth of a life in Christ. Seeking to please God rather than man is quite a different agenda. Rather than pleasing an audience of many kinds of people, we aim to please an audience of one and that is the Lord. It will mean rejecting what is not true in this world and embracing the Spirit. Paul opens his letter in Galatians 1 saying that Jesus Christ, “rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!”

The bottom line is our peace is found in a person, not in all the right circumstances or possessions. We can lose it all in worldly goods but lack nothing, as David says in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing!” What a peaceful way to live: to not need acclaim, or a new home, but simply rest in the peace of the Lord. We don’t have to have everything fixed in our lives to have peace, for our when we have peace with the Lord it is well with our souls.

Thomas writes we must remove restlessness to have peace. Think of what makes us restless and worried and be willing to give it up. It may be different for each of us, but the solution is a relationship with the Lord who walks with us. As we are humble and gentle, knowing whose we are, we can come to rest, have peace and serve the Lord. We don’t have to live in anxiety about our circumstances or what others think of us, for now our focus is changed.

Challenge for today: Don’t follow the Lord simply to get peace, but desire to be with Jesus more than anything else and you will have peace.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy