I like the real thing and not a fake! In our world there are many fakes and sometimes it takes very close examination to discover if something is real, like a diamond or an expensive name brand of shoes or a purse etc. The fake can look real so we must take time and thought to see if it truly is. Sometimes we hear preaching of things that sound good but do they line up with scripture. We need to closely examine what we are taught so we don’t go down wrong roads and find ourselves captive to the enemy. I especially like real people of integrity who say what they mean and mean what they say. I am very thankful for friends who are willing to speak truth and be real with me. I also want to be honest and open and one they can trust. The apostle Paul tells us to be careful how we live and speak truth to our neighbor. He wrote in Ephesians 4:25, (message translation), “Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.”

Today we often don’t know who to believe and we need to ask for discernment. Let us be careful what we embrace as truth and be people of integrity ourselves!

Challenge for today: Take off any masks you have and be authentic and real and one who others can trust.

How about us, what do we do when we need an encouraging word or seem overwhelmed by what is happening in our lives. Do we tell the Lord how we feel and then go on to praise Him and maybe ask for a sign of his goodness and how He sees our situation. God sends help in many ways and through many instruments. I had such an encounter the other day on the Paul Bunyan trail. We bumped into a professor that we had casually talked to previously and he stopped and shared that he had been reading my daily devotions. His words to me were confirming and encouraging and I felt like the Lord had sent him and I savored his words.

Maybe we feel overwhelmed today or there are questions we have and situations we don’t know how to respond to; let us bring everything to the Lord. We can tell Him how we feel, and then take the next step as David and begin praising Him. We may be sure He will hear and answer our prayers and will tell us the way to go.

Challenge for today: When feeling bowed down or questioning of what is happening in your life, go first to the Lord and let Him put you back on your feet.

When I read from Eph. 3, Paul was writing from prison and he tells the Ephesians that his life work is to help people to understand and respond to the message that all are welcome into God’s family, both Jew and Gentile. He tells them, “When we trust in Him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!” (Eph.3:10)

I also read from Genesis how Noah and his family were saved from the flood because they trusted God and did all that He commanded. And in Nehemiah, when threatened by the enemy to quit building the wall, they did not quit, but prayed and trusted God and set a watch against their enemy day and night.

We say we believe in the Lord, but do we really trust Him if we are filled with anxiety and worry? If we spend time dwelling on the “what-ifs” will happen, we are not resting in Him. Joyce Meyer shares from Heb. 4:3, “For we who have believe (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest…” She gives ways of how to get our mind off of mauling over our problems and instead to choose to think of other things. Maybe we can simply do something like go for a walk, try a new recipe, or read a book. We get our focus on things other than our problem and trust God to work in our situation. Let us pray and give God our circumstance and wait in Trust.

Challenge for today: Don’t feed worry but trustingly give your situation to the Lord in prayer and rest in Him.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy

A friend from my nursing school days emailed me recently about how she was taken by surprise as she appeared in the guest pastor’s message at the small country church she attends. He had been a classmate of hers many years ago and his sermon was about living out our faith. She was a studious student and rarely talked to him but had a class or two together; but evidently, he was observing her life. The pastor lost his father at age 14 and became a very angry young man. He and his family were regular “church goers” but he hadn’t had a personal relationship with Jesus. He had seen his dad became a “changed person” at some point, and he would often ask his dad questions about God and the Bible. The Pastor said that in high school he would watch four classmates—one being my friend and her best friend and another gal and guy. He saw Jesus in them. When one of them went to summer camp at Asbury College between her junior and senior years of high school she became truly born again and witnessed to this young man. He however went off to a state school for his freshman year of college. Then he thought he had to go to Asbury to get what he saw this gal had. So, he transferred to Asbury his second year and thought all the students were crazy because they were so happy. At some point he surrendered his life to the Lord during a revival. He became a pastor and has had a lifetime of serving God in that capacity.

The point of this pastor’s sermon was how important it is live our lives so that people see Jesus in us. My friend had no idea in high school that she was being watched and having a positive influence in a classmate’s life! She was humbled and honored and gave glory to the Lord. We may not have any idea who may be watching us, but it is important that we live like a Jesus follower. A verse I learned as a young girl from Matt. 5:16 says it well, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

  “Lord God,
     We pray for the Church during this time. Lord, the Church is not just a building to be visited on Sundays, it is the Body of Believers You came to this earth to save. We pray for the Church to come together and work together in unison to be a vessel of Your Light in this dark World. May we be driven to come before You humbly for direction, guidance, and wisdom in how to navigate these times, but also how we may be the difference during this time. May we be used to encourage, uplift, and bless those around us and may we ever be pointing others to You. As You said, “As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”  May the difference in who we are be You, Lord. Please pour out Your Spirit among Your children and lead us in how to be in the world, but not of it.

In Jesus Name, Amen.”

 Let us also pray for our nation and its leaders.
 “Lord God,
     Our leaders in this nation need our prayers. Whether we voted for them or not, and whether we agree with them on every issue or not, they are still Your creation and they have been given a seat in leadership for a reason. Father, we pray for their souls individually. May they be transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit and Lord may they use their positions for Your glory. We pray for wisdom for each of them as they navigate from day to day, we pray for discernment of what is right and what is wrong, and Lord we pray that their hearts would come to know You so intimately that they are like David, men and women after Your own heart. Lord, we pray for them in this age, and we pray for the leaders to come. We know no matter who sits in Oval Offices, Congress, or Governor’s Chairs, ultimately You Lord are Sovereign, and Father we pray those in such seats will seek Your face today and in the days to come.

          In Jesus Name, Amen.”