Category: February

Never Too Short

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

There are times when I am tired and discouraged,

and other days when I am confused and fearful.

And then I have hours of impatience and frustration.

When is God going to do something about this problem?

When is he going to take care of this struggle?

How can God possibly work this out for my good?  I just don’t see how he’s going to do that.  Or if he’s going to do that.  Maybe it’s not going to happen.

Then God responds to me like he did to Moses thousands of years ago, ” Is the LORD’S arm too short?”

I just have to smile.  This really sets me back in my place.  Because – of course, God’s arm is not too short.  He is the Creator of the Universe, the Great I AM.  He sees and knows everything.  Nothing is impossible for him.

When God said this to Moses, Moses was doubting that God could provide meat for all of the Israelites for a month.  They had started grumbling about eating manna everyday and God responded by saying, “Tomorrow you will eat meat.”

As the leader of these complainers, Moses thought he had to ‘help God’ by figuring out how to get this done.  But he just didn’t see a way to make this happen.  There were not enough animals on land or fish in the sea to feed all of the Israelites meat for a month.  It was impossible!

Yes, it was impossible for human hands.  But there are no limits for God.  His arm is never too short – it reaches across universes that we don’t even know about yet.

So we should not be surprise that the Israelites ate meat – they ate meat until they were sick of it.

God’s arm is not too short but sometimes our faith can be too small.  My faith can be too limited.

Do I really believe that God’s arm is never too short?

Does my life show it?

Please grow our faith, Abba Father.

Looking For Shade

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Shade is an important issue in the desert.  I live in Phoenix so I have become an expert at looking for shade.

At my grandson’s flag-football game just this week, we were all huddled under canopies and sun umbrellas.  It might be cold where you live, but our winter – especially this year – is hot and sunny.  It was really hot at his game with the sun beating down on us.  Some of the grocery stores in our city are starting to cover their parking lots with solar panels – getting some extra revenue and providing shade for their customers and their customer’s cars.  It’s a great idea!  There are a lot of us who would drive several extra miles to get covered parking while we shop.

Shade.

In their journey to the Promised Land, the Israelites spent many years walking through the desert.  In Numbers, we are told that ‘the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.”  I have read that many times but I just realized that God was not only guiding them.  He is providing shade for them.  Much-needed shade.

At night, God’s cloud would settle over the tabernacle and look like fire.  This made it possible for everyone to still see it in the dark – a constant reminder of God’s presence and care for them.

When God wanted the Israelites to move, the cloud would lift off of the tabernacle and become a shady guide for their journey.

How great it would be to have my own cloud!  It would show me the way – telling me when to go and when to stay.  I have air conditioning, covered parking and sun umbrellas so I don’t need the shade but I could really use his clear guidance.

Oh, yeah.  I have my own cloud.  God has given me his Word and the Holy Spirit.  He has promised to light my path as I read and listen carefully and obey.  He constantly reminds me through his Word how he is with me and he cares for me.

I’ve got all the guidance I need.

Thank you for still being our cloud, Abba Father.

I WIll See It

On By Judy GlasserIn February2 Comments

Standing firm – what does that mean to you?

When I think of standing firm, I see this picture of a lighthouse in my mind.  The lighthouse is being beaten by enormous waves but it can’t give up, it has a job to do – especially in the middle of a dark, dangerous storm.  This lighthouse is built on a rock, its foundation is solid.  So it is able to keep shining it’s light no matter how high and how strong the waves get.  And, yes, the lighthouse is more worn when the waves stop.  It is scraped and bruised from the ravages of the storm.  But it stands firm, ready for the sunshine or the next storm – whatever comes.

That’s how firm I want to be as I stand on my Rock, my Father God.

In Exodus 4, Moses told the Israelites to “Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.”

God is telling me this same thing today as I read and meditate on his Word.

I need to do my part of standing firm – trusting him, obeying him and loving him  first.  Then, as I watch, God will fight my battles.  I will see my Father fit the puzzle pieces of my life together to fulfill his purposes.  I will experience his blessings as his plans unfolds.

I will see it.

So I’m going to stand firm.

Thank you, Abba Father.

So Undeserved

On By Judy GlasserIn February4 Comments

I have worked hard.

I have more than paid my dues.

I’ve planned and struggled and persevered.

I can feel like I’ve earned it – everything.  I deserve it.

But what I have really earned from our perfect and holy God is eternal separation from him.  My rebellion, sins and lack of so-underservedconsistency deserve condemnation by my Father God.  And you aren’t off the hook, either.  We share this tendency to sin and rebel, don’t we.

A re-enactment of Sodom and Gomorrah – that’s what we deserve.

But that’s not what God offers us.  He offers us salvation through this son, Jesus.  He offers us an unwarranted gift of grace and mercy.  He offers us unconditional love for today and unconditional love for all of eternity.

As I trust in Jesus to lead me through my life here on earth, I receive peace and joy and strength and purpose.  I am so undeserving of all of this.

In Deuteronomy 6, we read the list of things God was planning to give to the Israelites –

cities they did not build,

homes filled with good things they did not provide,

wells they had not dug,

vineyards they did not plant.

The list was long.

And Moses went on to tell the Israelites ‘when you eat and are satisfied, be careful you do not forget the Lord.’

I have a very long list of things that God has given me.  I know you also have a long list.

Let us be humbled by how undeserving we are.

Let us not forget our Father God who gives us everything we have.

The best and most important thing he gave us was Jesus – our salvation and our role-model for life here on earth.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Keep Watching…..

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Every morning,

looking….

What’s in store for me today?

Do I move?  Do I stay?bike-path

I’m imagining what it was like for the Israelites as they began their journey through the desert.  When the Cloud of Guidance covered the tabernacle, they stayed.  When the cloud lifted above the tent, the Israelites packed up and moved on.

There were times they stayed in the same place for months and other times when they were moving again the next morning.

Every morning, they would look to the tabernacle to determine their direction for that day.  Everybody could see it – not just the priests and the leaders.  God made this visible to each person – he wanted all of them to be able to see that he was the one leading them.

What would our lives be like if we had that clear guidance for each day?

I think God still wants us to look to him each day just like he asked the Israelites to do.

He wants me to look to him before I stay or go….

Before I agree to something….

When I’m trying to choose what words to say in a conversation about a difficult subject….

As I take steps forward on my journey.

Because I have to keep moving forward.  We all do.

And we’ll find what we’re looking for when we move forward with our eyes focused on God.

We’re watching you, Abba Father.

 

It’s A Struggle….

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

the journey..

the heartaches….

the joys…

the pain…

the uncertainty…the-struggle

the many twists and turns of life as the earth revolves each day.

You struggle…. I struggle….

We struggle just like the Israelites struggled on their journey of 40 years through the desert.  It’s one of the reasons why I like reading Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The Israelites battled unbelief,

lack of control,

wanting more than they had,

wandering away from God’s truth,

fear of the unknown,

self-centeredness and more.

Any of that sound familiar?

It’s a struggle.

But that struggle becomes easier when I keep my eyes focused on God.  His truth is the solid ground I stand on every day.  His love heals the hurt in my heart and fills the empty places.  His purposes fuel my efforts and give me strength.  His total control helps me give up mine.  His faithfulness that has no end reminds me to be faithful.

Yes, it’s a struggle.

I have a choice.  I can grow through the struggle or I can become bitter and stuck.

I choose to grow and move forward.

What are you choosing?

We love you, Abba Father.

Does It Make a Difference?

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Do I act differently?

Do different words come out of my mouth?

Do I look different?

Is there an obvious difference in my life – other than going to church – because I’m a Christ- follower?

There should be a difference – right?  It should be all different – how I act and speak and look.  God is in the process of transforming me  – a big religious word for this is sanctification.

Believing in God, trusting in Jesus and obeying the Holy Spirit’s promptings and guidance should change my life from what it would be without God.

I’m reading in Exodus that Moses’ face was radiant after he met with God.

What would it take for my face to radiate after meeting with God?  What about your face?

I know Moses actually went inside the tent and ‘met’ with God but don’t we also meeting-with-god‘meet’ with God every time we read and study his word?  We meet with him when we have a conversation with him in prayer.   And when we worship him.

What would it mean for us to genuinely radiate God’s love and mercy and truth in our lives?

Please open our eyes and our hearts, Abba Father.

Mediocre

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Unexceptional.

Uninspired.

Unexciting.

Unremarkable.

I have been told that the definition of mediocre is inconsistency.  I agree – a lack of consistency will get you mediocre results every time.

If I had to use one work to describe the Israelites after they were freed from Egypt, I would use inconsistent.

We read in Exodus the dramatic account of God dividing the Red Sea to let the Israelites go through on dry land – a wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left.  Wow!

Then God drowns the Egyptian army right in front of their eyes.  That’s exactly what should have happened to the Israelites!  But it didn’t.

We’re told in Exodus 14 that the people “feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

For awhile.

They actually trusted God and Moses for just a very short time before they started grumbling.  Right after their song of praise to God, we read they are complaining that they were going to die out in the desert.

Inconsistent.  “I believe” one day.  “Oh, maybe I don’t” the next.

Mediocre.

Is our faith like that?  One day we’re trusting God with everything and the next we’re grumbling and doubting?

This really challenges me because I don’t want to have an inconsistent, mediocre faith.  I don’t want to have the same ‘on again, off again’ response to God that the Israelites had.

That kind of faith will not stand strong through the trials that keep coming my way.  A mediocre faith will sink under the waves of frustration, anger, sadness and pain that wash over me as I try to deal with all the ‘stuff’ life throws at me.

A mediocre faith just won’t cut it for me.  So consistency is one of my goals.

I have found that this helps – when I feel doubts and questions starting to surface, I he-is-alays-faithfulremind myself of the many ways God has blessed me in the past.  I remember all of the promises he has kept and all of the mercy he has shown me through the years. Remembering his faithfulness to me helps me continue to be faithful back to him.

Consistent.

Not mediocre.

Thank you, Abba Father.

Where’s the Light?

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

Evil thrives in the dark.

Greedy, selfish hearts.

Angry, bitter souls.

Cruel minds crawl out into the dark – looking to harm the innocent.

In Exodus, we are witness to an epic battle between Moses and Pharoah – actually God and Pharoah – and Pharoah is losing badly.

By chapter 10, God had sent 8 plagues causing wide-spread disease and hardship for the people, death and destruction for livestock and crops.

And the intensity of the plagues continued to grow.

It’s significant to read that the 9th plague – worse than the other 8 –  was darkness.

Darkness spread across Egypt for 3 days.  It was so dark, they couldn’t see anyone else around them.

Pitch black for 3 days.

Can you imagine the depression, anxiety and fear?  This plague affected their minds – it was worse than the rest.  Because we can’t go somewhere else to get away from our minds.   We can’t avoid thinking.

They couldn’t stop feeling the oppressive darkness – the void where light and warmth used to be.

Pitch black for 3 days.

I love the fact that there was light where the Israelites lived.  I visualize a huge spotlight shining down from heaven onto the Israelites.my-people-live-in-the-light

The light of God’s love.

God’s care.

Light for God’s favorite people.

Bright, warm, good.

Those of us who trust in Jesus live in that light every day.

The light of God’s love and care – his favorite people.

God wants to transform any darkness in my life into light.

He  wants to transform your darkness into light as well.

He wants to fill any voids in our lives with warmth and goodness.

His spotlight of grace, strength and wholeness shines down on me everyday, filling my mind and heart with his love.

I feel it.

Do you feel it?

Thank you for your light, Abba Father.

 

His Daughters

On By Judy GlasserIn FebruaryLeave a comment

This was a time when women were ‘sold’ to men in marriage.  Women did not own land or livestock  – they were considered part of a man’s belongings and wealth.

But God breaks through all of this false thinking thousands of years ago in Numbers 27 by letting Zelophehad’s daughters inherit their father’s land.March 2 2016 his daughters

God revealed what he really thought about the current cultural norms of treating women less than men.  That wasn’t how he saw these things.

Sure, the head of the family clan (male) didn’t like it.

So the women were instructed to marry within their clan so that the land would stay within their group.

Just imagine this – 5 young unmarried women who would normally lack any kind of position in the community are now land owners.  God’s love for his daughters is  shining through – challenging this old culture.

And, I’m sure, as landowners, these young women had no trouble finding husbands.  I wonder if these marriages were a little different because they began in a more equal position?

The culture did not treat women equally, but God did.

Thank you, Abba Father.