Author: Judy Glasser

Life is a journey. Sometimes I'm coasting downhill and, other times, its a tough road uphill. My journey has been straight uphill since May 19, 2016 when my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer was killed in the line of duty. When my life and dreams blew apart, I only had one option - to hold on tightly to my Rock, my Father God. I have a new understanding of just how short life is and how important it is to take loving each other seriously. God is love and all love comes from him. I have seen love do supernatural things since my son was killed. I have published a book, "Then I Looked Up: Losing a Child, Finding His Legacy of Love." about my tough and painful journey since my son was killed. You can order it from Amazon or you can get an autographed copy by contacting me on messenger. I am sharing some of my experiences as a survivor of a line of duty death in MYFAMILYBLEEDSBLUE.COM. Please feel free to share these blogs with anyone you know who might find them helpful. My other blog - JOURNEYTOWARDSTHETRUTH.COM - has been a work of love for many years as I read through the Chronological Daily Bible each year and share what I hear from God when he stops me. I am inviting you to come along on one or both of my journeys. Please share as often as you'd like. Thanks so much for reading!

No Such Thing

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

There are no ‘good witches’. This is one of the lies that permeates our culture. We all see these fictitious characters in movies and TV shows doing good things for people or cleaning their house with a twitch of their nose.

No one can be a ‘good witch’ because there are two major supernatural forces in our world – good versus evil, God versus Satan. God is very clear in his Word that witches and mediums do not get any power they have from him. God does not speak through Ouija boards or seances or cards- he speaks through his Word. So that leaves just one place where witches or mediums or wizards can get their supernatural power – Satan. And Satan is never good.

Satan is the great Deceiver and the Father of Lies. He can make something bad look like it’s okay. He can twist the truth just slightly to make it a very convincing lie. He can use something that looks good to bring about a bad result. Make no mistake – evil intentions lie under everything Satan does.

The story in the Bible of King Saul going to the Witch of Endor is a sad story with a interesting twist. The enormous Philistine army was approaching and Saul was terrified. He ‘inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer by dreams, or Urim or prophets.” 1 Samuel 28:6. Saul was regularly disobeying God at this time, so God stopped answering him. Why give Saul an answer if he’s not going to obey? Sometimes God will stop answering us, too, if we continue to ask but are not being obedient to what he has already told us.

In the past, Samuel had helped Saul listen and obey God, but Samuel had died. Saul wanted to talk with Samuel so he went to the Witch of Endor. The witch did her normal ‘consulting the spirits’ act but then screamed when she saw Samuel appear. Why did she scream? She obviously did not expect someone to actually come back from the dead – she was used to making it all up.

And Samuel wasn’t happy about being disturbed. That makes sense. He was enjoying heaven and suddenly he’s back on earth having to deal with Saul’s fear and lack of trust in God.

Samuel told Saul because he continued to be disobedient, God was going to do what he said – take away Saul’s kingdom.

And the next day Saul and his three sons were dead.

In this instance, God worked through a witch in order to achieve his purposes. But she was not a ‘good witch’.

Don’t be deceived.

Thank you for your truth, Abba Father.

Psalm 57, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn April2 Comments

Hear my prayers, Father, and show me your compassion.  I will hide myself in your shadow until my fears and worries go away.

I ask that you fulfill your purposes for my life.  I know the angels of heaven are fighting my battles and they will give me victory.

Your love and faithfulness never leave me, Father.

I am surrounded by the evil one who is trying to take pieces of me and devour me.

But I still praise you, God.  May your glorious light shine over all the earth.

My enemy sets traps for me – especially when I am weary and distressed.  The evil one digs deep pits in my path but then he falls into them himself.

I am confident in you, oh God.  My heart sings your praises.  I awake every morning with a song of praise to you.  Thank you for your love and faithfulness which has no end.

I praise you, Father.  May your glorious light shine over all the earth.

Psalm 63, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

O God, you are my God.  I am searching for you with all my heart.

My soul needs you.  My whole being longs to be close to you in this empty, weary and very confused world.  I treasure the precious time I get to spend with you.

I have personally witnessed your power and glory.  I praise you for your love which makes this life worth living.

I will lift my hands and heart up to you in praise for as long as I live.  Only you can fill the emptiness inside of me and make me sing for joy.

In the darkest part of the night, I remember how much you have loved me in the past and how much you have promised to love me in the future.  My heart sings for joy as I cling to your promises and feel your arms around me, holding me safe and securely to your side.

The Evil One and his team are all around me, Father, trying to ruin me.  But I know you are fighting my battles, God, and you have already won the war.

I rejoice in you, God.  All who know the Truth know you.  Liars will be silenced.

I will lift my hands in praise to you for the rest of my life, Abba Father.

Psalm 34, 2025

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

God is good – all the time!

I will share this great news with everyone I know.  Everyone needs to hear this – there is no one and no thing that compares to the LORD!

Say it with me – God is good, all the time!

When I talk to God, he answers me and takes my fears away.

The light of God’s love shines out of us, his children, and we are never ashamed.  When we are lost in a pile of problems that we created, we can call on God who rescues us.  His angel protects us and sets us free!

Try him and see!  God is good!

My Father God is a safe haven and a provider for me and for everyone who has faith in him.  Those who look strong on the outside are actually weak and empty on the inside if they don’t have faith in God.

God’s children have everything they need.

Listen to me –

respect and honor the LORD and you will live a life filled with good days.  Stay away from lying and all evil.  Be a peacemaker.

God watches over those who do what is right.  He hears our cries.  God is always close to the brokenhearted.

But God turns his face away from those who do evil.

When we have faith in God, we will still have trials but God walks beside us every step of the way – giving us peace and strength.

The wicked get what they deserve.  The LORD condemns anyone who opposes the people who love him.

God rescues his children – he is a safe refuge that is always available to us.

We praise you, Abba Father, for you are good!

Fighting Our Giants

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

We all have them –

things we battle against.

Sometimes its family members. Sometimes its our boss. Sometimes its our friends or situations in our lives. Many times its how to handle our finances.

A lot of the time, we find ourselves fighting against attitudes and desires that grow within us…

lies that have rooted themselves in our brains…

unwillingness to change….

rebellion against giving God first place in our lives.

What are your giants?

As we read historical account of David and Goliath, I noticed that the giant Philistine came out every day for forty days to take his stand against the Israelites. Our giants also make themselves evident very regularly.  They are persistent.  We can’t ignore them…..even when we try.

And, just like David, we need to put our trust in God and let him fight our battles.  We often forget what David knew and counted on – ” the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47).

David’s bold confidence in fighting his giant came from his absolute trust in God’s faithfulness.  As a young boy, he stepped up to fight Goliath while an army of grown men around him cowered in fear. David knew that God had been faithful before, he would be faithful again. 

I have also experienced God’s faithfulness over and over in my life.  He hasn’t always done what I wanted him to do, but everything he has done has worked out for my good.  Many things have worked out better than I could have ever imagined.

When I started to believe in the very depths of my soul that God wanted only what was best for me, my giants – one by one – were taken captive by God’s power and love.

There is only one way to successfully fight our giants – and that is with God leading the way.

The battle is yours, Abba Father.

No Hiding

On By Judy GlasserIn AprilLeave a comment

No faking it.

You and I see the outside of people – what they look like, what they wear, where they live and how they act.

God has an entirely different perspective of us – he looks on the inside.  He knows my intentions, my motivations and desires.  He knows what I’m thinking – I don’t have to say anything.

When Samuel was picking who would be king after Saul, God said to him, “People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16: 7.  Knowing this is true challenges me as well as gives me confidence.  I’m glad God sees below my surface – he understands my true feelings.  He knows me better than any human being ever could.

But the fact that God knows my thoughts also challenges me.  Like many of us who have been on this road of faith for a long time, I have gotten better at not saying things I shouldn’t say.  But have I trained my mind to not think them?  Have I let God renew my mind so it doesn’t go where it shouldn’t go?  The honest answer is – sometimes.  There are areas of my life where it is difficult to control my thinking.  There are other situations where I find it pretty easy to leave it all with God.

For example, I found it very easy to ‘let go and let God’ in our pandemic a couple of years ago.   I was obviously NOT in control of anything about that situation so I simply turned any concerns or fears I had about that craziness over to God.  Meanwhile, I did my part of trusting God and obeying him – confident that he was in control of everything.

A woman in one of my Bible study groups recently shared about how much she worries.  She wakes up worrying and goes to sleep worrying – when she can sleep –  and she doesn’t stop worrying in between.  Wow!  I realized that I rarely worry.  When I do, I’ve gotten good at stopping my thoughts and turning the things I’m worried about over to God.  I have learned that my worrying is useless, it simply creates anxiety over things I can’t control.  My prayers, however, are very effective, giving my concerns to God who can actually do something about them.

I’m continuing to trust God with whatever is coming next and it’s comforting to know that God sees this  when he looks into my heart today.

I filter everything that happens to me through the facts that God is good all the time, he loves me with a perfect love and is working everything out for my good.

God has promised and he always keeps his promises.

I Know That Voice

On By Judy GlasserIn April2 Comments

Little Samuel’s story in the Bible is one my favorites.

He heard a voice calling to him in the night and he thought is was the Prophet Eli since he was living with Eli.  So Samuel got out of bed and ran to Eli saying, “Here I am”.

But Eli said, “I did not call, go back and lie down.”

This happened again and then the third time, Eli realized that it was God who was calling the boy.  This time Eli told Samuel, when he heard the voice, to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9.

When God spoke again, Samuel told him he was listening and God went on to tell Samuel what was soon going to happen.

I’ve got a challenge for you.  The next time you think you might be hearing something from God, say those same words, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”  And then listen.  Listen to what is going through your brain.  Think about what you have been reading in God’s Word and how it applies to your life.  Think about coincidences that have been happening in your life and how they relate to what you’ve been reading.  Remember things that Godly people in your life have said to you recently.

I believe God is regularly trying to break through the cacophony of our culture – especially the electronic bubble where we spend a lot of our time.  He is trying to talk to you and me – guiding us, encouraging us, and teaching us.

Have you had the experience where you are reading God’s Word and suddenly a sentence seems to stick out of the page? It almost looks like it’s in bold print? You reread a phrase a couple of times?  You start to wonder what this means in your life?  Has that phrase always been there?  I don’t remember ever reading that or even hearing anyone talk about that before?  That is God stopping us.  That is God drawing our attention to something specific in his Word so he can speak to us.

That’s what God did today with me.  He stopped me as I was reading to remind me how much I like young Samuel’s story.  Because I know God, I know he is encouraging me to continue to learn how to hear him more and more clearly as I read his Truth.  My knowledge of God is growing and the more I know him, the better I hear him.

How can I be confident that it’s God that’s talking to me and not just my own thinking?  What God says to me will always be consistent with what he says in the Bible.  He will not contradict himself.

I am also 100% sure it’s God talking when he says something I’ve never thought of before and it’s consistent with what I have read in the Bible.  God confirms his guidance to me through my circumstances as well.  When it’s God talking to me, things happening around me will line up with what God is saying.  Sometimes it will be something my husband, my pastor or a friend says.  As I pray about what God is telling me, God will often open up my eyes to how he is moving around me and I’m be able to connect the dots.

When I take time to consider all of these things, God’s directions to me become really clear.

When I work at staying aware of the fact that God is trying to talk to me, it’s not hard to hear him.

I hear you, Abba Father

Whatever I Want

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Sounds good – let’s all do whatever works for us.   Then we’ll all be happy.

Or not.

“In those days Israel had no king: everyone did as they saw fit”. Judges 21:25. This is how the book of Judges ends.  It may sound good until we scan back a couple of chapters and realize what they thought was ‘fit’ to do. 

Family members were stealing from each other.  They obviously thought this was an ok thing to do.

Family members were kidnapping each other.  They thought this was ok as well.

Family members were killing each other to the point that they virtually annihilated one of the 12 tribes of Israel.  I wonder how they could possibly think this was ok but they did.  They could rationalize anything. Their moral judgement was quickly spirally into total chaos and confusion.

Because they had no compass.

Sounds familiar? Our current culture has many of these same issues. Why?

When I base what is right and wrong on what I think, I’m in trouble.  Then I’m just like these Israelites – doing what I see fit and letting my standards waiver in whatever direction the wind is blowing.

God has been very clear to you and me on moral boundaries. His Word to us is full of direction and guidance. I might not like all of it. You may not agree with all of it. But that doesn’t change his Word to us.

This picture of the Umbrella of God’s Blessing is stuck my head and reminds me that one of my main goals in life is to stay in line with God. When I obey God and follow the compass he has given me, I am placing my life under his umbrella of blessing. When I don’t obey God and just do what I want to do, I am stepping out from under his umbrella. I can’t expect God to bless my decisions and life when I’m not obeying him.

One example is tithing. If we have put our faith in God, we also want to put our money in his hands. This means tithing. We can’t expect God to bless our finances if we steal for ourselves his portion of all he gives us.

It’s my choice and I choose to stay under the umbrella – every hour of every day.

What do you choose?

Dear Father, I desire to walk in your path of truth.  Please guide me so that your moral standards are what ‘fits’ me best.

I Need To Know

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Make it black and white.  Can I hear a voice?  I need to know.

There are so many decisions to make and I want to make the right choices.  What should I do?

How do you know what to do?

A good Christian friend once told me to ‘throw out a fleece’ like Gideon did when I have decisions to make. I thought about it.   In God’s word, I read that God sent an angel to tell Gideon that “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior”,  ” Am I not sending you?”, and  ” I will be with you”. Judges 6: 12-16.  But Gideon still wanted a sign to prove that it really was the LORD speaking to him.  So God proceeded to ‘pass’ Gideon’s tests.

When my friend suggested I throw out a fleece, it just didn’t feel right to me.  I’m pretty sure that I would be instantly convinced if an angel came and gave me a message from God.  You know the angels God sent were so big and impressive that usually the first thing they said was “Fear not”, right?  This is not a normal-sized average-looking person.  I think I’m tuned in to God well enough that I would automatically believe what this huge, supernatural creature said.

It doesn’t feel right to ask God to jump through a bunch of hoops before I obey him. It makes more sense that Gideon did this because he  lived under the Old Testament covenant – he was not ‘redeemed’. Christ had not come yet and he didn’t have God’s Spirit living inside of him. 

But I do.

The Holy Spirit speaks to me and guides me into truth – if I’m listening.  God’s Word is alive and the Holy Spirit uses it to help me make decisions.  I have God’s Spirit inside of me every moment of every day – why do I need a sign?  I have found that I don’t need to throw out any fleeces if I’m regularly listening to God’s voice and spending time with him.

In my experience, God not only speaks directly to me, he also lines up circumstances around me to confirm what the Holy Spirit and God’s Word are saying to me.  There are no ‘coincidences’ in my life – that’s God guiding me. I don’t have to ask for something more – I just need to keep my eyes and ears open.  His answer is there.

Every once in a while, I hit a deadline on making a decision and I haven’t discerned God’s answer yet.  I have found that when I totally submit whatever the situation is to God – meaning I don’t care what the answer is, I just need to know what he wants me to do – he helps me organize my thoughts and I realize he’s been trying to guide me in the right direction, trying to show me the way.  I’ve just been distracted and clueless.

No fleeces involved.

Black and white.

No more questions.

Thank you, Abba Father.

What Do You Choose?

On By Judy GlasserIn MarchLeave a comment

Time is the great leveler – we all have 24 hours in a day.  You and I choose how we’re going to spend these 24 hours.  What are we going to do?  How are we spending the majority of our time?  Using a Biblical term, I would say that you and I are ‘serving’ whatever or whomever takes up the most of each of our 24 hours.

A lot of us serve ourselves.  Looking out for #1.  Do I like it?  Does it benefit me?  Do I wanna do it?  Do I feel like doing it?  What’s in for me?  Oh, yeah.  These questions come pretty easy because we use them a lot.  We may not say them out loud but we use them in our decision-making.

Many of serve our debts.  We have to work extra hours or extra jobs to pay for all of the stuff we already have.  We’re upside down on cars and houses.  When we’re not working, we’re worrying about paying the bills.  The best line about our money I’ve ever heard is – “The secret in managing your money correctly is not in how much you make.  The secret is in how much you spend.”  Truth.

Some of us serve our hobbies –  like sports or exercising or shopping.  While we’re shopping today we’re planning about the next time we can go shopping.  Or we’re not happy unless we’re biking or walking or running or working out.  Or before the game we’re watching on TV is over, we’re flipping to the next channel for the next game and then the next game and then the next.

We all choose who or what we will serve.

Joshua makes this very clear to the Israelites as he throws down a challenge.  “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.

You and I need to make a conscious choice, not just roll through our lives spending our precious time on things or people who will never give us joy, peace and a guaranteed future.  We don’t want to get to the end of our lives with hearts full of regrets and emptiness, realizing we never made a choice – we just let the world push us to a place we never wanted to be.

I have made my choice.  I have laid down any ‘idols’ I was serving at the feet of the One, True, Living God and now it’s all about him.

What’s your choice?  There’s no better time than right now to start a new chapter in your life labelled, “My love relationship with my Father God”.  You won’t regret it.

I choose you, Abba Father.