Category: August

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.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is under-gods-umbrella.jpg

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.

Do Not Listen

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Do you ever feel surrounded by lies?

Do you automatically question news you read on Facebook or hear on TV?

When you see graphs and numbers and statistics, do you wonder if any of it is accurate?

I do. I question any news I hear – all of it. I don’t believe a lot of things that people tell me. If it’s important, I research it myself looking for corroborating information from several credible sources. I no longer automatically trust leaders – any kind of leader.

Being lied to by people we should be able to trust is not a new thing. God spoke very clearly about some of the liars in Jeremiah’s day. “Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the LORD’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. Do not listen. ” Jeremiah 27: 16 – 17. God goes on to say that the articles of the temple would stay in Babylon until he brought them back. Ultimately he was saying that it wasn’t happening until he made it happen and it wasn’t happening now.

I also question things that I hear come out of pastor’s mouths during sermons. I’m in my 15th consecutive year of reading the entire Bible and, if I don’t remember reading something that is said in a sermon, I go home and research it. Most of the time it’s a phrase or a situation that I’ve never fully understood before and it’s great – I learned something. I’ve had a few times when I didn’t agree with how the pastor used a scripture especially when a single verse is not used in context with the verses around it.

The one source I never question is the Bible. It is the Living Word of God. I question people’s interpretations of scripture but not what God has actually said. God is perfect and he doesn’t make mistakes. The Bible is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

And God is saying, “Do not listen.” There has never been a time in my life where this direction is more important than right now. There has never been a time where asking God to help me discern the truth has been as high of a priority for me.

Because I feel like I’m surrounded by lies. Surrounded by information that is being manipulated by leaders who are putting personal goals of power and wealth ahead of truth.

And God is saying, ‘Do not listen.”

Exiled

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

You may heard this famous verse from Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 29:11.

What an awesome promise!  We love to print it on plaques and hang it on our walls.

But did you realize that this promise was originally made to the Israelites who had been exiled by God to Babylon?  God let the King of Babylon capture Jerusalem and take the Israelites away from their homes.  Right before his promise concerning his good plans for them, God told Israel through Jeremiah that they would be in exile for 70 years.

70 years.

This meant that many of them would die in Babylon – never going back to Jerusalem. The Israelites had been ripped away from the homes they had expected to live in for the rest of their lives.  They were now living in a foreign land – exiled – and many of them would die far from their home in Jerusalem.

Do you ever feel like you have been exiled?

I have.

I do.

The life I expected to live was suddenly snatched away from me when my son, David Glasser who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty 9 1/2 years ago.  My world has changed so drastically that sometimes it feels like I am now living in a foreign land.  I’m exiled far from what I thought the rest of my life was going to look like before Davey died.

And today, God is saying to me – and maybe to you – that I will continue to live in this foreign place until he comes to take me home.  While I’m here, he has plans for me.  He is giving me hope and a purpose.

After his initial famous promise in Jeremiah, God gives us more promises.  He tells us that when we pray, he will listen.  When we diligently look for him, we will find him.

I know God always keeps his promises – that’s a fact.  I have discovered that reading his Word, absorbing what he is saying to me and growing my trust in him gives me the strength and peace I need for each day as I live out the rest of my days…

here in exile.

How Does This Happen?

On By Judy GlasserIn AugustLeave a comment

Do you have confidence that everything will work out?

Do you trust that your journey here on earth ends in your heavenly home?

Do you know that God is blessing your future?

We love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the LORD, ” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future .”  We hang this verse on our walls and we write it on our coffee cups.

I want these things in my life, and I know you do, too. I know God’s prosperity is not about money, although money can be a part of it.  God’s prosperity includes things like peace and purpose and love – the things money can’t buy.

Too often, we stop at verse 11 and we miss the rest.  The next sentence tells us ‘how’ God is going to fulfill his plans.

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pexels-shihab-nymur-712520-1.jpg

If I miss the ‘how’ of his promise,  I’m going to miss the whole thing.

God is clearly telling me that I have a part in making this promise come true.  When I’m diligent in going to him, praying and seeking him with all my heart, I know that he will make his plans for me happen.  A confident hope and a great future are mine when I follow his directions.

That’s my part.  It’s your part, too, if you want this promise to be true in your life.

Let’s not stop at the first sentence and miss what God has planned for us.

Don’t miss the ‘how’.

I’m praying and seeking you with all my heart, Abba Father.