Dear Ones,
May you wake up to sunshine after our day of rain yesterday. We enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship over lunch with friends yesterday. Today I need to go to Aldi’s and then to Women’s Bible Study and hope to get some baking in too.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Haven’t we all thought and maybe even said, “I would never do that!” Maybe someone has done something out of character for them, and we can hardly believe it, wondering how they could do such a thing. But we must not think we are beyond giving into temptations that come our way.

I wonder if King David, who wrote so many Psalms of God’s mercy and love, ever believed he would not only commit adultery but would murder an innocent and righteous man, but he did.  We might also chastise ourselves and say, “I can’t believe I said what I did in the heat of the moment!” None of us can even imagine what we are capable of when we are tested.

David was a man of prayer and compassion, and he trusted God and obeyed. So how could this terrible thing happen? First off, he stayed home when his men were doing battle and had time on his hands. While on the palace roof, he looks down into the courtyard of a beautiful woman bathing. He sends for Bathsheba and has a relationship with her which results in a pregnancy. David tries to solve his problem by having her husband come home on leave so it would seem it was his child. But as Uriah thinks of the other soldiers out in the battlefield, he chooses not to have relations with his wife. David ends up having Uriah killed in battle and later takes Bathsheba as his wife. What happened to David’s compassion? He sinned and took control, not only of his own life but that of others. David doesn’t come clean at first until the prophet Nathan tells him a story that points it out; he is finally found out, and there are consequences.

David recognized his sin and that it was against the Lord, (II Sam. 12:13) Just as David, we also need to recognize our sin, and not be indifferent. Then we can go to the Lord in confession and receive His pardon and forgiveness. We don’t need to go around condemned after He has forgiven us, for the Lord now looks on us as if we never sinned. Our part is to own our sin and repent and confess our sins and then focus on His forgiving grace, as He sets us free.

Challenge for today: When you have sinned, go quickly and openly to the Lord in confession and receive His pardon and live freely in His grace, no longer condemned.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy