Category: December

Revelation 7, 2015 – Real Security

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

They are in heaven.

Before the throne of God.December 28 2015 Real Security

They have the joy and honor of serving God all day and all night.

In his temple.

They are always in the shadow of God’s presence.

They are never hungry – they are in the presence of the Bread of Heaven.

They are never thirsty – he who is the Living Water quenches every thirst.

Being in God’s presence is always comfortable.  It’s exactly where they want to be.

The Lamb on the throne is their Shepherd – he leads them.  He makes sure there is no reason for tears.

Ever.

Life with God in heaven is the only real security we will ever have.

Revelation feels like the end because it’s the last book of the Bible.

But it’s not the end.  It describes the beginning of the rest of our story.

After our reason for living on earth is done, we get to live in the presence and security of our Father God forever.

We can’t even imagine it because our 3.5 pound brains are so limited.  We try to put it all into the context of what we know and it just doesn’t fit.

But God has promised that we will be home – with him.

And that’s enough.  We can trust him with the rest.

Thank you, Abba Father.

I’m Writing You a Letter

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

Jesus is the author of the book of Revelation.  John was the scribe but it all came straight from Jesus in a vision.dec 27 2015 the letters

The letters Jesus wrote to the seven churches provide us some encouragement as well as warnings.  Many of these apply to you and to me today.  Whoever has ears, let them hear. (meaning – If this applies to us, we should listen and respond)

The Church at Ephesus – Great job in not tolerating the wicked!   Great job at persevering!  But you lost the passion you had for me at first.  You need to fan that flame again.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.

The Church at Smyrna – Your suffering and struggles now in myTthings.  Our needs are met and we can become oh so focused on our wants.

And we want ‘more’.

Jesus is saying to us today that we are ‘wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” when we are serving the ‘god of more’.

Our hearts need to burn hot for God so that we become rich in him, clothed by him and our eyes are opened by him.

God wants us to have victory in him.

Eternal life.

With him.

Amen, Hallelujah!

Thank you, Abba Father!

Great Love!

On By Judy GlasserIn December1 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 5 year-old grandson’s hug.Dec 26 2015 great love

I see it in the smiles of my friends.

I feel it in the gentle touch of my husband of 34 years.

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

God tells me in John’s first letter that I am a precious child and he proves that by lavishing his love upon me in a multitude of ways.

It’s very encouraging to realize that the closer I get to God, the more love I feel pouring out from him.

As I’ve been consistently memorizing God’s scripture, I also feel his wisdom pouring out from his Word.  And understanding.  And knowledge.

We are his children!  How much more love and wisdom and knowledge and understanding does he have available for us?

There is no limit!

No end!

So let’s decide to live our lives in 2016 as children well-loved by our heavenly Father.

Let’s make a committment to grow closer to God so that its evident to everyone who knows us that his Spirit is alive within us.

And His love.

His patience.

His wisdom.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

On By Judy GlasserIn December1 Comment

Good news!

Great joy for all the people!

Christmas 2015On this day, in the city of David, a Savior was born to us.

He is our Messiah!

The Lord!

We have nothing to be afraid of.

The angels proclaimed this truth thousands of years ago and it is still news that brings us great joy today!

God so loved the world – that’s you and me.

And my little grand darlings (picture) who like blowing out the candles on Jesus’ birthday cake.

And our families, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

He sent his only Son to pay the price for all of our sin for all time.

It’s done.

We can do nothing to earn God’s grace.

It’s a free gift.

The most important gift we will ever receive.

We just need to accept it and believe.

And be reconciled to God.

And be changed from the inside out as God renews our thoughts with his truth.

With his light.

We celebrate the Light of the World today!

Thank you for your very best gift, Abba Father!

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

On By Judy GlasserIn December2 Comments

It’s an awesome mental picture!

A cloud of witnesses 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.dec 25 2015 great cloud of witnesses

Along with my grandparents.

And many more of my ancestors 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!

When 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.

God also tells us in Hebrews 12 about the value of the struggle.

Our perfect Father in heaven disciplines us, his children, perfectly.  When we sin and rebel, he lets us experience the consequences.  He does not spoil us.  As we persevere with faith through these hardships we grow, we mature.

James tells us that we can become wise through our trials when we ask God for wisdom.  God gives a generous amount of wisdom to everyone who asks and then believes they have received it.  Too often we ask for wisdom but then don’t believe we have received it.  So we don’t use it.  We don’t accept that we can now make a wiser choice.  We ignore the wisdom God wants to give us and continue to make the wrong decisions, going down the crooked path which brought us these trials in the first place.

This is not the race of faith God has marked out for us.

The cloud of witnesses are 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 2016 is to continue to memorize scripture.  I memorized James 1 and Proverbs 2 and 3 this last year – I hope some of you memorized them with me.  We are finishing up Proverbs 3 and then going on to Romans 8.

What is your next step?

Do you hear the cheers?

Thank you for the encouragement, Mom and Dad!

 

Alive and Active

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

New today.

Different tomorrow.

And then new again the next day.Dec 23 2015 alive and active

God’s Word is living.

God-breathed.

And God speaks through it with the message we need to hear today.

Tomorrow he will say something different.

It’s the same physical words on the page – but a new personal meaning.

Providing guidance for me today.

Providing wisdom for the situation I’m in right now.

Providing comfort or confidence – depending on what I need.

Right now.

God’s word is active.

His truth dives into my mind and cuts out the lies.

Through his words, he wraps his arms around me when I need to feel  his love for me.

He also shakes me out of my comfort zone as his words jump off of the page to challenge me.

His words are reaching out to change us,

remold us,

transform us into the people he created us to be.

In 2 weeks, we will be flipping back to ‘In the beginning’.

To read it all again – but it won’t be the same message we received last year.

God has new things to say to us in 2016.  Revealing old truths that have always been there but God will use them in our lives in a new way this time.  As we listen, He will speak more wisdom into our lives as we continue to mature in our spiritual walk.

His word is alive!

New!

Straight from our Heavenly Father.

Thank you, Abba.

Living Stones

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

We aren’t strong enough.

We aren’t smart enough.Dec 21 2015 living stones

We don’t have the power we need to live a Godly life – on our own.

But – with God – all things are possible.

In Peter’s first letter, he calls Jesus the Living Stone who was ‘rejected by man but chosen by God and precious to him.” (2:4)

And then Peter says that we, as believers, are also living stones who are being “built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (vs 5).

Together, with Christ as the Cornerstone, we become something spiritually significant.

Holy.

God’s special possession.

God gave the best he had for us – his own Son – in order to save us from eternal separation from him.

This is one of the reasons we need to be an active part of a spiritual family – a church.  Because that is our spiritual house of holy priesthood.

We find God in those relationships.

We worship God by praising him together and giving our tithes and service.

Together, we bring glory to our Father God.

For God to loved the world!

Thank you, Abba Father.

The Good Deposit

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

My memories are full of good, faithful people who invested a lot of time and effort into teaching me about God.Dec 19 2015 the good deposit.

Sunday School teachers.

Vacation Bible School teachers.

Camp counselors.

Pastors and Laymen.

They all contributed to the invaluable Christian upbringing that God gave me through them.

The most impactful deposit was made by my Godly parents whose faithfulness never wavered through all of the struggles and trials that life brings.  Witnessing my mother’s joy as she walked closely with God for 84 years is the most precious gift she ever gave me.

And I am very grateful.

Paul tells Timothy in his second letter to ‘guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you.’   (vs 1:14)

All of us have received this good deposit – the truth in God’s Word – and we are called to guard it.

Whether we have been surround by the truth our whole lives like I have or we have just accepted the gift of salvation last week, good deposits have been made in us.

Good deposits of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ Jesus have been entrusted to us.

Paul tells us to guard them with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Because they are precious.

So very valuable.

Thank you, Abba Father.

What Is Your Favorite?

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

Is it the breastplate of righteousness?

The sandals of peace?Decem 15 2015 what's your favorite

The shield of faith?

God tells us in Ephesians to prepare each day for the spiritual battles that are raging around us by putting on his full armor.

Our struggles are not against the people and problems that we can see.  It seems like it is.  But God tells us that the battle is much bigger and much darker than what we can see.   The evil schemes of Satan fill the spiritual world swirling around us.

This makes a lot of sense to me.  When I see the addictions and sinful, painful choices people make everyday that blow up their families and their lives, it’s clear that Satan is working very hard and he is winning some of the battles.

Each of us are called to fight against this evil every day.  And the wise soldier comes prepared with a full set of armor:

The belt of truth.

The breastplate of righteousness.

The sandals of peace.

The shield of faith.

The helmet of salvation.

And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

My favorite piece of armor has always been the shield of faith.  I can sometimes see the flaming arrows of the evil one coming at me.  But my faith protects me.

As I’ve been more committed to memorizing God’s word this last year, I am discovering a new understanding of the immense power the Sword of the Spirit has when we are well-prepared.  When it’s etched on our minds and hearts, God’s word is powerful.  It’s transforming.

It is an extremely effective offensive weapon to use in pushing back the darkness.

To shine the light of truth where sin has extinguished all hope.

To get rid of the lies that confuse us.

To help us get our eyes off of ourselves and focus on the One who has all the answers.

And to remind us that God has already won the war.  In him, we have victory.  Today and everyday.

Thank you, Abba Father.

He Chose Us

On By Judy GlasserIn DecemberLeave a comment

We are loved by God.

And his desire is for us to be compassionate,

to be kind,December 14 2015 he chose us

to be humble,

and gentle,

and patient.

Paul tells us in Colossians 3 to bear with each other.

To forgive each other.

And, above all , to love one another in perfect unity.

We are called to be lovers of peace – to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.

What does that look like for me?

What does that look like for you?

To be ruled by peace.

Just imagining it lowers my blood pressure 🙂

What would our lives be like if we lived each day filled with gratitude?

What thoughts would fill our minds if the message of Christ ‘richly dwelt’ in us?

What if we could say that everything we do is done out of thankfulness for  what Jesus has done for us?

This is what growing more like Jesus looks like.

How are we doing?

We thank you for the power of your spirit living within us, Abba Father.