My Heart Condition

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

What’s the condition of my heart?

It it big? Is it open?

What is the condition of your heart?

Writing about the size of our hearts reminds me of one of our Glasser Family Christmas traditions.  We watch ‘The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” every year.  The Grinch was very concerned about the size of his heart so he often measured it.  He wanted a small heart so he wouldn’t feel anything or care about anybody else.

What about us?

What is the condition of our hearts?

God talks to me often in his Word about the condition of my heart.   In Ezekiel 11, God  tells me I must –

  • turn away from focusing on what I want,
  • lose my need for control,
  • simplify my life so that I’m never too busy to spend time with God.
  • change my priorities so that I can love him with all my heart, soul and mind.

When I do these things, God promises he will me give me an undivided heart – a heart centered on him and his love and his grace.  He promises he will bring a new wind of his spirit into my life – giving my life purpose and meaning.  He promises to replace my rebellious and self-centered heart with a heart devoted to obeying God.

I’ve been on this Journey Toward the Truth getting to really know God by reading the entire Bible for 16 years and, as the years accumulate, I see God transforming my heart.  He is softening it and opening it up to the things he loves and cares about.  He has brought a new, powerful wind of his spirit into my world, giving my life purpose and meaning.  He has developed a strong desire within me to obey him and submit to his will. My heart has become undivided and centered on God.

What is the condition of your heart?

Do Not Listen

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Do you ever feel surrounded by lies?

Do you automatically question news you read on Facebook or hear on TV?

When you see graphs and numbers and statistics, do you wonder if any of it is accurate?

I do. I question any news I hear – all of it. I don’t believe a lot of things that people tell me. If it’s important, I research it myself looking for corroborating information from several credible sources.

I recently fact-checked a story about a dog who reportedly saved hundreds of people by leading them out of one of the towers during the attack on 9/11. Hundreds of ‘likes’ in Facebook. I liked it but wondered how I could not have heard about this before. So I checked it out. It was not true. It is what is called an ‘urban legend’. The true story is a guide dog led his owner out of the tower. Great job! But it grew to this big thing that wasn’t true. Since then I have started fact-checking many ‘interesting’ things I see and most of them are not true.

Being lied to by people we should be able to trust is not a new thing. God spoke very clearly about some of the liars in Jeremiah’s day. “Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the LORD’s house will be brought back from Babylon. They are prophesying lies to you. Do not listen. ” Jeremiah 27: 16 – 17. God goes on to say that the articles of the temple would stay in Babylon until he brought them back. Ultimately he was saying that it wasn’t happening until he made it happen and it wasn’t happening now.

I no longer automatically trust leaders – any kind of leader. They all have agendas which can make them wander from the truth if they aren’t very careful. The real pandemic during the pandemic were the big lies announced to the world like it was truth. Election years are the very worst.

I question things that I hear come out of pastor’s mouths during sermons. I’m in my 16th consecutive year of reading the entire Bible and, if I don’t remember reading something that is said in a sermon, I go home and research it. Most of the time it’s a phrase or a situation that I’ve never fully understood before and it’s great – I learned something. I’ve had a few times when I didn’t agree with how the pastor used a scripture especially when a single verse is not used in context with the verses around it.

The one source I never question is the Bible. It is the Living Word of God. I question people’s interpretations of scripture but not what God has actually said. God is perfect and he doesn’t make mistakes. The Bible is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

And God is saying, “Do not listen.” There has never been a time in my life where this direction is more important than right now. There has never been a time where asking God to help me discern the truth has been as high of a priority for me.

Because I feel like I’m surrounded by lies. Surrounded by information that is being manipulated by people who are putting personal goals of power, prestige or wealth ahead of the greater good.

And God is saying, ‘Do not listen.”

Exiled

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

You may heard this famous verse from Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 29:11.

What an awesome promise!  We love to print it on plaques and hang it on our walls.

But did you realize that this promise was originally made to the Israelites who had been exiled by God to Babylon?  God let the King of Babylon capture Jerusalem and take the Israelites away from their homes.  Right before his promise concerning his good plans for them, God told Israel through Jeremiah that they would be in exile for 70 years.

70 years.

This meant that many of them would die in Babylon – never going back to Jerusalem. The Israelites had been ripped away from the homes they had expected to live in for the rest of their lives.  They were now living in a foreign land – exiled – and many of them would die far from their home in Jerusalem.

Do you ever feel like you have been exiled?

I have.

I do.

The life I expected to live was suddenly snatched away from me when my son, David Glasser, was killed in the line of duty eight years ago.  My world has changed so drastically that sometimes it feels like I am now living in a foreign land.  I’m exiled far from what I thought the rest of my life was going to look like before Davey died.

And today, God is saying to me – and to you – that I will continue to live in this foreign place until he comes to take me home.  While I’m here, he has plans for me.  He is giving me hope and a purpose.

After his initial famous promise in Jeremiah, God gives us more promises.  He tells us that when we pray, he will listen.  When we diligently look for him, we will find him.

I know God always keeps his promises – that’s a fact.  I have discovered that reading his Word, absorbing what he is saying to me and growing my trust in him gives me the strength and peace I need for each day as I live out the rest of my days…

here in exile.

Revealer of Mysteries

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

I don’t understand everything I read in the Bible.  I know I will never understand everything I read in the Bible.  It’s very interesting to watch God reveal different truths to me each time I read it. Was that always in there? How did I miss that before? When God does this, I have discovered that it’s usually an answer to a question I have asked him.

Daniel called God the Revealer of Mysteries.  As Daniel started to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream for him, he said , “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.” Daniel 2:29.

There are many mysteries in our lives that we would like to have answers for, aren’t there?

Why am I here?

Why is this happening?

What am I supposed to do?

Should I go through this door?

I have discovered that God has all the answers to these mysteries. When I trust him, he reveals what I need to know when I need to know it. If I’m feeling like I need an answer right now and I don’t have it, I focus all of my attention on God and he always responds. Many time, I realize later that God was trying to give me direction but it was so different than what I expected that I had overlooked it.

I know I’m moving down the right path when I’m heading towards God.  I’m on the right road when I’m trusting that he will explain what I need to know when I need to know it.

As my trust in God grows, I have found that the number of mysteries in my life shrinks.  He is always speaking to me – loving me, guiding me and pointing out my next step just at the right time – not a day early.

The Revealer of Mysteries proves over and over that he has it all under control.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Find the Book

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

The Book of the Law. Moses’ book.

God’s words.

God tells us an encouraging story about King Josiah in 2 Chronicles.  King Josiah knew it was time to repair the temple of the Lord so he made it happen. While they were cleaning and fixing the temple, they discovered “the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses”.(34:14)  The book was read to the king who immediately tore his robes and asked the prophetess Huldah to tell him what God wanted to say to him.  Her message from God could be boiled down to three words, ‘disaster is coming’.

The king reacted immediately by having the Book read to all of the people and then leading them in recommitting to their relationship with God.   The king cleared out all of the idols from the temple along with the idolatrous priests.  He destroyed all of the places for idol worship and altars.  He got rid of the mediums and spiritists along with all other ‘detestable’ things.

When everything was done, they celebrated the Passover which had not been celebrated properly for hundreds of years.  Great job, King Josiah!

So what about me?  What about you?  Do we need to ‘find’ the book of the Lord?

Are there ‘things’ in our lives that we put a higher priority on than our relationship with God?  If there are, these are our idols.

Do we look to sources other than God for our guidance and direction?   How often to we check with Google on important things rather than checking with God?

Is our Bible sitting on the shelf more than its been sitting open on our lap?  Are we letting God transform our lives as we soak in his truth, not the lies that swirl around us?

King Josiah’s cleansing of the land of Judah was a high point in their history.  He heard God’s word, he listened and he obeyed.

King Josiah found the Book.  The book led him to God.  God led him to renewal and celebration.

I am in my 16th consecutive year of reading the entire Bible and I continue to experience this renewal and celebration as, each day, I let God’s truth guide me and fill my heart with peace, love truth and strength.

Is it time for some renewal and celebration in your life?

Maybe its time for you to find the Book.

It’s Not a Waste

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

Sometimes I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time today – or last week – or last year.

How much time did I waste watching TV? How much time did I waste worrying about tomorrow? Worrying about things that never happened? How much time have I wasted looking at my phone or IPad?

What about you? How much time have you wasted lately?

But there is one place in my life where no time is wasted. I know this for fact – when I sit with my Bible open on my lap reading God’s word, studying God’s Word, and listening to God as he helps me figure out how to apply his word to my life, not one second is wasted.

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater; so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55: 10-11.

This is great news for all of us and especially ‘achievers’ like me. It is so awesome to know when God’s word goes into my mind, it achieves the purpose God has for it. Of course, I have freedom of choice so I have to choose to listen and I have to choose to obey.

It’s a huge confidence-builder for me to know that when I choose to open my eyes and heart to the word of God, he promises that he will accomplish his desires through me.

I can count on it.

I love knowing that I’m not wasting a second of my time when I spend it with God.

Thank you, Abba Father.

He is Not Like Me

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

I am created in the image of God,  I am like him.

But he is not like me.

I have found this to be a crucial truth to get straight in my brain so that I have the correct expectations of God.

God tells me through Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” 55:8.

God is perfectly holy, perfectly just, perfectly loving and always right.

I am farrrrrrrr from perfect.  I cannot judge God’s actions – whether they are right or wrong – based on what I think.  My thinking is very flawed.  It is self-centered, self-seeking and severely limited.  I don’t think like God.  I will never think like God.

So I submit to his will.

I am totally confident in God’s goodness and his perfect love for me.  I know to the depths of my spirit that God wants the best for me.  Even though I will never understand how he thinks and why he has permitted a painful tragedy to happen in my life when my son was killed, I will trust God.  His ways are not my ways – his ways are perfect.

In response to this truth, I have decided that my way is to walk in faithfulness and trust the rest of my days on this planet.  I have decided to live in gratitude for God’s free gift of redemption through Jesus.  I don’t question what God does or doesn’t do.  I don’t try to judge if he is right or wrong – I know he is right.  I know he is always walking beside me, loving me and caring for me, even when he is not doing what I think is best.  He knows better.

I trust you, Abba Father.

This is Not My Home

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

This place is not where I belong.

As I read what God is saying to me in Isaiah, I realize that I am in exile from my real home.

Watching the violence continue to erupt each day in cities across the US,  it becomes increasingly clear how far away I am from home.  Seeing the bold lack of respect for authority, law and order confirms for me that this confused and evil world is not for me.

Witnessing the general lack of values and personal accountability in our culture makes me feel very uncomfortable – like I’m in a foreign land.  It’s also true that, because I have make personal choices which line up with God’s word, I get negatively ‘labeled’.  It appears that everyone else has a right to make choices for themselves and still be ‘included’ except for those of us who put our faith in God.

No, this world is not my home.

I could go on about what’s wrong with our culture but the list is too long…

too discouraging.

Then God reminds me through Isaiah that he has not forgotten the exiles.  “I will not forget you.  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”  Isaiah 49:16.

And God assures me that, some day, my exile will end.  On that day, he will lead me out of this foreign place into my forever home where he has prepared a place for me.

I will finally be home, where I belong.

I’m Passing Through, Isaiah 43

On By Judy GlasserIn JulyLeave a comment

When I am passing through the waters of grief…

*of disappointment…

*of disillusionment…

*of pain….

God is with me.

When I am passing through a river of tears…

*pierced by the shattered pieces of my broken heart.

*trying to figure out how to live with a huge hole in my life…

the tears do not sweep over me.  God is with me.

When I am walking through the fire of anger…

* filled with ‘whys’…..

* trying to understand….

I am not burned.  God is with me.

I am passing through.  I’m not getting stuck in these places.  Everything that happens in my life has first gone through the hands of my Father God.  He has a purpose.

So I will trust him as I pass through the water, the river and the fire.

Thank you for walking closely beside me, Abba Father.