Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! We had fun time celebrating the January birthday’s yesterday with an awesome cake and ice cream, and bouquets of roses on each table etc. Today I am going to clean the apartment and make a crock pot of stew and soon the aroma will fill this place.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Our thoughts are important and whatever we allow to occupy our minds will eventually determine our feelings. Scripture says, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Proverbs 23:7 Our thoughts shape our character and our speech and our actions, so we need to take care of what we let our thoughts dwell on for we are what we think and believe. How we talk to ourselves influences our mood and feelings. If we dwell on negative, depressive and anxious thoughts it changes even our brain chemistry. Wow!

We read today that the majority of people suffer from anxiety and so many live in despair and resignation. What can we do? So many people believe there is no purpose or meaning to life, so they live for instant satisfaction, trying to get more and more etc. But it doesn’t work and one psychologist, Edmund Bourne, said it is fertile ground for panic attacks and phobias. We need a larger purpose to life. We need belief in God who gives us meaning and helps us overcome our anxious thoughts. Only He can give us inner peace, purpose and unconditional love. When we come to love and depend on Him then we can look beyond ourselves and also serve others

We live in a fallen world and there are times we do suffer. But Bourne says we can seek to let it form us rather than deform us. We don’t need to waste it but let it humble us and deepen our dependence on God and strengthen our relationship with Him and others. We can always come to the Lord and pray in faith for healing and trust for however He will bring healing to us. If we are hanging on to a sinful practice, we need to let it go. There may even be some that don’t want to get well as it gains them attention from others. God knows the timing and sees our innermost needs and will work things for our good and not give us more than we can handle.
Challenge for today: Be honest before the Lord and express your feelings, anxieties and questions and then move on to rehearse His faithfulness and trust!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy