Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend! Today is the day Al and I have been waiting for as we will be celebrating with our whole family today. Kurt and Brenda stopped by yesterday with big Tomahawk steaks which we will enjoy today! So thankful for the 60 years that the Lord has given me with Al.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Wouldn’t we all desire a fast transformational process and become more like Jesus in quick, easy steps? But that is not how it happens or how we grow and change. In fact, when we are humble and see our own unworthiness, we are on our way to grasping more of His unconditional love for us. Like the Publican in Luke 18, we may say we are not even worthy to raise our eyes to heaven. So how do we become more saintly and more mindful of the Lord? After all, we all have quirks, are far from perfect and will always have faults. In Michael Casey’s book “Living in the Truth,” he writes that saints can be cranky, narrow, have blind spots and can even be annoying. But the difference is that they are aware of their own fragility, are at home with their limitations and content to rely on the mercy of God. They know they have been showered with His grace, even though they are so imperfect, and can rejoice that God’s love for them doesn’t waver. So much gratitude is given to the Lord.

I know when I blow it and am not what I should be, I become so much more aware of His love for me, that He loves me even in my imperfection. We can be ourselves before the Lord, authentic and real, and know that the Lord will not withhold His love from us. It rather reminds me of us as young children, trying to please our parents. We may attempt to make a meal for them, and it is not perfect, but they are only looking at the desire of our hearts to do something special for them. Yes, it is imperfect and yet done with much love and our hearts are enlarged in the giving.

We all need to come to the point of accepting how unworthy we are. We are so undeserving of what the Lord offers to us. Maybe one day we will wake up and realize that God loves to give us good things and not based on how good we are. When Jesus was speaking to the crowd he said, in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

When our hope is in the Lord and we actualize His love in our hearts, our joy will spill over and we will want to share with others, for our hearts have been enlarged. Now we do things out of love for Christ and isn’t that what sainthood is all about? Doing what is good from our hearts even though we are not perfect, but resting in His perfect love and grace.

Challenge for today: Focus not on what you do for Him, but what He has already done for you and give thanks.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy