Month: November 2013

Comparisons……

On By Judy GlasserIn November1 Comment

Sometimes we can really get wrapped up in comparing ourselves to others, don’t we?

We compare our kids, our careers, our marriages, houses, lifestyles – everything.Nov 19 2013

With our church family we try to compare our levels of faith, what version of the Bible we use, frequency of church attendance and service – everything.

Peter does this same thing in John 21.  He is talking with our Risen Lord Jesus who had just asked Peter to pledge his love for Jesus three times.  Jesus tells Peter that he will glorify God in his death.

Peter then looks back at John who is following them as they walk down the shoreline and he says, “Lord, what about him?”  Peter is wondering how John is going to glorify God – what’s John going to b doing?  How is John going to die? 

And Jesus replies, “What is that to you?”

WITTY

The WITTY principle – God treats us all as individuals.  He gives each of us unique gifts and unique purposes.

Comparing ourselves to others is wasted effort and not what God wants us to do with what he has given to us.

Anytime we’re temped to start the comparisons, it’s good to remember this WITTY principle.

And then focus our eyes back onto Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Only By Faith

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

The thief on the cross uses one of his last breaths on earth to ask Jesus to remember him when Jesus goes to his kingdom.  And Jesus replies that today the thief would be with him in paradise.

This one sentence in the crucifixion story explains so much.Nov 18 2013

Today the thief was going to paradise.  There was no purgatory, no waiting.  The thief had never gone to church.  He had not done one good thing in the name of Jesus.

He just believed

and he was saved.

This is such a clear-cut picture of how grace works.

It’s a gift.

A gift that this thief chose to accept with this last, dying breath.

It’s awesome when we hear of people today who finally accept Jesus’ salvation on their deathbed.  Their eternity is secured!

I always feel a little sad for them, though.  They missed all the joy and purpose God gives us during our lives here on earth.  They had to do this long, hard journey without the love, strength and comfort that only comes from God.  Their life on earth had been a lot harder than it needed to be.

We are so thankful for the gift of grace you have given us, dear Father!

Jesus Prays for Us

On By Judy GlasserIn November3 Comments

This is one of my very favorite scriptures – John 17.nov 16 2013

Jesus is praying for all those who will believe in him because of the message the disciples will share – that’s us!

The disciples were obedient to Jesus’ command to go and make disciples, teaching others to obey just like they were obeying and baptizing them.  Because of the disciples’ faithfulness to this calling, we have the opportunity to know and be redeemed by Jesus.

They were witnesses to what Jesus had done and they shared what they knew.

They started a legacy of faith that has been passed on to each generation for over 2000 years.

And now it’s our turn.

Now we are the witnesses who need to speak up about Jesus – who he is, what he said and what he has done in our lives.

Now it’s our job to pass the opportunity to know and believe on to the next generation.  We are all called to be witnesses.  We all have personal stories of how the Holy Spirit has moved in our lives and has transformed us.

And we’ve got to pass it on.

So – how are you doing?

Towards The Truth

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

“But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”

These are the words of Jesus in his final teaching session with his disciples before heading to the garden to talk with his Father on the night he was betrayed.

This is the life-long journey we are on – towards the truth.Nov 15 2013

God sent the Holy Spirit because he knew we would need a Guide for this journey.  We don’t know the way.  When we go to God, he sends our Guide who will show us the next step.

As we read God’s word to us, the Holy Spirit has a free rein in our minds.  He points out truths and helps us understand.  Whenever we are lost or confused, seeking God is the right thing to do.  Our Guide is always with us but his ability to help is limited when we’re not paying attention.  Reading the Bible helps us focus on God and then our Guide can accomplish his work of transformation in our lives.

We won’t know ‘all truth’ this side of heaven.  But our Guide is here to help us understand what we need to know to keep our lives in the center of God’s will for us.

Thank you, dear Holy Spirit.

If You Love Me…..

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Keep my commands.

This verse is one of the spiritual markers in my life.  About 25 years ago, the Holy Spirit broke through a barrier in my mind and sunk these words deep into my heart.

Nov 14 2013If I loved Jesus, I would keep his commands.

Of course I loved Jesus!  I had been saying this my entire life!  Longer than I can remember!

But was I keeping his commands – doing what he said?

Umm.  Some times.  A little of it.

So, did that mean I only loved Jesus a little bit?

I felt like I loved Jesus a lot but my level of committment and obedience just didn’t line up with that.

If I really loved Jesus a lot, then I needed to be doing a lot of what he said.

Or stop saying I loved him.

Wow!  A bunch of things in my heart and in my life needed to change!  I wasn’t a bad person but I was definitely trying to be my own little god by attempting to control the world – or at least my own little corner of the world.

My need for control needed to go.  Worrying need to go – worrying is not trusting.  How I used my time, talents and treasures needed to line up with God’s will, not mine.

As my life has gradually gotten more in line with God’s plans and purposes for me, the fact that I really love Jesus has become much more obvious.

It all comes down to one word – obedience.

Thank you in advance, dear Father, for giving me the strength, the wisdom and the courage I will need for the rest of this journey.

Now I Believe!

On By Judy GlasserIn November1 Comment

When Jesus comes again, there will be no doubt as to who he is.  It’s going to be extremely clear to everyone that everything he said was true.

Nov 13 2013Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

Jesus tells us to be like the faithful servant who does a great job of taking care of his master’s concerns while he is away.

We must be like the wise virgins who are prepared ahead of time for the bridegroom’s return.

Jesus tells us to be like the good and faithful servant who worked hard to be a good steward of what the master had given him while the master is away.

Unfortunately, when we see the returning King, it will be too late for the goats – those who have chosen to not accept the salvation offered to all of us through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

 The goat’s unbelief will be evident in their care and treatment of the poor, hungry and sick.

God knows the condition of our hearts so there will be no mistakes as Jesus separates his sheep from the goats. 

Those who have chosen to put their faith in Jesus – his sheep – will be able to go to God because they have accepted Jesus’ atonement for their sin.  They will live with God into eternity.

The goats will be eternally separated from God because of their choice to remain separate from him here in this life.  They will now believe that it was all true and they will realize that they missed it.  They will experience the eternal consequences of their choice.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  There is no other way to go to the Father and live eternally with him in heaven.

One way – open for all who will accept salvation through Jesus Christ.

Thank you, dear Father, for making a way possible for all of us! 

The Urgency

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

There is a feeling of growing urgency in Jesus’ teaching the closer he gets to the cross.

I love the Chronological Bible because its gives us a better understanding of the timing of events.  Now, suddenly, all of the things Jesus predicted have started to come true and his words to us are jam-packed full of life-transforming truths. 

He starts to try to boil-down his teachings to only the most important things so that his disciples – and us – will remember them.  He has stopped telling stories and parables.  Now he is trying to say things as clearly and quickly as he can.  His time is short and Jesus is trying to do everything can to help them prepare for what’s going to happen.

We have a great opportunity , during this week of Thanksgiving, to focus on Jesus’ wisdom, his purpose and his ultimate sacrifice for us.  His ultimate sacrifice for me.

So I’m planning to blog every day through Thanksgiving as we follow the momentum that is building towards Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.

This is a pivotal time in the greatest love story in the history of the world.

Our eternity depended on it.

First – Clean the Inside

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

“First clean the inside of the dish and then the outside also will be clean,” Jesus tells the Teachers of the Law in Matthew 23.

Jesus is talking to them about their hypocrisy.  He points out that they work so hard at looking clean on the outside but their hearts are full of wickedness.

The inside.Nove 11 2 2013

Our hearts and minds.

It’s so much easier to clean up the outside, isn’t it?

We can make ourselves look good, we can act like we have it all together.

The challenge Jesus gives us today is the same challenge he gave the Pharisees over 2000 years ago.  We need to clean up the inside and then the outside – what people see –  will take care of itself.

How do we do this?

It’s about daily focusing our eyes on Jesus.  When the things that are most important to us are the same as the things that are most important to God, we are right where we need to be.  When we let the Holy Spirit move in our hearts and minds, he will transform us.  Yes, its gradual.  Unfortunately it doesn’t happen overnight.

When we love God with all of our heart, mind and soul, the Holy Spirit has free reign within us and he will help us clean it up.

He has promised!

Thank you, dear Father.

Is this Possible in My Life?

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

That was my first question when I started to seriously consider Jesus’ first and greatest command to us – Love the Lord your God will all of your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind.  The 2nd commandment is to love others as we love ourselves.

The first commandment sounded so overwhelming that I decided to start there and worry about the 2nd one later.  I’m glad I seriously tackled the first one on its own because I found that, with every baby step I took towards loving God with everything I have, a truly supernatural thing started to happen. Nov 11 2103

God helped me with all of the rest.

I wanted to be a better wife and God helped me do that when I put him first.

I wanted to be a better mother – God also helped me do that.

I wanted to be a better employee at work and God helped me with that as well.

I wanted to be a better friend and neighbor – God helped me with that and gradually my obedience to command #2 was also improving without having to work at it. 

These are all areas of my life where I was working very hard to improve yet  feeling frustrated because of so little progress.

All of them improved and got easier with every step of faith I took closer to God.

That’s why God wants us to put him first.  He wants to help us with all of the rest.  And then he wants to take it to the next level by blessing us with the things we didn’t even have on the list!

In my experience, we only have to open our lives up to the power of the Holy Spirit and he helps us grow our obedience with both commands.

It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it!

Thank you, dear Father!

It Works!

On By Judy GlasserIn NovemberLeave a comment

Why am I surprised?

November 3 2013Jesus gives us timeless instructions on how to deal with personal conflict in Matthew 18 –

Go to this person and talk with them privately – just the 2 of you. 

Two thousand years later, this first step still resolves a majority of the conflicts I experience.

Jesus actually says to ‘point out their faults’ and, in my life, I translate that to mean that I need to explain my perspective of the conflict using ‘I’ statements, avoiding ‘You’ statements and NEVER saying anything like ‘We all think’ or ‘Mary and Tom agree with me’. 

NEVER include anything about what other people have said about this situation.  Repeating what other people think about a conflict is like throwing a gallon of gas onto the fire.  It always creates defensiveness and starts an argument. 

So Jesus tells us to go privately to the person we are having a conflict with and explain our perspective.

If that doesn’t work, the next step is to get 2 or 3 people to go with us to talk with the person.  I have found it best if these people are either respected, neutral people or mature people who could be considered on ‘their side’.  Bringing a bunch of my friends along is not going to accomplish anything.  Going into these sessions with an open mind is as important as not needing to ‘win’ anything.  It’s actually better if the conflict is resolved with no one ‘winning’.  It puts the relationship back on even ground.

The 3rd step Jesus mentions is specifically in regard to church membership if this is a conflict within the church body. 

I have been in the business of managing processes and leading people for over 30 years and these are the best conflict resolution steps that I’ve ever found.

It shouldn’t surprise me that they came from Jesus over 2000 years ago.

Thank you, dear Jesus!