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!

Branded

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

Yes, the truth is that Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven.  But he is standing with his arms wide open to everyone.  His gift of grace is available to all, no exceptions.

The Old Testament is mainly focused on the history of God’s chosen people – the Israelites who became the Jews.  Yet, even in the beginning of the Old Testament, we see evidence of God’s ultimate plan to offer salvation to everyone.  God directs Abraham to circumcise all males in his household, “including those born in your household and bought with your money.” (slaves). “It will be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” God explained. Genesis 17:13

God’s promise to Abraham was that he would bless him and ‘greatly increase your numbers.’   God promised to make Abraham fruitful.  God promised that he would have a unique relationship with Abraham and all of Abraham’s descendants for the generations to come.

This circumcision sign was not limited to Abraham’s blood relatives.  I can imagine that Abraham had male slaves of all sizes and shapes and colors and God clearly indicated that they all had a part in his promise.

They didn’t know but God knew that he was sending his son, Jesus, to save all people who would put their faith in him.  And those people would become Abraham’s children by faith – Children of the Promise.  I’m one of those people and so are you if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

On a related note – some women get all itchy about ‘men’ being specifically talked to in the Bible.  I’m a female but I’m clear about how God feels about me and I know God is speaking to me, even when the Bible says ‘men’.  I usually substitute ‘mankind’ in my head.  It’s also clear in the New Testament how Jesus respects and appreciates and loves the women in his life.  There’s nothing to get itchy about.

On the subject of circumcision which seems like a totally male thing, God tells us through the Paul in the second chapter of Romans that what God is looking for is an internal circumcision of the spiritual heart of the person who believes.  This circumcision of the heart means we are cut out from the world to love and serve the One True God.

All believers – male and female.

Branded by a heart sold out to God.

Thank you for your gift of grace which is offered to everyone, Abba Father.

 

 

He Keeps His Promises

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You and I are witnesses to this sign telling us that God is still keeping the promise he made over 4000 years ag0.

God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures of every kind.  Never again with the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”  Genesis 9: 12 – 16.

Thank you for being trustworthy, Abba Father.

What Would I Do?

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How would I respond if God asked me to build a gigantic boat in my back yard while my neighbors ridiculed me for my foolishness?

Would I willingly bring my entire family onto this boat filled with wild animals and poisonous reptiles?

Would I complain as the rain fell continuously for 40 days with the boat rocking wildly as it was lifted on the water high over the mountains?

How would I feel as the world as I knew it was wiped out below me?  Fearful?  Worried?

It took the waters 150 days to recede.  5 months.  Would I be calm as the boat now rocked down and down and down….to whatever was left below me?  Would I be anxious?  Scared?

After spending over a year on this boat, would I feel ready to face what was coming as the it once again settled on land?  Would I be happy to get off the boat?  Concerned about what I was going to find when the door opened?

I wonder how Noah felt when all of this actually happened to him?

As I read this historical account in chapters 6, 7 and 8 of the Bible, all God ultimately tells me is ‘God said, Noah did.’  It’s clear that Noah trusted God through every step of this monumental struggle.   And when he finally got off the boat, the first thing he did was build an altar and make a sacrifice to honor God.

Noah’s faithfulness inspires me.

His perseverance amazes me.

His level of trust in God challenges me.

It’s awesome to know that the God who guided Noah, loved Noah and provided for Noah is the same God who guides me, loves me and provides for me.

God always keeps his promises.

Thank you, Abba Father.

In Control

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Do you work really hard to be in control? Do you get frustrated or angry when this world throws you a curve ball and things don’t go your way?

This used to describe me. I am a planner and a strategical thinker so my natural tendency is to try to organize the world around me according to my desired outcome.

I wanted control.

I was gradually learning what a waste of time it was to try to control everything around me when I had a defining moment. I learned the hard, painful truth about how much I am NOT in control. My son, David Glasser, was a Phoenix Police Officer who was killed in the line of duty on May 18, 2016. Reality slapped me in the face. The only thing I’m in control of is my response to what happens to me.

You are not in control, either.  Trying to control other people or circumstances will use up your time and energy on something that just is not possible.

Does it surprise you that this issue of wanting to be be in control goes way back to the Garden of Eden?

Satan tempted Eve to eat the apple which was a sin by saying, “God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”.  Genesis 3:5.

You will be like God.  

Let’s face it.  When you and I are trying to make everything around us work out the way we want it to, we are trying to be like God.

That’s God’s job, not our’s.  He is all-knowing and all-powerful and perfect.  We are not.  Far from it.  We prove it over and over as we mess up our lives by trying to make everything happen like we want.

I have stopped trying to be in control.  I’m done.  It’s all a facade’ anyway.  I know who really is in control and I claim my dependence on him.   My life is in God’s hands.   It’s a great place to be – filled with strength and love and peace.

Thank you, Abba Father.

In the Beginning…..

On By Judy GlasserIn JanuaryLeave a comment

A new page is turned.

New possibilities have opened up.

What’s going to happen?  I don’t know.

For some reason, many of us say that we don’t like change.  But then we generally like new beginnings.  When we make choices that cause our lives to change and we can call it a ‘new beginning’, we’re ok with it?  But we don’t like change?

Yes, we are strange and wonderful creatures.  And I am one of the strange and wonderful creatures who likes change.

Change is good.

I was taught to like change through my over 34 years of working for corporate Jack in the Box.  We were constantly moving and adjusting and changing.  If I didn’t like a specific change, I didn’t have to wait too long for it to change again.  As long as my strategic brain could see us improving – hitting goals and moving forward – I liked it.

This has really helped me keep up with our electronic age where things change so quickly and so often.  I have a goal to stay current on technology.  I don’t have to be at the cutting edge but I plan to stay in the middle somewhere, not behind.

One of the things I love about God is – he doesn’t change.

“In the beginning, God….”(Genesis 1:1)in-the-beginning-genesis

He was here before the beginning and he will be here after the end.

He has promised – it’s a fact.

In our crazy world of unknowns, God wants to be known by you and by me. He gives us his Word.  He gives us his Spirit.  He gives us a spiritual family.

He wants us to know him and he guides us towards himself as we read, listen and respond.

I am extremely interested in discovering the new possibilities God is going to bring my way in 2021.  As I start reading through the Bible again for the 9th year in a row, I am confident that God has new things to teach me and he also wants to highlight other truths that I need to be reminded of.

You are invited to take the journey with me and read the entire Daily Chronological Bible this year.  I guarantee that God will move in your life in a big way as he honors your commitment to know him and hear him better in 2021.

So, with anticipation and confidence that God has important things to teach me this year, I start again –

In the Beginning, God…..

Thank you for new beginnings, Abba Father.

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

It’s an awesome mental picture!

A cloud of witnesses is standing at the gates of heaven cheering us on as we run this race of faith with perseverance here on earth.

My parents are in that cloud and so are my grandparents.  They are there with many more of my family who all lived by faith here on earth, passing their love of God on from generation to generation.

That’s what my cloud looks like!  What a blessing!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”  Hebrews 12: 1 & 2a.

As I read this passage, I can hear the faint cheers from heaven…

encouraging me to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.

Encouraging me to throw off everything that hinders me from running this marathon of faith strong and sure here on earth.

Encouraging me to avoid the sin that so easily entangles.  Entangles is such a great description of what sin does in our lives, isn’t it?

God has marked out a race for each one of us.  One step at a time.  Sometimes its baby steps.  And other times we slow down to a crawl.  But it’s very important to keep moving forward.

To persevere.

To keep focused on Jesus and let the Holy Spirit transform us.

Our cloud of witnesses is ready to cheer us on as we take our next steps toward a deeper love relationship with God.

I know one of my next steps in 2020 is to continue to memorize scripture.  I have been extremely blessed by how God has used the scripture etched on my heart and mind to guide me, comfort me and love me.  I will also be blogging through the Chronological Bible again in 2021.  This has become such an important part of my life, I can’t imagine not doing it.

What is your next step?  If you want to hear God more clearly, memorizing scripture has changed my life.  God speaks clearly through his Word, whether it is written on a page or engraved on my heart.  Are you going to read through the Chronological Bible with me in 2021?  I know several of you did this year and I know you were blessed.  There is no better way of developing a deeper relationship with God than to read and listen and respond to his Word.

So let’s each make a plan of how we’re going grow closer to God in 2021.  We have a great cloud of witnesses watching.  Do you hear the cheers?

Please help us take our next steps closer to you in 2021, Abba Father.

 

Great Love!

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

Do you feel it?

I do.

I see it in the gorgeous sunrise as God once again declares his faithfulness to me with the start of a new day.  I feel it in my 2 year-old granddaughter’s hug.  I see it in the smiles of my friends.  I feel it in the ‘love you’ from my husband of almost 40 years.

It’s the great love God has lavished upon me.

God tells me that I am a precious child and he proves that by showing his love for me in a multitude of ways, every day.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God.”  1 John 3: 1a

It’s very encouraging to realize that the closer I get to God, the more love of his love I feel pouring out over me.  As I’ve been consistently memorizing God’s scripture these last 5 years, I also feel his wisdom pouring out from his Word.  More knowledge.  More understanding.

I am his child!  How much more love and wisdom and knowledge and understanding does he have available for me?

There is no limit!

As 2020 comes to an end, God is revealing his goals for me in the new year.  Yesterday he started the list with fight the battle well,  hold onto the faith, hold onto a good conscience.  Today he stopped me with, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  1 John 4:11.

Love other people.  In my experience, the only way I can genuinely love people is to get close to God and let his love flow through me to others.   As I open up my heart to God, he fills it with so much love that it spills over into the lives of people around me.  It’s all about God, not about me.

I’m looking forward to the opportunities God is going to give me in 2021 to love others with the love God gives me.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Fight the Battle Well

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

2020 is almost over.  It was one of the longest years on record for me.

In the middle of a worldwide pandemic, God did some incredible things in my life this year.  My husband and I sold a house, moved out of state and bought a house during the first nationwide shelter-in I’ve ever witnessed in my life.  The result is that we are right where we needed to be this year when our littlest grandson came into the world.

It also feels like God organized all this zooming for us – to help us transition from where we had lived for over 40 years to a new community, a new city, a new state.  This amount of zooming clearly would not have fit into a normal, non-pandemic calendar and it has helped us continue many relationships which have kept us grounded through all the changes and unknowns.

Now God is speaking to me about 2021.  He has plans.  Call them resolutions, call them goals, call them my ‘words’ for 2021, it’s obvious that God is using these last few days of 2020 to tell me what he wants me to focus on next year.

So God stopped me as Paul talks to Timothy in his first letter to him – “Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience..”  1 Timothy 1: 18 & 19.

How do I fight the battle well 2021?  When I’m connected to God through his Word and through his people, he fights my battles with me – guiding me, encouraging me and giving me victory.

How do I hold onto the faith in 2021?  I have a hunger that growls in my soul with the desire to grow in my love for and knowledge of God.  I am confident that turning off the TV and putting down my phone so I have more time to read and study God’s Word is the right thing for me to do.  I’m adding another small group Bible study to my calendar this year.  My favorite thing about retirement – other than not having to set an alarm – is having all the time I want to spend with God.

How do I hold on to a good conscience in 2021?  When I’m in line with God, I know down to the depths of my heart and mind that I’m in the right place.  I feel God’s approval and blessing when I focus on him and what he is calling me to do.

So bring on 2021 with all its challenges and opportunities.   God is by my side.  I’m ready.

Thank you, Abba Father.

A Tight Rein

On By Judy GlasserIn December2 Comments

Sometimes the truth stings.

Sometimes it hits us in a vulnerable spot – an area of weakness.

If we are believers, the Holy Spirit convicts me and convicts you of things in our lives that we need to change.  One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to point out things to us that we need to stop and other things that we need to start.  He does this in a positive “you have the potential to be better in this area” way.  He says, “you are loved as you are and changing this will help you grow into everything God created you to be”  in our heads. His voice can point very clearly to an issue but is always helpful and encouraging.

The Holy Spirit is not the negative, whispering voice some of us hear in our heads reminding us of all our failures and telling us we’ll never be good enough.  That’s Satan.  Don’t listen to him.  Turn him off.

I love how God speaks with a practical and direct voice to me from the letter of James 1: 26,

“If anyone  considers himself religious and yet does not have a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

Boom!

Ouch!

The first time I read this with my eyes really open, I spent several days thinking about how this related to me.  I took a critical look at what I talk about and who I talk about.  Are my conversations helpful?  Encouraging?  Building up the other person?  Building up the people who aren’t there?

First, I realized that my conversations could be more encouraging.  We all need encouragement- especially today.  I’m a thinker and a fixer so I can easily skip talking about all the things going well and focus on the issues being discussed.  I am now trying to make sure my conversations include regular and genuine encouragement.

Some of my conversations with my close, Christian friends get into discussing the difficult relationships in my life so they can be brutally honest and painful.  But having these discussions with mature Christians helps me get a different perspective of situations and that is very helpful to me.   After meditating on this verse,  I have tried to make sure in these conversations that I am presenting an evenhanded description of the issues, keeping unkind and venting-type discussion out of it.

One of the things God has called me to be is his light in this very dark and confused world.

What I say reflects on him – good or bad.

Please help me be a good reflection of your love and truth, Abba Father.

Wisdom for Each Day

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

I need to hear this again.

I’m still surprised some days at how practical God is as he speaks to me from his Word.  Yes, there are many complicated topics in the Bible and, yes, there is a lot of violence especially in the Old Testament.

But God speaks out of all of it when I’m listening.  This is my 9th year reading through the entire Bible and I’m amazed at how obvious God is as he reaches out of the pages to touch my heart and transform my mind.

God stopped me here today.  I have memorized this chapter so these words are etched on my mind and heart and God is highlighting them for you and I –

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”  James 1:19

Wow!  I needed to hear this again.  It’s hard to listen – I have been working on this and God is saying I need to continue to work on it.  Got it!

It’s hard to be slow to speak – I’ve got an opinion about everything 🙂  God is telling me I have a ways to go on this one as well.  Got it!

Well, here’s one I don’t have a lot of issues with – anger.  I get frustrated but I have learned (most of the time) to keep my mouth shut during these situations.  It really helps when I consider whether I want to deal with the consequences of what I’m going to say before I say it.  Once it’s said, I can’t take it back.  I can say I’m sorry, but the unhelpful words are still out there – remembered and hurting.

This one verse holds so much wisdom for each day.

Being slow to speak will help me keep away from the temptation to say things I shouldn’t say.   It will give me more time to listen.

And, when I am frustrated, I need to do both – be quick to listen and slow to speak.  I want the words coming out of my mouth to be full of grace and wisdom.  That doesn’t happen when I’m frustrated.

Thank you for speaking to me on this verse again today, Abba Father.