Dear Ones,
Hope your day is filled with love. Al will go off to meet with men and I will be going for my therapy. Later we have Bible Study, and it is a blessing to see how the Lord has drawn our hearts together.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
As followers of Christ, do we live with purpose and a mission? Each day do we ask the Lord how we might be selfless and better serve others that come across our path? Franciscan Albert Haase writes about DePaul who was administrator of a school of theology by day but at night walked the streets of Chicago to befriend prostitutes and help them get free and trained in life skills to lead a new life. He was selflessly doing what he could right where he was at and making a difference.

How about our life, does it reflect the One we serve, and do we make a difference where the Lord has planted us? Have we a sense of purpose and want to bless others or do we seek whatever we think will make us happy? The truth is that when we only think of ourselves our world becomes very small, confining and disappointing. But, on the other hand, we experience deep joy when our focus shifts off ourselves and onto the Lord and others; it’s like our world enlarges, becoming very big as we empty ourselves to benefit others. We may feel a lightness and an openness that draws us closer to the Lord and others. Peter says in I Peter 4 that we should use our gifts to serve others and “whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies —in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Dare we ask ourselves today if we are in the place the Lord would have for us right now? DePaul said, “A Christian without a sense of mission is a stunted Christian.” Living at Northern Lakes is home to us and with 60 apartments in our complex, there is no limit to what things the Lord may call each one of us to do. We’ve all experienced what it is like to be the new person and so we try to be welcoming and help others find their way to fit in. When someone loses their mate, there are many others who have lost theirs and can relate and pray etc. Maybe you work next to someone who seems discouraged, and the Lord impresses you to do acts of kindness and speak words that uplift. Life becomes full when we are continually asking the Lord what He would want us to do in each situation. Sometimes it is just to lift up a prayer.

Challenge for today: Live with purpose and a desire to respond to the needs around you, however the Lord would lead you.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy