Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend with this lovely weather. The trail is starting to look more colorful with the leaves changing. I am going
to make salmon patties with zucchini from our church garden and go to Aldi’s and my exercise class.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Do we live like our true home is in heaven or do we live like we belong to the world? So much today in our culture is focuses on seeking pleasure, what makes us happy or what we can experience next?  It is true that God wants us to experience pleasure and can use it to draw us to Himself, but many pleasures are very limited in comparison to eternal pleasures. In fact, pleasures can become idols when we give too much time and attention to them.

Sexual pleasures are meant for a man and a woman who enter into a lifetime commitment of marriage, to love and care for each other and also be open to having children. It is a wonderful and deep expression of communion with one another, but when expressed outside of marriage, it violates God’s will. We need to guard our hearts and minds to live in purity and as Paul said in Eph. 5:3, “But immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among the saints.” He goes on to say that the immoral and impure will not have any inheritance in the kingdom of God.

When we belong to the Lord, we must also guard against pride which seems to be the root of all sin. Any self-centered and self-seeking behavior puts distance between us and the Lord and needs to be put aside when we come to faith and receive salvation. It would be nice if we didn’t have to deal with pride after that, but it likes to poke up its head often when we least expect it. We must remember our life is all about His grace to us, and true joy and pleasure is only experienced in the Lord.

Challenge for today: Humble yourself before the Lord, and live in thankfulness for His grace as you enjoy His good pleasure.