Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend! Today is party day here and we will be going to get the cake early this morning and setting up. After that Kurt and Brenda and another couple are stopping in for coffee on their way to the lake.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
When the Body of Christ is gathered together, we are a community of love. We share the Word, pray, worship and grow in the Lord but also grow together. Prayer is so important in our lives! It is good to pray in quiet by ourselves to the Lord but also strengthening to experience prayer with the Body of Christ. As we are with others, we can see how they are being formed by what they are experiencing and both of us are renewed. Reading the Word together and hearing it as we are gathered is also a shared experience, and not just for information. We are in this together: learning from one another, seeing through the eyes of others and sharing His love.

Life would not be as exciting if we only listened to our own thoughts and saw things only from our own narrow perspective. When we are with others we see the importance of all parts of the body. We may be only the eye, but we also need the ear, the mouth and other parts of the body, as Paul said in I Cor. 12. It’s good to be in groups that are not exactly like us, for we see how the Holy Spirit can teach us through them and add to our life with the Lord. There are many streams that come together and Al and I have loved receiving from many various ones. Some we wouldn’t necessarily like to take in as a steady diet, but we are blessed and appreciate a fresh outflow of the Spirit. When we were at a pastor’s retreat, during worship many knelt by the pew with hands raised in worship and my heart was touched.  When we travel to see our kids, we do love to attend their churches, which are all different from one another and add richness to our lives.

Whether we go to a sacramental church, or a charismatic church, a contemplative church, Catholic church, Evangelical church, etc. we can experience the richness of God’s love. It’s good to be open so we don’t experience imbalance or become prideful that ours is the only expression. Let us all pursue our life with the Lord and cooperate with how the Holy Spirit wants to lead us.

Challenge for today: Be open to new expressions of the workings of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy