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!

How Can I?

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

The world is crazy.  Bad things just keep happening.  I’m disappointed so often.  I’ve lost so many people I love – one person in particular who should still be here.

God tells us through James to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’ James 1: 2 & 3.

How I can I consider it all joy?  But I’m not happy about any of it.

Ok, I know that happiness is not the same as joy.  Happiness depends on my circumstances and joy comes from the condition of my soul.  But persevering is a hard thing to do.  It’s easier to give up when the going gets tough – get frustrated, get angry, get bitter.  Our culture teaches us to choose the ‘easy’ way, the fast way, the immediate gratification way.

God says to you and to me today that these choices don’t lead to maturity and completeness.

As I look back on my ‘trials of many kinds’, I can see God working through each of them.  He guided me, he comforted me and, probably most directly affecting my faith, he taught me many things about myself and about him.

One of the major lessons he gave me was the need for me to trust him in all of it.  That was difficult to do when my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police officer was killed in the line of duty 4 1/2 years ago.  As I leaned on God through this tragedy, I gradually learned to filter everything through these facts I know are true about God:

God is good, all the time.

God loves me with a perfect love and nothing is impossible for him.

God wants the best for me and he is working all things out for my good.

I have persevered through this tragedy, standing on these truths about God with a huge hole in my life and a heart broken into a million pieces.  Somehow this is the best for me.  Somehow God is working this all out for good for me.  I have learned a lot about trusting God on a whole new level – even when it doesn’t make sense.

God has been seriously working on maturing my faith.  Trusting him with all of this has deepened my love for him and helped me have a better understanding of how dependent I am on him.  I’ve been changed.  My eyes are refocused on God and my ‘forever home’ with him.

Trusting God, I have decided to persevere and grow my faith through my trials with him by my side.  He knows what’s best.

I trust you, Abba Father.

Always Ready……

On By Judy GlasserIn December2 Comments

to fight the enemy.

Prepared.

Equipped.

Satan is plotting against me every day – watching for the weaknesses in my defense.  Satan is whispering in your ear – do you hear him?  Telling you you’re a loser or encouraging you to make decisions that are going to create negative consequences for you.

It’s a battle.

God has given you and I real armor in order to fight this battle.  He teaches us about how to use it through what Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:

The Belt of Truth needs to be buckled around our waist.  This is what we’re working on right now as we read God’s word – knowing and living the truth.  All the lies swirling around me are not going to change my thinking when I know the Truth.

The Breastplate of Righteousness needs to be in place – protecting our hearts.  I know the right thing to do because I know the truth. Through the power of the Holy Spirit living within me, I can do the right thing.

We must put on the the sandals of peace – always ready to share the Good News of Salvation.  The only real peace any of us will ever find here on earth is in a relationship with Jesus.

We carry our Shield of Faith with us everyday so we can deflect the flaming arrows coming at us from Satan and his army.  He’ll try to  distract me or harm me but my faith will keep me safe and steady.

We put on the Helmet of Salvation to protect our minds from the confusion, anger and evil which surround us.  My perspective is very different from the culture around me because the Spirit of God lives within me.

The Sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon we need.  Satan has already lost the war.  And when I know and use the Word of God in my thinking, decisions and actions, Satan is reminded of his defeat and he retreats.  Every time.

Thank you for your perfect armor, Abba Father.

Unity

On By Judy GlasserIn December2 Comments

Unity is a popular buzzword in our culture.  We all want unity.

I’ve seen unity – significant, unexpected unity where disagreement becomes agreement.  But I’ve only seen genuine unity when God is involved.  God unifies us when we are all seeking his will.  God tells us through Paul this morning, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4: 11 – 13

Unity of the faith – it’s the only true unity I’ve seen.  This is unity where nobody gave up or gave in or walked away frustrated or angry.  This unity starts within our minds and hearts as God touches us, guides us and unifies us.

I’ve seen this in church when there are many differing opinions but, as we all focused upward, we came to the same conclusion.

I’ve seen this in discussions with people who were very far away from each other in perspectives but, when everybody talked to God about it and listened, suggestions and ideas started to flow which changed the decision into something everyone could agree upon.

Unity.

The place I have seen the most supernatural unity happen is in my own marriage.  My husband and I are opposites in many ways but we both love God and have a personal, daily relationship with him.  We’ve been married almost 40 years and have had to make many life-changing decisions over those years.  We have often not agreed initially on which direction to take but, as we each listened to God, he brought us to the same perspective on our next step.  Sometimes this happened gradually and other times it was quick.

Our most recent big decision was whether or not to move to Denver after living in the Phoenix area for over 40 years.  I was surprised when God said ‘move’ to each of us individually overnight.

Its much easier to make significant decisions when God puts us on the same page.  It’s not about what we want – it’s all about what he wants.

Thank you, Father God, for providing unity in faith.

 

 

 

It’s Hard

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

It’s very difficult to really understand.  The rest of our world doesn’t work like this.  It’s totally counter culture.

You and I have a tough time accepting the fact that when we put our faith in Jesus,  God forgives us for all our rebellion and self-centeredness and attempts to do things our way.  He loves us unconditionally – not because we are good, but because he is good.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is a gift from God – not by works so that no one can boast.”  Ephesians 2: 8 & 9.

I memorized this verse many years ago and completed several Bible studies about God’s grace until – gradually – the truth sunk into my soul and changed my perspective.  I started to understand God’s grace.  I started to live in God’s grace.  When my heart and mind finally accepted that it was a free gift – nothing I could earn – my relationship with God flipped upside down.  I stopped trying to be good enough and started living in gratitude for everything God has done for me.

I was raised in a Christian family in a small town in Iowa.  There were a lot of rules for Christians in this small town – what we should wear, what we could and couldn’t do on Sundays, how often we should go to church, and the list goes on.  And everybody watched each other very closely.

When I moved away and matured, I realized that this was a fake, man-made way to ‘look like a Christian’.  I now know there is nothing I can do to earn God’s grace – Jesus did it all.  As I learned to love God without rules, he transformed my heart and my thinking which caused many outward changes to my behavior and priorities.  I gradually ‘looked more like a Christian’ because I was growing closer to God – nothing fake about it.

God’s grace was difficult for me at first to understand and accept, but when I ‘got it’, it rocked my world.

Thank you for your grace, Abba Father.

Paul’s Prayer…

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

and mine.

I join with Paul today as he prays for us in Ephesians 3,

“I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

You are awesome, Father.

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.”

Please give us your strength, Father.

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.”

Make your home in our hearts, Jesus, and teach us how to grow our trust in you.

“Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

Grow our roots, Father and keep us strong.

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.”

Please give us the power to feel the perfect love you pour out on us each day, Jesus.

“Then you will be made complete with all of the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Only you can make us complete, Abba.  The power to live a full life comes from you.

“Now all glory to God , who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

We believe, Father, that you can do anything – things beyond what we can imagine –  and that you want to accomplish your plans through us.  We are your hands and feet on earth.

“Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Amen.  Love you, Father.

Reconciliation

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

Conflict.  Emptiness.

Despair.

Our world is full of people who are without hope of things ever getting better.  Its a tragedy that so many people are choosing suicide as a way out of the muck and mire that defines their lives.

I believe that the underlying cause of a lot of this pain is the lack of a relationship with God.  We were all created with a God-sized hole in our soul.  We can try to fill it with all kinds of things – new possessions, people, drugs, and a lot more – but we will still be empty.

I have experienced this.  As a young adult, I wandered from a relationship with God to try out all the ‘fun’ things the world had to offer.  After several years, I was very empty and tired of all those things that looked like fun but were dead ends.  So I started working hard on different goals and got everything on the list in the next 10 years – a great husband, two awesome kids, a good start on a career, a nice house with two cars.  I had everything I wanted but I was still empty…. and very tired.  It took a lot of work all day every day to keep everything going.  If this was all there is to life, if this is what I was going to have to do for the next 60 years, I didn’t want it.

I was going to church at that time, singing in praise band and teaching Sunday School.  But I was not investing time and effort into a personal relationship with God.  So I was empty.

Then God opened my eyes to the fact that what I really wanted and needed was more of him.  As soon as I committed to putting God first in my life, I could feel his love and grace filling up the hole inside of me.  His light began to overflow into all parts of my life, giving me joy and a purpose.

God reconciled me to him.  I had accepted Jesus as my Savior as a child so I was redeemed and I was going to heaven.  But it took me many years to take the next step in reconciling with God.  I didn’t have strong spiritual habits or feel like God and I had a good relationship until my mid-thirties.

God is on a mission of reconciling with everyone who will put their faith in Jesus.  Accepting salvation through Jesus Christ is the first step.  Putting God first in our lives is next.  It lets us feel his grace and his love and his power moving in our hearts and minds here on earth.

Paul tells you and I today, “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” Col. 1:22 & 23

Did you hear that last part?  That’s what I was missing as a young adult.  That’s why I was so empty.  I was not continuing in my faith.  I was not building my life on the Truth.  I was not letting God transform me through the hope of the gospel.

After I did these things, God was able to take over my heart, giving me peace and a plan for the rest of my life.

All of the emptiness is gone.

Thank you, Abba Father.

 

I Am a Child of the Promise

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

I am  Abraham’s offspring.  I am his child by faith.  If you are a believer like me, you are also a child of the promise.

Paul explains to us that Abraham gave birth to the Jewish nation by the physical birth of Isaac but Abraham’s offspring are all those who believe.  We are Abraham’s children.  “In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” Romans 9:8.

As children of the promise, our roots go way back into ancient Biblical times.  When the new year starts in just a couple of weeks, I will be turning back to ‘In the beginning’ as I start with page 1 of the Bible again.  The Old Testament.  Some people question why we study the Old Testament.  Why do we memorize it?  Why is it important to understand God’s words to us in the Old Testament?

It’s extremely important because this is where we come from.  Who we are was created in the Garden of Eden.  The sin and violence which fills our TV screens today is the same rebellion against God that fills the pages of the Old Testament.  We get the chance to know more about God as we read about his interactions with our biblical ancestors before the Light of Jesus full of truth and grace came into our world.

Every year as I read the entire Chronological Bible, I spend 2/3 of the year in the Old Testament.  Most of God’s Word is in the Old Testament.  Why?

Abraham is one of our fathers.

This is where we came from.

Children of the Promise.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Abba, Father

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

I am adopted.  God is my father.

I have known this all of my life because my earthly parents raised me in a Christian home.  But this means more to me now than it ever has because both of my biological parents have gone home to heaven.  My earthly father went to heaven when I was only 21 years old and my mother went home 16 years ago.

I remember flying back after my mother’s funeral feeling like I was a 47 year-old orphan.  I was very close to my mother and it felt like I had lost my anchor.  I was drifting.

Until I remembered that my Father God had not left me behind.  He had been my heavenly Father my whole life and then he also became my earthly Father when I was 21 and now he had become my only parent on earth.  He is and always will be my anchor.

That’s how I feel about him.  He is here, guiding me and loving me.  My perfect parent.

Paul says to us in Romans 8, “You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’. For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15b & 16.

Amen!  I hear God telling me I am his child and I feel his arms wrapping around me in confirmation.  His Spirit joins with mine in the depths of my soul, confirming that I am his daughter for eternity.

Thank you, Abba Father.

A Very Bad Trade

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

If I watch enough of today’s news….

and read enough Facebook posts….

and hear enough ‘discussion’ on talk radio or podcasts……

I will be very confused on what is true.  I won’t know what’s really going on.  I will hear some opinions that I agree with – so they are right 🙂  – and others I don’t agree with – so they are obviously wrong.

If I listen to all of these voices, my own perspective will lean one way…..

and then the other.   Oh, that sounds good – I’ll climb on that bandwagon!

I see this happening every day.  If I had to pick one word that I think describes our current culture the best, I would have to pick ‘confused’.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new.  Thousands of years ago, Paul nailed it when he said, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.  Amen.” (Romans 1:8)

Amen is right!

There are way too many loud voices in our world spouting all kinds of lies.  Since we are so digitally ‘connected’ these lies continue to spread and start to look like something people generally believe.  Maybe it’s true?

It’s not true – its scary.  Because it’s still lies, no matter how many people believe it.

I am reminded of what is true whenever I sit down with my Bible in my lap.  It gives me the chance turn off all of the voices around me and listen to God speak truth into my mind and heart, feeding my soul.  God’s words cut through the cacophony and confusion, providing a solid foundation that does not change as the winds of the world shift and swirl around me.

God is my compass and he is the solid ground I stand on.  His Word is my map which he is using to point out to me – one step at a time – the path that is taking me home…

where I will praise my Creator forever.

Amen.  Let it be so, Abba Father.

Knocked Down

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

This COVID virus pandemic is unbelievable. I’ve been on this planet for awhile and I’ve never experienced anything like this before.  It’s creating all kinds of unique struggles for us that don’t appear to have good answers.  It’s attacking all different parts of our lives, changing things for the worse, bringing mountains of hurt with it.  There are so many issues, so many concerns.

When is it going away?

Paul talks to us about how to respond when we have multiple trials in our lives –

“We are pressed on every side by troubles but we are not crushed.  We are perplexed but not driven to despair.  We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.  We get knocked down but we are not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4: 8 & 9)

I need to know – how can I not be crushed and destroyed by the trials and tragedies in my life?

God is telling me – and you – today that I can persevere because the Spirit of God lives in me, giving me strength, peace and hope.  The Spirit reminds me that this earth is not my home – my forever home is with my loving Father.

This is how the Spirit translates Paul’s words in my head as I read them –
I  may have troubles coming at me from all directions but, when I stay close to God, he will not let me be crushed by them.  I don’t always understand why struggles and issues come my way but I know God is in control and he is a Good Father and I can stand firm on these truths.  Even when Satan hunts me down, God never leaves my side.  I’ve been knocked down by the horrible tragedy of my son being murdered but God has given me the strength to get back up.  He will always be by my side.

I say this knowing there are more storms are coming my way. There are more storms coming your way.  COVID is not the last issue I will struggle with.  It is not the last problem you will have to deal with.  It’s not a question of ‘if’ there are more trials coming, the question is ‘when’.

Thank you, Father, for teaching me how to respond.