Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! We enjoyed our time so much going to hear Leif preach in Hackensack and then gathering at the lake with relatives around a fire for the biggest brats I have ever seen and plenty of other food that concluded with a flourless/chocolate cake that is 540 calories a piece. Fun way to celebrate Father’s Day! Today is another picnic time here and 40 have signed up for it and I am the coffee gal.  We are afraid the weather will decide that it will be moved indoors but time will tell.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Who are you?  By that I don’t mean what you do in life, as in being a doctor, or to say, “I am a pastor’s wife and mother of 3 children,” but rather who are you in Christ? In my devotional book by Joyce Meyer, she asks that question, “Who are you?” and I had to think of how I would answer it. If we are a believer we might answer, “I am a child of God and I belong to Him.” Our identity is not what we achieve in this world but in being His child.

I am reminded of a song, we sang with our kids when they were little and a few of the repetitive lines are: “The Lord is mine and I am His, His banner over me is love…..He brought me to the banqueting table and His banner over me is love,….He is the vine and we are the branches, His banner over me is love….He is the rock of my salvation His banner over me is love.”  It would be sung with actions and our hands crossed over our hearts. When young, it is perhaps easier to believe that we are His beloved and we belong to Him. Children are trusting and have faith to believe what they are told.

 

  If we have received the Lord but still have a difficult time believing we are chosen and His beloved child, let us open our hearts and immerse ourselves in the Word, and pray for the Holy Spirit to confirm our place as His child. Faith is a choice we make to trust God, just as that little child. Like Paul said in Eph. 2: 8-9 that it is by grace we are saved through faith, and not what we do, for it is a gift from God. We can’t earn our place but accept it as a gift, and then live in thankfulness and bring others into the family of God. One day we will join with all those who are part of God’s family and spend an eternity with Him. Let us not try to earn what is already a gift, but simply receive and give thanks.

Challenge for today: Ask yourself today, “Who am I?” and then respond with a scripture like John 1:12, “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy