Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! This morning we will be leaving for Mora to gather with our former Board members from Canaan’s Rest. We look forward to this time each year and love catching up with them as we share and pray together.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How much of our time and effort is spent on meeting our basic needs for ourselves and families? We probably all feel pressured to buy more than we need and consume more than we have space for. But God’s way is quite different, for we are to “Strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:33) The Lord wants to relieve us of our stress for all these things and trust Him first. He promises to provide and desires that we be content, all the while storing up treasures in heaven. He wants us to give Him our self-effort and clutching of earthly things to live lightly with Him. Our focus is to be on the Lord, and not preoccupation with ourselves.

Our part is to tell God our needs, let go of our anxiousness and put things in His hands. He may tell us something we are to do next, but the result rests with Him. Life gets a lot simpler and stress-free when we put it all in His hands. We can relax as it doesn’t all depend on us. We then trust God when things happen beyond our control like the stock market plunging, a storm, sickness, etc.

Richard Foster writes that it is helpful to read of the saintly lives of those that have gone before us, like Augustine, St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, etc. They lived out their lives in complete dependance on the Lord with such awareness of Him, and their lives were transformed. It is like they blazed a trail and showed the way for us to walk more closely to the Lord. At the same time, we are to live life lightly and not take life so seriously that we lose our joy in the Lord. Our focus needs to be off of ourselves on Him who is Life, Joy, Peace and Love.

Challenge for today: Quit trying so hard and just surrender everything to the Lord.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy