Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! Wow! What a change after the hot weather as it seems like fall, and we had to get out our warm jackets yesterday. This morning, I am going to make Al his favorite cookies and clean and take out the fall decorations.  EmojiEmoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
How available are we to the Lord? Do we find it hard to believe He can use us who fail and sin daily and have limitations? I was reading on what Mark Roberts from Fuller Seminary had to say about who God uses. God can use anyone He chooses, even if they don’t know and believe in Him. The finest example I think of is King Cyrus of Persia. God used him and said, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you don’t know me, so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is not other.” Isaiah 45:5-6 God anointed the ruler King Cyrus who was a Gentile for a special task of setting the Jewish exiles free and allowing God’s city, Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Now certainly He can also use us and the big question is are we available and willing?

Maybe we think in terms of God using us mostly in our churches or religious settings and He does use us there; but He also wants to use us in our workplaces, in our homes, in our neighborhoods. Those places are not separate from our faith. God wants to use us in all places of our lives. At work, our light shines most when we do things with excellence and creativity and responsibly. Another thought Roberts mentions is that God wants us to be available even when we are retired from full time employment, for when we are retired, we have even more time to be used of Him. That never ends as even when we are physically unable to keep up, we can have a prayer ministry that touches many lives. Stay at home moms have a tremendous influence on not only their children but the neighborhood children and their parents, and special interest groups etc. I remember when I was young, we had so many kids in our neighborhood. My mom had fun ideas for all of us as we were in parades, had Bible school in our backyard for all to come, teenage girls to the house to roast wieners in our fireplace with a Bible study following, a Missionary Society for youth where we rolled bandages etc. to be sent overseas. Mom was available and God used her.

God wants us all to be available and it may surprise us how He would use us for His kingdom. Let us be listening daily for how He would direct us and never, never, retire from the kingdom of God!

Challenge for today: Be available for the Lord to use you in new ways and also do your regular work with excellency!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy