Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Al and I are both feeling better and very thankful. I don’t want to take health for granted and am so grateful to have more energy again. I plan to do some catch up and clean up around here and that will feel great.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As I was reading the book of I Peter recently, a short verse from I Peter 5:7 stood out to me: “Live carefree before God’ He is most careful with you.” Peter is writing to the church who is in exile, but He wants them to know, even though they are scattered, they are not forgotten by God. The Father has His eye on them, and he exhorts them to live as His obedient children.

I can’t help but note that Peter himself has been radically changed by the Lord from an impulsive man, prideful and confident in himself, is now humble and dependent on the Holy Spirit and concerned for others to live out their days pursuing the Lord. He tells them in Chapter 4 to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what they want and learn to think like Jesus, as they are being weaned from the expectation of getting their own way.

In our day, how do we live carefree before God rather than living for ourselves and doing whatever we feel like doing? What does a life shaped like God look like and how do we practice it in our everyday life?  What first comes to mind is to forgive like Jesus who freely forgives us. We don’t need to keep rehearsing in our minds what someone else did to hurt us but to let it go and forgive without giving thought of how to get even. When we trust God to handle the situation and pray for those who have wounded us, we are living carefree in His grace. Another way may be to have a heart of gratitude. We take time to recognize how much the Lord has blessed us instead of thinking what we don’t have or wish we had. We can show our gratitude with praise as we express thankfulness all throughout our day. That entails looking for good things throughout our day and thank those also who the Lord may be using to bless us. We also will live life carefree when we live in awe of His presence and recognize His mighty power as we fully trust Him. Let us enjoy the Lord each day and live carefree knowing He loves us, listens to us and is waiting to help us draw closer to Him.

Challenge for today: Memorize I Peter 5:7 and give praise to Him throughout your carefree day.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy