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!

My Special Possession – The Story Continues

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

Do you have a special possession?

If someone asked me that, I would have to think awhile because I’m not very attached to “things”.   I’d probably say the ring that my mother left to me when she went home to heaven is special to me. It became invaluable to me after she was gone.

My own wedding ring is also important to me. It symbolizes over 44 years of love and commitment between my husband and I. Every five years we changed or added to my ring so when I look at it, I see the history of us building a marriage that has lasted through many storms. After our son who was a Phoenix Police Officer was killed in the line of duty, I added some blue sapphires onto my wedding ring in honor and remembrance of a great son and the awesome man he grew up to be.

Precious.

My eyes were opened to my real answer to that question several years ago as I was reading what God says in Ezekiel 44, ” I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel: I will be their possession.” God was all they needed.  God took care of them and he didn’t want them to be distracted by other possessions.

Wow!  This applies to me!  God takes care of me and provides for me.  He doesn’t want me to be distracted by possessions. My relationship with God is my most prized possession.  I can’t imagine life without him.  There is nothing I own –  my mother’s ring and my ring included – that gives me the love, joy and strength that God gives me.  Nothing else gives me the forgiveness and freedom that only comes from God.

Yes, God is my special possession.  My relationship with him is so much more precious and perfect than anything I could ever buy or own.

Many of you read this blog several years ago when I initially wrote it. It amazes me to look back and see how God was preparing me through his Word for something that was going to happen.

Four years ago my wedding ring was stolen. One of the stones on the ring was loose so the jeweler sent the ring in to fix the stone before I lost it. The ring disappeared on the way.

I lost the whole ring. Gone. Over 40 years of building this ring with my husband stolen from me. Over 40 years of never taking the ring off except at night because I didn’t want to lose it. I had one spot and one spot only I put it if it wasn’t on my finger. I never put it in my pocket, I never put it by the sink. I knew the easiest way to lose it was to take it off so I didn’t, I just cleaned it regularly.

I would have been devastated when I got the call that it was stolen if I had not already worked through this truth about my most special possession. God reminded me that he was still walking beside me and would never leave me. His love and care and grace can never be stolen away like my ring was.

The jeweler replaced my ring with a very nice ring that looks just like my original one.

The story doesn’t end there. Two years ago my ring disappeared. I woke up one morning and it wasn’t where it was supposed to be! It wasn’t in the one place where I always put it at night. I really had no where else to look so I looked everywhere – 3 or 4 times. I was sad but I had already decided it wasn’t my most precious possession. I had a feeling it was somewhere – it wasn’t gone. So every time I thought about it, I would ask God to bring it back to me. I knew he knew exactly where it was.

Four months later, my ring showed up in one of the places where I had looked 3 or 4 times. I don’t know where it was for 4 months and I don’t know how it got into the place I found it because it wasn’t there before. I’ll probably never know. But I know WHO brought it back to me and I am forever grateful.

Now my ring not only symbolizes 44 years of marriage to me, it also symbolizes a whole lifetime of God’s faithfulness. My ring reminds me every day that my relationship with God is my most precious possession

and that relationship can never be taken away from me.

Really Living

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

A valley of bones.

Millions of bones.

When God breathed into them – “they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.” Ezekiel 37:10.

Wow!!

Growing up in church, I always thought this vision of Ezekiel should be preached around Halloween because a valley full of dry bones suddenly connecting and standing up is weird as well as a little scary.

How time changes things! Now I love this visual because it’s exactly what happened when I turned over my whole heart to God.  His breath went deep into my soul and – for the first time – I was truly alive.  I have an eternal purpose.  I have been re-created into one of the soldiers in his army – wearing his armor and working hard next to my spiritual brothers and sisters to share the Good News and push back evil.  Each day, I read and study God’s word – getting to know him better and listening as he speaks truth into my life.

Are you looking for purpose? Are you looking for guidance? Are you looking for hope?

God gives me hope.  Not the ‘I wish’ kind of hope.  This hope is cemented into my heart by the promises of God.  I know who is in control and I know he is working everything out for my good.  I know where I’m going when I leave this earth.  I know who wins in the end.

God’s redeeming love has turned my dry bones into something good and useful.  His breath moves in my heart and soul – bringing new life each day.

There are no dry bones here.

What’s the condition of your bones?  Would you like to experience a new breath of God’s spirit in your soul?

Turn to him and ask, he’s waiting for you.

Showers of Blessing

On By Judy GlasserIn SeptemberLeave a comment

The old hymns bring back great memories for me.

I was raised in a conservative Christian family who were members of a conservative Christian church in the Midwest.  I don’t remember knowing anyone in my little home town who didn’t go to church regularly.

My father was a talented musician who owned and operated a car body repair shop for most of his life.  He had a beautiful, deep baritone voice.  My mother had a nice alto voice and harmonized well.  My youngest brother had a great tenor voice.  Unfortunately, I also sing alto so my family quartet was missing a soprano but there were many good sopranos in our church congregation.  So listening to my family sing the old hymns in church every Sunday morning was a treat – definitely my favorite part of the service.

Those great old hymns reverberated off the walls as my church family sang them with energy and confidence.  And my family contributed a beautiful part of it.

Awesome memories!

My little town also had ‘Hymn Sings’ at the town ballpark during the summer.  We would fill up the bleachers with people from all different churches while the organizers set up microphones and amplifiers on a stage over the pitcher’s mound.  They hauled in an organ (no drums or guitars here) and handed out song sheets.  People would yell out favorites and we would fill the summer sky with praises to God for 2 hours or more.

I would sing harmony with my mom – no music, we sang these same songs in church so often that we had the harmony part memorized.  I realized many years ago that I don’t know the melody of some of the old hymns – just the harmony.  But I know the words by memory and I also have the second and third verses of many of them etched in my brain.

As I now read Ezekiel 34, these great memories come rolling through my head as God says through Ezekiel, “I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.” vs 26.

One of the many blessings God has given me is a long family legacy of faith and trust in God which creates beautiful memories like these.

Thank you for your blessings, Abba Father.

Don’t Skip It

On By Judy GlasserIn August2 Comments

I’ll admit.

Lamentations is one of the books of the Bible I used to skip. Before I started reading the entire Daily Chronological Bible every year, I tried several different ‘Read the Bible in a Year’ plans. They usually include a chapter or two of the Old Testament, a chapter or two of the New Testament and then some Psalms. I’m more of a big-picture person, so these plans never worked for me. I skipped anything that I found ‘not interesting’ and one of the things I skipped was the entire book of Lamentations.

This world has enough issues, right? Why would I want to read about some old prophet’s issues?

Now that I read the entire Bible in the right order, the gems in Lamentations are evident. I have just finished reading the book of Jeremiah which detailed Jeremiah’s faithfulness as he experienced the pain and hardships of being a prophet of God.

Now its time for Lamentations. I am in the fall season of my life just like Jeremiah was when it is thought that he wrote Lamentations. I can relate to his review of his life and his feeling of dismay as he looks at the mess his culture is in and thinks about all the rebellion and sin that brought them to this place. Israel was in exile. Jerusalem was destroyed and deserted. “Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction” Lamentations 1:7.

“My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.” Lamentations 2:11.

I know what you are thinking and that’s the reason I used to skip the entire book.

But wait!

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I can wait on him.” Lamentations 3:22-24.

No matter how bad it gets, and it can get pretty bad, God’s love and compassions never fail. Never! When you and I are in a deserted and destroyed place, God is there. When we are exiled from people and things that used to be very important to us, God is there. When we are dealing with the consequences of our bad choices or consequences of other people’s bad choices, God is there.

Great is His Faithfulness!

And, just like Jeremiah, we must wait on God when we are lamenting about our lives. Trust in his faithfulness. Know he is responding to our pleas and prayers. We are not consumed because we turn toward him every day and move closer. We wait on his perfect timing knowing he loves us with a perfect love and he is working all things out for our good.

I regret that I missed this wisdom and direction when I was younger but I’m really glad I have this figured out now. Our culture is a mess from all the rebellion and sin that have brought us to this place but I know…

Great is your faithfulness, Father.

Branded by the Truth

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

The truth is etched onto my brain, it’s written on my heart.

God’s truth has forever changed me.

You and I are the created ones.  God is the Uncreated One.  His old relationship with us was broken by our rebellion and sin.  That’s one of the reasons why the Old Testament is filled with violence and gore.  That’s why there was continual conflict and strife between God and humans in the Old Testament.

Sin was in the middle of everything – messing it up.

But God had an awesome plan to fix this.  He was sending Jesus, his Son, to pay the price of all our sins for all time.  Because of what Jesus did through his death and resurrection, those of us who accept salvation through him can have a personal relationship with God which begins here on earth and extends into eternity.

In Jeremiah, God describes the New Testament relationship that is coming, 

“I will put my instructions deep within them and I will write them on their hearts.  I will be their God and they will be my people.” 31:33,

Thank you, Father God, for sending your Son, Jesus, who offers salvation and freedom to everyone. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit deep within my soul when I put my faith in Jesus. I hear the instructions of your Spirit and I feel the love and strength you give me each day. I love your Word which is written on my heart.

I am so glad you challenged me to get serious about memorizing your Word. Now I am branded by your Truth – thank you for making that happen. It still amazes me how my bad memory can remember scripture.

I am so very grateful that you are my God and I am your daughter – forever.  In the redeeming name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

No Healing

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Beyond healing.

No remedy.

None of us want to hear these words.  Yet this is what God says to us through Jeremiah who was talking to the Israelites who were in exile –

“Your wound is incurable.  Your injury is beyond healing.  There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.” Jeremiah 30: 12 – 13.

There was no hope for them.

I am very glad to say the same is NOT true for us.  Between then and now, Jesus was born, lived a perfect life and then offered himself up as a sacrifice on the cross.  Jesus cured our incurable case of sin and rebellion.  He paid the price for all of our sins for all time.

After Jesus was buried, he rose from the grave through his own power.  And now he sits in heaven next to my Father God.

I have accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation so God no longer sees my sin.  Jesus’ sacrifice covered it.  What does God see when he looks at me?  He sees the daughter he loves with a perfect love.

If you haven’t accepted the free gift of salvation which Jesus offers to everyone, you have an incurable wound of sin which is beyond healing.  There’s no remedy…..

except Jesus.

Accept the salvation offered through Jesus today, be healed and become a child of the King.  There is no better time that right now.

Thank you, Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer.

Under Attack

On By Judy GlasserIn August2 Comments

I feel it. Do you?

I feel that the values Jesus role-modeled for us as believers are under serious attack in our culture. Loving others, forgiving people, and giving other people grace when they aren’t perfect are all getting lost under mountains of political division and widespread judgement of anybody who says they are a Christ-follower.

Other people can share their opinions and perspectives and the culture is very ‘inclusive’. But when I talk about what I believe to be true and it’s different from what is popular in our culture, a negative label gets slapped on me really fast. I guess the ‘inclusiveness’ doesn’t include me?

Jeremiah’s prayer to God echoes some of my concerns. He is praying this while he was confined within Jerusalem which was itself being confined by the Babylonians as they began to attack the city. “See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city,” Jeremiah prayed. “Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it.” Jeremiah 32:24.

I see the siege ramps being built up to take away many of the values that have made our country a great “One Nation Under God’. I see the sword of division, a famine of truth and a plague of fear.

As I pray about this, I hear only one response from God, “I am in control”. God highlights Jeremiah 32:27 for me as I read his Word. “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?’

No, Father. Nothing is impossible for you.

Your will be done, Abba Father.

Start a Ripple

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Our country is going crazy, right?

It’s frustrating.  It makes us angry,

bitter,

and disillusioned.

So – what am I doing about it?  What are you doing about it?

Are we busy just talking about it and shaking our heads?  Are we spouting off negativity to everyone around us and filling Facebook with our rants?

Or are we doing something positive to help turn the trend one small step at a time?

When Israel was going down the tubes thousands of years ago, God told Ezekiel, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30.

God was looking for someone – anyone – who would build a wall against the injustice that was happening. A wall that would help keep out the lies and violence. God was looking for someone to stand in the gap before him on behalf of the Israelite people. “But I found no one.”

Is this same thing happening today?  Is it all just talk and emotion? 

Or are you and I figuring out how to do our part in standing in the gap for our country before God?

We can stand in the gap by daily praying to God for our country.

We can stand in the gap by putting our feet and hearts into action while working together with God to help turn our country back into the land which was founded with “In God We Trust”. One step at a time. Each of us can create a small ripple that can grow into a wave when we all get involved.

My family and friends have created the David Glasser Foundation in honor of my son, a Phoenix Police Officer, who was killed in the line of duty May 18, 2016. It has been evident right from the beginning that God’s hand is on this foundation. The mission of the foundation is to create and sponsor opportunities for kids and their families to have positive interactions with police officers. We believe if the young man who killed my son had had positive interactions with a police officer, he may have made a different decision on that day. We are passionate about creating a ripple as we continue the legacy of love that my son started.

Not everyone can start a foundation but each one of us can be part of a ripple. God has a purpose for all of us – if we’ll stand in the gap.

I’m here, standing in the gap, Abba Father.

___________________

If you are interested in more of my story, I published a book on Amazon, “Then I Looked Up: Losing a Child, Finding His Legacy of Love”. This is the story of my son’s life, his death and my journey to find hope and purpose after losing a child.

What’s the Condition of My Heart?

On By Judy GlasserIn August4 Comments

What’s the condition of my heart?

It it open?

Is it big?

What’s 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” with Jim Carey 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 15 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 more powerful presence of his spirit into my soul, keeping me grounded in his truth. He has developed a strong desire within me to obey him and submit to his will. My heart is very different from what it was 15 years ago. It has become undivided and centered on God.

What is the condition of your heart?

After, Not Before

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

How often do I decide to make a positive change in my life and then I don’t follow-through?  I change my mind.  It gets too hard.

How often does this happen? More often than I like. 

What about you?

How often are we convicted by the Holy Spirit to make an adjustment in order to better line our lives up with God’s will?  And, after we try, we give up.  When it gets tough, we go back to our old habits.

We are very fickle.  When it gets hard, we opt out of the difficult changes that are needed and decide to go back to being comfortable.

In Jeremiah 34, we read about the Israelites doing this same thing.  The Law of Moses had restricted how long Hebrews could be slaves.  When Jeremiah pointed out that fact that the Israelites had not been following this law, they realized what they were doing was wrong so they let their slaves go free…

for a short time.

“But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.” (vs 11)

God doesn’t tell us the details of why the Israelites changed their minds – but we can read between the lines, can’t we?

Life got hard.  The Israelites had to get their own water and cook their own food.  They had to clean and do all of the dirty work the slaves had been doing.

Obeying the law was just too difficult so they decided to disobey and go back to the comfortable life they had before they were convicted of their sin.

And they missed the blessings that come after we obey.

God blesses obedience.  He has blessings lined up, waiting for us……if we’ll do the tough part of obeying.

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When I do the things that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do, I feel the satisfaction that comes with partnering with God in his plan.  I feel the contentment and satisfaction of living my life in line with God.  I also experience the wonder of God’s supernatural love and strength and peace.  These are blessings from God.

The blessings that only come after I obey.