Dear Ones,
Happy weekend!! I can’t remember the last time I slept in until 7 a.m but it was almost midnight when we got to bed after getting up at 2:30 a.m. yesterday. Thank you for prayers as we drove much of the way in heavy fog but arrived safely. I had a wonderful time in D.M. having lunch with a friend and then got here in Olathe in time to go to Lily’s game at K State. She did well and it was a tie game!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I love when we are dining out and our dinner plates are full of splashes of color like edible flowers, green herbs and other garnishes. Most people think parsley is just decorative on the plate and never bother to eat it, but it is meant to be consumed last because it has a purpose. Chefs call it a palate cleanser for it removes the taste of the recent food we have eaten and prepares us for the next course. It does such a good job that we might not remember the flavor of food we just ate.

I also just read that parsley is much like clover and called the trinity plant, for the stem divides into three parts, just like the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit also bring cleansing to us from the dirt and grime of the world, preparing us for what is ahead. The Lord removes even the memories of the pain we have been through and gives us hope for the future. We don’t have to keep grieving over our past, but instead thank the Lord for forgiving our past and freeing us for the future.

Sometimes the enemy brings up our past to cause us to focus on our failures to discourage us and leave us hopeless. But the Lord has washed us clean if we have repented and turned from our sin, so we can thank Him instead. Think of what the apostle Paul had to let go when He came to believe, for he shares in his letter to I Timothy 1:12-14, “I thank King Jesus our Lord, who gave me strength. He regarded me as trustworthy by appointing me to His service—even though I used to say blasphemous things against Him, and persecuted his people violently! But I received mercy, because in my unbelief I didn’t know what I was doing. And the grace of our Lord was more than enough for me, with the faith and love that are in King Jesus.” That is like the parsley: he forgot what he once did and went on to become used of God.

Challenge for today: Let go of everything in your past, grab hold of the grace God extends to you, and be willing to be used by Him.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy