Dear Ones,
Happy Weekend. Hope you have a relaxing one. We start the weekend with our monthly Birthday party and will be going to Costco to get the Birthday cake. Thankful for my two helpers and we enjoy serving together.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
We are meant to live in fellowship with others, to share God’s love, and to let go of our pride that thinks mostly of self, disconnecting us from others. Our hearts are to reach out to others, instead of the overemphasis in our culture of the I and the loss of the we. It’s wonderful to belong to a small group of people where we share and seek each other’s good. Hopefully, we can do that in our church fellowship groups: show care for one another and come to deeply to know one another.
There are some that have gone the extra mile to live in community. I have written about Taylor and Ethan who have their own home but clustered in a community where they meet together to worship, to work and to fellowship. Oldfield writes that she and her husband are living in community, sharing a house with another couple and their children. That is even more of a challenge, but it is helping them to love each other well, even though their imperfections are obvious as there is no hiding. It is also a time of dying to one’s pride, for as it says in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” I can only imagine that living in community is sometimes messy, but growth takes place as we connect and let others know us.
The early church, after the Holy Spirit came upon them, were of one heart and mind and shared everything. In Acts, Luke writes how they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship and were together with no one in need.
Not all of us will join a live-in community, but we are to connect with others, surrender our pride and discover what it means to be interdependent, joyful and free.
Challenge for today: Ask the Lord to help you surrender your pride and to connect with others in His Body.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy