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!

Stirred Up Hearts

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

What can I do?  What can I give?  How much is enough?

Can you imagine what it looked like when the whole community of Israel went into their tents and came out with so many offerings that they had more than enough materials needed for the Tabernacle?  We read in Exodus 35: 21 that God moved their spirits and stirred their hearts.

And then God goes on to tell us that all of the people volunteered their skills. Some of the women were skilled in sewing while others were skilled in spinning. God gifted many of the craftsmen with the special skills that they needed in order to build the sanctuary.   “See, the LORD has chosen Bazalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.”  Exodus 35: 30-33.

I wish I could have seen that sanctuary – I bet it was spectacular!

This is still happening.  God is moving spirits and stirring hearts.  When I look around me, I see people everywhere that God is gifting with special skills to accomplish what he wants done today.

When our spirits are moved and we bring our offerings to God with a willing heart, he enables us to do his will – sometimes in truly spectacular ways and sometimes in special, small ways. But always in ways that bring joy to us and glory to him.

Please stir up our hearts, Abba Father, and move our spirits.

Not a Democracy

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

You and I are blessed to be living in a country ruled by a democracy.   Although there are constant challenges to our constitution and freedom, it’s still a democracy.

Personally, I have chosen Jesus to be my Savior and King so I am living in a theocracy.  I pray for our country but my life is secured on my God, the Solid Rock.  He will not be moved or changed.

A theocracy means that it’s all about what God wants.  His desires.  His plans.  His will. His purposes.  In order for God to be the LORD of my life, I have to let go of my plans and desires and be dependent on him as I make decisions about my next steps.  I have to submit my will to his, trusting that his ways are right, his love is perfect and he wants the best for me.

That is a lot easier said than done.  It has been a constant process of turning over parts of my life to him and growing my understanding of how dependent I am on God.  How much of your will have you submitted to him?  What parts of your life still need to be given over to his authority and blessing?

As I read the book of Exodus, it’s amazing to watch God use Moses to transform the Israelites from a nation of slaves into a theocracy.  God himself led the Israelites with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. God fed them by sending manna from heaven.  When God gave them laws and commandments in order to teach them how to live as his people, they responded, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”  Exodus 24:3

This is the same commitment I have made in order to live in line with God.  Everything God says, I will do.  For me to say that, I have to make the choice each day to take myself off the throne of my life and put God on it.

Each hour.

Of every day.

Please help me make my life a true theocracy, dear Father.

Living in the Light

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Secret Arts.

Those are the words used in Exodus 7 to explain how the Pharaoh’s magicians did the same ‘tricks’ as God did through Moses.

Do you know who the power is behind these ‘secret arts’?  Satan.  And he doesn’t like the fact that I’m pointing him out today.  He loves to lurk in the shadows, creating havoc while speaking lies into our minds.

The battle of good versus evil has raged across our planet ever since the Garden of Eden.  Most of the activity is in the spiritual realm.  This altercation between Satan and God is unusual because it was very visible on earth.

It started when Aaron, Moses’ brother, threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and it became a snake.  With Satan’s help, Pharaoh’s magicians did the same thing with their staffs.

But here’s a twist – Aaron’s snake swallowed up the other snakes.  In the writing world, we would call this foreshadowing – this is how the whole battle is going to go.  God is all-powerful, Satan is not.

Even after his snakes are eaten right in front of him, Pharaoh remained stubborn and unmoved.  No surprise there – that’s who he was.

Next, God changed the Nile into blood. (Yuck!)  But then Pharaoh’s magicians did the same thing – again with Satan’s help.

Of course, Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and stubborn.

So God sent a plague of frogs which covered the ground as well as the insides of their houses.  Once again, Satan helped Pharaoh’s magicians do the same thing.

Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to let the Israelites go continued, so God sent a plague of gnats.  But – get this.  Pharaoh’s magicians were unable to produce gnats.

What happened, Satan?  Run out of steam?

Or did the Creator of the Universe get tired of playing your games and shut you down?

Suddenly, Satan no longer replies but we read the deadly result of his continued whispers into Pharaoh’s ear.  Pharaoh’s heart becomes more and more stubborn so God ups his response with the next plague of flies.

Do you notice?  Now the plagues start to only affect the Egyptians, not God’s people.  The 9th plague of darkness is truly amazing to me.  The land was in total darkness – they couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces – except God’s people.  The light still shone down on the people of Israel.

I feel that is true today.  Our world can be such a dark and confusing place – full of disappointment and heartbreak.  Only God brings true light into the darkness.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that money or recognition or a relationship with the right person brings light.  But all of those will eventually feel empty – ‘is this all there is?’ – without God.

Have we figured this out yet?  Our lives will be ‘plagued’ by darkness until we put God in the center.

Thank you for being the Light of the World, Jesus.

Hardened Hearts = Plagues

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

“Let my people go.” God told Moses to say these words to Pharaoh several times throughout the book of Exodus.  But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he did not listen to God.  As a result, Pharaoh’s people experienced multiple plagues which built up to the painful and tragic deaths of all of their firstborn sons.  “Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.  There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.” Exodus 11:5 & 6.

Looking at our culture, I can see a lot of hard hearts that are turned away from God.  I can see several modern-day plagues as well.

The Plague of Broken Families – the divorce rate just keeps rising and now large numbers of kids are being raised by single parents.  Many of these parents are trying their hardest but how much better it would be if they had a loving partner to share the responsibilities so that their kids could experience all of the blessings of growing up in an unbroken family.

The Plague of ‘It’s All OK’ – it’s all ok as long as you don’t get caught.  Integrity is a lost value in our culture – we lost it at the same time we lost a correct sense of right and wrong.  Morality is a scary word to use these days.

The Plague of Emptiness – people are working harder and longer to pay off a mountain of debt that just keeps growing as they buy things they think will make them happy.  After buying the next thing and the initial happiness wears off, they start to look for the next thing that will make them happy, never really addressing the God-sized emptiness in their soul.  It’s not surprising that the list of things we can legally use to try to fill this hole is growing.

The Plague of Fear – I have been truly amazed this last two years by the level of constant fear I see in some people’s lives.  Yes, a worldwide pandemic can be a scary thing but God is in control.  He is good and perfect. He wants the best for those who have put their faith in him and he is working all things out for our good.  Yes, be careful.  Yes, be wise.  But those who trust in God don’t need to be afraid.

The answer to saving our families, bringing back the value of integrity, being whole and not living in fear is God.  The answer has always been God and will always be God.

Please soften our hearts towards you, Abba Father.

Send Someone Else

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

It’s true.

I’m reading Exodus 4 and Moses – one of the major ancient Patriarchs of Faith – says to God, “Pardon your servant, Lord.  Please send someone else.”  Exodus 4:13.

What?  God had heard the cries of his people and he chose Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and Moses replies, “Send someone else?”  Moses went through the whole burning bush experience and he still says “Send someone else?”

Do I ever do this?

Do you?

I think one of the areas that many of us will ask God “Please send someone else” is when God gives us an opportunity to share our faith and share our story.  “Oh, I’m not sure what to say.”  “We might get into a complicated conversation and I won’t have the answers.”

“There is someone else who would be better at this than me.”

Not true.  No one is better qualified than you to tell your story of how Jesus has saved you. All believers are called to be witnesses of what God has done in their lives.  All of us.  Not just Billy Graham or your pastors.

I love it when people around me start asking spiritual questions because that means God is moving in their lives.  He is opening their eyes and softening their hearts – making them think about him.  Even if the person expresses their searching aggressively like, “How could you possibly believe this stuff?”, God is moving in their brain, stirring things up.

By the way, I have to smile when someone tells me they are not ‘into organized religion’ because then I tell them I’m not, either.  But I’m totally into having a personal relationship with God.  And God is very clear in his Word that part of having a relationship with him is also having relationships with other Christians – a spiritual family.  These spiritual families can meet anywhere – not just in church buildings.  My closest spiritual families through the years have been my Bible study small groups.  I am in one now that meets Monday nights and another that meets Thursday nights.   I am also still a part of one that has been meeting at 6 am on Thursday mornings for over 20 years.  Family.

When people around you or me show any type of interest in God or ask any kind of question, that is God inviting us to show his love to this person, be a witness to what God has done in our life and plant a seed.  We can be authentic when we don’t know all the answers and admit we’re on the journey of faith ourselves – seeking God and growing in our knowledge and love for him.  That’s where faith comes in – believing and trusting even when we don’t understand it all.

So the next time someone around one of us starts talking about ‘spirituality’ or God, let’s share a short, recent story about an experience we have had with God, trusting that the Holy Spirit will give us the right words.  God will be pleased and he will bless our efforts.

Let’s not say, “Please send someone else.”

Please help us be faithful witnesses to your power and grace and love, Abba Father.

What’s in Your Hand?

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

What do you already have?

Sometimes I don’t feel like I have the right skills or experience or knowledge to do what God is asking me to do.  That’s how Moses felt when God told him to go back to Egypt to free his people from slavery.

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me..?”  Exodus 4:1.   I can hear the worry and concern in Moses’ voice, can’t you?

And then God asked Moses to look at what he already had in his hand and use that to do what God was asking him to do.  Moses was holding his staff in his hand.  As the story of the Exodus unfolds we will read of Moses regularly using his staff in order to do what God is asking him to do.

Applying this to my life, I need to consider what I already have and figure out how to use it to serve God.  What is God asking me to do and what has he already given me in order to accomplish it?  I have a car.  I have a house with chairs.  I have leadership and writing skills.  If I turn off the TV and close down my computer and lay down my phone, I also have time.

When God asked me to start writing this blog, I was already writing a different blog.  So I had everything in my hands to do what he wanted me to do except for time.   I had to take a couple of things out of my already packed schedule to fit the new blog in but God blessed my efforts.  Here I am, 11 years later, still reading through the entire Bible every year and sharing the journey with you in this blog.

I have learned that it’s important to remember when God tells me he wants me to do something that I’m not doing it alone.  God with his supernatural power is working with me – making the impossible possible.  When I focus on what I can do, God takes care of the rest.

The questions God has for you and I today are – what is he asking us to do and what can we use that is already in our hands to do it.

Please open our eyes, Abba Father.

Which Direction?

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

So many decisions…

sometimes its hard to figure out my next steps.

A lot of options.

burning-bush

Why can’t I get a burning bush like God gave Moses?  It was big.  It was dramatic. There was an angel in the bush.  Moses couldn’t miss it.  If I got one of those, it would be so much easier to listen and follow, right?

In my life, God gives me what I would call burning plants.  They are a lot smaller than a bush and much less impressive but when I’m reading God’s word, praying and listening, God will set fire to the next small plant – lighting the way to my next decision – and then my next.

Here’s how it works – I’m regularly reading God’s word and listening to how he wants me to apply it to my life.  I pray – expecting God to move and answer but keeping my mind open knowing that God can answer in a way that’s much different from how I think he will answer.

I watch.

And he lines up my circumstances, one step at a time.

He will also add confirmations along the way.  Godly people around me will say something that reinforces the direction indicated by a recent burning plant.  And it’s not unusual for my pastor on Sunday to say something that confirms my next decision.

When God knows I am watching and listening, he can work through all of these things to make my next step clear to me.

I have found that I don’t need a big, dramatic burning bush if I’m paying attention.  My small burning plants work just fine.

Thank you for your guidance, Abba Father.

The Pieces……

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

The pieces are falling into place.

He’s creating one piece, changing the shape of another and he is moving all in the pieces in the direction they need to go.  Gradually – piece by piece – they fit exactly where he planned.

God is the Master Conductor of the Orchestra of Life for those of us who have accepted salvation through Jesus Christ.  God has promised that he is working all things out for the good of those who love him.

His children.

Me.  You.

Piece by piece.

God has been doing this since the beginning of time.  It’s interesting to read how he orchestrates his purpose all through the story of Moses.  When Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys must be killed.  Pharaoh thought there were too many Hebrew men already and was concerned they could rise up and overpower the Egyptians.

Moses’ parents were able to hide their infant son for 3 months.  When his mother could no longer hide him, she made a water-proof basket for him and placed him in the Nile River.

Very soon, Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the Nile and she saw the basket.

Of course, she did.  God made sure of it.

When she opened the basket, she saw the baby and realized he was a Hebrew child who was very hungry.  Moses’ sister had been watching the basket so she walked up to Pharaoh’s daughter.  “Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby?”  Exodus 2:7.   Pharaoh’s daughter agreed and said she would pay the woman who took care of the baby.

Of course, she did.  God had this puzzle all figured out.  Only he could arrange a situation where Moses’ mother could now publicly take care of her son until he was older – and she got paid for it.

This was just the first puzzle piece for Moses.  As we read Exodus, we see God’s hand moving in every step of Moses’ life.

This same God wants to be a part of everything that happens to you, too.

Looking back, I can see God orchestrating my life – moving mountains, parting rivers, putting the pieces of my life together in a unique way which only he can do.

As I start a new year, God has told me some of the things he has planned for me but I’m just going to need to trust him for the rest.  I know he loves me and wants the best for me so I am prepared to watch….

and see the puzzle pieces fall right into place.

Thank you, Abba Father.

When Bad Things Happen….

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

to good people.

It’s hard to understand.

I sometimes ask ‘why’?  Do you ask ‘why’?

And then I read about Joseph’s trials in Genesis and the answer is pretty clear.  A long list of bad things happened to Joseph and God worked to bring good out of those bad things.  Joseph’s faith and wisdom grew as he trusted God through it all.

I don’t believe that God caused all of these bad things to happen to Joseph.  I don’t believe God causes all the bad things that happen to you and me.  Some of them happen because we live in a world where we all sin, we all make bad choices.  We pay the consequences for our sins as well as other people’s sins.  And Satan is working relentlessly to entice people to sin.  He is creating a lot of our trials.  I don’t understand why some people get mad at God when bad things happen – they should get mad at Satan who is doing the dirty work.

Yes, God is in total control so he could stop the bad things from happening.  But we have free will and sometimes we choose to sin.  Other people choose to sin.  There are consequences for those bad choices. When we, as believers, get to where we’re going (heaven) we will no longer sin and there will be no more negative consequences.

you-intended-to-harm-meHere on earth – where God is with all believers like he was with Joseph – he can use these consequences so that something good comes from them.

This truth makes the account of Joseph’s life very important to me.

His brothers sold him into slavery but – wait.

Then he’s put in charge of the top Egyptian official’s house.

The official’s wife lies to get Joseph in trouble and Joseph is thrown in jail.

But – wait.  God was with him and he was put in charge of the prison.  Joseph helped the Butler and Baker get out of prison – good news for the Butler because he got his old job back, bad news for the Baker who was killed.  The Butler forgot about Joseph for 2 years (2 years!) until Pharaoh had a dream and Joseph was called out of prison to interpret it.  Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph 2d in command, right under himself.

From that position, Joseph was responsible for saving the lives of a whole nation.  A serious famine was coming and God spoke a warning through Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream.

God was with Joseph through all of the bad things that happened to him, making sure that he ended up exactly where he needed to be in order to fulfill his destiny.

Joseph also saved the lives of his brothers who had sold him into slavery.  This indicates the level of maturity and faith Joseph had acquired through his trials.  Joseph told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ” Genesis 50:20.  Joseph could never have predicted the part he was going to play in the huge famine that was coming.  God knew. And he was with Joseph every step of the way.

Joseph’s story encourages me as I watch God bring good out of the tragic death of my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer killed in the line of duty.  And God has been with me every day as I learn to live with the grief and pain of losing a child.

And he wants to walk through your trials with you, too, – if you will let him.  He wants to bring good out of the bad things that happen to you – if you let him.

Thank you, Abba Father.

The Years of My Pilgrimage

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

I am on a pilgrimage.

A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about themselves or the world.

Are you on a pilgrimage, too? Those of us who have put our faith in Jesus are making our way from our birthplace here on earth to our heavenly home.

In Genesis 47, Jacob (Israel) met Pharaoh and blessed him.  When Pharaoh asked Jacob how old he was, Jacob replied, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty.  My years have been few and difficult and they do not equal the pilgrimage of my fathers.”  verse 9.

We think 130 years on earth is a very long time but people lived much longer time at this point in history.

I don’t want to live here 130 years.  There is too much pain and suffering and evil here.  I am on this Journey Towards the Truth until my time on earth is done.  As a Christ-follower, I am called to devote every day of my pilgrimage here on earth to completing my God-given purpose.  I am called to grow deeper each week in my relationship with God.  I am called to let God change me to be more and more like Christ every year.ftdDSC_0527

Almost 8 years ago, I had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Israel.  It was a very different, and yet familiar, place.

I had heard and read so much about what had happened in Jerusalem that I experienced an odd sense of deja vu as we pushed through its crowded streets.

Tears rolled down my face as we made our way down the Via Delarosa – the Way of Suffering – where my Savior dragged his cross that day so long ago.  In my mind, I could hear the shouting and the curses of thousands of years ago bouncing off the stone walls on either side of me.ftdDSC_0523

And, then…..

the overwhelming peace and stillness of the garden.

It was done.

The price was paid.

And Jesus was no longer there.  He had risen, just as he said!

Amen!  Hallelujah!ftdDSC_0564

The years of our pilgrimage here on earth are not easy…..

but we know where this journey ends.

At home.

Full of joy.

Surrounded by peace.

With our Father.

Thank you, Abba.